Mad Cowgirls: vegan goodies close to home

Mad Cowgirls vegan grocery shop in Preston is a treasure trove of vegan goodies. The big advantage of this shop over the Cruelty Free Shop (for me) is that I can drop in quickly to grab something for dinner – because I can easily park nearby (with no parking metres!). They stock everything from Botanical Cuisine nut cheeses to chocolate-coated honeycomb (no honey, of course) to cute vegan jewellery and t-shirts, and even humane mousetraps.

H and I have visited several times now. I forgot my camera/phone/iPod and iPad on my first visit, and was in a hurry on my following visits, but this time I brought my phone, and Beri (one of the Mad Cowgirls) was more than happy for me to take some shots of the shop and their goodies.

I was going to crop out the mop – but I wanted to show you the t-shirts. 🙂

First of all, I can’t resist the chocolate-coated honeycomb or the vegan marshmallows. I always pick some up when I drop in. This time we also picked up Easter eggs and Provamel chocolate custard. Can you see why I put on 7kg in my first year as a vegan?

As you can see, the nut cheese and chocolate custard don’t last long at our place.

Happily, I’ve ALMOST lost all that weight now, so I can have some treats, as long as I’m sensible. (Which is much easier said than done!)

I can’t resist a good book

Another of my favourite parts of the shop is the little bookcase, which has a selection of the popular vegan books I always hear about online. I love being able to browse through the books the old fashioned way, rather than buying online.

On my first visit I bought Veganissimo, the fantastic cookbook by Leigh Drew. This time I picked up a copy of Plant powered men by Kathy Divine. I thought the men of the family might like the stories. Of course, I’m the only one who’s been reading them…so far. But if I leave it lying around long enough, maybe they’ll pick it up eventually.

There’s healthy food too, of course

I should also mention that they have a lot of savoury and healthy food too! I’ve seen packets of Bed & Broccoli’s Mac and cheese, kale chips, nut cheeses…and lots of other stuff that we can’t recall…because (embarrassingly) we’re always focusing on the naughty stuff. (You can keep that to yourself!)

The chocolate honeycomb is our favourite.

Like them on Facebook

The Mad Cowgirls are mother and daughter, Beri and Pearl. Beri was working in the shop when we visited this time. I’ve met Pearl on previous visits, but I believe (from their Facebook page) that Pearl recently had a baby, so I guess she’s allowed to have a bit of a break!  Anyway, they’re both really friendly and helpful and ready for a chat and to recommend some of their popular products.

‘Like’ their Facebook page to keep track of what’s available and on special. If you’re a pizza lover, I know they recently had a good deal on Notzarella cheese!

Where to find them

Mad Cowgirls is open from Tuesday to Sunday.

You’ll find it at Shop 9, 93 High Street, Preston (this is south Preston – I actually thought that area was Thornbury.)

You can drive there and get parking out the front or in the side streets. If you’re on public transport, the 86 tram runs close by. Jump off at stop no. 43 (Raglan Street), then walk the short distance west from Plenty Road to High Street and it’s just on the other side of the road.

Not quite cowgirls

This is just an excuse to post a video of Folk Uke – Amy Nelson and Cathy Guthrie (of Willie and Arlo fame). I love this song – it’s one of those ones that gets in my head for a week at a time, whenever I hear it. You can find lots more of them on Spotify and YouTube, but I posted this one, because some of the others are a bit ‘inappropriate’. 😉