Food Fight!!!!

As the veg lifestyle increases in popularity, so do the food options.  When I gave up meat in high school, I was still eating Mom food and felt no pain (she was a granola girl in the 70’s and made us a lot of stuff that was already vegetarian).  In college I was dirt fucking poor and lived off of cheap and healthy things like falafel and veggie sandwiches!  I relied very little on processed foods because there just wasn’t much for vegetarians.  But NOW, oh man…it’s a vegan junk food paradise out there. Pizzas, candy bars, ice cream, chips, dips, cheesy stuff.  Fred Meyer has an increasingly good selection of vegan items, and of course Whole Foods and stores of that sort carry a wide array, but my favorite store is Food Fight.  It’s an ALL vegan grocery store in Portland and it is huge fun to shop there. I don’t HAVE to read every label, which is so very very nice.  I also love supporting a store that promotes my ideals.  We are firm believers in voting with your dollars.  It’s part of a vegan mini-mall located at SE Stark and 12th, so after you shop at Food Fight you can go the amazing Sweetpea Baking Company for some lunch and a treat ( I recommend The Higgins sandwich!), Herbivore Clothing for something cool to wear (buy me the Hail Seitan shirt and I will love you forever!) and get a tattoo at Scapegoat Tattoo Co., an all-vegan tattoo shop!

I have been trying super hard to eat well (Summerween is coming, you know...) and Food Fight has been torturing me with emails about new products like peanut butter cups and caramels.  Grrrrr.  If you make the trip to Food Fight, here are some items I ALWAYS pick up:

Butler Soy Curls:  Ugly little dried bits...you soak them in water, they plump up into meaty little strips that you can saute with spices and sauces to achieve any flavor you desire!

Nacho Mom's Vegan Queso:  This cheezy dip is amazingly good!  The ingredients are simple and natural and I think the entire jar is like 170 calories, so even if you "pigged" out and ate the whole thing, you're still way ahead of the cholesterol-filled dairy game.

Cafe Yumm's Yumm Sauce:  We get the chipotle. It's too good for words.  Great on sandwiches, as a dip, straight out of the jar :)  

WayFare We Can't Say It's Cheese Spreads:  They are all great but the Hickory Cheddar is our favorite.  It makes an excellent grilled cheese and it's made from nuts!  Again, big F.U. to artery-clogging dairy.

Tofurky Pizzas: Like the crappy frozen pizzas you loved as a child, but cruelty-free.  We usually some pineapple to the top of these and play some video games and drink sodas, whoooo!

Cowgirl Steaks from Viana:  These are just...made of magic, I don't know. We fry these up and eat them straight with gravy (that reminds me, you all need my recipe for Madeira wine gravy!) and potatoes and veggies, or on a roll as a sandwich.  

I find it hard to get over to Food Fight as often as I like, but I have found that I can order online (except the frozen and cold foods)  and I get my package the next business day for just about $5 in shipping!  Not bad when I need a Soy Curl and peanut butter cup fix :)