let’s turn veganism up to 11 in ’11.

i love you all. that is all. for places in LA that are open today, check out the list.

I have to be honest: It was one of THOSE kinda days. Well, I’m not the world’s most physical guy, but I can lift a box or two. Add to that, I had nothing to do on Christmas Eve Eve, so I was very happy to rock it on down to Orange County in a friend’s truck to help load some chairs, on the promise of “grabbing a beer or two” on the way back.

Listen – If offered, ALWAYS help your friends get stuff from far afield, as you’ll have a designated driver (they don’t see it that way, but you sure as heck fire should) and if you’re extra lucky they’ll want to pick up the tab pretty much anywhere you go. After all, time and muscles (even my puny ones) = money. Or beer at least. And maybe even vegan food too. Read on….

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xmas came early this year in the form of VEGAN FUNYUNS from trader joe’s!

i don’t know if you’ve ever eaten the original frito-lay creation, but i used to love them back in the day. it’s like an onion ring got together with a potato chip and had a bag of delicious babies…funyuns! unfortunately, real funyuns contain dairy and i haven’t eaten them in about ten years, so imagine my excitement when i saw this thread in the qg forums talking about a new breed of vegan funyun-style snacks at trader joe’s! of course i had to try them out…

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curasé is a local company that specializes in “raw chocolate remedies“, organic vegan chocolates prepared by hand, one batch at a time.

recently jessica erler, the creator and maker of curasé chocolates, sent me a box to sample and they completely blew my mind. this was some of the best chocolate i’ve tried in my entire life (vegan or not)…

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daiya vs cheezly. cheezly vs daiya. it’s an epic battle, and i don’t know who would win. have you tried both? do you have a favorite?

daiya pizza on the left, cheezly pizza on the right

i recently had the chance to eat both a daiya and a cheezly pizza back to back…and choosing between the two would not be an easy task. if only the new teese (which i love) would have been there, my mind would have been blown.

so which one looks better to you:

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please don’t eat any turkey today.

the luckiest turkey on earth

so what are you guys doing for thanksgiving? lemme know!

everyone knows that the tofurky feast is a vegan thanksgiving staple (we usually eat at least 2 of ’em over the holiday season). the delicious vegetarian turkey alternative has been around for 15 years, but this year there is even more to love about it because it comes with the decadent addition of amy’s vegan chocolate cake!

the folks at turtle island contacted me and asked if i wanted a coupon to try out this new tofurky/amy’s package, and of course i said HELL YES!

i’m happy to report that the tofurky roast was bigger and tastier than ever (they’ve upped the serving size this year!), and the amy’s cake was moist and delicious beyond belief. let’s start with the tofurky roast…

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yes, yes, YES! a VEGAN THANKSGIVING PIZZA! sounds too good to be true right?! but it’s not! as of yesterday, it’s available at whole foods west hollywood and on sundays they charge just $10 for an epic surf-board-sized pizza. i know what i’m doing this weekend!

vegan pizza w/ majestic garlic, roasted veg w/herbs vegan stuffing and daiya cheese

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act fast, vegans! i usually don’t post a lot of discount offers here on the blog, but this one is so epic that it deserves some ink.

aged cashew and brazil nuts cheese by dr. cow

figueroa produce, the friendly neighborhood market in highland park, is selling both dr. cow’s tree nut cheese and field roast celebration roasts at HALF PRICE, while supplies last….

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VEGAN PIZZA! just because

Let us know what you think!

man, i really love the prepared foods section at whole foods. they are always coming up with new delicious restaurant-quality items that are inexpensive and easy to grab on the go. for somebody like me who doesn’t love to cook, the prepared food section is a godsend. last year they provided our thanksgiving dinner, and over the summer they supplied everything needed for a vegan bbq.

i’m happy to announce that as of today, whole foods locations around los angeles are unveiling their holiday display case, and it’s absolutely packed with all kinds of tasty seasonal foods.

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UPDATE: we have chosen a winner! congratulations CYoFC! to everyone else, you can still buy tickets to this amazing event…so get on it. it’s gonna be awesome!

healthy taste of LA “where the finest in plant based cuisine meets the best of nutritional science” is an event going down in redondo beach on november 7th, and we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky reader. the event sounds pretty great…there’s gonna be health presentations by experts, as well as cooking demonstrations and VEGAN FOOD from some of our favorite chefs including david anderson of madeleine bistro, rachel carr of cru, eric lechasseur of seed kitchen, tanya petrovna of native foods, and rawsheed of sunpower natural cafe! i can’t even imagine being in the same room with all that tastiness. my head would explode.

more details and how to win after the jump—>

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here at QG headquarters, half of our household is british—so naturally, curry plays a huge part in our lives. we’ve shared with you our favorite recipe and told you about basu’s homestyle prepared foods…and today, we are giving you a heads up on an awesome vegan-friendly product line that’s available at whole foods: sukhi’s gourmet indian foods.

sukhi’s contacted us a while back and offered to send us some of their products for review. always interested in trying new things, we said, “of course!” a couple days later, a package arrived in the mail filled with tasty indian goodies. the first thing we tried was my favorite of all: the naanwich.

i love naan, i love sandwiches, and i love channa masala…so imagine how excited i was to see all three of those things rolled into one! the naanwich was fantastic. we heated it up in the oven to get it nice and crispy.

