Anatomy of a Grocery Trip: Limbo

I'm still coming down from the high of being in the front row for Alicia Silverstone's talk about her book, The Kind Diet, last night at Powell's. So, if I start chanting about the beauty of kale in this post, you know why.

A trip for spices & tea.

This past weekend, I hit up Limbo for bulk spices, tea and a couple other goodies. It had been far too long. They usually have crazy deals on $1 produce bags ready for smoothies and juicing, and random vegetables, like 2 bell peppers for a $1, and of course, local and organic produce, but I was all set at home so I stuck to bulk shopping. I tend to go there more regularly come late fall and winter in Portland - tea weather!

Their selection of bulk herbs and tea is massive. If you're in Portland and and appreciate buying in bulk, and having a huge variety of chili powders to choose from, you must go.

My teas included herbal chai, blackberry black and a citrus based dental health herbal tea.

I am constantly drinking tea at work in my Bodum teapot, there's a pot of the blackberry by my side as I type this.

Garlic is $3.49/lb at Limbo, so I grab many. The tiny lemons were 10 cents a piece, and being out of organic lemon juice at home, I went for five.

Spices: The return of smoked paprika into my life. If you read What the hell does a vegan eat anyway? you know it rules. I was on a huge roasted potatoes with smoked paprika kick a few years ago, myself, I couldn't make them enough! Cumin - it took me a few years to realize this, but I dig it. Coriander - I plan on baking falafel soon. Paprika & Ginger - of course. I like to keep fresh ginger at home, but powdered comes in handy. And last, but not least - Ancho Chili powder. It's superb and used in a few of Isa Chandra Moskowitz's recipes. I've already used it in a cheezy sauce this week and I want to bake kale chips dusted with it!

VeganMoFo III Approaches!

Dum dum dum! It's coming.

The Vegan Month of Food returns October 1st with a third year of vegan culinary blogging madness. Who's down?

The idea originated with Isa Chandra Moskowitz on the Post Punk Kitchen forums, and this year, Kittee is hosting the official sign up here on Kitteekake. She asks that you please sign up by October 2nd. It's a fulfilling experience and always brings new and seasoned vegan food bloggers into the fold.

If you feel like a vegan blogging adventure and are looking for ideas, check out my posts from 2007 and 2008.

Post about recipes, meal plans, restaurant experiences, favorites, fill out surveys, showcase pictures of your cat eating spinach, your friend with peas stuck up their nose, famous vegan celebrities you crush on, grocery shopping, etc. I'm trying to get my new website together in time! If you're in Portland, check out the VeganMoFo Workshop at the Bye & Bye on Thursday, October 1st.

Look, it's practically a MoFo post!

Recent trip to Fubonn

Who wants to make salad rolls? I do!

Super Quick Product Review: Rice Dream Supreme

Hey, Vanilla.

Hey, Hazelnut.

Hey, Fudge.

Sup?

Just for the fun of it, I wanted to give some love to this Rice Dream Supreme Vanilla Hazelnut Fudge bar I nearly swooned over last weekend.

It was really good! It's coated in dark chocolate, the ice cream is comfortably vanilla with a tint of my favorite nut and is remarkably creamy for a rice based ice cream.

Yeah, yeah, I know this is mostly the girl who tried mint chocolate Rice Dream seven years ago and quickly abandoned that icy pint, talking, and nondairy desserts have consistently improved and impressed over the years. I have friends that seem to swear by Good Karma's Carrot Cake. I thought it was alright, sorry!

The best part of the satisfying bar, though?

It was fifty freaking cents from the Hollywood Grocery Outlet.

It was the highlight of that quirky grocery outing.

Coming Soon:

Another new vegan cart in Portland: Ruby Dragon PDX at the North Mississippi Marketplace

Portland's VegFest

The Exquisite Vegan Dinner at Belly Timber

Vegan Eats in Spokane, WA

...and my site is moving!

VeganTwitNic #2, Check

We had the second ever VeganTwitNic yesterday in Colonel Summers Park in SE Portland. Nice showing, delicious food, no rain, relaxing in the sun, breaks in the shade, classic picnic times. There was even a watermelon, I kid you not.

I brought Gluten Free Mac & Cheeze with Broccoli

Maeve brought a refreshing raw kale salad, there was a gazpacho like dip, savoury tofu with prunes & olives, rice, gluten free lasagna, dessert and more.

Fruit, coconut pudding and cake parfait!

