The Herbivore Clothing Company

How do I love the Herbivore Clothing Company? Let me count the ways:

1. They make awesome, animal-loving designs.
2. They source high-quality, sweatshop free shirts to print on.
3. They carry other brands that are animal-friendly, high-quality, and sweatshop-free.
4. They have a really cute store in Portland.
5. I love wearing their stuff in the airport when I'm in transit because then lots and lots of people from all over see these messages.
6. I love love love that little piggie on my Bacon Had A Mom shirt. He so did.
7. They are generous and do awesome things to raise money for animal rights groups.
8. They are all around good dudes.

Herbivore had a break-in this week and are having a sale to help raise money to replace the glass in their front door, which was smashed. The code "brokenglass" at checkout will get you 10% off in their online store until tomorrow. I picked up a new laptop-sized purse because my current one has an actual hole worn through it (hoping it will become a Vegan Thing I Like) and would have gotten more if I had the cash!

Jess Sconé likes Food for Lovers Vegan Queso

She may be presenting a pie, but Jess is really thinking about queso.
Image credit: Lucas DeShazer

Jess Scone is the adorable, smiling face behind the blog Get Sconed! (@getsconed on Twitter) where she is dedicating her Vegan MoFo month to animals writing (sometimes - or you know, always - via the help of a human typist) about their favorite vegan foods, pastimes, etc and included my sweet Maizy. Super cute! Jess is also one of the organizers for both Vida Vegan Con and Portland's Vegan Iron Chef. She's also the coolest. I totally love her unwavering devotion to her projects (seriously, the attention to detail that the Vida Vegan Con ladies exhibited and in that pantry selection at Vegan Iron Chef... holy smokes!) and how friendly and laid back she is. She laughs really easily (and a lot) which makes you feel nothing but comfortable around her. Jess rules!

Zelda contemplates her own spicy treat.

The Vegan Thing Jess Likes is Food for Lovers Queso!

This vegan queso is unbelievable and shows just how far the understanding of nutritional yeast has come. It's wonderfully creamy with a nice amount of heat and I'm so attached to the cute little jars that I keep my favorite hair clips in a cleaned one in the bathroom. With each bite, I wonder, why doesn't every single vegan-friendly taqueria serve this yet?! Hint hint, Los Gorditos! True story: I came home after the non-stop weekend that was Vida Vegan Con (where I met said lovely queso purveyors!), barely had the energy to open the fridge, let alone grab take out, but I was so damn hungry! A nuked jar of queso + the end of a bag of chips saved my life. Thank you, Food for Lovers! You really make me consider a party with a nacho pump.

Wes Keely likes Big Franks (and he can not lie)

The Vegan Person I Like today is Wes Keely! Wes is a dude who I've known for well over a decade since we were young, straight edge Michiganders. Now we're old and (still) straight edge and I live in Chicago and he's in Seattle. When he visits Chicago, he likes to go to Chicago Diner and order like 3 plates of things and mash them all into a single-plate concoction that I have appropriately dubbed a "pile." You'll have to contact him about the proper ratios of food to make a correct pile, but boy do they look good! I tend to stick with a single entree, but you know how they say... go big or go home.

The Vegan Thing Wes Likes is Worthington's Loma Linda "Big Franks."

Hello I have decided to share with everyone in the vegan world and beyond that Worthington's Loma Linda "Big Franks" are 100% a vegan food that I "LIKE"! I am sure some have you have seen these before but if you haven't they are a canned vegan "hot dog" that comes 8 to a can. Open the can, drain the "juice/water" heat them up, pile em high with all your favorite things just like you did when you were a kid and then shove them down your gullet! They have a long shelf life, they are a quick meal to have on the go, and are easily one of the better vegan "hot dogs" on the market. Sometimes you can find them at the supermarket but the will for sure be like $8 a can and that's just way too much. You can buy them on amazon by the case and the break down is way cheaper per dog especially if you order and get the free shipping.

If you happen to be in Seattle please visit Side Car, Seattle's only all vegan store! Not only do they have the Big Franks there for a great price, they also have Mighty O Donuts, Uptons, and are right across the street from Seattle's own Wayward Vegan Café. So come to Seattle and get fat!!

To be honest, I have had a can of these in my pantry that were given to me by a friend for over a year now and we have yet to eat them out of fear of grossness. This review might finally push me over the edge to give them a try! What do you think?

