Metcalfe’s Skinny Popcorn

Metcalfe's Skinny Popcorn
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Popcorn: that ubiquitous cinema snack. Personally, I think eating should be banned at cinemas; all that rustling and munching does my head in but, if people really can’t stop stuffing their faces for a couple of hours, then perhaps only silent snacks should be allowed – say, marshmallows, for example.

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Review: Amrita Easy Detox 3 Day Mini Kit

Amrita easy detox
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January is traditionally the time for people to give their bodies a rest from Christmas excess and whether you call it a ‘new year, new you’ thing, a cleanse, a fast or a detox, they all basically boil down to the same thing: ‘I’m a fat, hungover bloater and I need to step away from the cheese and chocolate and put something healthy inside me’.

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Review and Giveaway: Ten Acre Crisps and Popcorn

Win a hamper of Ten Acre Crisps and Popcorn

Vegan cheese and onion crisps? Surely the stuff of myth and legend? But, no, they actually exist, thanks to Ten Acre Crisps. I’d heard about these crisps but never got the chance to try any as they’re not widely stocked in bricks and mortar shops. According to myth and legend though (okay, various vegan Facebook groups), they’d been spotted popping up now and again Loch Ness Monster stylee in TK Maxx but on a visit to my local store, I returned empty crisp-handed.

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Eating as a Vegetarian in a Beefeater Restaurant (Malta Inn, Maidstone)

Malta Inn Beefeater Maidstone

A steakhouse isn’t a vegetarian’s natural environment and I usually also steer well clear of ‘family friendly’ restaurants but, when the Malta Inn in Maidstone asked me to review their newly-refurbished Beefeater restaurant, I thought, ‘Well, I’m sure I won’t starve, so why not?’ It would also give me a chance to see what a Beefeater is like now as I hadn’t been to one in about thirty years.

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Giveaway & Review: The Vegetarian Italian Kitchen by Veronica Lavenia

The Vegetarian Italian Kitchen by Veronica Lavenia

The Vegetarian Italian Kitchen cookbook has only one thing about it that annoys me – Veronica Lavenia uses a few cheeses that are NEVER vegetarian and not once does she suggest a vegetarian alternative*. I don’t know what will happen when/if we leave the EU and whether we can happily sod their laws and make our own cheese and call it what we want but, at the moment, as any self-respecting vegetarian can (and will) tell you, Parmesan/Parmigiano-Reggiano is an EU Protected Designation of Origin product and has to be made using calf rennet, therefore making it unsuitable for vegetarians. And if you don’t believe me, you can read The Vegetarian Society’s cheese fact sheet which also points out that Gorgonzola (also used in the book) is never vegetarian either.

[*The author, Veronica Lavenia, has seen this post and here’s her reply:

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Review: Mueller Spiral Pro 4 Blade Spiralizer

Mueller Spiral Pro 4 Blade Spiralizer

A spiralizer has been the must-have gadget for a while now and supermarkets have cottoned on to this trend by selling their own ready-spiralized vegetables for three times the price the veggie noodles would be if you made them yourself. I can see the attraction of the ready-spiralized veg though – no getting any gadgets out, no cleaning up afterwards and if you’ve got arthritis or something else that means your grip’s not great, then it’s the only option available (on the assumption you’re not rich enough to pay someone solely to come around and spiralize a couple of carrots for you while you doss about watching Loose Women on the telly).

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Secret Sausages – Vegetables In Disguise

secret-sausages-range

A healthy sausage? The last time I heard such an oxymoron was a couple of weeks ago when a friend mentioned ‘fun’ and ‘camping’ in the same sentence.

Still, Secret Sausages have 90% less fat, 50% fewer calories and 35% less salt than normal sausages. And if you eat three of them, you’ve got one of your five-a-day too.

Unlike most vegetarian sausages, these aren’t the ‘meaty’ type. These are made with fresh vegetables packed inside a vegetarian casing made from seaweed and rice and, like any other sausage, can be grilled, fried, oven-baked or barbecued.

secret-sausages-garlic-and-rosemary

Secret Sausages sent me a couple of packs to try and the other night I cooked up the rosemary and garlic variety which are made from garlic, green beans, mixed peppers, carrots and rosemary. Because they’re not the meaty type, they were quite soft and although I couldn’t taste any garlic, there was a pleasant hint of rosemary.

Not wanting to be too healthy, I served them with chips, baked beans, fried egg and fried mushrooms.

secret-sausages

Yum.

Secret Sausages are Vegetarian Society approved, gluten-free and available in six flavours: Lincolnshire, Chilli and Coriander, Rosemary and Garlic, Cumberland, Honey Bee, Cheese and Spring Onion

 




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