Part of the spread

I give up trying to make my plate look more than somewhat presentable at potlucks.

Quick stop at Food Fight! this weekend for soap, new Flameboy mango hot sauce, Cheddar Cheezly (some of it went into the mac!) and nectarines, suspiciously not pictured.

All the normal things I replenish.

Now I'm off to embark on Day #1 of Dittering week!

Saturday Groceries.

Rainy day be damned, I went to the second Portland Farmers Market this past Saturday.  It had returned for the season (and by season, I mean until December!) to the PSU Park blocks and despite just missing bus there, finding myself using an umbrella for the first time in over a year and grumbling more than I'd like to admit, I arrived, and got to work smiling and creepily eyeing vegetables.  

Looks like Portland.

It's mostly greens this early in the season but there are a ton of local vendors including Tastebud Pita (which I would have gotten if the wheat berry salad mix didn't have leeks, bummer for me), Dave's Killer Bread and Black Sheep Bakery.  Besides buying produce for myself, I went with the intention of buying my siblings gifts of jam and whatnot for my trip to the East Coast in a few weeks and forgot  - sorry Jenny!  Last year I brought my sister some of the sensational Blossom Vinegars.

My mini haul:

 a bag of giant Red Anjoi Pears $4

kale raab $2.25

yellow onion 50 cents (for a recipe!)

Maittake mushrooms $5

Later in the day, I hadn't enough of the rain and grocery shopping and headed to Fubonn.

I picked up white rice, dark soy sauce, wasabi powder, organic Ota firm tofu, rice noodles, green tea and red bean mochi, avocado, carrot, cucumber, nori and a bamboo rolling mat.  

It suddenly felt like the weekend to make sushi, which I'd never done by myself before. That was slightly embarrassing to admit...

From Fubonn:

Cuteness!  and Glutey-free.

The amateur sushi.

With cucumber, avocado, fried tofu tossed with sesame chili oil (frozen after my last Fubonn trip) and leftover Tempeh Croutons from a delish Joanna recipe I'll feature next post.

Anatomy of a Grocery Trip: Fubonn Supermarket & Brooklyn Pad Thai

It's been quite a while!  Somehow I've gone since September without an addition to the 

Get Sconed! Anatomy of a Grocery Trip series.  Blame the economy.  And living close to a New Seasons market.  

Yesterday I had tofu on the brain and took the bus to Fubonn Supermarket, just south of Division on 82nd Ave.

The goods:

I picked up fresh ginger, locally made fried tofu, fresh rice noodles, Mori Nu silken tofu, rice vinegar, agar agar and tamarind concentrate, which I haven't seen at Fubonn before and found on display for $1.69 or so!  I have some vegetables at home, so these were all fun, special purchases.  Once I grabbed the tofu and tamarind, I found myself walking to the fresh noodle section, and Pad Thai fell on the menu for dinner....

Brooklyn Pad Thai with thin rice noodles  

The recipe is from Vegan with a Vengeance.  This was my first time using tamarind concentrate ever - it's one of those products that I meant to buy and never had - and the taste was so close to Pad Thai Woon Sen at Pad Thai Kitchen!  I added broccoli and green bell pepper, and left out the red onions.  I used Sambal Olek as my chili component and the final product was fantastic.  Not to mention cooked in less than 15 minutes..

Anatomy of a Grocery Trip: Trader Joe's and more

First off, Trader Joe's makes their own Vegan Soy Chorizo!  Zing! $1.99!  Granted, I haven't been to TJ's in quite a while, so it was new to me, so bear with me for jubilantly hoping to spread the word.

I first tried El Burrito Soyrizo at Taqueria Los Gorditos in SE Portland, and have purchased it a few times for home burrito and nacho making.  The Trader Joe's branded item is probably the same product rebranded, or close enough, and $1.50+ cheaper than what I've paid for the real deal.  I cooked it in olive oil with sweet corn and black beans, and made tacos.

I also picked up flax spaghetti that I ate with homemade purple basil marinara last night, firm tofu, baby carrots, peppermint toothpaste, black beans, baby spinach, castle soap, tortilla chips, olive oil, sliced black olives, and a few pieces of produce, bulk herbs and tea from Limbo next door.  When traveling to TJ's, I have the option of hitting up my precious Limbo in SE, or going to Hollywood and running around Grocery Outlet.  Grocery shopping is fun times.

