The Ordinary Vegan - Pringles

The Ordinary Vegan is a weekly section of the blog which looks at ordinary supermarket and high-street products which happen to be vegan-friendly.

Now, when you think of vegan food, Pringles may not be at the top of your list, but these make a great snack to take to a party, when at the cinema or at a bar, which often sell the small snack size tubes. When there isn't much choice of vegan snacks such as in a pub, Pringles can be a quick fix. Not all Pringles flavours are vegan, but the great thing about Pringles is that they label all of their vegan and vegetarian varieties on the side of the tube, so it's really easy to see which varieties are suitable. Pringles are sold in all supermarkets, most newsagents and food shops in the UK for around £1.50-£2.00 for a large tube.

As well as their regular flavours, Pringles often bring out seasonal editions and limited editions for sporting events or Christmas. For example, last month they brought out two Christmas varieties of sweet Pringles, one of which was vegan - Sweet Cinnamon flavour. I was sent a tube of these in my December UK Vegan Food Swap box, however, I found the flavour very strange. It was like sugar and cinnamon on a ready salted crisp?!! Very odd indeed, but fun to try new vegan food out.

Some flavours which are currently labelled as vegan are:

Smokey Bacon

Original

Texas BBQ

Paprika

Sweet Cinnamon

Some vegans choose to boycott Pringles as they used to be owned by P&G, which as a parent company do test on animals, although Pringles themselves are not tested on animals, and the vegan varieties do not contain any animal ingredients. As of May 2012, Pringles are currently owned by Kellogg's. This is a quote from the Kellogg's website:

 "The Kellogg Company does not commission any research involving animal testing."

This is an ethical choice, and you have to consider that most shops and companies you buy from have some products which contain animal ingredients or are tested on animals. I believe that by buying vegan products from everyday non-vegan companies and supermarkets, we are showing these companies that there is a demand for cruelty-free products and this may encourage them to produce more vegan items and examine their other practices to make their other products appeal to vegetarians and vegans.

If you prefer wholesome, home-cooked vegan food, made from scratch, come back tomorrow for a very special Guest Vegan Recipe of the Week from Little Miss Meat-Free.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...October's UK Vegan Food Swap

This month is my third month taking part in the UK Vegan Food Swap. As usual the lovely ladies at tohappyvegans.com paired us up with our partners. This month I sent my parcel to Ben and he said that he loved to cook, so I sent him the ingredients and a recipe for Roasted Pumpkin Seed Pesto - the recipe will be available on my blog next week if you fancy trying it out for yourself.

As well as the ingredients for the pesto, I sent Ben some Frank Bars, Liquorice, Vegusto Cheese and Cofresh Lentil Chips.

My sending partner this month was a lovely lady called Jade. Jade sent me some fab goodies, some which I love and some which I have never tried before, which is exciting. We have also decided to remain pen pals which is great - vegan food and vegan friends - my two favourite things! :-)

Here's what I received in my package from Jade:

First I got a lovely card with a detailed letter introducing Jade and the choices that she sent me. It was very thoughtful and kind.

Next I got some sachets of miso soup - perfect for a quick lunch on the run.

The next item was a lovely choc orange bar from Morrisons, this tasted just like Terry's Chocolate Oranges from my non vegan days - lovely!

The next items I opened were some snack bars and hummus chips - great snacks for nights in by the fire or to keep in my bag when out and about.

My next treats were fruit based - healthy and tasty. Orange flavour raisins and some Bukhara raisins. Yum!

I had a selection of fruit and herbal teas:

Next I had some chocolate treats - handmade vegan chocolates and some chocolate strands for baking and on vegan ice cream.

I got some satay cooking mix which I can't wait to try with some tofu and rice.

And my final treats were these animal biscuits and wasabi chips:

I haven't tried all of my treats yet but the ones I have tried were lovely - so another successful swap this month, I'm already looking forward to the next one. Thanks to Ben and Jade and to tohappyvegans for organising it.

If you haven't signed up to the swap yet and would like to do so, please click here to sign up.

I hope to see some of you at the West Midlands Vegan Festival this weekend in Wolverhampton and it's not too late to email me for the meet up. If you fancy joining us for a drink please email veganvoxblog@gmail.com. I will be sending out details of the meet up tomorrow by email.

Have a great weekend.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Cofresh Snacks - getting my vegan snack on!

Cofresh Snacks are available in most supermarkets in the UK in the world foods aisle, in mini-markets and corner shops, Home Bargains, Wilkinsons, most newsagents and in Indian food shops. All of the range is vegetarian and most of the range is vegan too. For my international readers their website says they are also available in the USA, Canada, Australia and parts of Europe.

I'm not saying they are good for you or healthy but sometimes a vegan just wants to get her snack on! Settling down to watch a film or having a quick snack in my bag when I'm out shopping, or just something quick in the freezer for dinner is always useful.

What I love about them is they are good value and found in most places in the UK, which is useful if you are out and need a quick bite.

They have a range of bars - peanut, pistachio and sesame seed to name a few.

They have large sharing bags of potato or corn snacks, such as Chilli Hoops, Jalapeno, Chilli and Lemon. These are also available in small individual bags in local newsagents and Nisa Local.

They sell bags of savory snacks with nuts such as Bombay Mix, Balti Mix and Vindaloo Mix. This pack is almost finished, I couldn't wait before taking the picture!

Cofresh also do a frozen foods range which includes Vegan Burgers, Spring Rolls and Samosas.

I haven't tried everything in the range yet, but what I have had, I have enjoyed. So thanks Cofresh for bringing vegan-friendly food to the mass market.

When I am not getting my snack on, I do love cooking fresh vegan food from scratch. Check out my blog every Tuesday for a new recipe.

Have a lovely weekend in the sunshine! VVx