Veganuary 2021 Review: Planet Doughnut

Well, it's definitely been a while! However, it's lockdown (again!), it's January (again!) and we need something to make us smile. Veganuary 2021 is well underway and there are so many new products and more businesses offering delivery to get us through the dark January nights of lockdown.

We moved to Shropshire last summer and since moving here, we have gravitated towards Planet Doughnut who have local branches in Telford and Shrewsbury, both of which we have visited several times, in between lockdowns and tried several of their vegan doughnut offerings. So, we were thrilled when they contacted us last week to say that they are now offering vegan doughnut delivery to households in Telford, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Chester, Manchester and Liverpool starting later this week.

We got a box of six vegan doughnuts delivered yesterday for us to try and we may never need to leave the house again!

These doughnuts are not your average jam filled or glazed offerings that you get from the supermarkets, they are gourmet, handmade, huge taste bombs of luxury and we are fans for life.

This is what we got in our box this week:

Choc Overload! - Vegan milk chocolate covered doughnut with crushed biscuit and chocolate crumb, filled with decadent chocolate cream and topped with vegan brownie chunk.

Cookies'n'Cream - White chocolate icing dipped in biscuit crumb, topped with Oreos and filled with homemade caramel cream.

Lemon Filled - Tangy Sicilian lemon icing topping, dusted with icing sugar and filled with delicious lemon cream. 

Jammie D - Strawberry icing dipped in delicious biscuit crumb, filled with a sweet mixed fruit jam and topped with a whole Jammie Dodger.

Count Wiscoff - Delicious white chocolate icing dipped in Biscoff crumb, filled with caramel cream and topped off with a Biscoff biscuit and white chocolate drizzle.

Choc Orange - A vegan milk chocolate orange icing covered doughnut , filled with orange cream and topped with Bournville buttons.

They are all delicious and so big you can cut one in half and share them. My favourite so far is the Lemon Filled and Mr VV loved the Choc Overload, they are super indulgent and make a great gift to cheer someone up during lockdown and beyond.

Visit their website at www.planet-doughnut.co.uk and you can follow them on social media at https://www.facebook.com/planetdoughnut https://twitter.com/planet_doughnut and https://www.instagram.com/planet_doughnut/.

VVx

Disclaimer: We were send these as a PR sample to review however we were under no obligation to review favourably and we have purchased products from this company in the past.

Strawberry Oat Bakes with Chocolate - Recipe

Hey there,

It's been a long time. Most of my days now are spent running our vegan streetfood business - The Vegan Grindhouse. If you don't know who we are, click on the link and go and find out! We travel the UK selling handmade vegan burgers at markets, festivals, concerts, weddings, parties, events and more. We are available to hire as well.

Well today, I had a very rare day off, due to an event being cancelled and so I thought I'd do a new recipe for the blog as it has been too long.

A few days ago, I was sent a hamper of Free From items from the lovely people at Sainsbury's to try out and let them know what I thought, so I decided the best way to use them would be bake something, as baking is one of my favourite things to do!

Here are the items Sainsbury's sent me to try:

All of the items were clearly labelled vegan which was great and the almond milk is fortified with calcium and vitamin D. I decided to make a strawberry oat bake with chocolate and have a slice with a glass of the milk. Perfect afternoon treat. This item is gluten free also.

Here is my recipe (Makes 6-8 slices):

50g light brown soft sugar

125g gluten free plain flour (I used Dove's Farm plain flour)

1/2 teaspoon bicarb of soda

100g gluten free oats (I used Deliciously Free From Pure Oats by Sainsbury's)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon golden syrup

125g vegan butter alternative (I used Pure)

1/2 jar jam (I used Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Strawberry Conserve)

100g vegan chocolate (I used Deliciously Free From Choc Bar by Sainsbury's)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C (Fan)/Gas Mark 4

Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin

In a mixing bowl stir together the sugar, flour, bicarb, and oats until combined.

Then add the vanilla extract and golden syrup and stir through the dry mixture.

Rub the butter alternative into the dry mixture with your finger tips until the mixture resembles crumble.

Pour three quarters of the crumble mix into your prepared tin and press down into the tin with the back of a metal spoon.

Spoon the jam onto the base and spread all over with a pallet knife.

Sprinkle the remaining crumble on top of the jam and press in lightly.

Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and leave in the tin on a wire rack for an hour to completely cool.

Next, break the chocolate into pieces and place into a glass bowl over a saucepan of just boiled water. Stir until the chocolate has melted. 

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the strawberry bake and pop in the fridge for 20 minutes until set.

Slice the bake into 6-8 slices and enjoy with an ice cold glass of almond milk.

