Vegan Friendly Restaurants

Eating out vegan

I've been vegan for 4 months now and thankfully I've still been able to pig out at a majority of the places I ate at before - hoorah! I did think it was going to be harder eating out, and I guess it is in terms of not having as much choice as before, but there's not been a place I've come across yet that hasn't been able to cater to my vegan needs yet. 

Vegan options at restaurants

Most restaurants have some form of vegan option or a veggie option that you can ask to make vegan by skipping the cheese, mayo, etc.

Some places I've visited that have been good for vegan options:

1. Nandos
Who knew vegans could eat out at Nandos?! Not me, until I saw JME (yep he's vegan and I'm a fan ha) say he was at Nandos on Twitter. Their veggie burger/pitta/wrap is vegan, without any mayo or yogurt dressing though.  

2. Whetherspoons
The cheap and cheerful Whetherspoons also have vegan options!! I got the sweet potato, chickpea and spinach curry last time I visited. I wasn't sure if the naan was vegan so swapped with the poppadoms to be safe.

3. ASK Italian
Ask have a separate vegan menu that I had no clue about until recently! Just ask (lol) your waiter or waitress for it and choose from pastas, pizzas and desserts! I went with the aubergine pasta and it was divine.

4. Indian

I've found Indian restaurants the most accommodating! They always have veggie dishes which are vegan friendly and my local restaurant even make my favourite vegetable Rogan Josh vegan by frying the tomatoes in oil instead of butter. Shout out to Clove in Reigate ;)

5. Zizi's

I'm yet to have a Zizi's yet since being vegan but they too have a vegan menu and their lentil bolognese looks delicious. I'll add a pic when I've visited...

I will carry this list on as I find and eat at more vegan friendly restaurants!

...Watch this space.

Veg Fest 2017 Brighton

Vegan Festival in Brighton

It was veg fest this weekend at Brighton and I visited on the Saturday with my Mum. I wasn't sure what to expect as I had never been to a vegan festival before but I was pleasantly surprised.

New vegan brands

There were so many different vegan brands there, some that I had heard of before but loads I hadn't. It was so interesting seeing all the different things people had to offer. My mum and I mainly went for the food, and we ate so much lol, but there was also different charities, clothes companies, book brands etc there. 

For lunch my mum had a hot dog from the Vegusto stand and omg it was sooooo tasty (I tried some). I got a pizza from the Purezza stand and we also got some vegan ice cream from Yorica. But most importantly we got some brownies to take home from Liberty Loves and OH MY GOD... they were hands down the tastiest brownies I've ever had in my whole life, non vegan brownies included in my list of comparison. My boyfriend who's not vegan even said they were unreal. If I could create those every day myself I would. Well done Liberty Loves **applause here**. 

 

 

Who else went to veg fest?! Let me know what your favourite stall was.

Best Spread for Vegans

Dairy Free Spreads

You'd be surprised as to how many dairy free spreads there are out there in the UK. I didn't even know it was a thing until turning to the green side but they are there and some are better than others. I've not tried many yet but here's my best 3 that are in most supermarkets:

1. My number 1 and the one I now always get is Flora Freedom. It's brilliant and literally tastes like every other margarine I've had prior to quitting dairy. You can cook with it, put it on bread, add it to mash potato, the lot. 

2. Pure. To be honest this doesn't differ too much from Flora but is a bit harder to get your hands on so I tend to not get it as much now.

3. Vitalite. This one is the cheapest out of the 3 and is nice to bake with but not so great when using it on toast or anything savoury really.

Do please let me know if you've found better. 

Vegan Cheese Burgers

Vegan Burger

I made these vegan 'cheese' burgers last night and I am not lying when I say they were absolutely amazing!!!

Not much else to say other than, they were Linda McCartney 1/4 pounders, which I bought from Morrisons plus some Violife cheese slices. I grilled the burgers for around 20 mins and then added the Violife cheese and grilled for another couple of minutes. I was surprised to see that the cheese actually melted too.

Not just for vegans

I made these for my Mum as well who's not veggie or vegan and she absolutely loved them, even said they were better than meat burgers. Win!!!

Go out and try them now if you haven't - let me know what you think.

Vegan Chocolate Mousse

Vegan chocolate treat

For when you're craving something chocolatey... Here's what you need:

3 avocados 

Half cup cacao powder

Pinch of salt

1/2 Tablespoon of vanilla extract

1/3 cup maple syrup or golden syrup

1/2 cup soy milk or almond milk

Ps buy a cup measurer if you haven't got one already - they are a life saver for those recipes (as per above) that you come across that use cups instead of grams! I got mine for £2 here.

