San Diego is taking off as a veggie-friendly city! New restaurants are appearing often (see vegsandiego.com) and we boast an active “Vegetarians Unite” meetup group (also see this San Diego Vegans meetup and others).

We are also fortunate to have local experts to help newcomers along the vegetarian path. Veg-Appeal’s informative classes are a perfect jump-start for those wanting to check out a vegan or vegetarian diet. Enjoy this upcoming class taught by the three lovely ladies of Veg-Appeal!

• Sunday, January 29th, 12:00 – 2:30 PM, Kearny Mesa (please note the new class time)
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Vegetarians and vegans are constantly asked, “Do you get enough protein?”

Some of us are not concerned, as we eat plenty of beans, nuts, quinoa and other sources of protein regularly. This helpful article looks at the protein issue in depth. If you want to supplement your diet, there are many protein powders vying for our attention these days. Health nuts have brought up Sunwarrior lately, so I wanted to put the company in the spotlight, along with the huge banner ad on the main page of this blog that you are welcome to click on! If you purchase Sunwarrior through that banner ad, you would thrill me by providing my first pennies off this website which started with a desire to inspire others. A few year later, the blog is overflowing with articles on events, restaurants, interviews with interesting people in the veggie movement, and beyond.

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With a 110-year-old friend

I started this blog a few years ago to hopefully inspire others on their path to health; once in awhile I need to recharge and get inspired myself. I am not a raw foodist, but being around all the health-conscious people at Raw Spirit Festival provided just that revitalizing effect.

The setting at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Arizona was amazing and decadent, with desert mountain views, a fancy pool with an innertubing “river,” and a giant Dr. Seuss gingerbread house in the lobby.

I attended one day of the festival, at which many friendly, happy-looking people were in attendance. Many booths shared their raw food products, healing sessions and such, and some highly nutritious foods were for sale.

What probably motivated me the most to continue following a healthy lifestyle was meeting someone who looked great and was totally mentally alert at 110 years old! Bernando LaPallo told me he puts olive oil on his skin daily to avoid wrinkles, avoids stress, and eats organic foods – no meat, but he does eat fish. He was with longevity-focused folks from Akea who have a tasty supplement product that contains superfoods, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and more.

Also enjoyable was the talk by Mimi Kirk, a lovely 73-year-old with a new book of raw food recipes. The festival attendees rang in the New Year by dancing to the Luminaries, who had one song about affirmations and another about kombucha — a refreshing change for hip hop. As the clock struck midnight, Fantuzzi was playing some fun African and other beats.

It is always great to be around like-minded people!

Farmer Harvesting Camu Berries

What is yet another amazing food coming from the Amazon rainforest which contains about 60 times more vitamin C than an orange?

Camu (or camu camu), a berry dubbed the ‘Queen of Vitamin C’ by Navitas Naturals, is a nutritious rainforest fruit that has only recently become known to people in North America. The Navitas product is a pure organic powder. Each 5g serving contains 1,180% of the daily recommended intake of Vitamin C – a higher naturally occurring Vitamin C content than any other food on the planet.

This antioxidant-rich berry is also a great source of potassium, calcium, protein and beta-carotene. Camu also contains serine, thiamin, leucine and valine – powerful phytochemicals and amino acids that are known to have a wide range of therapeutic effects.

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Article by Raw Spirit Festivals

For the first time, Raw Spirit participants can bring in the New Year in an exquisite desert paradise just north of Phoenix, Arizona in the most elegant, sweetly-spiritual, healthful, cutting-edge, fun-loving, conscious, abundant, musical, interconnected way imaginable December 30, 2011 to January 1st, 2012 at Arizona’s most magnificent 5 star resort, the JW Marriott Desert Ridge. It features 300 Audubon Society-approved acres, lush lawns, mountains views, trails, 4 acres of heated palm-lined swimming pools and rivers, plus a gilded Wildflower Ballroom reserved exclusively for the Raw Spirit New Year’s Festival.

With a theme of “Inspiration, Education, Meditation & Celebration,” participants can expect to have plenty of fun while learning the latest information in health, eco and spiritual living via dynamic presentations and musical performances, including educational sessions by an eclectic array of doctors who are also research authors on natural health. Plus, raw vegan chefs will offer organic raw vegan demos & tastings, amidst a plethora of playshops on yoga, dancing, meditation, singing and more. Meanwhile, attendees can sample an organic raw vegan dishes and shop at vendor booths.