Put your feet up and relax, you've earned it!

VVx

What a vegan eats in a week part 2.

This is the rest of my what I ate in a week post:

Thursday lunch - salad sandwich and a veggie samosa

Thursday dinner - veggie stir fry

Friday Breakfast - beans on toast

Friday Lunch - roasted red pepper and rice burrito with guacamole, salsa and side salad

Saturday Breakfast - vegan bacon roll

Saturday lunch - vegetable pizza with vegan cheese, dessert - peanut butter and caramel crispy rice square

Saturday Dinner - salad with marinated green olives

Sunday Breakfast - bagel with jam, orange

Sunday lunch - veggie wrap with nachos

Sunday dinner - roast vegetables, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, dessert - fruit salad

I hope you found this interesting and can see that a vegan diet doesn't have to be boring, and can be varied and filling.

VVx

What a vegan eats in a week...Part 1

One of the most common questions asked to me when people find out that I'm vegan is "what do you eat?" So this week I will record my meals for you in a series of blog posts so you can find out what I eat in a week...

Monday

Breakfast - Vegan Granola, nectarines and a banana.

Lunch - Vegetable Chilli loaded potato skins with salad and sweet potato fries.

Dinner - Vegetable Bhuna with boiled rice.

Snack - Apple.

Tuesday 

Breakfast - Breakfast Burrito - with a Linda McCartney sausage, hash brown, baked beans and brown sauce in a soft flour wrap. 

Lunch - Home made vegetable soup made with carrots, parsnip, swede, potato, onion and veg stock, served with a crusty cob.

Dinner - Pitta bread stuffed with salad, shredded cabbage, mint sauce and chilli sauce served with chips.

Snack - Nectarines and plums.

Wednesday

Breakfast - Cinnamon & Raisin Bagel, half a bunch of red grapes and a whole pink grapefruit.

Lunch - Left over vegetable soup from yesterday with a crusty cob.

Dinner - Soya kebab in vegan naan bread with salad, onions and chilli.

Snack - Crisps.

Thursday
Breakfast - Fresh Fruit Salad.

Part two coming later this week!

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 - Fox's Party Rings

Fox's have reformulated their Party Rings recipe to get rid of the animal products and animal-derived colourants and they are now completely animal-free! Yay!

These Party Rings Minis bags are on offer at B&M Bargains at the moment for 89p. The new packets are labelled as suitable for vegetarians on the front and back. There may be old stock in some shops which are not suitable so please check the packets before you buy. 

I contacted the company to check the vegan status of the products and they assured me there are no animal-derived ingredients, however they do manufacture biscuits which contain dairy at the same facility so they would not label them as vegan due to cross contamination/allergy risks.

Enjoy reliving your youth!

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Tibits Restaurant, London

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be invited to London to try out the new all-vegan days at Tibits Restaurant. Tibits is an all-vegetarian restaurant on Heddon Street, just off Regent Street in Central London. A few times a month, they have an all-vegan day at the restaurant, which means all of their buffet showboat is full of yummy vegan starters, salads, mains and desserts as well as an extensive drinks menu including fresh juices and vegan beers.

We arrived at the restaurant and were shown to our seat by the manager who was a lovely lady, full of useful information on the food and drinks and we were seated under a beautiful chandelier.

We had some soft drinks and cashew nuts whilst we were getting settled and then went up to look at the impressive buffet range.

The buffet consisted of a range of healthy salads, hot dishes, snacks and sides.

This is what I chose for my main meal:

Tabouleh, couscous, breaded tofu escalopes, ratatouille and lots of tasty vegetables.

Mr Vox had the following:

Pizza, crusty bread roll, salad, tofu slices, onion rings, guacamole and falafal. We both really enjoyed our meals, they were fresh and tasty and full of flavour. There was a good range of dishes to mix and match to suit all diets, including gluten-free and raw vegan.

You choose your items and then take your plate to be weighed at the till, the food is charged by weight to reduce food waste often associated with buffet restaurants.

Next we had some more drinks, Mr Vox went for a vegan beer by Brew Dog and I had a fresh Carrot, Apple and Ginger juice which was super refreshing.

Next, it was time for dessert. There was a nice selection of desserts on offer:

I went for fresh strawberries with cherry coconut cream, it was so nice and light.

Mr Vox had the sticky toffee pudding with chocolate cream - pure decadence.

We finished off with a coffee and a loyalty card, as we will definitely be returning!

Tibits is our new favourite London restaurant and we will be returning later this month.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Disclaimer: We were invited for a free meal and drinks to review this restaurant, however the review is entirely my own opinion and has not been edited or amended by Tibits or their associates. All photos are my own and I received no payment for this review.