Vegan Vox Reviews...Amy's Kitchen Rice Mac & Cheeze

I love Mac'n'Cheese. I missed it so much when I became vegan. Sure, I have made cheesy style sauces with nutritional yeast, but they never tasted quite like the real thing. Then I found Amy's Kitchen Rice Mac & Cheeze and I'm back in love!

The texture and taste are spot on, the sauce is the right thickness and creamy. It's made using Daiya cheese from the USA and is gluten-free and soy-free too! It is also Vegan Society Certified. The only downside is that is it expensive - around £3 for a small portion, which would only serve as a side dish or a snack. Obviously you could make your own for much cheaper, but this wins on the taste front.

Amy's Kitchen products are available from selected supermarkets, health food shops and online.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Henderson's Relish

This week on TOV I am talking sauce! My favourite cooking sauce that is!

Henderson's Relish is a spicy sauce made in Sheffield and is similar in taste to Worcestershire Sauce but without the anchovies. It has been made in Sheffield for over 100 years and is Vegetarian Society Approved and listed in the Animal Free Shopper Guide produced by The Vegan Society. I use this sauce in most of my savoury dishes - soups, Shepherd's Pie, chillis, lasagne filling, vegan cheese on toast etc. It is a versatile sauce and can be used for flavouring many recipes. It is also gluten-free.

As far as I know it is mainly sold in Yorkshire, The Peak District and the surrounding areas in food shops, farm shops, supermarkets, markets and even gift shops. However, it doesn't seem to be widely available outside of that area. They do offer online ordering on their website and some other online retailers also deliver across the UK. There is a list of stockists here. It retails for around £1.85 a bottle and has a shelf life of around three years - but I promise you it won't stay around that long in your cupboard once you try it!

Let me know if you have tried Henderson's Relish, what dishes are your favourites to add it to? Leave a comment below. If you love cooking new vegan dishes, come back tomorrow for the Vegan Recipe of the Week.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Original Source

It's Monday which means it's time for TOV, a regular feature on the blog which looks at ordinary items available at most shops and supermarkets which happen to be vegan. In a rare departure from food, today it is the turn of Original Source products. If you haven't tried them yet, you should, they are gorgeous! They have a range of shower gels, scrubs, hand washes, a men's range, shave gel, bubble baths, shampoos and conditioners. Many of these products are vegan and are approved by The Vegan Society. In addition to this none of their products are tested on animals and they only use natural ingredients and local ingredients where possible.

Here is a quote from the Original Source website:

WE WILL:

• Never ever consider, or even think of, showering or bathing as a routine
• Always remain curious (enough to worry Laura from Health & Safety)
• Use our senses to discover intense experiences
• Use natural ingredients
• Never tire of looking for new ingredients
• Never stop messing around with new ingredients and packaging
• Never test our products on animals
• Always test our products on ourselves
• Never be wasteful

THE PEOPLE WE WORK WITH:

We are a member of the Aromatherapy Trade Council and also work closely with the Vegan Society. Our products contain either pure and natural essential oils or natural extracts. We're not big fans of flying our products in from here, there and everywhere, so we source and produce as much as we can in the UK. After all, it's nice here.

In our bathroom, we use many of the products including the shower gels and scrubs, hand wash and shave gel. The bottles clearly have the Vegan Society logo on, so it is clear which items are suitable. The Men's range has the logo on the back of the bottle and the Womens/Unisex range has it on the front. The products can be bought from all supermarkets in the UK, as well as Superdrug, Boots, Lloyds Chemist, Bodycare etc. They retail for around £2 a product but can often be found on offer for 99p/2 for £2. They come in a range of delicious fragrances such as Coconut, Mint & Tea Tree, Chocolate Mint, Vanilla & Raspberry, Lime and even a Black Pepper & Chilli for the men! I smell so nice when I get out of the shower! This is my favourite hand wash:

Whilst I know there are many vegan and organic skin care and body care ranges out there, Original Source is available at most High Street shops and that's why I am recommending them for The Ordinary Vegan this week.

Let me know which skin care and body care products you use in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx