Mexico Lindo Buffet... round 2!

Our buffet scheduled for March 1st is at max capacity! Thanks to all those who RSVP'd early. However, to accommodate all those who still want to indulge in this unique buffet, we've scheduled a second buffet at Mexico Lindo to occur on Monday, March 15th, at 6:30 PM. The menu will be identical to the one included in our last blog post. To save your spot for the second buffet, please email us (halifaxvegetarians@gmail.com).

Mexican food buffet!

HAV is hosting a vegetarian/vegan buffet on Monday, March 1st, at 6:30 PM, at Mexico Lindo (3635 Dutch Village Road).

HAV returns to Mexico Lindo each year because this buffet is fabulous! The buffet break-down is included below. The cost of the buffet (including drink and dessert) is $16.50 (+ tax) per person. If interested, please reserve by email.

Our guest speaker will be Amanda Dainow, a Clinical Herbal Medicine student who will speak to the group about "Natural First Aid for Dogs and Cats" and "Holistic Care for Companion Animals".

BUFFET MENU:

MANGO AND PEAR SALAD
In a bed of greens slice mango, pears and pecans. Dressed with Honey.

POBLANO CREAM SOUP
Creamy soup made with poblano peppers and corn nibbles.

EMPANADAS
Corn tortilla pockets filled with spinach and cheese. Garnished with salsa and chopped cabbage.

ENCHILADAS
Corn tortilla soaked in tomato salsa and filled with green pepper and corn topped with melted cheese, onion and sour cream.

IMPOSSIBLE CAKE
A cake and a flan together! With or with out milk goat caramel.

VEGAN features of the buffet:

CHIPS AND SALSA

SOY CEVICHE
Cooked soy protein mix with tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeno peppers and a zest of lime juice

MEXICAN RICE
Rice fried in salsa and diced vegetables

BLACK BEANS
Refried Black beans

EMPANADAS
Corn tortilla pockets filled with potatoes. Garnished with salsa and chopped cabbage

ENCHILADAS
Corn tortilla soaked in tomato salsa and filled with green pepper and corn.

NOPALITOS (Cactus Salad)
Slice tender cactus mixed with tomato, onion, and cilantro

AGUA FRESCA (House Drink)
Jamaica flavor, made from dry petals of the Hibiscus flower.

Welcome to 2010!

HAV is pleased to announce our first event of the year: a dinner at The Wooden Monkey on Tuesday, January 26th at 6 pm.

Our guest speaker is Geordie Ouchterlony, founder and owner of Home Grown Organic Foods (HGOF). He will speak about eating locally and organically. The Wooden Monkey will provide us with a special menu featuring their vegetarian choices. They were voted the top veg friendly restaurant by readers of the Coast , and many of you have been requesting a dinner at the Wooden Monkey, so we expect it to be popular.

Reserve early via return email.

Festive Dinner 2009

We are once again holding a FESTIVE DINNER at Satisfaction Feast, 3559 Robie Street (one block north of Lady Hammond) and this year our guest speaker is Aurélie Pare, author of The Healthaliciously Good Cookbook. Aurélie has been interviewed on radio and television and won two recipe contests, with the winning recipe in one case going out to over one million people.

The date is November 28th, Saturday at 6:30 PM

This is a three course dinner including soup as the appetizer; vegetable tofu pot pie, mashed potatoes, with gravy and cranberry sauce as the main course; and a choice of their famous truffles, peanut butter balls or carob balls for dessert.
The dinner is vegan or vegan adaptable. The cost is $18.00 OR $15.00 if you choose to order the main course with smaller portions.
Tea and coffee included. Other drinks are an additional cost as well as taxes and gratuity.

No price differential this time and both members and non members welcome
* Payment - cash, debit or credit card There is limited seating, so reserve early for this festive vegetarian fall dinner by emailing halifaxvegetarians@gmail.com.

