Drug Store Health Food

I never understood why women I knew got excited about drug stores, until I realized it must be people who buy makeup and beauty products.

But I'm starting to warm to my Pharmaprix. Shopper's Drug Mart (Pharmaprix in Quebec) has introduced a line of affordable organic foods. The cookies happen to be vegan. Yay! And made with can sugar. Yay! And they are SO good. I've tried the graham teddies and the chocolate chip, but I'm open to checking out other things.

I also took a close look at the groceries in Zellers, and realized they carry some things I can't find elsewhere, like stuffed grapevines and whole wheat fettuccine noodles.

Veganing on vacation

I'm on vacation. The first week I was at my dad and stepmum's. Of course I stick to my veganism, and my folks (all 3) are very respectful of this, but I was back on the corn grid. ;-)

No big deal, I'm not fanatic about this. I decided to just enjoy the peanut butter (I think of it as icing-peanut-butter, as opposed to the peanuts only kind) by eating something I haven't had since childhood: a spoonful of peanut butter. I also ate a lot of Corn Flakes, which I hadn't bought in years.

This week I'm at my mum's, which presents other challenges. Her home is in a transitional phase, so there's only a mini fridge (no freezer) and a microwave. I went on a small shopping trip and bought just a few fruits and veggies, hummus, pita bread, rice, canned veggies, individual servings of soy milk, and natural peanut butter. We'll see what I can do with that. Tonight I made avocado sandwiches.

orzo salad

I love this orzo and bean salad from Maxi grocery store. This is what I often buy for supper at work. Full of garlicky goodness.

Christmas Supper-ahj

I made my first ever Christmas supper this year. It was a casual affair and we were just going to buy premade groceries, but I ended up having the time and energy and inclination to cook -- so I went through my books looking for recipes to try, and spent the night of the 24th cooking almost everything. (I hate doing all the cooking on the Day of something--I'm all about the prepping.) Since our theme was Swellegant 1930s I tried to make fingerish foodish food.

In the grand tradition set by my step-mother, I mostly made recipes I'd never made before. (Whenever we had guests, she ALWAYS tried a new recipe. I think that's what people like us who don't cook a lot do... if you're going to the effort, might as well have fun.)

Here is the menu, and then I will post the recipes. Needless to say it's all vegan.

Christmas Supper

Tofu Spread
Mushroom Pasties
Winter Soup
Stuffed Peppers
Leek Quiche (store bought - Commensal brand, expensive but yummy good )
Chocolate Cupcakes
Apple Cider (made by sister in law - excellent)

The stuffed peppers were from Moskowitz, but I didn't put mushrooms because I didn't want to overmushroom my husband. So the fact that I found the recipe Not Amazing (it was like chilli) may be because of the lack of mushroom-ahj. Anyway, I won't bother writing up that recipe.

cheesy me

Did I mention that the bulk food store down the hill now carries almost all my faves, that I used to have to trek to the Health Tree for? So now I go once every two weeks, and now the staff know me... the shy girl with the super biceps, Little Stephen who used to work at Chapters, and the Lady Whose Been There Forever.

So I buy piroghis at Metro (so hard to get around here, unlike in Edmonton where it's all about the Ukraine Heritage) and eat with my Tofutti sour cream! And I buy Tofutti cream cheese!

And Earth Balance margarine for baking!


And I buy Earth Island cheeeeeeeze!!!!

Cupcakomicon

I love the New York Times. For daily news I prefer BBC, because of the global outlook and the short punchy articles. But the NYT has the craziest stories! For example, I did not know that there is a Raging Cupcake Controversy going on in the US! Lordy!

I guess some schools want to ban bringing cupcakes to school, presumably as part of this larger debate over junk food in schools. I understand all that, and frankly if I'm going to apply the Wojciekowski Err on the Safe Side Rule, I'd rather schools went overboard in being healthy than the way they are now.

But should we stop serving cupcakes at birthday parties? Hell no! For heaven's sake, what would life be without cake? Unthinkable, that's what. Just look at the adorable confections that Moskowitz comes up with at Vegan Cupcakes:

product: great fake chicken

Metro now carries this line: itsallgood fake chicken and beef.

Many fake meats aren't vegan, so I'm stuck with Yves, which aren't great. These ones are more expensive, but come with a sauce (like in the picture above), so you can just put with veggies and rice, and serve.

I've only tried a couple of the chicken ones, and both Husband and I liked. I haven't dared the beef yet.

products: sundae

My favourite naughty vegan sundae:

Vanilla soy ice cream, spanish peanuts with the skins, and Reese's hard shell syrup. And sometimes I put wheat germ, but that's just a weird childhood thing.

Oh no I was watching the Simpsons and missing Victoria Beckham's reality show!

Product: potato chips

We all know the pasty Lays baked chips. They're okay. But Papillon carries these kettled baked chippies that are actual potatoes instead of reconstituted, so they're a nice alternative.

product: tofu (marinated)

MEAT: well tofu actually @ 01:44 am

Source: Maxi's, Loblaw's

President's Choice Marinated Teriyaki Tofu: I decided to take a chance and buy. I chopped it into small pieces and fried it in its own juices, to get the sides all brownee. It was actually very good, and Fernando agreed. I served it mixed up with Lipton sidekick noodles, and vegetables, but I assume rice and soy sauce would be good... if you like that sort of thing.

product: margarine

MARGARINE @ 01:50 am

Earth Balance "Soy Garden" buttery spread
Source: Papillon, Health Tree

The ingredients aren't that different from cheapee non-milk, non-hyrog margarines. But it's harder, more like butter. This would be a better ingredient for making a dessert that has to harden through refridgeration (rather than baking), like peanut butter squares. Mmmm peanut butter squares.