the filling was hearty and deliciously flavored, and the bread was soft and cushy. it was a special treat to have this vegan naan, because nearly every brand of naan bread contains eggs. i’m so happy sukhi’s busted out an animal-free version.

next up, we tried a box of frozen mini samosas.

these bite-sized babies were filled up with spiced potatoes and peas, and were gone in no time. seriously, so addictive! they came with a tasty cilantro chutney that was to die for, and we also dipped them in some of the other chutneys sukhi’s sent us: mango, jalapeno, and mango pickle. YUM!

lastly, we tried 2 of sukhi’s frozen vegan entrees—the vegan chili chicken with naan and the channa masala with naan, as well as a cauliflower and spinach curry we made ourselves using sukhi’s vindaloo sauce.

it was all fantastic! the only thing i didn’t eat much of was the vegan chicken, because it had bell peppers in it (which i hate). my husband assured me it was great though, and i was a huge fan of the channa masala and the vindaloo. these samples totally won us over, and we have been buying sukhi’s at whole foods ever since. they even have a new low-fat frozen line with vegan options that rock!

so if you are looking for a quick and tasty indian meal, sukhi’s has gotcha covered. seriously guys, you gotta try the naanwich!

for more info on sukhi’s check out their website!

when i went vegan, i never thought i’d be eating deli-style sandwiches again. i’m talking about huge thick beasts served on crunchy bread with tons of vegetables and meat sliced thinly from a massive block right in front of me. well, figueroa produce has proven me wrong…as they’re the first place in california to offer really authentic vegan deli meats, available for purchase by weight or in the sandwich of your choice. if you live anywhere in los angeles, i promise you it’s worth the trip to highland park to try this stuff out.

while i’m usually a bit skeptical of new vegan meats, the product at figueroa produce is made by a local and vegan-owned company called all vegetarian inc…and the packaging material along with an ingredients list is out on public display in the store. i visited the market on a weekday afternoon, and they had vegan pepper steak, ham, and kobe beef all for the taking.

anthony, the friendly dude at the counter, was enthusiastic when i asked about the vegan meat. he told me that the bread was vegan as well, and suggested i get my sandwich with vegenaise and deli-sliced daiya. as i eyed up the meat slicer, i asked him to clean it down before making my food. he quickly explained that figueroa produce had recently obtained a new slicer for vegan products only, and pointed proudly to a shiny hunk of metal on the other side of the counter. i mean, HONESTLY?! vegan deli meat and a separate slicer at a grocer in highland park? this is the future.

i watched in awe as anthony assembled my sandwich, and was transported back to the days before i was a vegetarian. a simple sub with my choice of “meats”, “cheese”, vegetables, and condiments (including vegan mayo!)…i never thought i’d have this pleasure again.

vegan deli sandwich at figueroa produce: pepper steak, daiya cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, pepperoncinis, avocado, mustard and vegenaise. $6.99

when i finally got my sandwich home and took a bite of it, i just couldn’t believe the authenticity. all of the vegan sandwiches at figueroa produce are just $6.99, a complete steal considering the size. mine came with a generous amount of soy peppersteak and cheddar daiya along with lettuce, tomato, onion, pepperoncini, avocado, mustard, and vegenaise. the peppersteak was incredibly convincing (in a non-creepy way), with a meaty texture and a great blend of spices. i’m already a big daiya fan, but it tasted even better sliced paper-thin and atop all the other fresh ingredients.

if you like sandwiches, make it a point to hit up figueroa produce ASAP! head straight to the deli counter and fill up on vegan goodness; you won’t be sorry. oh, and while you are there…stock up on teese, daiya, gardein, tofurky, and raw food items,…they’ve got it all!

Figueroa Produce Market
6312 North Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90042
Phone 323-255-FOOD (3663)
Fax 323-255-3030
Mon – Sat 7am to 9pm
Sunday 8am-8pm

this is just a quick post to let you all know about figueora produce, a small little grocery store in highland park that’s bringing you high-quality foods at discounted prices. in an area that lacks a whole foods, this place has got most our favorite products including gardein, daiya, teese, and so delicious. plus, they are always willing to take suggestions from vegans about what they should carry.

we popped by the store over the weekend, and i was so excited to see the shelves stocked with so many vegan items.

silk and so delicious right there with the normal milk…

stinkey monkey pudding and blissed out chocolates (two very good, yet hard to find vegan products)…

several gardein frozen products…

along with teese, tofurky, and daiya…!

i was actually pretty excited to see teese on the shelf, because i’d just suggested to figueroa produce via twitter that carry it a couple weeks ago. they sure didn’t waste any time!

but it’s not just bloggers that figueroa produce listens to. my friend recently moved to eagle rock and was shopping at the grocery store when one of the owners, ruben perez, introduced himself and welcomed her to the neighborhood. he gave her his email address, and said if there were any vegan products she’d like to see, to let him know. she emailed him to suggest they carry field roast sausages, and with in a few days she got a response saying they had been ordered and would be in stock soon. WOW! talk about customer service!

if you are ever in the area, be sure to stop in and check figueroa produce out. it’s a real gem in the highland park neighborhood with a wonderful staff and great vegan products. oh, and be sure to follow them on twitter! they are always announcing deals and discounts. in fact, TODAY is twitter tuesday…meaning, if you go to the store and mention twitter, you get 10% off your check! so go do it!

Figueroa Produce Market
6312 North Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90042
Phone 323-255-FOOD (3663)
Fax 323-255-3030
Mon – Sat 7am to 9pm
Sunday 8am-8pm