Saturday, June 8, 2013

Vegan field trip around Calgary

We had a fun filled day that started at the Eat Real YYC Food Festival, outside of the Casel Marche Market. The market also stocks plenty of vegan staples. The event was chock full of Calgary Foodtrucks. I was pleasantly surprised to find some good vegan options. We had amazing chickpea fritter naan tacos (hold the cheese) from The Naaco Truck  (check out the photo below) and indulged in rich raw vegan desserts from Healthy Funky Foods. Healthy Funky Foods also has a stall in the Cross Roads Market, full of all sorts of raw vegan delights including mains, sides, drinks and desserts.


For supper we headed over to Anejo for great mexican eats. We had fire roasted salsa, fresh guacamole (both hand mixed table side), a quinoa side dish and black bean tacos. 





After dinner we thought we'd head over to Bridgeland and check out some of the new developments. We first visited the Bridgeland Market, a boutique grocery store with many vegan staples. Afterwards we checked out Luke's Drug Mart. I was blown away by the awesomeness packed into this little gem. I enjoyed a delicious espresso from the Stumptown coffee counter, browsed, vinyl records, interesting gift items, and a post office! Then we headed downstairs to the well stocked market area complete with assorted hardware items. I was very impressed with the great vegan food items, and natural cleaning products as well! They even had two Gardein products that I haven't seen anywhere else in Calgary (plus organic pizza sauce which I have also not found!)





My vegan cosmetic regime




I've struggled lately to find cosmetic products that are vegan, not test on animals, perform well and are not filled with really toxic ingredients. Sometimes I would find a vegan product that worked well but I later found it was high in heavy metals etc. 

These are the current products I am using most: Kiss My Face Underage moisturizer , Body Shop Extra Virgin Minerals compact foundation, Lush liquid eyeliner, Pacfica Lip Tint, & Zuzu Lipstick (in Starlit shade). I've chosen these items as they; perform well, are vegan and not tested on animals and seem to have decent ingredients. I use Good Guide to check for products with healthy ingredients etc. (GoodGuide is free and provides the world's largest and most reliable source of information on health, environmental, and social impacts of consumer products.)

What are your favourite products?