I really will discuss Seattle in my next post.  Thanks for the Monterey and San Jose tips!

FYI, Veganopolis closed in downtown Portland yesterday.  The owners are moving back to Chicago and working on a cookbook.   I was never a big fan of the food, even working downtown as I do, let alone the drama that surrounded the owners, but it's still sad to lose an all vegan eatery anywhere.  

I went on Monday for the lunch buffet and for a muffin on Tuesday.

Pasta buffet with roasted tomatoes, broccoli and tempeh bacon:

And one last spelt chocolate chip cookie.  

I used to love these, this one was sadly on the dry side.  

Stumptown Vegans Podcasts and Stuff

Want to hear me gush about vegan food and Portland out loud? Do you think you can handle it?



Check out the new Stumptown Vegans Podcasts website, where you can listen to
Webly and myself discuss our favorite places, cheap ass deals and
interview the inspirational Everyday Dish host Julie Hasson.
This is an extension of our food reviews website, StumptownVegans.com

We're now on Itunes, too!
Look for a new podcast coming shortly.

But to give this post some non-promotional substance, some recent foodz:


This salad has romaine, raddichio, Italian kale and tempeh bacon.


I'm not too into salad dressings. I would have used some balsamic vinegar, but I was at work, so I went all plain crazy. If anything, I would have dug this salad with some vegan caeser, but sometimes you just want to taste the lettuce.

Totally without greens, barring smooshed avocado - nachos. Freaking awesome nachos. A small plate, to boot. With seasoned tempeh, cheezy sauce, salsa, avocado and indulgence. From a week or two ago.



In more lively produce development, here's what I picked up from two farmers markets yesterday:

Maiitake mushrooms
Italian kale
Asparagus
Shiitake mushrooms


You can see organic bulk tofu, yukon gold potatoes and a mini red pepper also from People's in the back. New recipe testing tonight!

I stopped at the downtown market by my office, and then at People's on the way home.
Hell yes to two in one day. I find it fun and enlivening to go to the downtown market on my lunch hour, and the People's market is not only in front of the coop, but there are rice balls and great deals on local mushrooms. Maiittakes are $10/lb and Shiitakes are $5, opposed to the downtown market where they're $10 and I believe, $15.

In more super duper cool news, I'm going on vacation to NYC next week! Last minute suggestions are always welcome.

Vegfest this weekend & Grocery Outlet in town

My office is closing early today, and I'm looking forward to a very-vegan weekend.
The Portland Vegfest starts tonight, with a talk from Howard Lyman, the actual festival is tomorrow at Benson High School, and on Sunday Webly and I are recording another podcast with the Veganshizzle about the festivities. Here is a $1 off coupon on admission!

If you're coming to Vegfest, be sure to check out the Try Vegan Week table, where they're selling Temptation Ice Cream, in it's Portland debut, as a fundraiser.

Hopefully I'll have a bit of time left for relaxing like Zelda here..

And as to what I've been creating and will be creating, the newest vegetable addition in my kitchen is this January cabbage I picked up from the People's Coop farmer's market.

I used some of the cabbage in a recent almost no oil fried rice concoction - with leftover baked
Pomegranate Teriyaki tofu, cashews and more veggies. I already baked the tofu as slices, and cut into strips, baked again 10 minutes or so, and threw it into my concoction -
I loved how it looked!

Just some tempeh taco crumbles. I missed tempeh lately.

Pre-bake shot of the Sundried tomato and roasted garlic (gluten free) stuffed mushrooms I took to the farm sanctuary work party picnic last weekend.

Hey Portland, if you haven't heard - Grocery Outlet is now open in Hollywood, where the
Value Village used to be.

I was surprised by the lack of fun vegan items, but have hope for the future.

I picked up these random items: Reese's Puffs (for Tommy, as funny gift, and he had a bowl for dinner), Sicilian red wine, Horse Shampoo (I used to use this stuff when I was little, and it's animal free), organic deodorant, Queen Helene Apricot facial scrub (I like this alot), soap and Jason toothpaste.

Dance your cares away, Worry's for another day.

Ah, life in Portland. Eating local, shopping local, yet living it up.

Last night I picked up $4 worth of local maiitake mushrooms and $1 worth of radishes from the People's Coop farmer's market.
I'm not wild about radishes, but I eat them, for the love of all things Fraggle!



