Fudge cookie bites

I was really excited when i spotted boxes of Nana's fudge cookie bites (vegan, gluten free, no refined sugar) in Holland & Barrett as i'm a huge fan of their no wheat chocolate chip cookies. Expensive at £2.99 for 5 cookies, i couldn't resist trying them. They are moist and very light which is good as i tend to find gluten free dough can be dry and heavy. Not the most exciting flavour though, could definitely do with something like icing just to vary the taste. They're small but dull and i won't be bothering with them again....boring!

Vbites

Eating a takeaway hotdog and chips on a picnic bench in the sun...sigh! I feel so lucky having Vbites (a 100% vegan cafe) a walk along the beach from me and i love having the option of being able to eat outside. The hotdog was in a wholemeal roll which i really liked, the contents were enjoyably moist and i felt extremely satisfied when finished. YUM!

London Vegan Festival

I had a great day at the London Vegan Festival, we were only planning to drop by for a bit and then head onto a museum but ended up spending a lot of the day there. Just walking in the place is fantastic...it truly is vegan utopia! So great looking around knowing that every item of food you can see is vegan, making me hungry thinking about it now! Lovely too knowing that the people around you are all vegan/vegetarian or probably at least interested. When i arrived i was soooo hungry that i couldn't possibly pass the Redwoods stall without trying lots of their tasters...ok it does taste very processed but there's times i really enjoy this sort of food. We continued our wandering, seemingly bumping into all the vegans i know from Brighton! Definitely a good day for catching up with people i'd not seen for a bit, a lot of whom were as excited as by all the amazing looking food! I got a rainforest box from the Rainforest Creations stall...now i'm not a big salad fan but i love their food. The box contained spinach flan, sprouted chickpea hummus and an incredible range of vegetables, seeds, etc..i enjoyed every mouthful, sitting in the sun outside eating it and felt stuffed after! Returning to the hall i saw so many stalls with fantastic looking cakes but there was no way i could eat any more at the time. Later on though i got some chocolate gateaux from the Vegan Store, a large slice for only £1...every bite was a delight! I ended up leaving the festival with a tofu monster t-shirt, cream egg, fizzy cola bottles , newest animal free shopper, beautiful fox magnet...and a very satisfied feeling.

Amazing chocolate treats...

I have to admit to getting rather excited when i received this package of chocolates from The Chocolate Wendy House! All the different shiny coloured wrappers with the heart and egg shapes...they looked almost too good to eat! I managed to get over this though(!), only of course because i'm dedicated to doing reviews for this blog(hmm...!) The eggs have a creamy white and yellow filling...i enjoyed this creaminess (so nice to be able to get this in vegan food) and i didn't find it too sweet (though you wouldn't want one after the other!..one is just right) Scooping out the cream filling with my tongue was particularly satisfying!

The heart was made of crumbly chocolate..it reminded me of an aero bar (the way it looked inside along with the crumbliness), though it's been so many years since i've had one my comparison may be very inaccurate!

The top photo is my cat Brian attacking the chocolates when they arrived...he's got a thing about plastic!
Bottom photo is the insides of an egg...Mmmmm

(http://www.chocolatewendyhouse.co.uk/)

Beetroot cake

I had strong chocolate cravings but i struggled to find a shop open that was selling vegan chocolate. Luckily i caught Iydea (Vegetarian kitchen, vegan food labelled...Kensington Gardens, Brighton) just before it closed. No chocolate but a few vegan cake options (when life's tough you make do!) I decided to go for the beetrooty cake, bit of an odd choice as i'm usually only a fan of beetroot when it's pickled in jars (i'm a classy lass me!) but i fancied trying something new. There was some heat to it which i was a bit unsure about but i liked the walnuts in it which gave the cake a varied texture. Very moist which i enjoyed, it reminded me of fruit cake with an added interesting flavour. Unsure i'd have it again but i'll definitely revisit the fantastic Iydea!

bertie

don't mess with the bug!

chocolate and chewiness

i always love eating vegan food i've not had before. so i had to try these chunkies which are a jerky-style soya snack. the teriyaki flavour is nice but not the most exciting taste and by the end of the pack they were a bit samey. despite that, i did enjoy the chewiness and liked the feeling of really getting my teeth into them. they're not cheap at £1.19 for a little (30g) bag but considering the quantity i did feel like i'd eaten something substantial when i'd finished them. it's great to have the choice of a savoury vegan treat which is also wheat free. (i found these in taj, old steine, brighton)

after the savoury, onto something sweet!...the organica coverture bar. it's so great having the option of vegan chocolate that is creamy and yet not at all sickly. i loved every mouthful of this, the texture felt so good , plus i like how clearly it's labelled vegan. organica seem to be a very ethical company, this bar contains 77% ingredients derived from Third World ethical trading projects, the paper wrapper has been recycled...you simply can't feel bad when you're eating it, how fantastic! ( from infinity foods, north road, brighton. they do a range of these bars there)