Expo West 2012: Best Of Day 2 (Video) - Vegan, Organic and Gluten-Free Products

Friday, March 9, 2012 was officially Day 1 of Natural Products Expo West, though a lot happened on Thursday as well. Take a look at what I discovered in my second video from the show, featuring:

• Green Girl Next Door (blogger)
• Coco Polo (stevia sweetened chocolate)
• One Degree Foods (breads with full ingredient disclosure)
• Food for Lovers (vegan queso and mayo)
• Green Foods (green powders and vegan protein powders)
• So Delicious (practically everything dairy-free)
• Nature's Path (organic passion and delicious cereals and snacks)
• Ashley Koff (incredible nutritionist)
• Qrunch burgers (quinoa veggie burgers)
• Vegucated (vegan documentary)
• Healthy Voyager (blogger and author)
• Vegan Cuts (vegan daily deal site)
• Happy Cow (vegan restaurant site)
• Living Eco (eco-vegan shopping and interviews)
• Fair Trade USA
• AlterEco (quinoa chocolate)

How to Have A Green and/or Vegan Valentine's Day

photo and cookies by Kristin Kolnacki

I wasn't planning on writing about V-Day this year because there's already so much coverage on other sites/I haven't had time, but decided to do a quick video summarizing my thoughts and tips. Additionally, I asked the Eco-Vegan Gal community for their advice and got some great responses, so here are some resources for you:

Eco-Vegan Gal & Guy Shirts for Sale! Limited Quantities - Get One Before They Sell Out!

Are you an Eco-Vegan Gal or Guy? Tell the world with an organic t-shirt made in the USA by three passionate vegans! Order now and you'll be one of the few to receive the very first run of EVG clothing!

Price: $25 (plus $5 shipping to anywhere in the US, or $12 shipping to Canada)

Shipping Destination

USA $25.00 USD Canada (+$7 for shipping) $32.00 USD

Size

Women's S - sold out! Women's M - sold out! Women's L - sold out! Women's XL - 1 v-neck Men's S - 1 left Men's M - 3 left Men's L - 1 left Men's XL - sold out

Video: Talking About Shoes, Dog Food & Towels on Blythe Raw Live

I was invited onto a live vegan internet show that tapes in Los Angeles called Blythe Raw Live, which is all about raw food, natural beauty, fitness, and sustainable lifestyle guidance for optimal living. They asked me to talk about some of my favorite products and it was incredibly hard to narrow it down. With Blythe's help we decided to talk about vegan shoes, dog products and reusable towels, so I picked:

• Mink Shoes
• Vibram Five Fingers
• V-Dog Food
• Cloud Star Holiday Buddy Biscuits Gingerbread
• PeopleTowels

You can watch a clip from the show here:

Video Review: Grilla Bites Ashland, OR - Organic, Vegan Food Made with Passion

Last year on my West Coast trip with Robert Cheeke during his book tour we stopped in Ashland, OR to grab some food for the road from their local coop. The town was so beautiful that we decided to crash there for the night - it's Shakespearian, organic, vegan-friendly vibe completely won me over. We sought out a place with WiFi so we could book a place to stay and update our websites, which is how we stumbled upon GrillaBites. The green certifications on the windows and vegan items on their menu lured us in, but we had no idea how much of a treat we were in for.

Q&A: Eco & Vegan Flip Flops

Question:
What source do you recommend for good vegan flip flops?

Answer:

Video Review: The Cinnamon Snail Organic, Vegan Food Truck in NJ

Food trucks are all the rage - somewhere between take-out and dining in at a restaurant, it's a fun and convenient way to eat. Unfortunately, vegan options are often lacking at these meals on wheels, aside from the occasional veggie burger, chili fries, dosa, or gourmet popsicle. However, there are a few saving graces (i.e. vegan food trucks) across the country - there's Seabirds Truck in the Orange County/LA area, Sunny Vibrations up in San Francisco, GMonkey in Connecticut and The Cinnamon Snail in Hoboken New Jersey (and perhaps others I don't know yet). Today I'm excited to feature the latter, a truck I didn't think I'd get to try due to it's seemingly random East Coast location - but taking a little detour on my way to NYC this summer was beyond worth it.

