The Ordinary Vegan - Apple Crumble/Apple Strudel

This week on TOV, is the turn of shop-bought desserts. I have found that most of the supermarkets basic ranges of Apple Crumble and Apple Strudels are vegan-friendly. These are found in the the frozen desserts aisle of the supermarket and cost around £1 each. You just bake them from frozen and serve with vegan ice-cream, cream or custard. Delicious! These are great to keep in the freezer for last minute guests or late night munchies!

If home-cooked food is more your thing, I have my own crumble recipes here and here.

Come back tomorrow for another vegan recipe of the week. If you missed my exciting announcement on Saturday click here to read it!

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...The 100% Vegan Shop in Birmingham

Some of you may remember last summer I reviewed a little vegan shop in Birmingham called The One Earth Shop. Well, they sadly closed down a few months ago but it has now reopened with a brand new owner, new design, new name and new products... I give you... The 100% Vegan Shop in Birmingham!

I went along recently to meet with Ray, the owner, and to see what the new shop offered.

Ray took over the lease for the shop around Christmas and opened the store at the beginning of February, 2014. The inside of the shop has had a make over, with the counter being moved, a new hot food display and lots of new stock. Ray wanted to create a shop which sold the type of vegan products he would like to be able to buy, not just whole foods, pulses, seeds and nuts (although he does sell these too!). The great thing about the whole food items he does sell is that he portions them up himself into packets which are the perfect size for a meal or two rather than you having to buy a 1kg bag of pulses. He is very aware of the other vegan delights that are available nearby and leaves those foods to the experts. For example, the store is a few minutes walk from the fabulous fresh fruit and veg markets and Birmingham's Chinese Quarter. For this reason, Ray doesn't sell fresh fruit, fresh vegetables or many types of tofu as they are all available competitively so close by. He does, however stock those hard to find (in Birmingham) vegan ingredients and snacks, like Henderson's Relish, Space Bars, Amy's Rice Mac & Cheeze, 25 different types of vegan cheeses, vegan steaks, nutritional yeast, Pudology, whipped cream, good organic teas and coffee, Razzle Dazzle Ices, vegan Bakewell Tarts, cupcakes, snack wraps, sos rolls and good vegan chocolate. He also stocks vegan and eco friendly household products such as bamboo toothbrushes, cleaning products, toiletries and even vegan guitar straps!

Ray is very passionate about his business and is open to suggestions, if there are vegan ingredients, snacks, food items or household items which you would like to get hold of, he will try and source them for you, and will look at importing goods not yet sold in the UK if there is enough interest.

There are a range of vegan pastries, wraps, hummus and cakes delivered in fresh several times a week, and whilst I was there I was given a gorgeous Banana Choc Chip Muffin to sample :-)

Here are some of the items I purchased whilst on my visit:

So if you are in the Birmingham area and fancy a quick snack, some lunch, some ingredients for tonight's dinner or just to say hi to a lovely friendly vegan shopkeeper, pop over to The 100% Vegan Shop, located next to The Warehouse Cafe - a vegetarian restaurant with vegan options, in Allison Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5TH.

You can also follow the shop on Twitter 

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Beanfeast Bolognese

Batchelors Beanfeast Bolognese is a dried packet mix to which you add water and heat in a saucepan to create a soya mince sauce to serve with spaghetti. It is quick and easy, it doesn't taste as good as making your own but if you need a satisfying meal for two in a hurry, it's great to keep in the store cupboard. The mix is sold at most major supermarkets for around £1 and takes around 12-15 minutes to make, so you can make it while the pasta is boiling. Serve stirred through spaghetti and grated with a little vegan cheese and vegan powdered parmesan. Great for a meal in a hurry! 

If homemade cooking is more your style, pop back tomorrow for my Vegan Recipe of the Week. 

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Innocent Veg Pots

This week on TOV, I'm looking at convenience food. I have hardly been at home over the last few weeks as I am caring for a terminally ill family member, and it is at times like this when we may not have the time or inclination to cook that we turn to convenience food. Whilst we know convenience food is usually not very good for us and full of processed rubbish, I have found Innocent Veg Pots to be a vegan friendly convenience food without the rubbish. They contain no artificial colourings or flavourings. They are low in fat and high in fibre and taste lovely.

These pots are healthy, full of fresh ingredients, they can be microwaved, warmed in a pan over the hob or even over a fire or BBQ. They contain 3 of your 5-a-day and 80-90% of your fibre GDA. All of the ingredients are vegetables, grains and spices.They come in 8 different varieties and are Vegetarian Society approved. They are labelled as suitable for vegans and are available at all major supermarkets. They retail for around £3.90 each but can be found on offer at the moment for £2.00 each at Tesco and 2 for £6.00 at Sainsbury's. So, they are not cheap but they are healthy and convenient and are a better option than going to a takeaway.

I have tried the Mexican Chilli and Indian Daal in the last week and they were both delicious! If home cooked vegan food is more your thing, come back tomorrow for another Vegan Recipe of the Week.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx