So yeah,



maybe part of why I haven't been too exposed to veganism is because

1. I live in Woodstock, CT...a large farming town which is kinda stuck in the middle of nowhere in NE CT.

2. When I was at school, I didn't really get out enough/much to see what local places had.



There aren't very many vegetarian restaurants or stores around here, so that's probably it too.



Anyway, I went to the Willimantic Food Co-Op today and I was really excited to see all that they had to offer for vegans.

I went there once before, but only to get nutritional yeast flakes and I didn't spend too much time looking around.



I saw Tofurky in the frozen foods isle and like SO many different types! I picked out the hickory smoked slices and tried some on a whole wheat sandwich tonight...really good I think!

I also saw a bunch of types of sugar and decided to try out some organic, completely vegan and fair trade turbinado sugar and since I had heard about it on this board too, I decided to give it a shot.

I was tempted to get some agave nectar among other things, but I couldn't really afford to go on a vegan shopping spree. *tear*



But yeah, I also saw all these different types of vegan "ice cream", frozen dinners, veganese (please forgive my spelling, it's been a looooong and rough time lately and I just finally got home from school) and so much more.

maybe I just don't get out enough, but I found it really exciting to see how much they had to offer.

I picked up some non-dairy macaroni and "cheese" too. it was decent, I tried some with dinner.

I stopped by Wal*Mart on the way home too and saw that even they had a lot of new items...a much larger vegetarian section in the frozen foods and seemingly much more organic items throughout the store.



I really can't wait to finish school and live on my own...have a full time job and be able to go out, try all these amazing foods and have so much more freedom. It seems like being a vegan is becoming easier and easier...considering I don't eat too too many of these "special" foods, it would appear to only become easier as I get older!



yay for being vegan! lol



I am easily excited sometimes, don't mind me!

I see this items online and read you guys talking about them, but finally seeing them in real life just made my night.

That great! Trying new vegan products is fun.



It's nice to read such a happy post. Thanks for sharing.

Kewl.

Yeah I feel like that whenever I go into a new HFS, particularly the first time I went into the one I currently shop at the most. It's like "coming home."

yey! i know how you feel- its all so exciting! you should hear my happy little whoops of joy when i find something new to eat, and when i end up chatting to someone in the store who loves it too...lol.



and the excellent thing is, that no matter how long you're veg*n, you'll still keep finding new things.. new substitutes, new recipes, new fruits and veggies, new textures, new ethnic cuisines, new smells, tastes, techniques...



a few weeks ago i was all in love with some new kale and sunflowerseed pesto, and then i discovered a spicy mexican bean soup, then i worked out how to make a weird mayo outta beans...so many new taste experiences, lol... it just keeps getting better and better!

That is the best when you find new foods you can eat that you didn't know existed! I just found out about Scheese, which is the best vegan cheese I have ever had.



In a recent trip to California, my bf and I just HAD to go to all of the co-ops and health food groceries we could find and went crazy bringing home vegan and raw food snacks - things that we never saw here in the midwest. We ended up with a suitcase just for food to take home.