Well since it’s been one week, and three days since I last set foot on Portland soil, I thought I should blog about the wonderful vegan delights I found in Portland that I could not find in FL. These are not ALL the fabulous things we tasted and tried in Portland, just those that I KNOW we can’t get here in FL yet, so I want to promote them and hopefully get some other local vegans interested and get them into Whole Foods here in Tampa!!!
Vegan Proteins has all sorts of protein powders and man are they yummie! Very tasty and very healthy plant based protein to get your “protein shake” after a workout or just to add to a smoothie or shake for some added protein.
Heidi Ho Veganics makes nut based cheeses. I am a huge fan of Daiya, but these cheeses aren’t just for your grilled cheese baby. They could be used on a fruit & cheese platter for wine tasting (yes please!) Or just eaten with crackers, and yes, they melt like a charm as well. We tried the Monterey Jack, Smoked Gouda & Chipotle Cheddar. I am not a fan of smoked cheeses, but even the gouda was awesome. I LOVED the Chipotle Cheddar though…just a nice spicy flavor, not too big, not fiery hot. Delish!! And man is it amazing on top of some Red Hot Blues chips…melted and yummie nachos! We also tried a straight up cheesy dip, and my Mom who is a cheese whore and eats real cheese (yuck,) loved the cheese dip. And Heidi Ho is NOT that expensive $6 for an 8 or 10 oz brick. Well worth it! They ship EVERYWHERE in the US too…so get on there and buy you some before I get it all!
Wilderness Poets These guys should be called ‘nut butter seductresses’’ because they seduced me with their amazing nut butters. They had Macadamia Nut Butter, Almond Butter, Pistachio Butter, Pecan Butter, Hazelnut Butter and MORE. These nut butters are ALL raw and vegan and they taste tremendously different than what you will find in a store, even from a Whole Foods type store. They are pricey, but so is Justin’s Nut Butter and I believe sometimes you have to indulge for something you love. Since I didn’t have really any room left to pack anything, I got two small packs of the Hazelnut butter to take home because it is THAT good.
Uptons Natural Meats Oh Uptons how I love you. There are actually not many words that come to mind aside from YUM and LOVE when I think of Uptons. Thankfully, they do sell their products online as does Food Fight! Vegan Grocery in Portland. Their seitan is awesome, texturally super close to real meat. They also have Italian & Chorizo style ground meats. Delicious. And you can order at both of these sites, OR you can buy locally if your city has Uptons available. (In which case I am truly jealous!)
Freshly Wild Super Foods offers tasty kale treats. Now for those of you just joining my blog…I LOVE Kale. Kale IS my hero, Kale is my love in the vegan world. If I were a vegetable, I would marry kale. Okay, enough of that. They have TASTY ‘original’ kale chips, which hey, those are awesome to me…I am in heaven with them. But then I tried the ‘Must Eat Mesquite’ and I am not a barbeque or smokey flavor fan…but these were UH-MAAAAA-ZING. Yes. And my hubby’s favorite were the ‘Jazzy Sweet Mustard.’ Yum yum yum!! You can order online, and purchase by the case J
Petunia’s Pies & Pastries I literally had a moment where I left my body and ascended briefly into heaven on day 1 in Portland. I was walking through the amazing Saturday market and saw this bakery booth that had ‘vegan’ on the signage. I thought okay, let’s see what they have that is ‘vegan.’ Well my heavenly moment happened while I was searching the signage on each delectable delightful treat, and realized they were ALL GLUTEN FREE AND VEGAN. Okay, sit down…pull yourself UP from the floor if you haven’t. I got a pumpkin pie cupcake. Hello love in my mouth. I refridgerated it and had it for dessert that night. Even cold, fresh from the fridge, it was moist and soft and delightful on the palette. What a delightful treat!
Last but certainly not least, was Dave’s Killer Bread. Now I sure wish they had this bread at home because I tried like 12 different kinds and loved them all. ALL natural, GMO Free, NO Animal products. AND made by a guy who was a self proclaimed “Four time loser before I realized I was in the wrong game. Fifteen years in prison is a pretty tough way to find oneself…” THAT inspired me to. I believe that veganism is a second chance at helping your body! I cannot say enough good about this bread except BUY IT! J