1. Scoop out the avocados and put into food processor

2. Add the rest of the ingredients

3. Blitz until smooth

4. Put into fridge or freezer overnight, depending on what you want (I prefer them frozen).

I found they are very rich so I may try next time with some added sugar or more syrup... but let me know what you think!

Easy Vegan Meal - Fajitas

Quick and easy vegan meal

When I haven't got a lot of time in the evening but want something tasty, these fajitas are what I turn to at the minute! I used to love vegetarian fajitas with Quorn chicken but since turning vegan I have found they are just as nice without the Quorn chicken, just with tonnes of veg.

Healthy and Tasty

Since it's only vegetables and some seasoning, I'm going to guess that they're fairly healthy, which somehow makes them taste even better. I use the following ingredients but obviously add whatever veg you want:

Vegetable Oil

Red bell pepper

Green bell pepper

Red onion x 2

Corguette or Cucumber 

Fajita mix (make sure it's vegan - the one from Tesco definitely is) 

Salsa or tomato pasta sauce (like Dolmio)

Tortilla wraps (The wheat and white ones from Lidl are vegan)

1. Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan and start chopping your peppers

2. Put the chopped peppers in the pan and start chopping your other veg (I always find the peppers take longer to soften so that's why they're in first)

3. Fry all the veg for about 10 mins depending on how crunchy or soft you like (I prefer everything a bit soft!)

4. When the veg is nearly done pop your wraps in the microwave for 30 seconds 

5. Sprinkle about a quarter of the fajita seasoning on your frying veg and stir it all around

6. Spread a small amount of salsa or pasta sauce (which I use) on the wraps

7. Put your seasoned veg in your wraps and you're good to go

Packed Lunch

I also then put some of the fried, seasoned veg in a tupperware box and in the fridge ready to take to work as a packed lunch. I take a wrap and some salsa and then prepare it all in the office. If you wrap it all up before you take it to work it gets soggy and horrible. So I take it all separate and heat up the veg in the microwave before putting it in the wrap. Yum!

Let me know if you've got some alternatives to this or if you've had it before...

Shop Bought Vegan Treats

Vegan with a sweet tooth 

I've always always had a sweet tooth and although this has got better since becoming vegan (thank god) I still get cravings now and again and when I do they hit HARD! However I've found it can be slightly harder to indulge when you're vegan and can't be arsed to make your own vegan treat.

Shop bough vegan treats

So here's some of the things I've come across when in desperate need of a sweet vegan treat that is not only vegan, but convenient in the sense I just have to buy it!

Jus roll Cinnamon swirl - found in most supermarkets (bought mine at Morrisons)

Chocolate tiffin from Morrisons

Coco Pops (with milk alternative of course)

Party rings - Most shops and supermarkets


Ginger nuts - Everywhere!

Oreos and new Oreo 'thins'


Dark Chocolate (most dark chocolates above 70% are vegan and some below this too. This one from Lidl isn't that strong so I love it...and it's like 30p!)

A lot of these don't state that they are vegan but when you check the label it turns out they are. Of course always check yourself as some stores may vary their ingredients.

This is just a small list and I'm still on the hunt for more so if you know of more vegan sweet snacks, let me know!

5 Vegan Lunches for Work

Vegan lunches you can take to work

I find eating vegan foods at home is actually really easy, especially if you've already done a basic vegan food shop and plan what you're going to have ahead of actually doing it. But I was concerned slightly about what types of things I could pack for lunch...

I work in an office and we don't have a canteen so you either spend money every day buying stuff from the Sainsburys down the road or you make your own packed lunch. I do the latter most days and to be honest, even if we did have a canteen I'd probably still pack my own lunch as I'm not sure how many vegan options there'd actually be.

5 vegan packed lunch ideas

But so far it's been very easy - although I do have to make sure I know what I'm having for lunch the night before so I can prep it. Here's 5 things I've done myself for lunch over the past 2 weeks here and there, in case anyone needs some inspo - the pics aren't great but you get the idea:

1. Leftovers!
I've found that most of the vegan recipes I've been making serve a lot more than 1, and being the only vegan in the house I often have heaps left over (but I will drop in here that both my mum and boyfriend have eaten AND enjoyed some of my vegan dinners I've made them...!) but either way there's often some left over to either enjoy for dinner again another evening (pop it in the freezer) or find some tupperware and take to the office the next day, ready to be heated up. Win! I did this with my 'Macaro-no Cheese' last week and popped some frozen peas in there too.