Tom Truty likes Portobello's Arrabiata Pizza

Tom Truty is today's Vegan Person I Like. Tom is a Chicago native who is now living in Portland, along with his wife Michele, featured just yesterday on this very blog! Tom is a really laid back, funny, and awesome dude. He is a practicing Tibetan Buddhist, so we share a lot of similarities in our spiritual paths and I love meeting people with dedication to deep down real deal self-discovery! Tom and I also share an allergy to nuts, so we can bond over the vegan foods that we are unfortunately unable to enjoy (though, the trade off of continuing to be alive is totally worth it)! Tom also has a blog which you can visit right here.

The Vegan Thing Tom Likes is the Arrabiata Pizza at Portobello in Portland.

The vegan thing I like is the Arrabiata pizza from Portland’s Portobello Vegan Trattoria. I’ve been there a million times…and I order this every time. The crust is perfect New York brick-oven crispy, but the cheese and fennel sausage soothe any ex-Chicagoan’s soul. It’s got chili-fennel marinara, cherry peppers, housemade vegan seitan sausage, basil, and Daiya. They recently changed the cheese over to a housemade cashew version, but they’ll use Daiya if you ask—which I do because cashews will kill me.

Michele Truty likes Cilantro

The Vegan Person I Like today is Michele Truty! I met Michele on one of my seemingly innumerable trips to Portland, where she does it all, involving herself in organizing events like Vegan Iron Chef and Vida Vegan Con! I also learned that she is an Illinois native, which is more than I can say for myself (sorry, I was born in the mitten!). Also, I don't mean to be rude, but in person she looks quite a lot older than this photo she sent (in which, she wanted to emphasize, she is sitting on a vinyl couch) with her old pal, Andy (gone but not forgotten). Oh, and most importantly, she writes Vegtastic Voyage which is a super entertaining and informative vegan blog that you should go check out just as soon as you read the rest of this entry.

Because the Vegan Thing Michele Likes is (one of my favorites) cilantro!!

I’m championing the underdog here and going with cilantro as a vegan thing I like. When people hate cilantro, they really hate cilantro. Not usually one to judge folks on their preferences, I’m going out on a limb this time and saying they’re just wrong. Cilantro is versatile, widely available, and super delicious and nutritious!


You can’t just put it on anything, but almost. I love a spicy cilantro pesto for a pizza base or to dress up some simple pan-fried polenta. Whizzed up with some peanuts, olive oil, lemon juice, and spices it’s a simple yet dazzling bread-dippin’ dish. Or just shove a handful into whatever Thai thingie you’re making, taco you’re throwing together, or that burger you weren’t remotely excited about…until now.

Kittee Bee Berns likes Leslie Hall

The Vegan Person I Like today is Kittee Bee Berns, another awesome Portland resident that I had the good fortune to meet on my recent trips there. Kittee is a lover of Ethiopian food, which you can find out loads more about in her completely vegan and gluten-free cookzine, Papa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food. Kittee also co-founded the site, xgfx, which is a vegan and gluten-free recipe resource. She also lives with a really great and very particular dog named Vee who let me ever-so-briefly pet him and, more importantly, admire his stunning shaggy coat. Those two are like peas in a pod, Kittee and Vee. I love it. You can also find Kittee at her blog, Cake Maker to the Stars which, among other things, reviews vegan cookzines in a "Vegan Cook-Zine Museum" feature. Brilliant!

The Vegan Thing Kittee Likes is actually a Vegan Person Kittee Likes, Leslie Hall! Since it's Vegan MoFo "Hump Day" (we're nearly halfway through the month!), Kittee's organized a MoFo Flash Mob to promote the new vegan song from her favorite vegan artist. You may see Leslie Hall all over the MoFo feed today!

The vegan thing that I like is Leslie Hall! She is a great performer (she has amazing dance moves and costumes), and if you ever have the chance to see her live, you should be sure to go. My favorite songs are Craft Talk, Gem Sweater and Tight Pants/Body Rolls. Her lyrics are seriously the best.



Since Leslie knows how hard we're all working for Mofo, she wanted to help us celebrate VeganMoFo Hump Day with her vegan song. This song is unreleased, so you can't find it anywhere else! For you, the link is here! You can also read all of the lyrics at Kittee's blog post!

