Vegan Box Swap

Here's what I got inside my first ever vegan box swap. I only just discovered that vegans all over the world are swapping boxes of their favourite foods with other people, so I figured it was about time to get involved.

There's a Facebook group for box swaps, but I got talking to Tessa through the Just Vegan group that's been set up by Youtuber's Henya and Jason. It's a group for vegans across the world that meant to be peaceful given all the fighting that's been happening among the online vegan community in recent weeks.

Tessa filled my box with a mixture sweet and savoury vegans items from The Netherlands. My favourite thing in the box so far has been the Tony Chocolonely bar at the back of the photo. It was orange and rosemary flavoured, and I pretty much ate the whole thing in a couple of days. I also loved the carmel biscuits at the back of the photo and the chocolate truffles.

I still have lots of things to try because I'm attempting to make the box last rather than eating everything at once, but so far everything I've eaten has been really tasty. It's also making me want to visit The Netherlands now I know there's so much good vegan food on offer.

Whoever said being vegan meant restricting food got it really, really wrong.

What I Ate Wednesday - Week 16

I'm back with another What I Ate Wednesday post. I have been meaning to do this every week, but things have been a bit stressful and busy lately, and I just haven't really wanted to sit down and blog as much.

I had my usual oats for breakfast made with almond milk. I've been using gluten free oats lately and I've been noticing a big difference in how I feel. I topped the oats with frozen blueberries, linseed, date syrup, coconut and almond butter and mixed seeds. YUM!!!

I was pretty hungry before lunch so I had this mango fruit bar from my Netherlands swap box (I'm posting a blog on this tomorrow) and a litre of water with lemon and orange.

I had a really simple lunch today of just toasted pita bread and hummus topped with a hot sauce. Then I tried some figs for the very first time. I wasn't sure how I felt about them at first, but they were actually really, really tasty.

I made one of my favourite quick dinners which was macaroni cheese with broccoli and topped with nutritional yeast to give it even more of a cheesy taste.

Then I had some strawberries, banana, figs, date syrup and chocolate sprinkles for an evening snack.

Guest Blogging - Grams Edinburgh

This week, I did a bit of guest blogging for Grams Edinburgh on the subject of protein on a vegan diet. It's something I've been wanting to write about for quite a while now, so when Grams said they were looking for some people to guest blog, I thought I'd finally sit down and write about it. I still find it completely baffling that people continue to ask me about my protein intake, especially if the person asking doesn't have a very good diet.

You can read the post here - http://www.gramsedinburgh.com/blog-1/2016/4/12/the-vegetarian-diet-high-carbs-low-protein

And you should also check out some of the raw cakes that Grams make. You can find some in Grounds Coffee Shop and Real Foods in Edinburgh. They also sell them at Stockbridge Market.

SourcedBox - April Box

Once again, I forgot to take a photo of this month's SourcedBox before I started eating everything inside it, so I've had to take this one from their Twitter page.

My favourite item in the box was the Rawr Chocolate bar. I've had a few before, but never the goji and vanilla one, and it's definitely my favourite one yet. I also loved the Rhythm 108 bar. It's a desert bar that you put in the microwave to heat up, and it was delicious. I got the lemon one, but I really want to the apple pie one next.

I also loved the Creative Nature goji goodness bar and the Inspiral raspberry coconut pecks. Both of them were really tasty, and I'm going to try get hold of more soon. I should also mention how good the Hectares salted sweet potato crisps were. Sweet potatoes are probably one of my favourite foods, so these are the perfect snack.

The only thing I really wasn't a fan of was the Rude Health bar. I'm not a beetroot fan, so this just wasn't a flavour that I was ever going to really like.

There's still a few products I need to try, but I'm trying to make the box last this month instead of eating it all as soon as the box arrives.

If you're looking to sign up to receive your own box then just visit the SourcedBox website here.

What I Ate Wednesday - Week 12

I finally ordered myself a new charger for my camera, so these posts will soon start to be accompanied by videos as I make the move into the world of YouTube. I'm hoping to start getting videos online in the next two weeks, but it could take a bit longer if it's takes me a while to get my head around all the editing side of things.

I got another jar of coconut and almond butter at the weekend, so I had some with a banana for a quick breakfast as soon as I woke up. Then I made a banana, mango and passion fruit smoothie to take to work with me.

