Sunday, October 9, 2011

A Visit to Uwajimaya, and a Vegan for Life Giveaway!



Remember when I went to Barbur World Foods, the fantastic Mediterranean/Middle Eastern grocery store? Uwajimaya is kind of like that, but it's Asia and the size of a Walmart. There is a whole area of cute kitschy Hello Kitty and kitchen supplies and dishes and bentos and woks and rice cookers and chopsticks that I didn't get a photo of, but rest assured it's chock full of every kind, color, and cute design plastic you can imagine. There is also a bookstore inside, but I've never been in there for some reason.


There are stacks of twenty-pound bags of rice, all kinds.


This is the dried seaweed aisle. The whole aisle. Both sides.



Choose your nori!



On the left is the kimchi case. The right-hand case is all pickled vegetables.



Here is where you figure out which miso(s) you want.



Asian greens and other Asian vegetables down this aisle. Multiple kinds of bok choy, some pea tendrils, other greens I don't recognize.




Galangal, loman, turmeric, and random fennel. Also burdock, I think, and bitter melon.


Lotus root!



Fresh kaffir lime leaves and shiso.



Creepy longan and Chinese jujube dates. More on this soon.



Keep a healthy distance from the durien.




This set-up is weird: these cases are all tofu/shiratake on the bottom, and the top half is decidedly not vegan. That's why these photos look a little weird. I am shielding you.

That's Uwajimaya, another of my favorite places to wander! It's a bit of a trek, but my veterinarian is about ten blocks away. It's a small up side to the amount of time we've spent at the vet this year! Spend money at vet, go spend money at Uwajimaya. In my head I allow this to make sense.

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The giveaway! I am excited about this one: it's Vegan for Life! You may remember that I mentioned the lovely people over at Da Capo Lifelong have been extra-lovely this month, and have furnished a number of titles for giveaways on this blog. Please consider having a look at their website, and/or following them on Twitter and Facebook, because they are seriously generous. They also publish beautiful and useful vegan books, like this informative but easy-to-read guide.


From the website: Vegan for Life is your comprehensive, go-to guide for optimal plant-based nutrition. Registered dietitians and long-time vegans Jack Norris and Virginia Messina debunk some of the most persistent myths about vegan nutrition and provide essential information about getting enough calcium and protein, finding the best supplements, and understanding the "real deal" about soy. Covering everything from a six-step transition plan to meeting calorie and nutrient needs during pregnancy and breastfeeding, Vegan for Life is the guide for aspiring and veteran vegans alike, complete with an easy-to-use food chart, tasty substitutions, sample menus, and expansive resources.

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment below. Tell me something that keeps you vegan, your favorite vegan nutrition tip, or anything at all. This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada, but others this month will be open to everybody everywhere. The winner will be chosen by random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway. If you win a giveaway on this blog at some point this month, please be kind and don't enter further giveaways--I'd love as many people to win something as possible!

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The giveaway for the Tofu XPress continues here!

The winner of the Gobble Green Dinner Kit is awesomeveganrad! Congratulations! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

32 comments:

  1. That store looks like it would be so much fun to look through!

    I've heard nothing but good things about that book.

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  2. That store looks so interesting! I stay vegan by thinking about all of the animals who are harmed to produce non-vegan products. Thanks for offering such a nice giveaway!

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  3. I've never seen that book, but it looks like a good general guide!

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  4. What a great giveaway and an awesome store! I wish I could go there just to see the produce!

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  5. Don't count this, since I just won the other giveaway (yay!), but I just wanted to say that I'm completely jealous of your Asian market trip! So many cool things that I can't find here!

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  6. I'm not up for the competition, since I live in Sweden, but I just wanted to let you know that this post makes me want to cry inside. There no store even close to that here, I can at best get one kind of nori, and no such veggies to be seen. Bah.

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  7. I stay vegan by looking at my cats and thinking about all the animals of all species that I can't save. The thought of contributing to slaughter of ANY animal makes me sick.

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  8. I need to start looking around Minneapolis more for these. There's got to be some similar even if it's smaller.

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  9. That store looks amazing! I need to visit.

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  10. I think being vegan is one of the most empowering things I've ever done. It feels extremely right and natural for me to "be" vegan. All I need to continue being vegan is to look at either of my companion animals, or really just any animal at all.