On Saturday, Thomas and I joined my dear friend Hillary at the PSU farmer's market: basil!!, salad greens, portabella mushrooms, maiitakes, apples and a red pear.
I am very stoked to see fresh basil.



I usually go to Fubonn for my Asian shopping fun, but this past weekend I had free time and wanted bubble tea at home, so I trekked out to Uwajimaya (one is in the works to open in inner pdx as well). The Hawaiin pineapple for 75 cents a pound was my favorite purchase. Deeeelicious.

Dinner last night - my body was craving vegetables!
Roasted maiitakes with some earth balance, tamari and pepper and sliced & already baked Italian tofu, salad greens with roasted hazelnuts and sesame kale raab (based on VWAV sesame asaparagus).

Everything besides the condiments were locally grown in this meal.



$4.99 plate special from Papa G's Vegan Organic Deli - 1 side dish with gravy and 1 entree.
In this case, I had mac & cheeze with peas and a biscuit with mushroom gravy since it was early in the day.


And my favorite, most reliable tofu scramble in Portland - the Superhero from Junior's Cafe in SE. Their Vegan potatoes with tofu sauce also kick ass.



FYI, I've added a Try Vegan Week banner on my site. If you're in the Portland area and want to try Temptation Vegan Ice Cream at the ice cream social fundraiser, be a mentor, learn more and attend a Vegan Prom with a Purple Rain theme & more - check it out!

goooooooooooooooooooey

Psssst.
I bought more teese.
Didn't see that happening so soon, but it did.
So, I made more pizza:

purchased from Food Fight! $7.50 a pound.


I haven't used it again since this pizza last week, and it's nice to know it freezes well.
Bulk tofu from Ota Tofu, new tote bag, bulk Soy Curls and Zelda in the shot...

Good Gracious Greens

Zelda is thrilled about fresh chard.

As am I....

The downtown PSU farmer's market had it's opening yesterday, and sure as hell I was there. Thank you global warming? but there was sure a lot more produce than the past couple years. Here's what I picked up:

• Rainbow chard
• Chinese broccoli
• Maiitake mushrooms
  
• Kale
• Apple juice - sure some of it is still frozen, and I'm clinging onto the past season, but it's goooood.
• Thai and True yellow curry paste. This is a local company that makes a variety of sauces, and vegan curry pastes. Not all sauces are vegan, fyi.
• Dave's Killer Bread - Rockin' Rye (aka the best bread in portland)
  

Oh, Shiitake.

Shiitake Mushrooms

I've never been a Summer person. I can tolerate Spring, because growing up it could still snow while entering it, and softball season was in effect. I was never a great player, but I still enjoyed it. Now that I've been living in Portland, the sunnier weather is way more tolerable, thanks to the heck of a lot less humidity than New York, and my sanity, the farmers' markets with their amazing, Oregon and Washington grown produce. Click here for a US farmer's market guide.

Seriously, I never knew vegetables could be so beautiful, and taste it, too, until I moved here. It really motivated me to cook more!

People's Coop actually has a year-round market that I go to every couple weeks, but naturally the produce there picks up with the warmer weather as well. The People's market is on Wednesday afternoons, and so is the downtown market within a block of my office - making for one happy day if I go to one, if not both! It has happened. If you're visiting Portland in the spring, you simply must stop by the downtown Saturday market at PSU. Must, must, must.

This past week I stopped by the People's market on a coop run, and to my delight found large, local, organic shiitake mushrooms for $5/lb. I picked up $3 worth, as you can see above.


I used some of the mushrooms on pizza - I picked a bag of dough expiring the same day for 1/2 off at the coop, had homemade marinara at home and couldn't resist. It didn't seem possible to not buy it. I used more of the mushrooms in a another round of the Crack of Noon Test Kitchen Shiitake Dill Frittata. Shiitakes are something else.

Pizza with sundried tomato and roasted garlic marinara, kalamata olives, broccoli, spinach and shiitake mushrooms.

Crack of Noon Test Kitchen Shiitake Dill Frittata
That's a little dollop of hot sauce in the back.

Another pizza. This one with the same as above, minus kalama olives, plus Tofutti Mozzerella. I've had some slices hanging in my fridge for ages, and was thinking about the Teese shipment on its way! Tofutti is buttery yes, oozes, yes, but I don't think I've enjoyed it since I was in college. The pizza was still good, don't worry~

And look what came to work today! No, not Teese. But another box of fun that went into the fridge ASAP that I'll blog about shortly, with help from Veganshizzle.