The Ordinary Vegan - Sainsbury's Free From - Gluten Free Roasted Pepper Arrabbiata

Sorry for the long blogging break. The Vegan Grindhouse has taken over most of my waking hours of late and we have just returned from a lovely holiday in sunny Devon. However, I am back and blogging. This week TOV is a new frozen product from Sainsbury's. It is a Roasted Pepper Arrabbiata pasta dish which is vegan and wheat/gluten free. The pasta comes in a separate sachet from the arrabbiata sauce and you can oven cook or microwave. The meal was nice, not too spicy with a good texture and flavour, but would have been easy to make from scratch or just as quick to use a jar of sauce and some gluten free pasta. This ready-meal is pricey at £2.50, however for a quick frozen meal which is gluten and wheat free as well as vegan, it provides another option.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - The Food Doctor - Chipotle Chilli Wholeful Grains

I found these snacks at Home Sense but Food Doctor products can be found in many health food shops, supermarkets and online as well. 

These are a great vegan snack to keep in the car for a long journey, to take to the cinema or to keep you going at work. It's full of healthy grains and seeds - including pumpkin seeds, corn, broad beans, soya beans, black beans, brown rice, almonds, peppers, peas, chillies, lime, herbs and spices. It is labelled as suitable for vegans on the packaging and sells for around £2.50 for a 150g bag.

They are spicy and full of flavour and make eating nuts and seeds more fun! They are a good source of protein and high in fibre. Food Doctor do a range of vegan-friendly snacks which are based on whole foods. What is your favourite go to healthy savoury snack to top your energy levels up until your next meal? Share in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Black's Family Maple Twists

These are amazing! Maple flavoured puff pastry twists made by Black's Family. These are sold in a huge 624g tub from Costco for £5.99 and are certified vegan by the American Vegetarian Association.

They contain no cholesterol, no transfats, no yeast, no dairy, no butter and no eggs. They are crispy pastry twists covered in maple flavoured sugar. They are not healthy at all but make a great treat for parties and barbecues. They are very moreish. You have been warned! :) I like them served with a bowl of vegan ice-cream, Mr Vox likes them with a cup of tea. You could even use them with a dark chocolate fondue or fountain.

What are your surprising bakery treats that you have found out are vegan? Share in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Iced Belgian Buns from Waitrose

Update: It has been reported in May 2015 that these are no longer vegan, see comments below for details.

This week's TOV is a yummy cake from Waitrose Essential's range. This pack of two iced buns costs a pound and they are available from the bakery section in Waitrose supermarkets. They have a delicious sultana and lemon filling and are vegan. Yay!

What are your favourite surprising vegan bakery finds at supermarkets? Share with us in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Ten Acre Crisps

I was lucky enough to be sent some samples of the new Ten Acre Vegan Crisps range to try so I could review them for you, and let me tell you, I was impressed.

The flavours are interesting and quirky, they come with their own unique names and a fab website too. All of the flavours are vegan and gluten-free and they are registered with The Vegan Society.

The flavours include Sweet & Sour, BBQ, Bombay Spice, Chicken Soup, Ready Salted, Sweet Chilli and perhaps the most exciting for vegans...Cheese & Onion.

It is hard to find vegan cheese and onion crisps, so this is a real treat. The crisps all have a hand cooked finish, are not overpowering with flavour and come in a decent sized portion of 35g bags. My favourite is the Sweet & Sour flavour.

I'm really excited about this new crisp range. Click here to read all about their flavours and ask your local health food shop to start stocking them for you. We will have some for sale on our "The Vegan Grindhouse" Streetfood Truck.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Frank Bars

Have you tried Frank Bars yet? 

If not, then go grab some today, because they are delicious, chocolatey and yet surprisingly healthy. They are gluten-free, nut-free and dairy-free, vegan-friendly and packed with fruit and protein and bags of energy. All this disguised as a yummy chocolate bar! 

The lovely people at Frank Food Company sent me a selection pack to sample for you (it's a tough job!!) and I really liked them. The orange and strawberry were my favourites. They are really filling and would be great to take on a walk, run or cycle for extra energy.

They have a range of flavours including Orange, Blueberry, Strawberry, Double Chocolate and Oat.

They are a British company based in North Yorkshire and have stockists all over the UK.

You can follow them on Twitter here or Facebook here.