I've been trying to eat more fresh vegetables during the day, so I made had a salad made up for lettuce, spinach, cucumber, peppers and avocado for lunch. I also had some of this delicious spicy pepper dressing that I got.

For dinner, I made some vegetable chili with rice and avocado. I ended up making a giant batch of it so it will last me for a few dinners this week. I like to do as much batch cooking as I can, and this is always one of my go to recipes.

I spent most of the day snacking on this vegan Easter Egg that I got in the egg hunt we did at work.

Vegan Easter Eggs

Since Easter is just around the corner, I thought I would do a post about some of my favourite vegan chocolate to stuff your face this weekend. This Easter will be my third as a vegan, and in those few years I've noticed quite a big difference in the number of vegan eggs available to buy. There was a time when you'd only find them in health food shops, but now all the major supermarket chains are stocking dairy-free eggs. So here's some ideas if you're looking to have vegan time this Easter.

1. Considerit Chocolate - Cream Egg

There was such a big buzz online when Considerit Chocolate starting making vegan cream eggs. Not only that, but this year they also made a giant cream egg which is the equivalent to 13-14 standard eggs. I have to admit, I've already eaten quite a few of these since picking some up at The Flying Duck's Big Vegan Fete a couple of weeks ago. Then I found out Henderson's in Edinburgh was selling them too, so I may have just happened to pass by and pick up some more. If you liked the Cadbury's ones in the past, then you're going to love these.

2. Hotel Chocolat - Dark Easter Egg Sandwich

Hotel Chocolat have had some great dark chocolate eggs in the past few years, but they're also starting to introduce more quirky products into their Easter line too. Not only does it come in a sandwich box, but Hotel Chocolat even used a 3D scanner to replicate granary bread. 

3. Moo Free Chocolates - Cheeky Orange Easter Egg

One of the best things about Moo Free is that their eggs are now available in Supermarkets like Sainsbury's. The egg is infused with orange crystals and reminds me so much of Terry's Chocolate Oranges which is why I think I love it so much. If orange isn't your flavour, then they also have a plain chocolate one and a honeycomb one too.

4. Booja Booja - Fine de Champagne Easter Egg

The Booja Booja eggs are some of the most luxurious vegan Easter Eggs on the market. The eggs are hand painted in India and then filled with some of the most delicious vegan truffles you will ever taste. My personal favourite are the Fine de Champagne truffles, although I'm really keen to try the Almond and Sea Salt Caramel ones too.

5. Sainsbury's  - Freefrom White Chocolate Egg

If it's a white chocolate egg you're looking for then there's a good few on the market you can get your hands on including this one from Sainsbury's. It has a really rich and creamy texture despite the fact it's completely dairy free. It's not a huge egg, but it does some with some white chocolate buttons too.

What I Ate Wednesday (RawTill4) - Week 11

I've decided to try and include a few RawTill4 days into my diet from now on. It's not something I ever thought I would want to do, but I've been watching a lot of Brianna Jackfruitson and Raw Alignment  videos on YouTube recently, and they've inspired me to give it a go. I don't want it to become something I stick to religiously because I love cooked food and I enjoy eating out in vegan restaurants. However I am pretty amazed how great I've felt the past few days eating a predominately raw diet until dinner.

To start the day of I had two large oranges as a pre-breakfast before I went out and did a big fruit shop. When I got back, I made juice from half a watermelon, coconut water and lime.

For lunch, I had a massive salad made up of lettuce, spinach, avacado, pepper, cucumber noodles and sundried tomatoes. Then I had a packet of strawberries with some banana ice cream as an afternoon snack.

I made some zucchini noodles for dinner with pesto and some vegan parmesan. I don't think I've ever actually eaten normal parmesan cheese, but this vegan one from violife is amazing. It's by far the best vegan cheese I've ever tasted. I also made some spicy potato wedges to go with the noodles.

My dinner filled me up, so all I had in the evening was I bag of my favourite popcorn. 

 So yeah, this was how my first RawTill4 day went. If it's not something you've ever done, then I would challenge you to try it. It's surprising how good you feel after only a couple of days.

The Flying Duck's Big Vegan Fete

This weekend, I was in Glasgow for The Flying Duck's Big Vegan Fete. The monthly event has been going for a while now, but yesterday was the first chance I was actually in Glasgow when it was on.

I've been to few different vegan events now, so I knew some of the products I wanted to purchase before I even stepped inside. And given how quickly things sold out at Leith Market last weekend, we didn't take any chances and arrived as soon as the doors opened..

