The Ordinary Vegan - McCoy's Ultimate

These new sharing bag size crisps from McCoy's are for sale in Tesco at the moment for £1.99. They were recently on offer for 2 for £2 and they come in three flavours - all of which are vegan-friendly:

Sizzling BBQ Chicken

Chargrilled Steak & Peri Peri

Sea Salt & Black Pepper

I tried the BBQ Chicken and the Steak flavours and they were both delicious, full of flavour, really crunchy and great for parties and BBQs.

They may market themselves as "Man Crisps" but this vegan girl is quite a fan!

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Earth Balance Buttery Popcorn

Now for those of my readers in the USA, you may be wondering why I have never mentioned Earth Balance products before and my UK readers are probably wondering why this would be on TOV and not on Vegan Vox Reviews. Well my vegan friends, here are the answers.

US readers, here in the UK we do not have access to these wonderful vegan products by Earth Balance which is why I have never featured them before. UK readers, this is not a special product I have been sent for review...I found these at Tesco!! In large Tesco stores at the moment they are trialling American vegan, gluten-free and free-from products. I am hoping if they sell well they may become a regular feature so grab them whilst they are hot!

This huge 170g bag of Earth Balance Buttery Popcorn is labelled as vegan, gluten-free, is non-GMO and contains no trans fats.

They taste buttery and rich and how I remember non-vegan butter popcorn tasting. I was so excited to see these in Tesco. They sell for around £2 and they also had by Earth Balance: Sea Salt Kettle Chips, Peanut Butter Popcorn and Peanut Butter spreads.

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

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

The Ordinary Vegan - Crackers

In January, thoughts often turn to healthier alternatives and lighter meals after all of the festive fancies. One of my favourite light lunches or snacks are crackers with salad. There are many vegan-friendly crackers available at the major supermarkets, here are some of my favourites:

Jacobs Cream Crackers

Despite the name, these crackers contain no cream and no other dairy for that matter. They are delicious with vegan cheese, pate, salsa, and pickles.

Ritz Crackers

These are the little salty crackers of my childhood, perfect with vegan cream cheese and cucumber.

Milton’s Baked Crackers

These are a new cracker to come to the UK supermarkets. They are a Canadian brand. They produce a range of flavours and these crackers are lower fat, all natural ingredients and baked to perfection.

Jacobs Flatbreads

These come in a range of tasty flavours, and are great to use with dips such as hummus, cashew sour cream and chive or salsa.

Ryvita Thins

These are delicious served with dips like guacamole, salsa and hummus or spread with vegan cream cheese or pate.

Please note not all flavours of these brands are vegan. Please check the ingredients labels. A few of the flavours contain milk powder and some contain honey, but all of these brands have vegan-friendly flavours in their ranges.

Here's how I serve my crackers:

Which crackers are your favourites? Leave me a comment below. Come back tomorrow for a brand new Vegan Recipe of the Week.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

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

The Ordinary Vegan - Hip Dippers

                                          

This week on TOV I am featuring Hip Dippers. This is a range of savoury snacks, baked breadsticks and salsas sold in Home Bargains. All of the products I have found for sale in my local branch are vegan (except for the sour cream dip), but only labelled as vegetarian. However, I have checked for dairy, honey or additives and have found no animal products on the ingredients lists.

First up are these Sundried Tomato and Black Olive mini breadsticks, they have a lovely flavour and are very crunchy, so hold dips well.

Next up is this Super Cool Salsa. They also do a Hot Salsa if you prefer some spice. This is a chunky and refreshing salsa with lots of flavour, lovely with the breadsticks or spread on crackers, nachos or in quesadillas.

The final product I tried was the Chilli and Garlic baked breadsticks, these were spicy and tangy and were lovely with the super cool salsa.

                                   

These chips and dips retail for around 89p for the breadsticks and 69p for the salsas so they are really good value and great to take to a party or just munch on whilst watching a DVD in front of the fire.

If homemade food is more your style, come back tomorrow for another fab Vegan Recipe of the Week.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Nakd Bars - raw vegan snack bars

This week on TOV, I'm talking all about Nakd Bars. These bars have really taken off recently and you can find them for sale almost everywhere, which is great news for vegans and raw vegans alike! I have seen them for sale at supermarkets, newsagents, department stores, health food stores, online retailers, direct online and at discount stores.

They are at all of the vegan expos and shows, and have fab taster counters where they have literally thousands of bars cut up for you to try in all of their flavours. My favourite flavour of the moment is Ginger Bread, but they have lots of different flavours including mint, mocha, banana, berry and many more.

They are made by Natural Balance Foods, which also make Nakd Protein Bars, Oatie Bars, Infused Raisins, Trek Protein Bars and Trek Protein Flapjacks.

Here's what their website has to say about Nakd Raw Bars...