Q&A: Where to Buy Tofu in Bulk in San Francisco

Question: Do you know where in SF or East Bay I can buy organic tofu that isn't wrapped in plastic? Asian markets sell tofu in bulk bins but they're likely not organic. I've asked Hodo Tofu and they don't offer that option in stores.  If you have any leads, please let me know. Trying to cut down on my plastic waste. ~ Mary


Answer:

Video: Fashion Giveaway, New Vegan Movie, Man = Meat, Gluten-Free Bagels & More!

What better way to beat the Monday blues than with a weekly roundup?! Here's what I share in this week's video (hint - I'm giving something away worth $50!!):

Video Recipe on Eco-Vegan Food: Raw, Vegan "Stir Fry" - Free of Oil, Salt, & Sugar

Here is the latest video recipe on Eco-Vegan Food - satisfying, filling, nutritious, and guilt-free because it's raw, gluten-free, soy-free, oil-free, salt-free, and sugar-free; and yet there's so much in it! Enjoy this Stir Fry video and let me know how it goes!

Video: Vegan Zombie, Healthy Meals Under $4 A Day, Gluten-Free Advice, Sugar-Free Ice Cream, & More!

Time for another healthy and sustainable weekly roundup video!

Video Review: 118 Degrees - Raw, Organic Restaurant. Plus Interview w/ Jenny Ross

I'm a little behind on some videos...OK, a LOT behind. But I'm catching up fast - if you haven't noticed I'm on a video making roll! I've had a lot of great content that you deserve to see, and this is a great example.

In 2005, brand new in LA, I applied to a job ad on Craigslist for a vegan cafe called Taste of the Goddess in West Hollywood, and I was thrilled when I got an interview. But this wasn't any vegan establishment - they made raw food, which was pretty foreign to me. I'm not sure if I ever had raw food before this time - it wasn't really a big deal back in Boston. Well, I got the job and worked there part-time for about 6 months until I got too busy to keep it up - I learned so much about raw food and health from the owners Jenny & Nwenna, I even did a month long cleanse (Ejuva). Sadly, Taste of the Goddess didn't remain open much longer, but the ladies behind it went on to do bigger and better things.

Eco-Vegan Weekly Roundup: A Green Hair Tip, Vegan Wine, Whale Rescue Video, Healthy Recipe, & More

I'm excited to introduce a new segment of Eco-Vegan Gal - the Weekly Roundup! Every Tuesday you can tune in for a summary of my favorite healthy and sustainable discoveries, consisting of tips, articles, videos, products, restaurants, books, and websites! 

This past week I found some great green things and here are my thoughts:

Video Recipe: Delicious Green Vegetable Juice

If you're looking for a delicious way to get your day off on the right foot, look no further. This juice recipe will give you a flood of energy, boost your mood, and keep you full until lunch time, all without sugar, gluten, or soy - what a perfect breakfast!



For the written recipe, click here to view it on Eco-Vegan Food, the website I'm slowly migrating all my recipes to.

Eco-Vegan Daily Download: New Frozen Vegan Food, Eco Marketplace, and The Coconut Shortage

Highlighted Greenwala Article

A Cruel Delicacy: Eating Animals While They're Still Alive

Business Opportunity

Greenwala is launching an eco marketplace on which they're looking for companies to sell their products and services. It's free to have your own store, and there's just a minimal commission percentage taken out of each sale. Since I'm one of the editors for the site, you can contact me if you're interested in more details and I'll put you in touch with the right people.

Vegan Food News

If you're not in New York City you can now enjoy Candle 79 & Candle Cafe's foods by visiting a Whole Foods near you! The famous vegan restaurants now offer 4 of their delicious meals in frozen form for just $5.99! The mouthwatering options are: Seitan Piccata with Lemon Caper Sauce, Ginger Miso Stir-Fry, and Mac & Vegan Cheese (made with Daiya of course). If you prefer to have freshly made food, check out Candle 79's new cookbook, which is available by pre-order (looks amazing!)