First up, I discovered Shire Snax. I'd seen them on Twitter before, but never tasted any of the raw fruit and nut bars they make. We tried all the samples they had, but our favourites were Jaffa (The Hutt), Boggy-Sunshine and The Aloha. I'm trying to add a lot more raw food to my diet at the moment, so I'll definitely be buying more of these in the future.

We made our way through into another room where Considerit Chocolate had a stall. I've been buying their chocolate bars at various events for a while, but it was the vegan cream eggs I was desperate to try. They taste better than the Cadbury's ones I grew up eating, and they've eaten made a giant one which I'm hoping someone will buy me for Easter.

The other stall I was really excited about was the donut stall. Lisa aka Vegan Noman Chick has been selling her donuts in Glasgow and Edinburgh for a while now, and this was the first time I'd been able to get any. She posted online asking people to take their own container if they wanted more than one, so I filled mine with 1 cinnamon, 1 biscofff one and 2 chocolate donuts. She later said she sold all her donuts by 1.30pm, so it's lucky we were there early enough to get some.

There were lots of other stalls selling great food, but in a bid to be a bit healthier this month, I didn't think I needed to buy something at each one. However that doesn't mean I won't be stocking up on their food at next month's fete. And if you haven't been this monthly even yet, then you should get yourself along to the next one. I'd just make sure you arrive early so you get a chance to buy everything you want.

SourcedBox - March Box

(photo credit - SourcedBox Twitter)

When I got back to work after being off sick this week, my third SourcedBox was waiting for me. I started to eat things in the box before I could take a photo though, so I've had to steal this one from twitter.

I'm really enjoying this subscription box, and there's been a few products in the previous boxes that I've kept on buying. I think I've managed to get through two jars of the Pip & Nut coconut and almond butter since the sample in the January box.

My favourite items in this box was the !00% Natural Foods bar. I got the raw cacao one and it was hands down one of the best raw brownies I've ever eaten. I'm still thinking about giving the raw till 4 diet a try when the weather gets a bit better, so I'll definitely be stocking up on these.

I also loved the Raw Gorilla maca and cinnamon munchies and the Healthbox Kitchen cacao energy balls, although I've made my own ones that have tasted the same, so I probably wouldn't buy them very much.

I haven't tasted everything yet as I'm trying to make the box last at least a week, but hopefully everything will be just as tasty as the snacks I've already eaten.

And if you want to subscribe to your own box you can do so here.

What I Ate Wednesday - Week 9

This week's post is a little bit different because I didn't really concentrate on what I was eating as much. I've had a bad cold and sore throat for the last few days, so I've only wanted to eat certain foods. Usually when I'm sick, I want bread and fruit and not much else.

For breakfast I made some cinnamon oats with banana, frozen blueberries and almond and coconut butter. It's my favourite kind of comfort food when I'm not feeling 100% and it filled me up until lunch.

I had some soup for lunch with some wholemeal bread, and then I made myself a green smoothie in the afternoon. I used two frozen bananas, frozen mango, pineapple, spinach and some orange juice.

I wasn't really hungry or in any mood to cook a proper dinner, so I just had a sandwich with hummus, salad and roasted peppers. I know it's not the most exciting dinner, but I just didn't have much of an appetite for anything else.

What I Ate Wednesday - Week 8

I'm in London all day today for work, so I took photos of all the food I ate last Sunday for you.

I made a big bowl of nana ice cream for breakfast. If you haven't made ice cream with bananas before, then you need to try it. I just blended 4 frozen bananas with some almond milk and raw cacao powder. It tasted just like chocolate ice cream and it's so much healthier than the ice cream we're brought up eating. I topped it with raspberries, coconut and some Sweet Freedom liquid chocolate. I also had a cinnamon bagel later on in the morning, but I forgot to take a photo of it.

For lunch, I had some toasted wholemeal bread with sundried tomato tapenade, avocado and garlic salt. I also had some raw chocolate protein balls that I made with my mum last week. We used walnuts, coconut, cacao and dates to make a big batch so we wouldn't eat chocolate and sweets.

I hate how bad the light in my kitchen gets at night when I try to take photos. My dinner was some Linda McCartney sausages, crushed potatoes, corn on the cob and lots of green vegetables. It was pretty simple, but really tasty.