President's Choice has a non-lactose brand, non-hyrog, good for cooking etc.
Source: Maxi's (and I assume Loblaw's)

Fleischmann's, for baking
Source: some Maxi's, Loblaw's
(Non-hyrog. There's also one that's not good for baking, which may be less processed.)

product: noodles

NOODLES @ 02:22 am

Source: anywhere

Lipton Sidekick Thai Noodles: When you're lazy you like premade packets--I add extra rice or noodles so they're not so thick, then throw in beans and veggies, and I've got a meal.

But most packets have some milk product or another in them. This noodley, plus the curry one, do not.

product: ground beef

June 4th, 2006

MEAT: ground beef @ 02:03 pm

Source: Health Tree

Sol ground beef



I find Yves ground beef, which is the easiest to find in grocery stores, really blah. I tried Sol to see if it's better--it was, like, moderately better. Saltier. But not enough that I'd make a special trip to the Health Tree for it.

(I had it on nachos, with the fake cheese and salsa.)

products: chocolate bars

July 8th, 2006

CHOCOLATE BARS @ 02:12 am

You can't buy just any ole chocolate bar when vegan... which is a good thing, really. Then when you do want chocolate, they cost more - another preventative measure.

The funny thing is I end up eating flavours I never would have.

* Dr Oz has been touting the benefits of dark chocolate (which means at least 70%), so if you're going to treat yourself but are trying to be All Healthy, go for this. Because he's on Oprah, his influence can be felt in grocery stores big time--there's dark chocolate everywhere. And the real stuff doesn't add milk products.

If it's too bitter for you, I would recommend melting down and re-forming with craisins. Mm.

Here are the few random vegan chocolate bars:

RITTER SPORT
- marzipan flavour
- mint flavour

COTE D'OR
- vanilla flavour

GREEN & BLACKS
- cherry and dark chocolate

This last one is actually REALLY excellent. Smoooth.

products: milk

MILK @ 04:02 pm

Source: everywhere!

TScones' Milk Recommendations:

For cereal: rice milk - it's fairly tasteless, and less thick than soy milk - putting soy milk on cereal feels like putting clotted cream, not my thing. I used to drink skim.

The cheap brands taste just as good as Rice Dream, so don't pay the extra money.



Everything else: for baking, or mashed potatoes, or smoothies, or whatever - use soy milk. I like Natura the best simply because it's the cheapest. They also have a lot of variety, such as sugar free, or low fat.

As for flavours, I don't recommend the chocolate soy milk, but the strawberry is yummy. I make my own chocolate milk: spoon of cocoa powder in a little hot water - dissolve it - add the soy milk (and some cold water, if you want less fat and sugar).



I buy Natura or Presiden't Choice because they're cheap, and can be stored in the cupboard for a long-o time-o. I won't pay over 1.99 for soy or rice milk.

Some prefer Silk, particularly their refrigerated line. But all the other companies have fridge lines now. I don't know what the diff is--the PC brand appears to be fortified.

I've never had a problem with rice or soy milk spoiling, even when I have it open for over a week. But my fridge is really cold.

TIP: Bob Greene says the reason to shake soy milk isn't just because stuff settles, but because the added vitamins don't bond well with soy, and will stick on the sides of the container.

product: fake chicken

MEAT: chicken @ 04:07 pm

Source: Loblaws, Maxi

Yves has two kinds of Veggie Tenders - beef and chicken. The beef is not great, but the chicken is quite nice. Sometimes I just dip them in pineapple sauce and eat them as such. Or they taste good in wraps.

product: carrot cake

CAKE: carrot @ 04:13 pm

Source: Health Tree

Oh Lord... the Health Tree has started carrying a line from a bakery in Toronto called Sweets of the Earth. I bought the carrot cake, cause I haven't had carrot cake in YEARS, and holy crap... it's incredible. Right down to the vegan cream cheese on top.

product: cookies

August 15th, 2006

COOKIES: chocolate @ 04:46 pm

Source: Health Tree

These are my favourite vegan cookies from the Health Tree: Biscuits Délice Choco. They're moist and not too sweet.



A few other vegan-by-accident cookies (unless you don't eat bone char-ee sugar):

(Oreos: regular and mint.)

product: lentil soup NOT

August 24th, 2006

SOUP @ 10:54 pm

Tags: product

My first UN-RECOMMENDATION.

Do not bother with Commensal lentil curry soup (at Maxi and Lobl). It was bland bland bland.

product: feta cheese

CHEESE: feta @ 01:59 pm

Source: Loblaw's

I tried Unisoya feta cheese for the first time. I wondered if it would be good in lasagna, but was too lazy to make lasagna. So I made pasta instead, and crumbled it into the sauce. Definitely tasted like I had a ton of cheese in there - something salty, like Parmesan. Next time I shall be brave and try it in a salad or something. Anyway, it's so cheap, it's worth trying. But man, the packaging is ugly!

NOTE: I have since tried it, grated, on pizza--and it was great.

But man... that is the least appetizing packaging on Earth.