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October Update

October has been a busy month for association members and friends. An impressive potluck was held at the home of Sarah and Paul Bitove on October 11th, Thanksgiving weekend. On the following weekend, October 17 and 18, our booth at the Wellness Expo encouraged a vegetarian diet for greater health and longer life. Finally, we will be meeting for dinner at Bramoso Pizza (Quinpool Shopping Centre, 6169 Quinpool Rd.) on Wednesday, October 28th, 6 - 8 pm for a members only dinner, but you can renew or obtain a membership at the dinner. No speaker, but we will have a short annual general meeting, and discussion about our future direction. All eight of Bramoso's vegetarian pizza's will be available for sampling and, as their crust does contain eggs, we will also offer our own vegan crust with a choice of their many toppings.

Our cost is $15 each, plus beverages, tax and gratuity. A bargain for "all you can eat" pizza sampling. Bramoso is a member of our discount program, enabling members to receive a 10% discount from their regular pricing on return visits.

Dinner at The Wooden Shoe

Following our spectacular success in June with the raw foods dinner at the Heartwood, we took our usual time off during the summer. With fall beginning, it is time to announce a dinner at The Wooden Shoe, a new restaurant in Bayers Lake that features Dutch cuisine. We will meet on Friday, September 25th from 6:00 - 8:00 pm to enjoy a 3 course dinner including a choice of two soups, their signature pannekoek (peasant's version of its cousin the French crepe) with choice of toppings, and a choice of two desserts. All for $15 each, plus the cost of beverages, tax and gratuity. When reserving to halifaxvegetarians@gmail.com, please indicate if you prefer the vegan version of this dinner. Seating is limited to 24, so reserve early and avoid disappointment.

Andy Radin, a researcher in organic agriculture at the NS Agricultural College, will be our guest speaker, speaking on the subject of food self sufficiency in Nova Scotia and the importance of food as a cultural force.

Raw foods dinner at Heartwood

The Halifax Association of Vegetarians is hosting a raw foods dinner at the Heartwood on Wednesday, June 17th at 6:30 pm with guest speaker, raw foods or "living cuisine" consultant Georgia Barnwell. This is an excellent opportunity to be introduced to this diet, which is growing in popularity across Canada.

The dinner special will be a raw foods salad/dip platter. It will consist of a spinach/lettuce salad with nuts, veggies, local sprouts and a lemon tahini dressing. Along with the salad we will serve a fresh basil guacamole and a seed/nut pate. Specially made flat breads will be served along with the dips. For dessert we will have a raw foods nut/dried fruit ball with coconut.

The cost of the dinner will be $15, plus the cost of beverages, tax and gratuity. HAV members can use their membership cards for a 10% discount on this dinner, and for future visits to the Heartwood, as this popular vegetarian cafe will join our discount program following the dinner.

Send reservations to halifaxvegetarians@gmail.com

Sample the cuisine of Mexico on March 30th

Buenas dias
Winter lingers and all of us cannot go to Mexico, so we have arranged for a buffet of Mexican cuisine to be available for our members and their guests at Halifax's own Mexico Lindo restaurant, located at 3635 Dutch Village Road (across from the previous site of Halifax West High School). The dinner will be held on Monday, March 30th, as Ana Jiminez-Jenkins ( the owner) is closed on Monday, so is free to create recipes for our buffet that are not normally available. Please mark this date on your calendar, come dressed in your Mexican attire (if you wish) and bring your favourite Mexican recipe to share with others. While we are enjoying coffee or tea, our guest speaker, Jack Potter from the Metropolitan Immigrant Settlement Association (MISA), will talk about the work of MISA and how immigration is increasing diversity in Halifax. As this is a buffet, any remaining food will be available for members and guests, so be prepared by bringing a storage container. Reservations are required at halifaxvegitarians@gmail.com as space is limited.
Mexico Lindo buffet menu – Monday March 30, 2008 6:30 PM
* denotes vegan choices

*chips and salsa
*soup Tarasca (black bean soup with chipotle)
*cactus salad (pickled cactus, tomato, onion, jalapeno and cilantro)
*Tamales (corn flour dough filled with spinach and cheese, steam cooked in a corn husk)
Enchiladas (corn tortillas filled with green pepper and corn, topped with salsa and melted cheese)
*Mexican rice (rice fried in tomato salsa and corn)
Harvest salad (apples, pineapple, celery and pecans, topped with sour cream)
*Veggies in green salsa (carrots, zucchini, green beans, onions, tomato cooked in green salsa
Flan (Mexican style cream of caramel topped with goat milk carmel)
*Agua fresca (fresh fruit drink – flavour depends on the market) one 16 oz. serving included

price for each person $15.00 plus HST
coffee and/or tea additional $1.25

We look forward to seeing you there.
The HAV team

Festive Dinner 2008

Once again we are holding a FESTIVE DINNER at Satisfaction Feast and, this year, our guest speaker is Savayda Jarone, prominent Nova Scotia herbalist, who will speak on herbalism and vegetarianism.

