Veganuary Day 1

Firstly I would like to wish my readers a happy and healthy new year... I hope you're not feeling worse for wear after the celebrations last night. Fortunately for me I gave up alcohol two years ago, mainly for health reasons so that's one less thing I have to worry about during 'Veganuary'. I started my day with two slices of peanut butter on toast made with 'Hovis' white medium bread, 'Pure' sunflower spread and 'Whole Earth' smooth peanut butter washed down with a cup of tea made with almond milk. 'Hovis' are pretty good at stating their bread is vegan but always check the packaging.

I totally skipped lunch as I had been snacking on 'Pringles' (Original flavour) and as you know once you pop you just can't stop. I had dinner a little earlier than usual but I was looking forward to trying a new product, the 'Cheatin' Celebration Roast by 'VBites' which I picked up from 'Holland and Barrett'.

Roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips accompanied the fake meat products drizzled with 'Bisto' gravy (the one in the red pot). I only used half of what was in the box as there was enough for two meals so I put the other half back in the freezer for another day. It wasn't amazing but it was ok and I liked it.

For desert I had some lovely strawberries topped with lashings of 'Alpro' soya, single cream. I would like to try and consume more fruits during 'Veganuary' as I very rarely eat them. I have apples mainly for lunch at work but that's about it so I'm looking forward to the change.

So that's how my first day of Veganuary went. I'm now off to make myself another cup of tea and settle down in front of the T.V before the shock of returning back to work tomorrow really hits me.

Weekly Round-up #1

Welcome to my first weekly round-up post inspired by the lovely Kelly over at 'The Vegan Taff'. This is something that I would like to keep up if possible. After considering the fact that I have got far too much to blog about in individual posts I thought I would put it all together in one big post so you don't miss a thing. It also adds a more personal element to my blog which you don't often get when I'm just posting product reviews. It acts as a type of diary entry and I really like that concept so here I go.

Raw food diet update:
As you may of seen from one of my previous posts 'Making Changes'  I made the decision to try and maintain a half raw food diet by including fruits and vegetables into one of my meals I eat per day. This was easier in theory than it was in practise. I spent at least two hours (or more) preparing the produce to be put into salads to take to work with me for lunch. I got a little bored with chopping, grating and shredding and by the time I had finished I was rather frustrated at the fact that I had just spent all that time in the kitchen when I could have been doing other things.

My time is very valuable to me at the weekends as I work long hours during the week and I'm too tired to do anything of an evening other than watch the odd film or two and chuck something together that is quick and easy for my dinner. Don't get me wrong, I would still like to maintain a healthier diet but I may have to re-asses the way I go about it. However the salads went down a treat and I felt much better for doing it.

Book Purchase:

I bought my first vegan recipe book from Amazon called 'Keep it Vegan' by Aine Carlin and it includes over 100 simple recipes which are ideal for beginners and students and perfect for someone like me who has a short attention span and gets impatient with long-winded recipes.

The book contains an introduction to the author, the health benefits of a vegan diet and a list of store cupboard essentials. It is broken up into 6 chapters, 'Breakfast, Brunch and More,' 'Midday Meals & Simple Suppers,' 'Something Special,' 'Sides and Sauces' and 'Sweet Treats.' I haven't tried out any of the dishes yet but I have been recommended the strawberry vanilla cheesecake and the macaro-no cheese by John Pellegrini (@ei8htyei8ht on twitter).

Holland & Barrett haul:

I originally went in to buy some 'Plamil' egg free mayonnaise as my friend told me that it's the best vegan mayo around, so while I was there I had a nosey in their refrigerator section and gave in to temptation. I hadn't been to Holland and Barrett for a long time so I had forgotten what products they sell. As I am currently trying to replace all my 'Quorn' products with dairy free alternatives I was delighted to have discovered the VBites range so I threw a few things into my basket.

I am excited to try the 'Cheezly,' it looks so much more appealing than the 'Tesco' free-from fake cheese. I also thought I would give 'Free & Easy dairy free cheese flavoured sauce' a try with a pasta dish but I was a little bit disappointed with the bland taste. Stella (@VeganStella on twitter) suggested that next time I should try livening it up a bit with a dollop of English mustard and vegan bouillon powder.

Blog Post fail:

I was all set to write a review of one of 'Treaclemoon's' bath and shower gels, (well I was half way through it) when I realised that they are owned by another company. I noticed on their website they state that they are owned by 'Blue orange Brand Management' which also owns various other brands that aren't cruelty free. I personally try not to buy products from brands that have parent companies that don't have a cruelty free policy.

Even after I had emailed them with concerns over one of their ingredients they proceeded to ensure me that none of their products are tested on animals and do not contain any animal derived ingredients so I was very relieved until I researched their parent company. If you have any views regarding this issue I would love to hear from you. I seem to be constantly fooled by companies that I think are cruelty free but really aren't.

The search for alternative milk continues:

I thought I had found the perfect alternative milk for me in the form of 'Almond Breeze' but @pudding4brains on twitter brought to my attention a very important article written by 'Oh She Glows' about the ingredient Carrageenan in some alternative milk including the one that I use. Now I'm on the look-out for a new brand that both works on cereal and in tea. 

It took me a while to find 'Almond Breeze' after trying out a few different alternatives. I'm not keen on Alpro, plus I don't want to consume too much soya based products as I've heard that they are not good for you. I don't like anything coconut based and the ones that I have already tried are not very nice in tea. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know in the comments.

Lunch at VBites, Brighton

It's been a while since I last visited Brighton but as I was returning especially for an event I thought I would look up some Vegan friendly restaurants before I went. I was surprised to discover VBites, an entirely Vegan restaurant in East Street, so I suggested it to my meat eating friend who gladly agreed to try it out. In fact she was more than happy to accompany me as she had recently found out that she has an intolerance to some dairy products. After the event we headed to VBites which was conveniently only two minutes away from where we were. I must admit I was more excited about this than the actual reason why we were there in the first place.

We found ourselves a seat by the window (additional seating upstairs) and carefully scanned the menu. I had never seen so many amazing choices. There were Burgers, Pizza's, wraps, jacket potatoes with a range of toppings, fish and chips, hot dog, soup, ice cream and cakes. I had trouble deciding because I wanted to try it all, but in the end I went for the classic VBeefy (burger) with sweet potato fries, washed down with an organic pear juice. my friend chose the Hickory Chick which consisted of smokey glazed chicky pieces in a toasted bun. You take your table number and go and order at the counter. The staff seemed very friendly and enthusiastic (just what I like to see) and the service was fast.

In the refrigerated area at the back of the shop where you can choose your drinks, they also sold a variety of vegan products such as cheese, butter, squirty cream, substitute milks, oven meals etc. There was also a little freezer filled with little ice cream tubs.

My friend and I enjoyed our meals very much. I would definitely return (hopefully in the near future) just to try out other dishes. I was completely stuffed by the time I had finished but the cupcakes that I had been ogling since I had walked in had been calling me so I purchased a peanut butter one (which was fantastically scrummy) and a chocolate milkshake to take away.