What are you go-to snack bars of choice? Share in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Stir Fry Sauces

I love a stir-fry, they are healthy and quick and taste great. This week's TOV is looking at vegan-friendly stir-fry sauces. A couple of my favourites are Amoy Chow Mein Stir Fry Sauce and Blue Dragon Chow Mein Stir Fry Sauce.

There are many varieties to choose from and most of them are vegan-friendly. The Blue Dragon ones actually label vegan on the front to make it easier. A stir-fry is a great way to use up left over veggies. I love peppers, onions, water chestnuts, mange tout, mushrooms and tofu in mine along with some udon or rice noodles and you have a perfect quick meal. These sauces are sold at all supermarkets and Asian shops for between 65p-£1.

What are your favourite stir-fry combinations? Let me know in the comments below.

If you like tasty vegan recipes come back every Tuesday for my Vegan Recipe of the Week.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Wheat Crunchies - Crispy Bacon Flavour

This week on The Ordinary Vegan, is the turn of Wheat Crunchies. The Crispy Bacon flavour is vegan-friendly and they come in single flavour multi packs at most of the supermarkets and Home Bargains. They can often be found on offer for around £1-£1.50 for a pack of 6.

Wheat Crunchies launched in the 1980s, disappeared for a while and was relaunched in 2012. These snacks are made by KP Snacks and contain no MSG, no artificial colours or flavourings, and are cooked in sunflower oil. Please note their other flavours are vegetarian but not vegan.

These are a lovely treat with a sandwich or salad and remind me of my childhood.

What surprising snacks and crisps have you found out are vegan? Share in the comments below.

Come back tomorrow for a delicious Vegan Recipe of the Week.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Tall Poppy Foods, Birmingham

*****UPDATE****** Tall Poppy's kiosk is temporary closed but you can still order cakes and food via their website for collection or delivery. They are also found at local farmers' markets and events - details of which can be found on their facebook and twitter pages above.************************

Back in October, I was lucky enough to be invited to visit Tall Poppy Foods in Birmingham, grab a drink and a chat with one of the co-owners and sample some of their amazing home-cooked vegan food!

Tall Poppy Foods is based in Selly Oak, Birmingham and is a take-away vegan food kiosk. Tall Poppy is owned by husband and wife team Erin and Joe, and they run the kiosk with the help of local student staff who are all vegetarian or vegan.

Joe and Erin have been vegan for around eight years and have worked and lived all over the world before settling in Birmingham where they are raising their family. As well as the kiosk, they supply food to events, weddings, birthdays and take mail order and cake orders through their website.

The unique aspect to Tall Poppy Foods, is that they do not have any processed food, all of their products are home-made from the bread and cakes, to the coleslaw, mayo, butters and sauces. They take great pride in their products and are very passionate about where their food comes from and the health benefits of freshly-made organic produce.

Tall Poppy don't just cater for vegans either, they have Paleo options, gluten free options, soy free options, healthy choices and treats.

Some of the products they had for sale when I visited were:

Organic fairtrade coffee

Almond and soy milk options for espresso based drinks

A range of teas

Lemoncurd, Boston Creme and Earl Grey Cupcakes

Muffins

Brownies

Ginger Cake

Sausage rolls with an almond sausage filling

Fajitas

Wraps

Falafel

Paninis

BBQ Jackfruit Burger

Quite a range as you can see! I got to sample the BBQ Jackfruit Burger, which was amazing!! The jackfruit from Thailand is slow cooked all day in a home-made barbecue sauce and served in a home-made bread roll with coleslaw. It was the first time I had tried jackfruit and it was so good, it is worth the journey to Tall Poppy for this alone! Then Joe gave me some of his cakes to taste. They were moist, full of flavour, tasted freshly baked and so moreish.

A couple of weeks after my visit to Tall Poppy Foods, I caught up with them again at the West Midlands Vegan Festival in Wolverhampton, where I purchased a New York Panini, with Fentimans Cherry Tree Cola and Tyrrells Crisps as a meal deal. The panini was so good, me and Mr Vox went back and bought another!

Tally Poppy can be found at 492 Bristol Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 6BD and if you pop over and say hello, let them know you found out about them from Vegan Vox! They are also found at many of the vegan and veggie festivals around the country.

You can follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by clicking these links.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

*****UPDATE****** Tall Poppy's kiosk is temporary closed but you can still order cakes and food via their website for collection or delivery. They are also found at local farmers' markets and events - details of which can be found on their facebook and twitter pages above.************************