Where ? NEW LOCATION
3559 Robie Street (one block north of Lady Hammond)

When? December 6th Saturday

Time? 6:30 PM

What? A three course dinner including soup as the appetizer; vegetable tofu pot pie, mashed potatoes, with gravy and cranberry sauce as the main course; and a choice of their famous truffles, peanut butter balls or carob balls for dessert.
The dinner is vegan or vegan adaptable.

Cost? $16.00 OR $14.00 if you choose to order the main course with smaller portions.
Tea and coffee included. Other drinks are an additional cost as well as taxes and gratuity.

Satisfaction Feast is one of a growing number of restaurants and cafes in Halifax to give a discount to HAV members. The discount does not apply in this case, as Sarita, owner of Satisfaction Feast is already giving us special pricing on this dinner.

• Payment - cash, debit or credit card
  

There is limited seating, so reserve early for this festive vegetarian
fall dinner by emailing halifaxvegetarians@gmail.com.

Thanks!

the HAV team.

Wellness Expo a Success

Our booth at the Wellness Expo on Saturday and Sunday, October 18th and 19th, was busy. This was our third year at the show, and it enabled us to increase our visibility. We were able to answer a wide range of questions about vegetarianism and our association, in addition to increasing our membership.

We presented two vegetarian dinners for two at Tarek's Cafe as prizes again this year, thanks to the support of Tarek. He has been very supportive of the Halifax Association of Vegetarians and both of his cafes are in our discount program for members.

Our Veggie Taste Challege at Planet Organic having been the focus of the association in September, it has been some time since we have offered a dinner for the membership. Good news! We are planning our Annual Festive Dinner at the Satisfaction Feast for early December and will be back to you soon with the details.

Vegetarian Taste Challenge

The Halifax Association of Vegetarians and Planet Organic are working together to offer you the opportunity to taste a wide variety of vegetarian and vegan foods. We are calling this our vegetarian taste challenge, since most Nova Scotians eat only 12 - 15 recipes and repeat them every week. Ironically, the most common question asked of vegetarians is "what do you eat, if you don't eat meat?".

We are challenging you to taste some new foods, all vegetarian and most vegan. You will want to add some of these to your regular diet for better health, longer life, and especially because of the great taste.

There is no charge and members of the Halifax Association of Vegetarians (HAV) will be available for those who wish to learn more about vegetarian and vegan diets. Drop by at Planet Organic (upstairs) on Sunday, the 28th of September, between 2:00 and 5:00 PM.

Picnic Today

We hope that you received a notice of our picnic today as it's a great opportunity to enjoy some great veggie food and friendly company next to the ocean.

WHAT? A Saturday Picnic/Potluck
WHERE? Point Pleasant Park (by the lower Parking Lot)
WHEN? Saturday July 5th at 2pm

We look forward to sharing food, ideas, stories, recipes, and more.
All are welcome, so feel free to bring along your family and friends.

June Successes and July Picnic

Our Music and Pizza evening on Friday, June 13th was very successful, as we enjoyed the music and food provided by John Dalton of Big Life Whole Foods. The Muffin Bake Off, held on Saturday, June 21st, a shared event with The Grainery, Halifax's natural foods cooperative, was also enjoyable with six contestants supplying the delicious muffins. Yes, we are posting the recipes on our website with the next update.

Our summer plans include a picnic in July (subject to weather) and a dinner featuring the foods of Cumberland County, that will be held at the Art Gallery in Parrsboro on a Saturday in August. We will post more information on these events in an upcoming blog.