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  11. That store looks great. My sister may be moving to Oregon in the next few years, so I'll have to check it out when I visit.

    I think going vegan feels like a natural choice to me, when I always liked plant food a lot, I was just lazy about eating it. Now I have too. :) - Cindy

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  12. The delicious food and the empowering, peaceful feeling I get knowing that I'm not contributing to unnecessary suffering is what keeps me vegan. I have a soft copy of VFL, but I would love a hard copy so that I could share it with friends and family!

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  13. Oh man, I love that place! That's where I first discovered sweet chili sauce, so fond memories for sure. My favorite vegan nutrition tip is that B-12 turns your pee neon green, so don't freak out if your pee turns neon green.

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  14. I LOVE stores like this! I could browse for hours! the thing that keeps me vegan is, unfortunately, seeing the disease and suffering that the members of my own family who have kept a poor, non-plant-based diet their entire lives are dealing with.

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  15. That store! Holy shitake, is it ever awesome & huge!!! I have never seen such a selection, if only there were something like that in my city :) The thing that keeps me vegan is how great it makes me feel, guilt free food is where it's at! Another huuuge inspiration is the PPK, best website I ever stumbled upon :)

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  16. I got this book out of the library and love it. I would love a copy of my own so I would be able to lend it out to people who may not think to reaed it! I am a FB follower.
    Also - I too am in love with my Asian food store, even if it is aa bit stinky.

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  17. That store looks fabulous! Honestly, the thing that keeps me vegan is the food. I have so much more fun cooking now than ever before. I pay attention to what I eat and I savor food. I use 10x more spices and ingredients than I used to.

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  18. This sounds awesome!! There are multiple reasons I stay vegan, but mostly for health reasons. Its better for our bodies. Plus, I love animals and when I think about them hurting... it makes me sad :(

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  19. I stay vegan for the same reason I went vegan. Ethics related to treatment of animals, humans, the environment, and all those other things that animal product consumption screws with.
    Also, it's not so much a 'nutrition tip' but I always love when something says about eating lots of greens. Sometimes you're reading nutrition info and it's "really, I have to eat some of THAT is there an alternate?" or "I have to remember to take that EVERY DAY!?" and it makes it seem hard but then I read someone saying about my beloved greens and it's "yep, that's totally manageable."

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  20. love uwajimaya! used to live in seattle and went to that one. where's yours?

    what keeps me vegan is staying in touch with other vegans and making delicious food that is way better than anything nonvegan would taste.

    bittofraw@gmail.com

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  21. There was a great asian grocery where I used to live, but I haven't found a decent one here at all :( Yours look awesome!

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  22. I'm not entering this contest, but MAN you are killing me with these amazing grocery stores you have acces to! You are so lucky. I would have to drive at least an hour, which is a bit much... And only happens on special occasions. Plus, Hello Kitty stuff!!?? C'mon! :)

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  23. Seaweed aisle! That store looks AWESOME.

    My love of animals keeps me vegan. :)

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  24. Staying vegan has been pretty easy for me. I just don't want any animal foods - I'm not even a fan of faux meats. :-)

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  25. That place looks awesome! I felt better than I ever did my entire life after eating vegan. After learning more about what animals raised for food go through, I knew it was a permanent change.

    And my health tip is green smoothies! Kale or Spinach blended with bananas and non-dairy milk (and some flax seeds) is a great way to get yo greens in!

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  26. What keeps me vegan is how I feel. When I slip up and eat dairy I pay BIG TIME! Belly aches that I call "bad tummy". I love being a vegan. It forces me to think about everything I put into my body and keeps me cooking from scratch most of the time. :-)

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  27. The best vegan nutrition tip I have is to avoid "fake" foods and eliminate as much added sugar as possible

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  28. Don't count this for the giveaway! Eating vegan is my everyday, I can't really imagine being any other way.

    I love your grocery tours! :)

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  29. Being vegan is super easy for me...I've been addicted to fruits and veggies since I was a tiny tot. And the awesomely creative recipe-sharing vegan community makes it easy to stay that way. Many thanks!

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  30. I seriously want to move to Portland to make the world's biggest nori-wrapped rice ball!

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  31. Woohoo! A giveaway open to Canadians! I am dying for this book. <3

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