My Second SoCo VegFest Trip!

Back in August 2017, Santa Rosa held the fourth SoCo Vegfest at the Luther Burbank Center of the Arts. The festival has many vendors including food vendors, snack vendors, clothing vendors, beauty vendors, and more! They also had many speakers, cooking demonstrations, and a movie screening as well. I was so honored to meet Miyoko Schinner!

The vendors were amazing this year! I bought many vegan items including Kelly’s Croutons, a tote bag, and much more.

I had an amazing meal for lunch as well. I bought a yummy vegan bowl from Southern Fried Vegan. I got a mac and cheese bowl with chicken tenders and slaw and I could not resist the yummy berry lemonade.

For dessert, we discovered a local ice cream shop, Lala’s Creamery from Petaluma. They were serving up vegan ice cream so, of course, I got a scoop of the vegan almond joy ice cream! It was amazing and they always carry 3 to 4 different vegan flavors. Be sure to stop by and give them a try if you are in Petaluma!

Overall, my second trip to the Sonoma County Veg Fest was a fun day filled with many vegan treats. I will definitely be continuing this annual tradition.

I highly recommend a trip to a local Vegan Festival to learn more about the wonderful vegan foods and vendors available.

Looking for the next Veg Fest? Click here to find a list of 2018 festivals, many coming up soon. Hope to see you at a Veg Fest!

Peace and love to all animals,

Sophie

Vegan in Seattle

During my mother-daughter trip to Seattle, Washington this summer, my mom and I found many vegan shops and restaurants. On our first day in Seattle, we headed down to Pikes Place Market, where I discovered the mascots for the Market were bronze pig statues named Rachel and Billy. I found (and bought a few) pig related items there such as a pig necklace, a piggy magnet, and a piggy dish towel! We had so much fun exploring!

The food in Seattle is amazing! For breakfast, we found some delicious chocolate vegan cupcakes from a little shop near our hotel, for lunch we went to Cool Guys Fry Bar and got two “Italian Veggie Ripper Dogs,” and for dinner we went to a hidden restaurant called The Pink Door where I ordered a vegan pasta dish! We had no trouble finding vegan options anywhere we went and most places had more than one option.

On our second day, my mom and I decided that we wanted go to an all vegan store near the university district called Vegan Haven. The store was my happy place and I can’t wait to go back! They had everything vegan from cosmetics to jerky. I bought many items from the store including pins, lipstick, and candy. It’s my favorite store by far! It was so nice to not have to read any of the ingredients on the food items.  I also love that it supports one of my favorite sanctuaries, Pigs Peace Sanctuary, a sanctuary in Stanwood, Washington that I went to with my family last year.

After going to Vegan Haven we got a recommendation from one of the volunteers to go to Wayward Vegan Cafe. My mom ordered the eggs benedict and I ordered the farmers hash. It was probably the best meal of the trip! Everything on the menu was vegan and the restaurant was packed! The farmers hash was made out of potatoes, gravy, tofu scramble, vegan cheese, and garlic toast! I don’t think I can ever top that brunch!

After our brunch, we took a ferry to Bainbridge Island where we found two very great places. We found a cute bakery called Blackbird Bakery! They had a vegan chocolate applesauce cake (which sadly we did not purchase). But we found something even better! An ice cream place on the same block called Mora which had many vegan sorbets including watermelon, raspberry, mango, pineapple, blackberry, and more! I choose the watermelon and raspberry split which was a good choice!

Thank you so much Seattle for having many great vegan options for me. I can’t wait to visit again!

 

Voodoo Magic

On my trip to Universal Studios in Los Angeles, I discovered Voodoo Doughnuts. They had bucket loads of donuts, including vegan donuts! They had everything from old fashion cakes to fritters.  They were so delicious!

We actually waited an hour and a half for the donuts (definitely a record for me) since the store was brand new in the Universal City Walk and not even truly open yet. My brother and I loved the doughnuts. It was so worth it! People were buying $60-80 worth of donuts!

I got a maple bar, a cookies and cream doughnut, and a voodoo doll doughnut, which is their signature donut. We totally enjoyed Voodoo Doughnuts! Next time you’re in LA, I definitely recommend you go check them out!

 

My brother and I with our Voodoo Doughnuts.

My vegan doughnuts!

This is the Voodoo Doughnuts storefront.

A Saturday Stroll Through the SoCoVeg Fest

This was my first visit to the Soco Veg Fest and it was so much fun! I got lots of yummy vegan foods! The Soco Veg Fest was at the Luther Burbank Center of the Arts in Santa Rosa, on August 20th. They had vendors, speakers, cooking tutorials, and kid fun. I went to the festival with my mom.

We got lots of recipes and found some really delicious foods. We got some awesome pins and chapstick. A few other goodies we found were some delightful vegan jerky, a vegan chocolate bar, some popcorn, and an amazing almond dip that tastes like hummus. They had yummy vegan chai ice cream from vixen kitchen that I can’t wait to buy! We also found a lovely, all vegan tea room called “Muir’s Tea Room” located in Sebastopol that I can’t wait to visit.

They also had a lot of people from sanctuaries all over California who came to educate people about being vegan and having a heathy lifestyle. I loved being able to taste anything I wanted and not asking if it is vegan! There were also several movies but we didn’t have time to see one this year. I had a blast and hope to go next year!

Peace Love and Compassion for All!