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Sipz in North Park

Sipz Fusion Cafe, the makers of great meatless Asian food,  finally opened their long-awaited North Park location. It’s in the perfect spot between CorePower Yoga and Rancho’s Cocina North Park, which has been offering numerous vegan options for years. Around the corner are the all-veggie Spread and Casa de Luz San Diego’s soon to open macrobiotic vegetarian restaurant with cooking classes.  The proximity of several veg-friendly places works well for health-conscious folks in the area and for people enjoying the monthly Ray at Night art walk.

The Sipz in North Park is owned by the same sister and brother team and features the same high quality food as the bigger Clairemont Mesa location. The North Park spot has a big window for watching the area’s characters passing by on the street, creatively painted walls, and a nice overall ambiance. They’ve got friendly waitstaff too.

My friend and I stuffed our faces with some appetizers: lettuce wraps and potstickers, followed by my longtime favorite, “Spicy Basil” with fake chicken. The food satisfied us just like the Clairemont Mesa location.

Sipz in North Park is open for lunch and  dinner daily. Watch for the grand opening in February- date TBA.

Delicious TV’s new television project is featuring popular vegan chefs through a six-episode cooking series to be distributed on public television. Since the episodes (half hour each) will be available to all stations via satellite, this project could explode as they will approach cable stations and eventually overseas markets.

Each week’s mash up is designed for universal appeal – every episode can be watched by followers of various diets. Join known chefs and cookbook authors Terry Hope Romero, Toni Fiore, and Miyoko Schinner every week in their own kitchens as they whip up some easy and tasty fare. A guest chef will be included to add some spice.

Betsy Carson’s “Totally Vegetarian” on Delicious TV has been seen nationwide and her recipe podcast VegEZ has reached more than 4.5 million people. She also produced Vegan Hotspot, a celebrity dining series.

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Reprinted from Vegan Mainstream, written by Jessi Stafford

Compassion Couture is a brand spanking new start-up run by the ever-fashionable and driven sister team, Jill and Tracey Spiritus. While working in the “hustle and bustle of corporate America,” the sisters realized they wanted a little more, and subsequently redirected their focus with a stylish, animal-friendly site to connect high-end eco-friendly, vegan fashions with the consumers who are seeking those types of items. Vegan Mainstream recently chatted with the dynamic duo to find out how they choose the trends to place on their site, how they got their start as entrepreneurs and what’s in store for the future of compassionate high-end wares.

Vegan Mainstream: How did you get the idea to start Compassion Couture?

Tracey Spiritus: It kind of stemmed from the fact that I was having a really hard time, personally, finding products that had qualities in line with my values. I really searched hard for products that were not made from animals and where the labels were conscious of the environment as well. I wanted to start a place where I could find all these items in one spot. [I wanted to develop a site that people would be able to come to] and not have to weed out things that weren’t well-made or that were just vegan by accident, but that were also fashion forward.

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Some people like to avoid the predictable winter colds and flus by taking something extra to boost immunity and well-being. For this purpose, along with general health, I recently reintroduced spirulina into my diet, but was not loving the taste or globs left in the blender when mixing it into a daily smoothie.

It was not long before Sunfood’s Sun is Shining arrived in the mail. I am not an expert on green powders or superfoods, but it felt like the royalty of the green powders had befriended lucky me. The product hit the spot – the taste is basically neutral, which is a lot better than spirulina, and Sun is Shining blends smoothly into any beverage. Since I started taking it each day, I have noticed a sustained energy throughout the day, even when not having slept well the night before.

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San Francisco not only teases the senses with colorful Victorian homes, amazing bay views, and abundant arts and culture, but is a vegetarian travel haven. One  highlight is being treated to dinner at the classic gourmet Millennium Restaurant.

It seems the best way to experience Millennium’s many offerings is by sharing several items with your dining companions  — my group of three ravaged every dish that came to the table. Partly that was because we were really hungry after not being seated until 9:15 pm for an 8:45 reservation — a bit frustrating. But we also devoured everything because it was seriously delectable.

Millennium focuses on fresh, organic vegan cuisine that is free of genetically modified foods. While some  vegans are masters of making simple veggie burritos, Millennium is serving up delicacies like Sake Seared Snap Peas and Roasted Fava Bean Flatbread, just for starters. My favorite appetizer was the Buckwheat and Yukon Gold Potato Gnocchi with seared shiitake mushrooms, pickled ginger-wasabi cream and toasted nori. Their entrees, which ran about $25 each, were intricate recipes such as the Sesame-Black Pepper Crusted Portobello or a Southwestern Semolina Crepe.

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