2. Vegetable Wrap
I love fajitas and am yet to try them with the Quorn vegan pieces but fancied something similar for lunch. So I fried some peppers, red onion and courgettes with some fajita mix on (some mixes aren't vegan beware), popped some salsa in a wholemeal wrap and bam, you got a vegetable wrap for lunch with a fajita kick!

3. Beans on Toast
I'd often have this at work way before becoming vegan, and it's perfect for days when you can't be bothered to prepare something. Tin of beans + slice of bread = a filling lunch.

4. Lentil Ragu
I made a big batch of lentil ragu for dinner one evening to have with pasta but thought the ragu was so tasty that I could have it by itself. So put the rest in the freezer to save for work. Tip - before putting in the freezer separate in different tuppaware bowls/boxes in serving sizes, so you can defrost only the amount you need, when you need it.

5. Marmite and 'Cheese' sandwich
I know I said it's useful to pre plan and prep your lunches for work but I know sometimes that's just not possible, so for mornings when you've got nothing and can't be arsed to make anything fancy - a good old sandwich will do the job... one with vegan spread, Marmite and slices of vegan cheese, to be precise... you'd be surprised at what a good combo that is.

Enjoy - let me know what vegan packed lunches you have to inspire me please!

How I've Been Vegan for a Week

Switching from Vegetarian to Vegan

My 1 year vegetarian anniversary came in November last year, which celebrated one of the best life decisions I have ever made...but becoming vegan was something I had always thought about during this time but never imagined doing, as I believed it would be too hard to keep up. I did often think of myself as a bit of a hypocrite by not eating meat but continuing to consume dairy, as in my eyes the dairy industry is in ways even worse than the meat, but either way I was proud of my vegetarian 1 year anniversary and continued it.

Veganuary 2017

I then came across an ad on Facebook for 'Veganuary 2017', something I hadn't heard of before but after reading bits of their site I decided to sign their online pledge to try veganism for 1 month during, you guessed it, January. Signed and excited to start, I started researching about vegan food and wrote out my vegan shopping list which included several items I had never even heard of before, nutritional yeast (ew) being one of them.

1 week in

So it's actually day 10 of Veganuary as I write this but thought it would be good to document how I've found it, being vegan for a week. It's been SO much easier than I thought it would be and most of all have completely enjoyed making all these new types of foods and actually loving the taste of it all too. And although it's not been too long yet, I already feel better within myself and am hoping it stays that way.

Highlights of my first vegan week?

I was bought the Aine Carlin 'Keep it Vegan' cookbook for Christmas and have been cooking lots of recipes from this over the past 10 days. On Saturday I made her 'Macaro-no Cheese' and was completed buzzed to see the author and vegan chef herself, Aine Carlin, had like AND commented on my pic... literally...over...the..moon. At that moment it felt like Aine and I were buds and I'm still mentally planning a catch up over coffee with her, to chat about vegan food and stuff... Aine let me know when you're free babe :). Evident of this fabulous news below:

Has anyone else signed up to Veganuary? How are you finding it and do you have any recipes to share?!

Here's some pictures of my meals I've tried so far :)

Vegan risotto with glazed balsamic root veg 🍽 #veganuary2017 #day1 #dinner #vegan @weareveganuary recipe from #keepitvegan @ainecarlin

A photo posted by Chelsea Roderick (@chelsearoderick92) on Jan 1, 2017 at 9:48am PST

Lentil soup from the #keepitvegan cook book. So tasty!! #veganuary2017 #day2 #vegan #soup #lentils #ainecarlin @ainecarlin

A photo posted by Chelsea Roderick (@chelsearoderick92) on Jan 2, 2017 at 9:15am PST

Lentil ragù courgetti for my dinner this evening (with violife vegan 'parmesan'). I can't believe I'm cooking things like this and enjoying them!! #veganuary2017 #day3 #vegan #lentilragu #courgetti #dinner @weareveganuary

A photo posted by Chelsea Roderick (@chelsearoderick92) on Jan 3, 2017 at 12:49pm PST

Vegan sweet treats in Brighton. @maxdavie even chose and had the vegan 'cheesecake'! 😱 #Brighton #vegan #veganuary2017

A photo posted by Chelsea Roderick (@chelsearoderick92) on Jan 8, 2017 at 6:32am PST

Homemade pizza for dinner. Found a good melty cheese substitute in Brighton which worked and Sacla do a vegan pesto 🙌🏼 #veganuary2017 #vegan #pizza #day8 #feelgreat #thatryhmed

A photo posted by Chelsea Roderick (@chelsearoderick92) on Jan 8, 2017 at 9:25am PST