All of our members receive regular emails concerning our events, additions to our discount program and other benefits. If you have not yet joined, there is no better time. Enjoy the Nova Scotia summer and the great vegetarian food offered here, using your membership card for a discount makes it less expensive and identifies you as a vegetarian.

Music and Pizza Date Change

We have decided to move our Music and Pizza Dinner to Friday, June 13th at 6:30 pm (no, we are not superstitious), so note that date on your calendar and join us for the food and music noted in our previous blog.

Pizza and Music

This year we have enjoyed many firsts: a potluck with the Halifax Vegan Potluck Group, a dinner at Mexico Lindo and a brunch at the Turkish Delight. Our next event is another first for the association, as we are offering a catered dinner. Big Life Whole Foods, that are popular at the Halifax Farmers Market for their vegetarian baked goods, pizzas and soups will create food for the dinner to be held at the Universalist Unitarian Church of Halifax at 5500 Inglis Street on Friday, June 6th at 6:30 pm. As a year has passed since our first annual general meeting, we shall have a short (yes, it will be short) second annual general meeting. John Dalton, the owner of Big Life Whole Foods, will speak about his business and provide music for the evening.

The dinner will include a red lentil with organic vegetable soup; a garden salad featuring local and organic ingredients; a choice of four slices from the eight pizzas being offered that include pepper/black olive, zucchini/red onion/sun dried tomato, mushroom/roasted garlic/sun dried tomato, artichoke heart/sun dried tomato/black olive, pepper/mushroom/onion and three cheese; and finally apple crisp made with spelt flour and choice of coffee or tea.

The pizzas are made with either porridge/multigrain, spelt, or a mix of five gluten free flours and there are gluten free and vegan options. The cost for the dinner is $20.00 ($18.00 for members) and reservations are needed, so reserve soon as space is limited.

We have ambitious plans for the balance of 2008, including a dinner on a Saturday during the summer at a gallery in Parrsboro featuring Cumberland County ingredients; a dinner at the Wooden Monkey in the fall that will include Geordie Ouchterlony of Home Grown Organic Foods as our guest speaker; a dinner in Lunenburg County and a return to the Satisfaction Feast for our annual Festive Dinner. All of these, as well as our other events and discount program will include savings for members, so join or renew your membership by contacting us at halifaxvegetarians@gmail.com

Be kind to animals, don't eat them (The slogan for Vegetarian Journal)

Join us for brunch at Turkish Delight

Following our successful buffet dinner at Mexico Lindo, perhaps our most successful dinner to date, we are meeting for brunch at Turkish Delight (5680 Spring Garden Road), so mark 1:00 PM on Sunday May 4th on your calendar and make your reservation with our secretary as early as possible, since seating is limited to twenty-nine.
Unlike Mexico Lindo, where we were treated to a buffet of foods not on the menu, the Turkish Delight will give a 10% discount from the menu to members of our association and will then join our discount program, so that members can continue to enjoy the discount on return visits.
We have no guest speaker for the brunch, but ask that you bring your favourite cookbook or recipe to share with others. At our potlucks, you get a chance to sample some recipes, but this will give you a chance to take note of recipes that have worked for other Halifax vegetarians and vegans.

Sample the cuisine of Mexico on April 7th

Buenas dias
Winter lingers and all of us cannot go to Mexico, so we have arranged for a buffet of Mexican cuisine to be available for our members and their guests at Halifax's own Mexico Lindo restaurant, located at 3635 Dutch Village Road (across from the previous site of Halifax West High School). The dinner will be held on Monday, April 7, as Ana Jiminez-Jenkins ( the owner) is closed on Monday, so is free to create recipes for our buffet that are not normally available. Please mark this date on your calendar, come dressed in your Mexican attire (if you wish) and bring your favourite Mexican recipe to share with others. Ana has agreed to be our speaker, while we are enjoying coffee or tea. As this is a buffet, any remaining food will be available for members and guests, so be prepared by bringing a storage container. Reservations are required at halifaxvegitarians@gmail.com as space is limited.
Mexico Lindo buffet menu – Monday April 7, 2008 6:30 PM
* denotes vegan choices

