As promised, here are piccies of the vegan goodies I brought back with me from Canada.

There really was quite a good selection of vegan food in the grocery stores, though I still think that in most cases, British vegan “meat” and “cheese” beats the Canadian stuff hands down.

Fake meaty things: “Prawns” from T&T Supermarket, and Yves “bacon” and “bologna”. We haven’t tried the prawns yet, though I’ve had this brand before (they’re from West Best, based in Vancouver). I remember them being really yummy. (The fantastic Mong Lee Shang vegan prawns that we were buying here in England are not currently available, due to factory refurbishment or some such silliness. Hence the ones from T&T.)

The Yves vegan bacon is really good… both Mr Thrifty and I like it better than the Redwood version. The bologna is good too, though Fry’s polony is a similar, but better product. I need to work on a homemade version of bologna.

Craisins: I like ordinary dried cranberries, but these flavoured ones are so, so, SO good. At least the cherry ones are… I haven’t tried the orange ones yet. Dear Ocean Spray, why can’t I buy these in England?

Nativa Organics maple leaf creme cookies & chocolate vanilla creme cookies: O.M.G. These are the best cookies EVER, especially the maple ones. The amount of filling is practically obscene. They are vegan and organic. If you live in Canada, you must go to Shoppers Drug Mart and buy these now.

Old Dutch Ketchup chips, Popcorn twists & Dill pickle chips: Of course, I had to buy Mr Thrifty some uniquely Canadian foodstuffs. Like these crisps! He hasn’t tried the Popcorn twists yet, but loved the Ketchup and Dill pickle crisps.

Cereal: EnviroKidz Panda Puffs and Barbara’s Cinnamon Puffins. Mr Thrifty has only tried the Panda Puffs so far (verdict: yumm), but I know he’ll love Puffins too! Neither of these is available on this side of the pond.

I also bought a bottle of Colman’s liquid smoke, which is strangely absent from the shelves over there.

BTW, am I the only geek who loves grocery shopping when travelling?

An entire week ago (has it really been that long?), I was tagged by Jeni at Heathen Vegan. Seems she wants to see the vegan delights that reside in my freezer, huh!

I love my big American-style freezer, but it had gotten just a teensy bit disorganised of late. So here was my chance to re-organise it, take some piccies, and share it with everyone in blogland.

My freezer is big and silver and oh-so-sleek. It has five pull-out drawers and two shelves with pull-down doors. And it’s in the garage where it’s dark (not good for taking pictures). And I had to re-organise the stuff. So I took all the drawers out into the lounge (Amerispeak=living room), re-organised it all, took pictures and notes, and then put it all back. (The contents of the two top shelves were temporarily emptied into cardboard boxes.) Here goes…



Drawer #1: homemade fruity things: blackberry juice, applesauce, and an assortment of jams featuring Victoria plums, blackberries and elderberries.



Drawer #2: miscellaneous stuff: green beans, sweetcorn, chestnuts, half jars of korma sauce & mushroom sauce, chipotle chiles in adobo, tomatoes (leftovers from when I only needed half a tin and forgot there was already some in the freezer), passata (another half jar), coconut milk, shredded fresh coconut, homemade croustade base (for making this really scrummy leek dish),  homemade marinara sauce, herbs (basil, mint, curry leaves), and several jars of fresh apple juice that is awaiting its fate as cider!



Drawer #3: faux meat stuff: crispy tiger prawns, yam rolls, cod fillet, fishless steak, oysters, chicken, crispy aromatic duck, rashers, Linda McCartney country pies, mixed bean chili, homemade sausages, hotdogs & deli slices. I am learning to make my own fake meaty things but obviously I’ve a ways to go yet!









Drawer #4: frooot: elderberries, blackberries, sloes, strawberries, cranberries. Destined for making homemade wine!









Drawer #5: more miscellany: homemade meatless meatballs, fresh ginger, XO sauce (from a veggie Chinese restaurant), homemade ice cream base (I think it’s strawberry soy yogurt), Jus-Rol vol-au-vents, cherry juice (for wine-making).





Shelf #1: bread & flour type stuff: plain flour, strong flour, self-raising flour, wheat gluten, springroll/samosa pastry, Chinese dumpling pastry, bagels, mini naans, Jus-Rol filo pastry, tortillas (I usually make them, but these ones were bought… homemade ones are much better), linseed, bread cubes (for making stuffing).



Shelf #2: yet more miscellany: frozen grapes (for wine-making), pumpkin seeds, walnuts, more homemade ice cream base, more apple juice, glutinous rice balls with peanut filling and… wild blueberry Swedish Glace.

Phew!

(The lucky, lucky bloggers that I choose to bare their freezers to the world will be nominated tomorrow.)