I’m back from PAX Prime in Seattle and ready to post for real again. Yesterday was our only day to do “tourist things” and then our plane got in late, and I didn’t have the opportunity to post. So today I’m double posting, one for the post I’d planned for yesterday, and one for Tom Food Tuesdays. The second post will go up late tonight after Tom cooks dinner and we hammer out a blog. Now then, let me tell you about an awesome vegan grocery store…

Seattle has –what my partner likes to call– a vegan district. Near the Intersection of University Way Northeast and Northeast 55th Street, you will find the all-vegan Wayward Cafe, the vegan pizza joint Pizza Pi, and a completely cruelty free, specialty vegan grocery store called Vegan Haven.  Formerly known as “Sidecar for Pigs Peace,” the store is owned by the Pigs Peace Sanctuary and a part of purchases from the store go toward paying for the care of the animals at the sanctuary.

When I walked into the store I was a little overwhelmed by all the delicious-looking things surrounding me. Some of them were familiar and some of them were totally new to me. Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to bring too much back to San Francisco on to the plane with me, I just picked up a few vegan PAX-snacking essentials and some small vegan souvenirs to bring home.

Starting at the top left and going counter clockwise, we have…

Earth Balance vegan aged white cheddar flavor puffs

(Also known as “Cheezy Poofs” in our house) I’ve had these before. I’ve had a lot of these in my life and they are my favorite vegan snack. The best part is all that cheezy powder that ends up at the bottom of the bag. Nom nom nom…

Chick-O-Stick

It’s like the inside of a Butterfinger candy bar plus coconut. Totally delicious. I recommend you try these if you can find them.

Go Max Go SNAP! Candy Bar

Of the Go Max Go line, these are my favorite. I don’t know why the simple combination of crispy rice pieces and rice-milk chocolate is so enticing, but it is. I really feel like I should start buying these by the case because they’ve become so hard to find in San Francisco.

Four Sjaak’s chocolates

A Caramel Bite (red), a Hazelnut Butter Bite (light blue), a Dark Chocolate caramel bite (maroon), and a Peanut Butter bite (gold). I really like Sjaak’s as a brand. They have a huge variety of different vegan chocolates. Of this group, I’ve only eaten the dark chocolate caramel one and it was fantastic. The slightly bitter chocolate was a really great balance to the soft, sweet caramel inside. Tom ate the Peanut Butter one and the other two are sitting on my desk taunting me as I write this.

9/6/2013 MINIUPDATE! They’re all good, but the hazelnut one is the best!

J&D’s Bacon Salt

I was amazed when I saw this. I mean I knew that this product existed, and that at one point it had been vegan, but I thought they’d changed their recipe. We have a different container of Bacon Salt in our house that clearly states that there are milk products in it. I double checked the label on this one and it is totally milk product-free. I’m confused. BUT, we have some totally vegan bacon salt now. Knowing Tom, it’s definitely going to end up in the Tom Food post tonight.

Vegan Caramels by Little Henry’s Chocolates

If you can’t tell, I have a bit of a thing for caramel. Before I went vegan, I always opted for caramel over chocolate. But vegan caramel is hard to find, and I was thrilled to find these. They’re a little sticky, but I find if I keep them in the refrigerator and let them warm up a bit just before I eat them, they’re the perfect texture. They’re made with coconut milk, so they’re super creamy and delicious. I’m a fan.

Last, but not least, I picked up one of their grocery totes made from organic recycled cotton. I bought it as a lasting reminder of my first trip to a vegan store and so I could flag vegan whenever I food shop.

The folks at the shop were really, really nice, too. They were answering another customer’s questions about vegan nutrition and they were knowledgeable and incredibly helpful. Not to mention they were really friendly to us even though we were being totally indecisive about EVERYTHING.

Not only does Vegan Haven have snacks, but they have “real food” and awesome gifts like vegan handbags and wallets. They also sell books on animal rights, vegan cooking, and other topics relevant to veganism.  If you’re in Seattle, I whole-heartedly recommend you check out their shop.