*chips and salsa
*soup Tarasca (black bean soup with chipotle)
*cactus salad (pickled cactus, tomato, onion, jalapeno and cilantro)
*Tamales (corn flour dough filled with spinach and cheese, steam cooked in a corn husk)
Enchiladas (corn tortillas filled with green pepper and corn, topped with salsa and melted cheese)
*Mexican rice (rice fried in tomato salsa and corn)
Harvest salad (apples, pineapple, celery and pecans, topped with sour cream)
*Veggies in green salsa (carrots, zucchini, green beans, onions, tomato cooked in green salsa
Flan (Mexican style cream of caramel topped with goat milk carmel)
*Agua fresca (fresh fruit drink – flavour depends on the market) one 16 oz. serving included

price for each person $15.00 plus HST
coffee and/or tea additional $1.25

We look forward to seeing you there.
The HAV team

Successful Planning Meeting and Vegan Potluck

Our Directors meeting on Jan. 27th established our goals and aims for 2008. We held five dinners, two potlucks and two outreach events during 2007. In 2008 we plan to increase this to six dinners, six potlucks and six outreach events. The dinners may include locations outside the Halifax area (we discussed a Lunenburg County restaurant and have since had the suggestion of a Cumberland County dinner featuring foods from that area of Nova Scotia). The potlucks will offer variety and will again include a picnic. Events will vary from another appearance at the Wellness Show to an appearance at the Halifax Farmers Market.

We decided that more advance notice was needed and will attempt to put together a six month schedule. Directors Meetings will now be held at 2 PM. on the last Saturday of each month. The locations will be posted and members invited to attend.

Our first potluck of the year was held on Sunday, February 3rd in cooperation with the Halifax Vegan Potluck Group. It was very successful with a doubling of the normal attendance. Many of our Facebook group made their first appearance at a HAV sponsored event. We have added this excellent potluck to the events page on our website as it is held every second week and deserves support.

Happy New Year

Welcome to 2008, a year for adding new vegetarian recipes to your diet. To make this easier, we are planning a potluck in conjunction with the Dal Vegan Potluck Group, which will be held on Sunday, February 3rd at the Women's Centre (time and directions to follow). This will give you a chance to add new recipes and share your favourites. Please insure that they are vegan, so we can all enjoy them.

On Sunday January 27 (the Sunday prior to the potluck), the Board of Directors are meeting at 2pm at the Daily Grind on Spring Garden Road to discuss goals and plans for HAV. Members are encouraged to attend and to contribute to the discussion, as this will result in a stronger association. Hope to see some of you there!

Finally, Joe Mrkonjic, the owner of SeaLife Sea Plants, is working with the chef of a popular downtown Halifax restaurant to create a unique menu for a dinner that we will be enjoying in February. Joe will be our guest speaker at the dinner. I expect to announce the location, time and price of the dinner in my next posting.

Record Attendance at Festive Dinner

Our annual Festive Dinner held at the new Satisfaction Feast on Friday December 7th was our biggest dinner to date with thirty members and guests filling the restaurant. The food was impressive thanks to Sarita and her staff, who managed to satisfy everyone. The choice of larger or smaller servings is rarely given in restaurants today, but was offered to us and provided savings in cost and waste. With the Satisfaction Feast stressing local and organic when possible, the dinner was an environmental, as well as a vegetarian success.

Dr. Anne Houstoun spoke to us on the health benefits of a vegetarian diet. The fact that vegetarians live longer healthier lives was documented in the Public Policy Statement of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada Position on Vegetarian Diets. This report and a Vegetarian food guide rainbow was provided to each of us by Dr. Houstoun. We are in her debt for this report, as well as the time she gave us for her thoughtful presentation and individual discussions. If you missed the dinner, but would like to receive this printed information, please request it from our secretary.

I found it interesting that the policy statement indicated that 2.5% of adults in the USA and 4% of adults in Canada follow vegetarian diets. If this is the average for all of Canada, the average in Halifax would be much higher. Our current membership of just over fifty has considerable potential for growth.

We will be back to you in January with our 2008 events including a January dinner. In the meantime, use your membership cards over the holiday for discounts at the restaurants, cafes and other businesses in our discount program.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year