Not just for smoking anymore: Chef shows Winnipeggers how to cook with grass

For Cody Lindsay using cannabis every day is a way of life.

The veteran and chef said he did two tours with the military working as a cook before being released at age 25.

He says cannabis is what's helped him deal with operational stress injuries.

"My mind just started racing a thousand miles a minute and when I got home it never stopped," he told CBC News at the Cannabis and Hemp Expo in Winnipeg Saturday.

"For myself cannabis just helps me think of one thing a minute, rather than the anxiety ripping through and brain going absolutely crazy and can't focus on one thing at a time.

"Cannabis helps me relax."

Now, Lindsay and his wife Kaleena are behind the Wellness Soldier website, an effort to help other veterans navigate the world of medical marijuana, clean eating, fitness and meditation.

"I wanted to create a website, or an information hub, to help other veterans, caregivers and patients," explained Lindsay, who was at the Cannabis and Hemp Expo promoting his website in advance of next month's legalization of pot in Canada.

Educating consumers about pot

The Cannabis and Hemp Expo is running until Sunday at the RBC convention centre and brings together exhibits, seminars and panels aimed at educating consumers and those in the industry.

Lindsay, who uses marijuana everyday in many different forms including smoking, vaporizing and oils and concentrates, spent Saturday leading a demonstration on how he also includes cannabis for medicinal purposes in his cooking.

He cooks with marijuana by infusing it in the things found in any kitchen — sugar, butter, honey and cooking oils — and his recipes go far beyond the traditional pot brownie.

The Wellness Soldier website features recipes ranging from roasted sweet potato wedges and cannabis infused chicken wings to cheesecake bites and cannabis infused smoothies.

"It's whatever you can infuse the medium into," he explained.

With pot set to be legalized in Canada starting Oct. 17 Kevin Blackburn, the show director behind the Cannabis and Hemp Expo, says the event is a draw.

"The excitement in the industry and the fact that there's so many groups that want to get involved now has really created a big buzz around these shows," he said of the expos that have also been held in Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa.

"There's such a hunger for education, awareness and all that, so that's why we put these shows on, specifically for education of the public to the industry professional."