Our simplest and most beloved bars. Just raw fruits and nuts smooshed together. Containing 100% natural ingredients with no added sugars or syrups,  these bars are also wheat, dairy and gluten free, and bursting with yummy goodness. With a soft, chewy texture they fill you up till your next meal and most count towards 1 of your 5 a day too. Ideal for lunchboxes, grabbing on the go and refuelling between meals!

So if you haven't tried these bars yet, go grab a couple. They are filling, tasty, healthy, vegan, gluten and wheat free, raw, made of fruit and fab! They retail for between 75-99p.

Come back tomorrow for my next Vegan Recipe of the Week!

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Falafel

This week, The Ordinary Vegan is all about falafel. This Middle Eastern dish , originally from Egypt is sold in the Middle East as street food and is popular throughout Lent and Ramadan when some people give up meat, therefore it is a perfect ordinary vegan food. Now this dish has become popular in the UK at street markets, food vans, restaurants, take-aways, ready-to eat and even 'make your own' packets in supermarkets. Many of the street vendors actually have 'vegan' written on the side of the stall or van or on a board nearby, but some do not advertise it as vegan so just ask. Every street vendor I have seen selling falafel has been vegan. Falafel is usually made from chickpeas and flour with herbs and spices, which are then shaped into balls and deep fried in vegetable oil. It is often served in a pitta bread with salad and sauces or just with salad, on even just eaten alone. They make a tasty on-the-go snack and are great for sandwiches and picnics. Falafel is great value too, at around £1-1.50 per box mix. Click on the product pictures for product information and links. They can be purchased from most major supermarkets and health food shops.

You can buy packets such as these to make at home in around 10 minutes:

Or you can buy them from the supermarket ready to eat such as these:

There are a few of the new flavoured varieties which contain milk/milk powder so please check the packets before buying. Even better you can make them yourself from scratch. If cooking from scratch is more your thing, come back tomorrow for the Vegan Recipe of the Week.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Unicorn Grocery, Manchester.

Unicorn Grocery Workers' Co-operative, Manchester.

Hello vegan friends. Over the last two weeks on 'Vegan Vox Reviews', I have reviewed places which I visited on my day trip to Manchester including my review of V Revolution. Last week, I briefly mentioned Unicorn Grocery, but I wanted to save the photos and main details for this post.

Unicorn Grocery (what a fab name BTW!) was the last place we visited on our trip to Manchester as it is a few miles out of the city centre in Chorlton. It deserves a post of its own as it was so amazing.

Seriously, this shop alone could make me consider moving to Manchetser, along with all of their other wonderful vegan friendly places, of course!

The shop is huge for a health food/whole food store, it is the size of a small supermarket. They have rows and rows of fresh organic fruit and veg as you walk in, but the best thing about this shop is everything is vegan! That's right, no label checking for me, it was like being able to walk around a supermarket and put anything I like in the trolley! This is a novelty indeed for a vegan but when the shop is full of such an amazing array of produce, it actually makes it even better.

There was a porch entrance area with plants and garden items and then as you enter the store, you are overwhelmed by lots of fresh fruit and veg, all organic, all colourful and smelling delicious and at reasonable prices too. Once you are past the fruit and veg section there are fridges full of tahini, hummus, salsas, sauces, dips, cheeses, and a whole host of other refrigerated goodies, followed by freezers with pies, vegan ice creams, cheesecakes, meat substitutes and ready meals. There is an organic bakery in store too with an array of fresh bread and cakes.

There are shelves full of canned goods, jars of preserves, oils, vinegars, wines and beers, pastas, rices, pulses, nuts, beans, savoury and sweet snack foods, toiletries and skin care products, a deli counter with olives, salads, pies, pasties, sandwiches and rolls, vitamins, cleaning products, companion animal foods and even a free apple cart for children to take a free apple whilst shopping! 

There are recycling points, compost bins, reusable bags for sale and so much more. There is a recipe stand with take-away leaflets of recipes for you to make at home after buying the ingredients you need in the shop. 

There were lots of friendly staff on hand to help with any queries and to fill the stock up on the shelves. You literally could do your entire weekly shop in here without needing to visit one of the big supermarkets! Please open one near me!!

Anyway, we had a good hour-long browse around the store and these were my purchases, although I would have liked to have bought much more!

Unicorn grocery can be found at: 

Unicorn Grocery

89 Albany Road
Chorlton
Manchester 
M21 0BN

Their opening hours are:

Monday	Closed all Day
Tuesday	9:30 - 7:00
Wednesday	9:30 - 7:00
Thursday	9:30 - 7:00
Friday	9:30 - 7:00
Saturday	9:00 - 6:00
Sunday	11:00 - 5:00

You can find them online at: http://www.unicorn-grocery.co.uk/index.php

If you are ever in the North West of England, please pop in to Unicorn and show them some vegan love. The world would be a better place if we had one of these shops in every town.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx