Review - Slab vegan artisan fudge.

Friends, I feel it's my duty to bring to your attention this amazing vegan fudge. 

This is Proper Fudge.  I've been disappointed many times by vegan fudge, it's always soft and fondant-y and a bit kind of doughy, nice enough but I can make that kind of fudge myself.  This Slab artisan fudge is still soft, but it has that crunchy, crispy, almost crystal (but not gritty), melt in the mouth texture of the dairy fudge I loved in my pre-vegan days.  Does that make sense?  I'm not sure I have the right words to describe how good Slab fudge is, suffice it to say it's satisfied my fudge-y needs in a way no other vegan fudge ever has. 

I ordered 4 flavours, classic (it's sweet and slightly vanilla-y), death by chocolate (it tastes like the chocolate fudge icing my mum used to make for my birthday cakes), maple and walnut (this is for Joe, but I've taste tested it for him and it's super sweet and maple-y with nutty bits in) and choc toffee (this is my favourite, the toffee flavour is ah-maz-ing and it's swirled with chocolate fudge).  It's all coconut based, and you can taste that slightly in all the flavours, moreso in the classic and chocolate flavours.  

I asked for my fudge to be packed with as little plastic as possible (because I'd seen this post on Instagram!).  This is how my Slab fudge order arrived.

One piece of fudge had a bit of a whoopsie and was broken, but it's going to get broken when I eat and chew it anyway, so that's not an issue for me. I've kept it wrapped in it's greaseproof paper and popped it into a Pyrex box.  Yey for plastic free fudge!  (although the box did have plastic tape and bits on it, it's so hard to do anything completely plastic free and I really appreciate the effort Slab made to reduce the plastic)

Slab vegan fudge costs £3.50 per 150g piece, and you get free shipping on orders over £10.  They also sell dairy fudge, so make sure you order from the right section!  Fudge is made to order and mine came within 6 days of ordering.  I had cause to contact their customer services with a question, and they got back to me within a couple of hours and were super friendly and knowledgeable.  

This isn't a sponsored post.  I just like fudge.  And I'm going to eat some now! 

* Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Bloglovin' *

Tips and resources for new vegans.

Are you taking part in Veganuary this year?

(Can you manage to say Veganuary without it sounding like vagina-ry?  Because I certainly can't!)

Veganary is here, 100,000 people have signed up to try veganism for a month, my 11 year veganiversary is almost here, and there's never a better time than the present to explore the concept of eating a little less meat and dairy to help your health, the environment and our animal friends.

Here are some nice resources I actually use and find really handy,  

Websites for vegan support and info.

The official Veganuary website has so much information, you can even click for a free online vegan starter kit. 

I love The Vegan Womble's website, for really, really extensive lists of vegan products available in supermarkets and highstreet stores.  Check out their vegan product lists to see all the yummy things you can still eat. 

The Vegan Society have loads of online resources, and a 30 day vegan pledge you can sign up to, anytime, for support and information while trying out veganism.  

Shopping.

My food shopping pretty much all comes from supermarkets and my organic veg box, there's no need to visit health food or specialist shops for vegan food anymore!  If you shop online you can type 'vegan' into the search box on the website of your supermarket of choice (eg. Morrisons) and all sorts of things will pop up.  If you're shopping in store you'll need to get real good at reading labels.  Either way check out this accidentally vegan account on Instagram for lots of inspiration.  

My staple vegan shopping items include Pure dairy free olive spread, Violife vegan cheese, Linda McCartney sausages, sausage rolls, vegan scampi and vegetarian burgers, Fry's chicken nuggets, Quorn vegan hot and spicy burgers, and for ice cream Ben and Jerry's vegan chocolate fudge brownie or Booja Booja hunky punky chocolate.  My favourite chocolate is Moo Free, Lindt 70% dark chocolate and Cadbury's Bournville, Tesco's own brand vegan white chocolate is really nice too.  

If you do want to find something special I like Ethical Superstore, The Vegan Kind and Vegan Store. 

Books and magazines. 

Vegan Life Magazine brings you monthly articles and recipes, and even a vegan agony uncle page - you can subscribe here.  

My favourite vegan cook books are Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Peace and Parsnips by Lee Watson and River Cottage Veg Every Day by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.  To be honest though I usually just find recipes online, my favourite is Jamie Oliver's vegan chocolate brownie recipe, it's to die for and super easy to make.  

And if you want a fiction book that'll make you never want to eat eggs again then read The Hen Who Dreamed she could Fly by Sun-Mi Hwang.  

Eating out.

Trip Advisor (just make sure you tick 'vegan options' under dietary restrictions) or Happy Cow are pretty good shouts for checking out vegan restaurants and cafes.

So many chain restaurants are really vegan friendly now, I like eating at Wetherspoons (onion bhajis and chips!), Las Iguanas (mushroom fajitas and chips!), Loungers (vegan all day breakfast!), Zizzi (pizza!), Pizza Express (pizza!) and Handmade Burger Company (falafel burger!) but there's a full list of vegan friendly chain restaurants provided by Peta.    

If you're trying out a vegan diet or lifestyle during January (or anytime!) good luck, enjoy it and check out my vegan posts for lots of recipes and ideas.  

 * Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Bloglovin' * 

Disclosure - I receive a free digital subscription to Vegan Life Magazine, in return for giving them a shout out.  I only work with brands I like and all opinions are my own.  

What I ate in a day, a day of yummy vegan food.

This is what I ate in a day, it was my day off work, with just a few errands to run and a bit of gardening to do, but mostly just chilling out at home.

Breakfast was a yummy mix of potatoes, chickpeas and onion, fried til crispy with some paprika and garlic and a splodge of ketchup.

My breakfast was super filling, so for lunch I had some home-grown salad leaves, with a few crackers, a stick of vegan cheese and a BBQ Graze box.

Followed by an apple and home grown raspberries - they're so sweet this year!

Joe made this tea.  Home-made tomato sauce, wholemeal spaghetti and sausages-pretending-to-be-meatballs.  If you cut up Linda McCartney sausages and fry them in a little paprika they make excellent quick pretend-meatballs for pasta dishes.

This vegan ice cream is supposed to be in the shape of a lion, but I think it's more like a cute little sheep!  It's not quite chocolatey enough so I like to dip it into dark chocolate chips too!

Don't forget to check out my other vegan blog posts for more vegan meal inspiration! 

* Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Bloglovin' *

 

 

What I ate in a day, a day of yummy vegan meals.

This is what I ate on a lazy day at home,

Breakfast was a toasted sesame seed bagel, filled with a Linda McCartney sausage and ketchup - and it was really yummy!  Orange juice and strawberries on the side for fruity healthiness too.

For lunch I had a Brazilian inspired meal.  Herby kidney beans with left over brown rice and a little salad.  I dry fried some sesame seeds to sprinkle over the rice and added a few crisps to my plate.   My friend is married to a Brazilian guy and they lived in Rio for years.  When I visited them I learned that Brazilians sprinkle special little crisps over their rice and beans (and pretty much everything else!).

Tea was Thai noodle stir fry with loads of veg - including a home grown courgette!

I love a crispy snack when I'm watching TV in the evening, so I made my own vegan cheese and onion crisps with a packet of Pom Bears, some nooch and onion powder.

Don't forget to check out my other vegan blog posts for more vegan meal inspiration! 

* Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Bloglovin' *

 

 

 

Four variations on Jamie Oliver's vegan brownie recipe.

Jamie Oliver's vegan chocolate brownie recipe is my new favourite, favourite vegan brownie recipe!  It's soo good.  And simple to make.  And has no faffy ingredients. 

You can find Jamie Oliver's vegan brownie recipe here.  

Recently we threw a big party and I made loads of brownies to feed our guests.  Here are the different variations I came up with,

Vegan chocolate brownies with chocolate chips and sugar stars.

I found myself looking at my brownies and wondering how to make them less, well, brown.  So I sprinkled some colourful sugar stars on top before baking, as well as missing out the nuts from the original recipe and adding a metric-arseload of vegan chocolate chips.

Vegan chocolate brownies with Oreos.

For this batch I broke up half a packet of Oreo's and mixed it into the batter.  I added bigger chunks on the top before baking.  And lots of chocolate chips, because chocolate chips. 

Vegan chocolate brownies with macadamia nuts. 

This was an easy variation, I just swapped the pecan nuts recommended in the recipe for macadamias - yum.

Vegan chocolate brownies with vegan fudge.

I made this variation of Jamie's chocolate brownies with vegan fudge instead of nuts.  I use Fabulous Freefrom Factory's Dairy Free Fudge, cut up into smallish cubes, mixed into the brownie batter and scattered on the top before baking.  I also added chocolate chips.  Because I'm a fan of chocolate chips.

This has quickly become my go to recipe, and I see many many more Jamie Oliver vegan brownies in my future! 

(Although I still have love for my old fave vegan chocolate brownie recipe too!)

* Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Bloglovin' *

A yummy vegan chocolate fudge crispie cake recipe.

I love chocolate nest cakes at Easter!  This is my own vegan chocolate fudge version,

You will need

200g dark vegan chocolate

2 big dessert spoons of golden syrup

1 tea spoon of vegan margarine

pinch of salt

rice puff cereal

vegan ready to roll icing

a bowl, spoon, microwave and a serving dish.

How to make vegan chocolate fudge crispie cake

First melt the chocolate in the microwave, then add in the syrup, margarine and a pinch of salt and mix it all together thoroughly.

Pour in the rice cereal a bit at a time.  It's a bit tricky to mix, because the chocolate mixture goes quite fudgy, but persevere and don't worry too much if there are some bits of cereal that won't get covered.

Press the mixture into whatever dish you want to serve it in, I've used a cute little Pyrex one.  You can also make individual ones, each in a small dish, bowl or tea cup. 

Then decorate it!  I've used some ready to roll icing to make mini eggs to go on top.

Pop the cake in the fridge to set, then serve for pudding on Easter (or breakfast?  Well it is chocolate day!).

* Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Bloglovin' *

What I ate in a day, a day of vegan food.

Last week I had a shopping list of things to pick up in town.  As I was getting the bus anyway, I decided to rope in the husband and go out for lunch too.  Here's what we ate that day, 

I whipped up some vegan pancakes for breakfast, because pancakes.

We had lunch at Novello Lounge.  We tend to go there because they have yummy vegan options, and it's pretty and cosy.  I had the vegan all day breakfast, which comes with toast, hash browns, mushrooms, pepper and spinach, falafel and beans - it's so good! 

After that big lunch I didn't want to cook properly at tea time, so I made a vegan cheese quesadilla (my vegan cheese of choice is Violife), with a green salad, some crisps and nuts.  The market is selling these navel oranges 5 for £1 at the moment and I'm making the most of it! 

Don't forget to check out my other vegan blog posts for more vegan meal inspiration! 

* Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Bloglovin' *

 

What I ate in a day, a day of vegan meals.

This is what I ate on a lazy Sunday.  All vegan and all yummy,

Breakfast was a 'bacon' sandwich.  These Vbites Cheatin' rashers are OK, but better if you sprinkle some smoked paprika on while they're cooking. In a toasted pitta with lots of ketchup and a glass of OJ.

My only real plan for the day was to pop round the supermarket with mum, which I did, then treated myself to a little crispy snack and a sit on the sofa when I got back.  Paprika Pringles are my downfall.

Lunch was organic rice with sautéed mushroom, onion, garlic, spinach and cashews.  I was even organised enough to make two portions, one to take to work for lunch the next day.