There's a new pizza spot in town and it's called Stella Rossa Pizza Bar. Located in Santa Monica, their food is created by a hip, young chef who's happy to cater to vegans and gets his ingredients from the farmers market. Though I haven't tried it myself yet, I've been told that the pizza dough is vegan, so they’re able to make a variety of vegan pizzas. Each of the salads can be made vegan, and the vegetable anti pasta can be made vegan too.

Events

Dallas, TX - October 23rd: Texas State Veggie Fair. Vegan events with speakers, cooking demos, and more!

Worth a Read

Can't find your favorite flavor of Coconut Bliss? It's probably because there's a coconut shortage! I'm bummed that the new Maca flavor is so hard to find. : (

Cool Eco Stuff

Children's book swap through ThreadUp

Eco-Vegan Swag Bag!

Congrats to Bake Anything for winning this fabulous prize!

It was incredibly hard to pick a winner because of all of the great entries. Ultimately it came down to 2 and I had to toss a coin to choose, but Bake Anything is quite worthy of the win! 

Hope to see some of you at WorldFest or in LA before I head up North. 

By now you probably know that I'm moving to San Francisco - if you've been out of the loop check out my post here. In lieu of the upcoming move, I've been going through all my stuff and I discovered a ton of eco-vegan products, literature, and coupons I want to giveaway. And who better to receive all my eco-vegan swag that you, my faithful eco-vegan pals!

This bag is worth at least $50! Here are some of the great items inside:

• Caviart (vegan caviar made from sea vegetables)
• TONS of Vega samples in pretty much every flavor
• Dairy-free protein drinks and mixes
• John Joseph's Weapons of Mass Destruction (men's medium)
• Berkeley Vegan Earth Day eco t-shirt (women's medium)
• Reusable water bottle from Berkeley Vegan Earth Day
• Gluten-free books (not all vegan, but lots of great info)
• Earth Cinema Circle DVD
• "Miracle Man" book
• Coupons to establishments and companies in Los Angeles and nationally
• Reusable bags with sayings like, "make love not trash" and "I am a natural bag" plus bags from cool companies like VEGA and Healthy Spot
• Vegan literature, "Meet Your Meat" DVD, and stickers

Awesome stuff right?!

WorldFest This Sunday!

Congrats to the Winners!

Amy, Diane, & Steffany

If you're into health and/or the environment, like food and music, want to learn how you can make a difference, and enjoy meeting new people there's an incredible event coming up this Sunday. WorldFest is a solar-powered celebration of music, the environment, animals and humanity - and it's one of my favorite annual events in Los Angeles because it's so eco-vegan!



This year I'm extra excited because I'm speaking on a panel about sustainable food! I would love to see you there and meet you in person (if we haven't met already).

A Solution To The Coconut Issues That Will Satisfy Eco-Vegans

Coconuts are all the rage. They are used in many raw foods, hot Thai dishes, and recently started appearing all over the vegan market in ice creams, yogurts, milk alternatives, and even as soy sauce substitute. And perhaps it's just an LA thing, but it seems like everyone is drinking out of a Young Thai coconut with a straw. But as much as I love the latter, they are a rare treat for several reasons:

• Young Thai coconuts are not organic
• they are wrapped in plastic
• they come from Thailand (really far from LA)
• and...supposedly many of them are dipped in formaldehyde!!!

How to Make Your Own Organic Vegan Lip Balm/Chapstick

One of my big eco-vegan missions is making my own everything, from meals to cleaning solutions to personal care products. Recently, it occured to me that I was wasting a lot of plastic containers every time I bought a new chapstick, and at $4-5 a pop it was getting expensive. So I decided to learn how to make it myself and discovered it was extremely easy, fast, and fun! Making it reduces packaging, saves money, and you get to control exactly what ingredients are used - talk about being eco-vegan! Here's how you can do it too (watch video or read written recipe):

Eco-Vegan Products at Natural Products Expo West: Thursday, March 10, 2011

It's the moment I've been waiting for - Natural Products Expo West! After my fabulous time there last year, I couldn't wait to go again. And with all of my new eco-vegan standards I have been chomping at the bit to discover companies that meet my criteria, which is: