Saturday Sustenance for September 5, 2009

The big foodie news in Austin this weekend is that a new grocery store, Sprouts, has opened two Central Texas locations, one in Round Rock, and one in Sunset Valley. I haven't been to the either of the Texas locations yet, but I checked out Sprouts the last time I was in Colorado, and was struck by Sprouts' similarities to the Newflower chain(called Sunflower in Colorado). I'm glad to have more choice and I have no doubt that there will be insanely low prices, but one thing that I find kind of...aggravating about both of these stores is the subtitle, "Farmers Market" that both companies tack on to the end of their respective names. Don't get me wrong, I do shop at Newflower because it's close, convenient, and reasonable, but it doesn't compare to, and could never take the place of Sunset Valley Farmers Market for me. I guess I just want to reaffirm my love of real farmers markets, and encourage you to check them out before going to a grocery store, especially since they have the freshest, most seasonal, local produce.

There's not really much advertised at Central Market this week for vegans, but one item of note is that the Westgate location is now carrying the Soyatoo organic topping cream in aseptic containers (the non-aerosol variety) for $3.99 a package. I've only tried this once with cocoa powder for a quick, light, chocolate whip cream style frosting for cupcakes, but it worked nicely and was way better than the aerosol version (which inexplicably smelled like play dough). Soyatoo used to be available only through mail order, and while you can still get it from places like Pangea and VeganEssentials, one of it's best attributes is the convenience it offers, and that's not really apparent when you have to order it two weeks before you plan to use it. One other great thing about it is that is has a pretty long shelf life if left unopened. It is also available at Wheatsville, although I'm not sure of the price there.

Newflower has:
conventional Hass avocados, 3 for $1.00
organic bunched broccoli, $0.99 per lb.
organic red, green, or black seedless grapes, $1.99 per lb.
organic Italian or yellow squash, $0.99 per lb.
Boca burgers, 10 oz packages for $2.49
and their 48 hour weekend specials include:
organic Just Tart Cherry pure cherry juice, 32 oz. $3.49
conventional cluster tomatoes, $0.99 per lb.

Sprouts has:
conventional red, orange or yellow cluster tomatoes, $0.99 per lb.
conventional whole seedless watermelons, $0.99 each
conventional green beans, $0.99 per lb.
organic red leaf, green leaf, or romaine lettuce, $0.99 each
44 oz. bottles of Wholesome Sweeteners organic agave nectar, $5.99
Garden Burger veggie burgers, 10 packages 2 for $5.00
frozen Wyman's Berries, 12--15 oz. packages 2 for $4.00

Sun Harvest has:
organic broccoli, $0.97 per lb.
3 lb. bags of organic gala apples, $2.97
organic red of green seedless grapes, 2 lbs. for $4.00
organic Bartlett pears, $0.77 per lb.

Happy Labor Day weekend!