I had great plans to cook potato and leek bake for tea, but I just didn't get round to it and Joe was late back home from work, so I whipped up a quick and easy baked potato, beans and a little side salad instead.  I know there's a lettuce shortage at the moment, but all winter I've been able to pick up English grown lettuce for 75p from my local market and it's nice to have a salad occasionally! 

I bought a little vegan chocolate bar as a treat when I was in the supermarket earlier in the day.  I love these Moo Free Bunnycomb bars - they're just like vegan crunchies! 

Don't forget to check out my other vegan blog posts for more vegan meal inspiration! 

* Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Bloglovin' *

 

 

 

Vegan review - all of the vegan cheese and cream flavour crisps!

One of my local shops started stocking loads of the Eat Real cheese and cream flavour crisps, and they're vegan!  It seemed the right thing to do to buy one of every variety, and then try them out.  For the blog, of course.  I'm so selfless.  I also had a bag of Ten Acre vegan cheese and onion crisps, so I've included them too.

Here we go...

Eat Real Quinoa Puffs - White Cheddar

Firstly, these puffs are huge!  They're the same length as my fingers!  They're really crispy and have a yummy, salty, cheese flavour.

Eat Real Quinoa Puffs - Jalapeño and Cheddar
Same puffs, different flavour.  I actually don't think these taste particularly cheesy, they're more jalapeño flavour, but husband has tried them and he thinks they taste of cheese.  These are my least favourite.

Eat Real Quinoa Chips - Sour Cream and Chive

Vegan sour cream and chive is a dream come true for me!  These quinoa chips have a similar texture to wholegrain or sunbites style crisps and they taste tangy and chive-y.  I don't think you'd know these were vegan if you hadn't seen the bag!

Eat Real Lentil Chips - Creamy Dill

The lentil chips are light and crunchy and the chips themselves really taste creamy and tangy, with a hint of  herby dill.  A packet of these doesn't last very long - these ones are my favourite. 

Ten Acre - The Story of when the Cheese met the Onion
 If you want vegan crisps that taste like good old Walkers cheese and onion then these are your best bet.  Crunchy little potato crisps with a strong onion and tangy cheese flavour that definitely don't taste like they're vegan friendly.  But they are.  Woohoo!

I also really, really, really like my own homemade vegan cheese and onion crisps, just take some nooch, onion powder and plain crisps and mix them all together, you can find the recipe for DIY vegan cheese and onion crisps here.

Are there any more vegan cheesy crisps I should know about?

* Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Bloglovin' *

What I ate in a day, vegan New Year's Eve eats.

I love this nosey sort of blog post when other people write them, so here's what I ate in a typical, vegan day.  

I took these photos on New Year's Eve, I ate some fruits and veggies but some yummy treats too - my days are usually a little less heavy on the crisps!

For breakfast I had some fruit, an apple and a clementine.  I got up, dressed and had a walk into town, to the market and supermarket to pick up some supplies, and to get some fresh air because I knew I was going to spend all evening watching TV on the sofa!




Lunch was one of those picky meals, they're my favourite kind and they always feel a bit festive and buffet like to me.  I cooked up 3 Fry's vegan chicken nuggets to have with some cubed Violife vegan cheese, pistachios, paprika pringles, some Bournville chocolate and some tiny chocolate cookies.



Tea was Chinese-ish, some Iceland own brand mini vegetable spring rolls (which are really yummy, garlicky and gingery, and only £1 for 16), rice with spring onion, soy sauce and toasted sesame seeds, steamed broccoli and sautéed garlicky leeks.

We saw the new year in watching Supergirl, cosy on the sofa.  I finished up my Christmas chocolate, some Bournville and the last of my Hotel Chocolat vegan chocolate reindeer.  I had a little bowlful of Walkers Max paprika crisps, and finished off the tube of paprika Pringles too!

Don't forget to check out my other vegan blog posts for more vegan meal inspiration! 

* Facebook * Instagram * Twitter * Bloglovin' *