The Tahoe Vegan Life

I went to Lake Tahoe this week and discovered that it is actually really vegan friendly! For the first night we went to Fireside Pizza in the Olympic Village in Squaw Valley and I got an individual cheese-less pizza and it was quite good! The waitress said her family is vegan and she totally understood all of my concerns. She was great!

The second day I had a bagel and peanut butter for breakfast from the store, Sweet Potaotes Deli at the resort we stayed at. For lunch we biked to Tahoe City and found a Safeway. We ordered sandwiches from the deli and had a great picnic lunch by the lake. For dinner we walked along the golf path, from our hotel, to the Olympic Village again. We saw a beautiful fox on the way!

We found an Irish Pub that was recommended by a local woman on a cute green bike with lights. She said it was the best food in the Village. For an appetizer  I had pickle chips and since I couldn’t find anything else that was vegan, I just ordered French fries. Finally for dessert, I had frozen yogurt that was dairy free- it was very yummy!

And, for the last day I had a smoothie for breakfast from Starbucks before we went on the tram to the top of Squaw Valley-8200 ft up! They made a special smoothie for me without dairy.

We went to Hacienda del Lago Mexican food for lunch in Tahoe City. The beans and rice were vegan! They had a beautiful view of the lake too!

For dinner, we went back to Fireside Pizza in the village because it was Tuesday Bluesday and I got some hummus and pita while we sat outside and listened to the music.

And, for our last breakfast we went to Wild Cherries Coffee House in Truckee on our way home. They had lots of vegan options here! I got a bagel with hummus and a smoothie and I got a vegan banana chocolate chip muffin to go! I really hope to go back to all of these yummy places to eat next time we go to Lake Tahoe!

Peace, love and compassion to all animals-

Sophie

 

Why I Became Vegan

I thought I would share with you a little bit about why I decided to become a vegan. I have been vegan since March 2016 and was a vegetarian since October of last year. I love animals and I can say that my compassion for animals is why I went vegan.

As you already know I love pigs and my trip this past spring to Pigs Peace Sanctuary was life changing. I realized that pigs are just as smart as chimpanzees, dogs, dolphins, and humans. I decided that going vegan was the right thing to do.

So I have been vegan ever since and have found that I feel much better! I have also discovered new recipes, meals, and restaurants! The rest of my family is vegetarian since last year as well which makes it must easier for me. I hope to be vegan for the rest of my life and am very excited to share my journey with you.

Super Duper Burger

Today my mom and I discovered Super Duper Burger! We found out that Super Duper Burger was vegan friendly by Wine Country Vegan and I recommend checking out their Facebook and Instagram feeds. Great tips on where to eat vegan in Sonoma and nearby towns. So, we decided that we had to go and check it out too.

We went to the Novato location. We ordered veggie burgers and fries. Veggie patties come with cucumbers and hummus and they have a list of toppings you can get on your burger as well as homemade pickles. Mine was on a ciabatta roll because their hamburger buns are not vegan. But, their veggie burger and fries were one of the best I’ve ever had! If I rated Super Duper Burger I would definitely give it a ten out of ten! I really hope you go there and enjoy your meal!

Bon Appetit!

The Sweet Life at Sweet Scoops

Sweet Scoops Ice Cream has my favorite ice cream in Sonoma because they have vegan ice cream! They change their flavors weekly and normally have two vegan ice cream flavors and a sorbet. Their flavors right now are blueberry pecan and cocoa mint! They have flavors from avocado cocoa mint chip to lavender fig! Well I hope you go enjoy some ice cream at Sweet Scoops in Sonoma. See you there!

Bon appetit!

Yum-A Vegan Luncheon!

Last week I decided to make a vegan lunch for my neighbors. Learning new vegan recipes is really fun. I made vegan mac and cheese and quinoa salad for the main meals. Hummus and chips and fruit salad for the snacks.  For drinks, there was passion tea and sparkling water. And lastly, watermelon sorbet and vegan chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Two different families came over at different times and it was so much fun! They all loved my watermen sorbet.

Here’s the recipe for my Vegan Quinoa Salad:

1 can of garbanzo beans

1 can of black beans

1/4 cup corn

1/4 cup edamame

1/2 an avocado

1/2 cup tomatoes

1/2 cup quinoa

Rice vinegar and soy sauce for dressing. Mix all together in bowl.

Bon Appetit!

Let me know what you eat for lunch!

 

 

My First Post: Sophie Rose

Hello my name is Sophie Rose and I’m an eleven year old vegan and this is my story! I live in Sonoma Valley, California. I went vegan when I was ten years old because I’m so attached to animals. But, my absolute favorite animals are pigs! This is what I did for pigs.

One day my mom was listening to a podcast and told me about a place in Washington called, Pigs Peace Sanctuary. So I decided to raise money for them through school and most people were very supportive, others not so much, but by the end, I had raised $256.00! Of course I knew I wasn’t done, I wanted to take a road trip up to Stanwood, Washington where the sanctuary was located to deliver my donation.

So, on March 24, 2016 my dreams came true when we pulled up on the sanctuaries property! It was so nice because they had accommodated a time for us to come when they were not even open! It was a great journey, I met pigs with disabilities, met all size pigs ( some up to 900 pounds!), feed 150 pigs 100 pounds of carrots, and even checked off a couple of things on my bucket list!  I am happily vegan now and hope you will join me on my journey with my vegan lifestyle!