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Went to the DC VegFest for the first time this year. I had a great time browsing all the wonderful exhibits. It's always such an exhilarating feeling being surrounded by people who are as passionate about animals as I am.
There were some wonderful groups as well as socially responsible companies. Lots of samples and lots of food for purchase. Unfortunately we went towards the last half of the event. It was from 12 - 6 and we arrived a little after 4. Most of the samples were gone and the food and desserts were slowly dwindling down if not sold out. Will make it earlier next year. 
There were also options to buy t-shirts with very cool sayings on them (i.e. 'Bacon had a Mom,'Eat Like You Give a Damn,' etc). Herbivore Clothing had some really nice stuff.
My favorite bakery, Vegan Treats, was there. I was quite put off of the fact that most of the food places charged the same amount as on their menu yet the portions seemed a lot smaller. I would think they would want to get their name out there by offering free samples and charging less.
I was very surprised by the lack of participation from several local vegetarian/vegan restaurants I am familiar with. Java Green, Green Cafe, Toscana Grill, Soul Food restaurant on Georgia Avenue, Great Sage, Vegetable Garden, etc. It would have made great business sense to exhibit their products since a significant group of their niche market attended this festival, as well as those that are on the fence and curious about the vegan/vegetarian lifestyle. Perhaps next year?
I bought a few bumper stickers while I was here. The messages most of them contained were just awesome and I couldn't resist. The hunting one might piss some people off. OH WELL! The guy who sold me the bumper stickers (all proceeds went to the animal advocacy group), told me he got a lot of praise for the hunting sticker, however did end up getting his windshield smashed in. I guess that person had an incredibly tiny penis.
I will take my chances ;)
Just came back from having dinner here. I've been to this restaurant many times and they rarely disappoint. I believe Toscana Grill started off as an ordinary Italian restaurant. They eventually went organic and started offering a big vegan variety.
They attend many vegan functions, to get their name out there of course, but also to get suggestions from vegetarians and vegans about what they want. I really like that!
Their menus have symbols next to each item to let you know if it is vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, etc.
My favorite dish here is the create your own pasta. I choose the linguine as the pasta, the vegan alfredo (this sauce is amazing...oh so creamy) for the sauce, and mushrooms and spinach for the two included veggies. For an additional $2, you can add extra veggies (I think that's a bit high. Shouldn't be more than $1 for extra toppings, in my opinion). They also offer premium toppings such as vegan chicken, steak, etc. for an additional $3 each.
I also added tomatoes and onions in addition to the spinach and mushrooms. It was so good and creamy. Hard to believe it was non cow milk basedFor dessert, I had the death by chocolate. They also have tiramisu, blueberry cheesecake, peanut butter bomb cake, and peanut butter cup brownie. All their desserts are vegan and is from Vegan Treats (I blogged about this place, blog title: 'Vegan Treats'). Unfortunately they were out of most of their vegan desserts except for the death by chocolate cake. ALL of their vegan desserts are amazing though so be sure to try a couple at a time when you stop by. You can always take the leftovers home!
I forgot to take a picture of my slice of cake because I lost all consciousness when they brought it out, however the staff was kind enough to let me take a picture of their cake stash.
They also have vegan pizza, using Daiya cheese (blogged about this cheese here.), however, when I tried it a few months ago, it was a bit bland. Zpizza makes a much better vegan daiya cheese pizza. Will blog about what combo works best for their vegan pizza.
Overall, Toscana Grill is EXCELLENT if you're craving Italian food that is vegan (i.e. pasta, eggplant parmagiana, etc).
Their menus have symbols next to each item to let you know if it is vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, etc.
Definitely stop by Toscana Grill, located in Arlington, near Clarendon, if you get a chance. And don't forget to order dessert!!
NOTE: Toscana Grill has gift certificates on Restaurant.com. This is a place where you can purchase a gift certificate for much lower than the value of the gift certificate. There is always a coupon code for Restaurant.com so be sure to google what their current coupon code is to get 50 - 80% off (i.e. you can buy a $25 gift certificate for $2 - $5).
Finding the right ice cream for me after becoming a vegan was a challenge. My first try was Rice Dream and it was a no go (the site does say 'new improved taste' so could give it another try. I do love their brand of rice milk).
As a new vegan, you look for the creamy consistency that cow milk based ice creams have. Why? Because you're used to it. Rice Dream was translucent looking and didn't have any of the creaminess. I gave up and realized that I probably just needed to 'forget' ice cream as I knew ice cream to be.
After over a year of not having any sort of ice cream, I decided to experiment some. A good place to experiment is Whole Foods because if you don't like an item, you can return it with no hassles. A big shout out to Whole Foods for having the best damn customer service of any grocery stores...hell, of any place I've ever been to!
Tofutti makes a few different types of ice creams. One being ice cream sandwiches, which are very tasty, but I'm not really an ice cream sandwich person. I picked up a box of their Marry Me Bars,which Whole Foods actually doesn't carry. Not sure why. It doesn't seem to have any artificial flavors or preservatives. It tastes exactly like the crunchy coated chocolate shell vanilla ice cream bars we had as kids. Safeway and Giant carries this. It's soy based but does NOT have a strong soy flavor at all. A big thumbs up for these bars!
I felt that if this soy based ice cream could do it for me, why not try others. Turtle Mountain brand makes two lines of soy based ice creams called Purely Decadent and Soy Delicious (now called 'So Delicious') Unfortunately it was very soy tasting and not very delicious. The hint of soy was too strong for me and the creaminess was very minimal. My carnivore friend, however, really enjoyed it.
Turtle Mountain also make a line of coconut milk based ice creams. I avoided those only because I figured all the ice creams would have a coconut-y flavor no matter what the actual flavor was. I finally decided there was no harm in trying (and because I was desperate for some ice cream) and I am so glad I did. The Purely Decadent coconut milk based ice creams turned out to be PERFECTION! It is super creamy as cow milk based ice creams are and even though there is a slight hint of coconut, you won't even taste it after eating a couple pints. Seems like your taste buds get used to it. I've tried the chocolate chip cookie dough, turtle mountain, cookies and cream, and the chocolate brownie almond. The brownie almond is my favorite. The other flavors are very good too!
My next flavor on the list to try is cherry amaretto
Feel free to leave comments about what your favorite vegan ice creams are!
