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Can I get a shout for Valdez, Alaska
Started
by Holly Powers
on January 18, 2011
Hi. I'm Holly. Any kind lifers in little ol' Valdez?
Yay! A Kind Lifer from Valdez! How long have you lived there? My name's Ashley Tanner, not sure if you know my parents (Bill and Rachelle Tanner). I live in Eugene, OR now but was born and raised in Valdez, just moved out of there three years ago. How long have you been vegan? It'll be a year for me on Valentines Day :-)
Hi Holly, You are the first person I've seen that has posted from Alaska. I live in Homer (originally from CA but have lived here here for 20+ years) I've never been to Valdez, however, I imagine its a cool place. I received the Kinf Diet for my bday last March and have been vegan ever since. My husband and one of my sons are mostly vegan. Occassionally we eat local seafood. its really hard not to. My oldest son fishes in Bristol Bay and most people I am friends with are involved in fishing. Are you able to find good vegan ingredients in Valdez? I don't imagine you have a Whole Foods yet. Next time i make it to Anchorage I am going to stock up! On my wish list is a tofu press, maple sugar, black soybeans and umeboshi plums. I also read about a fairly new cafe that specializes in acai smoothies that sounds tempting. Anyways..have a great week!
Oh yeah if you're going to Anchorage you should eat at Acai Alaska! It's delicious and really healthy and the vibe there is great :-)
Yeah! I have Alaskan connections! I didn't even think to check this because I didn't expect a response but I saw them on my google account today and am so happy you two responded. @ Ashley: I am pretty new to Valdez. I do not recognize your parents names but might recognize them by face. I've only been here 1.5 years. My husband and I moved here to find work and to explore the Last Frontier. We love Valdez. It has its challenges but overall we are very happy hear. My vegan anniversary is approaching too! Mine is April 20th. I can't say I've been a perfect vegan but I'm trying. I find cheese hard to completely avoid but thanks to Alicia and other cook books I'm loving vegan cooking! Thanks for the tip on Acai Alaska. I will have to check it out next time I'm in Anchorage!
@ fireweed: I really hope to make it to Homer this summer. I hear it is a very special place. Valdez is very nice too but it lacks charm. When they rebuilt the city after the earthquake in '64 they kind of just threw up whatever to get the town going again. Understandable, but because of that there's no real quaintness to the city. The outdoors though make it all worth it! I'm with you on the local seafood. It's so difficult not to eat every now and then. My husband is a big fisherman so we have salmon and halibut coming out our ears at times. Every now and then I partake but have not gone back to eating any other meat at all. I'm feeling great! BTW, I bought the umeboshi plums at the Natural Pantry in Anchorage but they have them on Amazon.com for MUCH cheaper. They actually have a lot of the ingredients Alicia's recipes call for on Amazon. I was very pleased about that! Valdez is tiny, only 3000 people so we only have locally owned stores which I kind of like but would love to be able to get to a Whole Foods now and then. We do have a health food store in town that is very good so I can get most things there. Have you tried many of the recipes in the Kind Life book? I've been doing superhero recipes since January and have really enjoyed them.
Have a great week to both of my Alaska Vegan conncetions! Thanks again for responding!
yeah absolutely! I just made the best miso mushroom barley soup, I'll post the recipe if I can recreate it. Holly you probably know this store very well if you have lived in Valdez for a year and a half but Rogues Garden is great for vegan vegetarian minded people. It is a little pricey but it's Valdez....what isn't expensive. But they have a great lunch menu and amazing smoothies. And Kathy Nielsen, the owner of the store, is really good about ordering something she doesn't have in the store if you desire it. Good luck!
Hi Alaskan vegans-are we the only three? I've turned some friends onto the kind Life etc but they are a little sketchy.Its funny that all three of us are celebrating our one year anniversarys. Congrads to us! I just got the book Crazy Sexy Diet that encourages you to drink green smoothies. They sound mega delicious and healthy but at this time of year its hard to find (or I should say pay for) the greens. I am so looking forward to having a garden this summer, I am going to plant rows and rows of kale and chard! tomorrow i'm going to a dinner party and am bringing the Leek and Mushroom Crostini from the Kind book. If either of you haven't made them yet-do! they melt in your mouth and have a fabulous flavor. Anyways I'm at work so i guess I should sign off-its been fun chatting TGIF!
Oh I'm jealous! I've been wanting to make the Leek and Mushroom Crostini but just haven't gotten around to it. I just made a delicious pretty dish, my boyfriend and I sauteed mushrooms, garlic and purple cauliflower (so pretty! steam first until soft then add to pan) and added curry spices, coriander, cumin, balti and a little bit of salt. Then we made a cream sauce out of coconut milk and a little crushed pineapple and poured it over the veggie mix, and then served that mixture over quinoa. It was delicious, fast and so easy! I love using bright colors in my dishes (like purple), it's so pretty.
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