Yay! A trip out….

Today we went to Vegan life live at Event City in Manchester. I have been looking forward to this for ages as its a joy to be able to go somewhere I can (almost) eat anything I want without the worry of meaty bits creeping in!

Vegan life live was running for 2 days, I found the vegan area of the arena a little small but full of brilliant food, beauty and household stalls. It was in the same arena as the om yoga show and the mind body soul experience. So it was a fantastic mix of my kind of people.

We didn’t just go to the vegan show we experienced it all, and found some stall mixed in with the other shows that were really nice.

Polly want a cracker….

Oh the food!

There were so many different food stalls; from take home options to eat in to home ordering. And most of the stalls had samples so you could nibble your way around!

We walked around first to see what was what before returning to get a really good look. One of the first stall we went to is one of my go to essentials foods, Nairn’s.

Nairn’s a brand which make oatcakes, breakfast biscuits and little nibbles. I pretty much have a packet of Nairn’s gluten free oatcakes in every handbag I own. As they come in little packets perfect for on the go nibbling.

These little gems are a brilliant base for cheeses, pâtés and gorgeous for dipping in a nice soup, or just on there own! You can pick a box up from almost all good supermarkets and they make both gluten free and gluten containing products.

The 3 S’s. Seeds, sweeties and sausages….

I love a good seed! Pumpkin… Sesame… Sunflower…

The Toasted Seed company make, as they say, “crunchy snacks bursting with natural flavour” There flavoured seeds come in all sorts of different flavours and can be used to spice up any dish, or just to snack on.

One of the next stalls we bumped into is a favourite naughty snack of mine, Candy kittens.

Not just for the gluten free vegans, my meat eating gluten accepting boyfriend loves these too!

Candy kitten sweets are squidgy and full of flavour; they have sweets that are both vegan and gluten free which is always a welcome. Their stall at Vegan life live was so cute! It had a lovely light and was packed with lots of products in there cute kitty wrappers!

Sweets + kitties = Winner!

I completed a questionnaire whilst I was talking to the girls which landed me a free sample bag of their sour watermelon sweets, which I ate about 2! I did say he liked their sweets!

Heck sausages are something I have yet to try. I have seen them in my local supermarket but haven’t brought them yet. And I have no idea why because the look and smell fabulous! Unfortunately I cant eat one of there products, the super green sausages, due to it containing mint, which I have an allergy too but there Beet goes on sausages sound really nice. And a definitely purchase when I next go shopping. I didn’t get them today I was staying out longer and the need to be refrigerated. They also do a original and with cranberry sauerkraut which is both dairy and gluten free. I haven’t seen this sauerkraut in my local supermarkets and currently its out of stock online but I shall be watching it to come back so I can give it a try.

The wall of love….

At the show they had what I’m calling the wall of love, it was a wall they asked folks to write on it why they are vegan. I call myself vegan when people ask as it easier to say gluten free vegan than a gluten free lactose intolerant vegetarian.

But I admit, I do eat a cheeky bit of cheese here and there. Which I shouldn’t and am currently suffering due to slipping of the wagon!

I was thinking what could I write that is totally true to me, so this emerge in my brain….

No lies. All truth. Sorry.

Chocoholic’s anonymous….

Hi, my names Katie and I’m addicted to chocolate.

I was always a sweetie girl until puberty hit and then, oh hello naughty little bars of goodness! Unfortunately, at the same time my lactose intolerance turned up which meant I craved that what made me ill.

At that time, many moons ago, vegan chocolate was almost unknown, well to me it was. Which meant I either ate it and suffered or did without. And would you like to deal with a hormonal teenager craving chocolate? No, me either.

So to find nowadays lots of different gluten free and vegan chocolates its heaven.

I believe that we need to take care of our bodies and fuel them with healthy nutritious food, but I also believe that we need treats too. We cant always be good and shouldn’t punish ourselves for that.

A lot of the vegan chocolates I have found are bars. All different flavours, but in a bar. Which is good but sometimes you crave the different. Well did I find the different….

The Vegan choc shop  have made one of my most favourite non-vegan well known chocolate.

A walnut whip! And it was huge!

Now I understand that handmade vegan chocolates can be a little pricey but these were worth the cost just to try it, but it would have to be a treat due to the cost for me personally. It was so delicious though; super chocolatey and filled with a bubbly interior which didn’t have the texture or taste of the brand walnut whip but really really nice.

And super fun to eat as it melted everywhere and i felt like a kid again!

Another chocolate stall I found and just as we were leaving too was the Conscious organic raw handmade chocolate company. I’ve had raw chocolate before and I really like it, but only in small amounts as I find it really rich. They have many different flavours including an alcohol infused chocolate selection. I’ve had alcohol infused chocolates before, not vegan ones however, and to be honest I really didn’t like them. I spotted their cheeky cherry brandy bar initially as I love cherry foods, but really didn’t fancy the brandy aspect. Then I noticed their non-alcoholic cheeky cherry bar. Yup, a purchase was made instantly! I had a little sample whilst I was paying and it was as expected, rich, full of flavour and melt in your mouth tastiness!

Food glorious food, hot vegan and lovely….

The Vegan life live show had a specific area where you could purchase what I’d call “street food” and sit and relax to eat it. However, it was rammed, as expected, but the smalls were phenomenal!

It was an overload for the nose!

Unfortunately, after walking around and reading every menu, although everything was vegan a large amount of the stalls had very little or no gluten free options. However from a distance I seen it, my most favourite food in the entire world, no universe……tofu!

If I had to live on one thing for ever it would be tofu. Weirdly I only started eating tofu a few years back and kick myself for missing out for so long.

The Herbivorous stall have not so many options and I think all had a gluten free option if not already gluten free but they all sounded stupidly tasty. But, I fell into the love trap from my tofu addiction and went for there satay and smoked tofu burger with caramelised onion, crunchy peanut satay and citrus carrots. Although it stated burger, which wasn’t gluten free they swapped it for a gluten free wrap with no issues. I couldn’t sit down, but didn’t want to to be honest there was to much to see, so I took it as takeaway. What a mixture in my mouth, the squidgy marinated tofu mixed with the sharpness of the carrots and the crunch of the peanut satay was divine.

I ate to my hearts content!

Whip, whip, hooray!….

I have been searching for vegan squirty cream since I  knew it existed and today they search is over!

The Newcastle vegan health food store had a little random store full of lot of different foods, shoes and bits and bobs. And what did I find there but my Schlagfix vegan squirty cream. I picked up most of my purchased items today from this stall. It had so many different foods I’ve never seen or even heard of before, which means I had to have them! From these guys I got my cream, of course, some Kuhbonbon vegan caramels and some Cleo’s peanut butter cups. The owner of the store was super friendly and actually hugged a customer to thank them for there custom! These guys not only have a shop the do delivery too and anywhere in the UK. I have a feeling I may be a new customer, wonder if next time I’ll get a hug?

Everything and everyone else….

I’d love to sit here and tell you guys every stall we visited and all the interesting people we spoke too but unless your up for read the next volume of war and peace I will just add some photos and websites for you to peruse at your leisure.

Oh, and I won a free meal at Wagamamas!

www.slabfudge.co.uk

www.bigjuiceltd.net

 

Team vegan for the win!