WCC earth day festival

Back a few weeks ago now I went to the Ann Arbor Earth Day festival.  It's now held indoors at WCC(Washtenaw Community College), it was rainy and cold this year, so that was kinda nice.  I do like it to be outdoors better though at the farmer's market, my favorite year we went with one of my SIL, it was cold and rainy then too ;) , we were introduced to kale chips and sunflower sprouts.  We bought kale, brought it home and made our own delicious chips (in the oven).  This was about six years ago now, it's taken me a while to find myself back to that lovely kale...now it's a staple in our diet and grows like crazy in our garden =) 

This year I enjoyed lunch from Pilar's.  I had the tamale meal which is a lot of food, and I did eat it all ;)  She makes a vegan tempeh tamale that filled with tempeh, green olives, capers, and potatoes. 





Here's my meal: the tamale, casamiento, slaw, and plantains.



vegan tamale filling



and maybe the best part horchata!  I know this has sugar, which I don't consume a lot of, but this is a wonderful treat to me.  I did chat with Sylvia about the ingredients (so many horchatas have cow's milk/cream in them), but she makes hers vegan and creamy just from the toasted rice. 



you know where this cup is now....our composter =)



She also makes hibiscous tea, which Mom and I have had before and is yummy.  I do much prefer horchata however.....mmmm it's so good



responsible waste!  (all my lunch products went into the compost, well, and my belly ;)



the Leslie Science and Nature Center was there with some of their rehabbed injured birds of prey.  They had this gorgeous bald eagle and a barred owl that was so amazing.  I just love birds of prey and really enjoy seeing them out in the wild. 



Other highlights of the fest for me were chatting and learning about Ann Arbor's Co-Housing, which I find really interesting and wonderful.  Not for us right now, but maybe someday...and talking with bgreen today, looking through their cork flooring and learning that they have a store front on Industrial.  This week I went to the store shopping for some remodelling materials.  If you're in the market for green finishing supplies (or biodegradeable plates, cups, laundry soap, etc.) I definitely recommend checking them out.  I also learned that there is an electric scooter made in Ann Arbor!  who knew?  We've tossed around the idea of doing one car one scooter, which right now would work for us.  We still own two autos that are kicking though, so we're very happy with that now, but maybe someday I'll be driving my scooter to our co-housing condo.