Friday, January 29, 2010

Nicer Rice

It’s not just a vegetarian thing—more a health-food cliche—but I prefer brown rice to white. It’s healthier and tastier, all-around more satisfying. So I’ve often lamented the difficulty of getting brown rice at restaurants around Winston-Salem.

Well, things are getting better. Sampan Chinese Restaurant, at 985 Peters Creek Parkway, and Thai Sawatdee, inside the Harris Teeter at 2281 Cloverdale Ave., both offer brown rice as an option with meals. There is often an extra charge for subbing brown rice – brown-rice fans will likely be glad to pay it. Both restaurants also offer a variety of veg-friendly meals, so they’re getting close to tofu paradise.

Does anyone know of other restaurants around town where brown rice is an alternative to white?

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Trader Joe’s rumors and wishes

I was in Charlotte over the weekend, so of course I had to swing by one of their three (grrr) Trader Joe’s on the way home. I was chit-chatting with one of their employees, and he said that the next N.C. store locations being talked about were Asheville and Wilmington. Bah! Those are even further away from us.

In other “desperate for Trader Joe’s” news, there is a new Facebook group devoted to urging Trader Joe’s to open a store in Winston-Salem. You can join here and show your support.

Friday, January 08, 2010

The return of Boca sausage!

Oh, happy day! I was shopping at the Cloverdale Harris Teeter last night, when what should my astonished eyes see in the frozen-food aisle but Boca breakfast sausage links! Yes, my friends, they have returned! I refrained from dancing in the aisle, but let me tell you, I was doing a jig inside.

I know this development should make some of you as happy as I am—I got a lot of dismayed feedback from readers from my blog entry about the discontinuation.

According to the fellow I spoke with at Boca, customers clamoured for the sausage’s return, so the company obliged. So letting companies know how you feel about their products and decisions can sometimes have a positive effect. He had not heard anything about a comeback for the Italian sausages, though, so if you’d like to see those back, too, you can call the company at 1-877-966-8769 or fill out an online form here.

I know what I’m having for breakfast tomorrow….

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Past Is Prologue

A famous line from Shakespeare’s The Tempest — “What’s past is prologue, what to come in yours and my discharge” — is apt for the turning of the year. We tend to look back at what happened in the past, and forward to what we hope to make of the future.

Erik Marcus, the vegan activist and author behind the Vegan.com blog, has done a bang-up job of looking back at “The Year in Meat: 2009”—and giving hope for a more compassionate future. As Marcus writes, “Reading this article is likely the best way to quickly get up to speed on everything that’s happened in 2009 related to animal agribusiness and vegetarianism. I think this piece makes clear that, amazingly enough, the animal protection movement is actually moving us somewhere; and quickly.”

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Vegetarian Times on sale

If you have been thinking about subscribing to Vegetarian Times, Amazon.com has a great deal right now: a year’s subscription for only $5! There are a few other magazines available for that price, too. Check it out here.