Vegan Product of the Week: Lazy Day Foods - Free From Ginger Tiffin

A soft Belgian dark chocolate tiffin with warming stem ginger and ginger biscuit pieces (£2 in Waitrose), ideal for the winter season. It is free from gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, hydrogenated fats and is labelled vegan. You can tell that a lot of care and consideration has gone into making and packaging this product. Allergens are highlighted in bold on the ingredients list and the palm oil used is RSPO certified (ethically sourced). 

'Lazy Day Foods' were founded by food scientists Dr. Sally Beattie and Emer Bustard, both have an interest in food intolerances. Sally herself has several food intolerances and her young son is allergic to dairy. They state on the box that they bake their goods in a dedicated gluten free bakery and they have no gluten, wheat, dairy or eggs on site and they don't use nuts on the premises either.

I love the melty gooeyness of this product but it's something that I would only buy as an occasional treat. I find myself eating these very slowly as they are quite rich but enjoyable none the less. I couldn't gorge myself on these as I would probably feel very sick afterwards. I would like to try out some of the other products in this range especially the cookies if I can find them.

The Trussell Trust

The Trussell Trust is a charity that operate a number of food banks around the UK to help people struggling to feed themselves and their families due to financial crisis. Believe it or not there are 13 million people living below the poverty line in the UK for many different reasons. The Trussell Trust rely on public donations and the help and support of the community.

This Christmas why not help people less fortunate than yourselves by collecting some food while doing your shopping and dropping it off at your local food bank. The Trussell Trust cater for dietary needs such as vegetarians and people with allergies so by all means feel free to donate dairy free, Gluten free and meat free goods as long as they are not perishable.

You can find some product examples on their 'Shopping List' which can be adapted to what you normally buy as a vegetarian or vegan such as Soya milk, dairy free biscuits and snack bars, gluten and egg free pasta etc. I have noticed that the 'Alpro' vanilla Soya carton drinks and yogurts (which don't need refrigerating) are occasionally on offer. Things like this would be ideal for dairy allergy sufferers.

Visit the WEBSITE to discover your nearest food bank and email them to find out if they are operating a Christmas initiative in your area and whether you can contribute to a Christmas hamper which may include things like packets of stuffing, jars of cranberry sauce, gravy, tins of biscuits and chocolate treats.

To ensure that the products you buy really go to people that are genuinely disadvantaged they have to be referred by a health care official such as GP or Social worker before they are accepted. One box of food should last up to 3 days and contain a range of essential nutritionally balanced items. Parents with infants may benefit from receiving nappies and wipes and you may also be able to donate household items such as toilet rolls and washing up liquid but it is always best to check with your food bank to find out what items they accept. 

you have no idea how one simple box of food can make a huge difference to someones life. stresses of money worries can cause mental health problems consequently leading to family breakdowns and in a worst case scenario even suicide. With also the risk of losing their house and becoming homeless, people may also resort to crime in order to support their family. The Trussell Trust are here to help prevent that from happening so go ahead and help them to make that difference.

Vegan Product of the Week: Choc Shot Liquid Chocolate by Sweet Freedom

Choc Shot is a multi-purpose chocolate sauce that is low in calories and completely dairy free. It can be drizzled over ice cream, porridge, fruit and spread on toast and squeezed into milk shake. Personally I don't think I would put it on fruit or on toast for that matter as I can imagine that it would be very sweet.

The main reason I bought it was to make hot chocolate as I was fed up with having to mix powder into a paste before adding more milk but still often left with floaty unmixed powdery lumps. You don't get that with Choc Shot but I do like my hot chocolate chocolaty and the 3-4 recommended teaspoons they tell you to use wasn't enough for me so I'll be adding more next time (but sshhh... don't tell anyone).

This sauce has that bitter-sweet after taste that dark chocolate normally has if you like that sort of thing. I'm not usually a fan of dark chocolate but I like this in hot chocolate and I think it's amazing on ice cream.

Choc Shot is 100% natural, GM and Gluten free, low GL (glycaemic load), diabetic friendly (as part of a healthy diet), vegan and contains NO artificial colourings, flavourings or preservatives. It can be purchased in Tesco at the price of £3.50 which I found a little pricey but I'm all about the impulse buying... I'm terrible!

Vegan Product of the Week: Vego Chocolate

This item was one of my Vegfest star buys and it could well be one of the best vegan chocolate bars on the market right now. Whilst munching on a sample at their stand I couldn't believe it was actually vegan but considering we were at a vegan event I had to believe it. 'Vego' comes in a whopping 150g bar and is organic, fair trade and gluten free.

Vego contains a generous helping of whole hazelnuts and when combined with the melt in your mouth creamy chocolate it tastes divine. This product seemed to be very popular even with the subscription boxes and I'm not surprised. I'm not sure how many people would be put off by the statement on the back of the bar that reads 'may contain traces of dairy products,' but I assume that is just a precaution as I'm sure they wouldn't be able to label the product as vegan otherwise.

Unfortunately the WEBSITE isn't clear about whether you can purchase them on-line or not but their FACEBOOK page states that you can buy them "everywhere in the UK" examples include WHOLEFOODS (Fresh & Wild), health food store and Planet Organic, so I will be having a look when I next visit. It really must be tried to be believed. Well done Vego... I take my hat off to you.

Review: Rice Dream

As part of my diet I would like to consume less dairy products for ethical reasons. I began this by exploring milk substitutes. I have never been that keen on 'Alpro', maybe because of the consistency or texture although I have recently taken a liking to 'Alpro' vanilla but I couldn't quite see myself pouring it on my breakfast cereal as it's quite sweet.

When I was in 'Waitrose' the other day I decided to try a different brand and picked up 'Rice Dream'. It contains less sugar than 'Alpro' (only containing natural occurring sugars). Other benefits are that it contains calcium with vitamins D2 and B12, it's low in fat and has all natural ingredients with no stabilisers or emulsifiers. It is gluten free and can be used in baking (recipes on their website).

The first thing I did when I got it home was a taste test. I shook it first (always shake) and poured it into a glass. My first initial thought was 'yuck' but I put aside the watery appearance and the little white bits and drank it. I could definitely distinguish the rice taste (probably because it's made with rice haha). I could tell that I preferred it to Alpro but I wasn't entirely sure I had come to the end of my quest to find a milk substitute that I love.

It was great on my cereal but in my tea I wasn't convinced. It turned it dark brown but it was drinkable (but I don't want to settle with drinkable). So before I consider returning to 'Rice Dream' (winner of superior taste award 2012) I will continue to try other brands. Wish me luck!

Review: Goody GOOD STUFF - Cola Breeze

More brands like this one are starting to cater for Vegetarians because we need sweets like this too. The iconic cola bottle sweets are now gelatin free and tasting as good as ever. These soft chewy sweets covered in a tangy sugar are incredibly difficult to stop eating after you have opened the packet. I loved them and I think anyone else with a sweet tooth like me would love them too.

Goody GOOD STUFF's Cola Breeze is dairy free, gluten free, fat free and contains all natural flavours. I bought them in my local branch of Waitrose for £1 but if you go on the sweet manufacturers website you can locate a stockist closest to you using their store-finder.

I for one are looking forward to tracking down other packs in this range. Any recommendations?