Dave's Killer Bread - Sin Dawg

In a previous post, I included Dave's Killer Bread's Seed Bomb, but on this most recent trip to Portland I discovered another variety of DKB, the Sin Dawg! I would be remiss as a "what I like" vegan blogger to not tell you about this marvelous bit of bread engineering. What you have when you buy a Sin Dawg is a long, seedy loaf of bread that, once sliced open, is a gooey, delicious cinnamon roll inside! I can't emphasize enough how tasty this thing is and I found over the course of my most recent trip that the mere mention of the "Sin Dawg" brings up strong feelings of devotion in the locals!

The Dave's Killer Bread story is also a great one. Dave, a former drug addict and convict turned his life around and joined in the family bread-making business with his own line of ingredient-conscious breads that are undeniably delicious! The bread is made outside of Portland and some is even delivered to stores via bike courier.

If you're ever in the Pacific Northwest, I can't recommend Dave's Killer Bread enough. I am seriously considering gifting a Sin Dawg to everyone on my holiday gift list this year, they are that good!

Travel Food

I always get hungry in airports. And on airplanes. I don't know what it is, but I crave food that is healthy and satisfying. Typical airport fare leaves a lot to be desired to this end, so I always try to pack my own.

In my experience, this is the ultimate travel food: grainy bread and a ripe avocado. It's simple, healthy, comforting, filling, and easily portable (and not a liquid, so you can get it through security). It also doesn't have much of an odor, so your fellow passengers aren't disturbed (sat next to a guy eating a breakfast biscuit on my most recent flight home which was unpleasant to say the least). Grab a disposable plastic knife somewhere on your travels (or ask your friendly flight attendant) and you're good to go. I cut my avocado in half and then use each half as a little bowl to chop up the contents before spreading them on a chunk of bread, but you can enjoy these two paired any which way you like!

I picked up this Dave's Killer Bread Seed Bomb at Food Fight in Portland, OR and the avocado (requesting "one that will be good to eat tomorrow, please!") at a produce stand in Pike Place Market in Seattle (the produce and flower markets there are awesome, but the stinky, gross fish markets kind of ruin the fun).

Remedy Teas

Upon arriving in Seattle this past week, we visited some stores and were then hungry and wanted to go out for a bite to eat. It was about 9:30pm (11:30pm "our time") when we dragged ourselves out for a meal.

The first place we stopped at was a bar and I had inadvertently forgotten my ID in the hotel room. They still couldn't serve us food, but recommended another vegan place for dinner. When we arrived there, 45 minutes before closing, the waitress was incredibly rude to us telling us that they closed early so they could go home and that "maybe we had never worked a 12 hour shift before." Seriously. The third place we tried was also closed despite their hours posted on Happy Cow. Not knowing where to go next, we wandered towards the only lighted building in the area and fortunately, it was Remedy Teas!

Remedy Teas is an amazing little tea shop in Seattle that reminds me of Teany in New York in it's hipness and expansive tea menu. Upon entering I was delighted to learn that they were still serving food (now around 10pm) and we recounted our tale of arriving there only to eventually learn that the manager was a friend of the "rude server" restaurant owner (and was shocked at our treatment). Oh, fate. Remedy can make many of their sandwiches vegan and I opted for a Cuke Classic with vegan cream cheese and chives while my partner had a warm Tomato Fresha with vegan mozzarella. We rounded out this meal with a locally brewed kombucha and a chocolate chip green tea cookie to share (part of which is pictured). We also took a "deep sleep" tea to go with us which was delicious.

I definitely recommend Remedy Teas if you're ever in Seattle, especially later at night on a Monday or if you're in the market for a light meal or (obviously) tea! They were super friendly and hospitable and don't close before their posted hours say they will (which a local later informed me was a common occurrence in the city). The staff that we met was awesome, the space was really comfortable, the tea was perfect, and the food was perfect tea shop fare.

Food Fight! Vegan Grocery Store

Despite the fact that I have absolutely no time to devote to such a project, I have dreams of opening a vegan grocery store. I love bringing new vegan products to people who maybe haven't seen them before (hello, blog!). As a customer, I love the idea of walking in and knowing that you can buy anything and that someone I can trust is assuring me that everything within those walls is vegan! Food Fight is an amazing all-vegan destination that carries a wide variety of food and other items. They have it all, right down to a well-stocked produce section. Even better, their prices are really, really reasonable. While I was there I found items that I'd read about online, but hadn't seen in person yet. They are located in Portland's "Vegan Mini Mall" which also contains Herbivore and Sweetpea vegan bakery. This is a must-visit destination in Portland! I can't wait to go back soon (we've been traveling to Portland a lot lately)!