Cool as ice

It must be a struggle for parents and carers of young children to navigate the minefield that is modern day junk food. Every high street store in the country is packed to the rafters with fat, sugar and artificial additives. If you are raising your child on a vegan diet, the challenge to find healthy and appealing snacks must be even more complicated.

But for those of you shopping for children, you are in luck! Your friendly FGV eats like a 10 year old but reads ingredients like a world-weary extremist… and has good news for you.

Let me introduce you to It’s Only Natural.

It's Only Natural
It’s Only Natural

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Alright, me old fruit?

Some things are an acquired taste and whether you like them or not can depend on where you grew up. When I was a child, I adored Vegemite. I understand why people from outside Australia might not like it, but I couldn’t get enough of this savoury cousin of Marmite from down under.

I recently spoke with someone who couldn’t imagine anything more disgusting than fruit cake with marzipan frosting. I would eat so much of this at family weddings back in Brisbane that I would have to be carried to the car. The UK seems to share this history of wedding/Christmas cakes and I couldn’t be more pleased to discover Lazy Day Foods have launched this loved product in an accessible way.

Lazy Day Foods make me happy

My trip to As Nature Intended in Ealing Broadway a few days ago was a triumph in both nostalgia and deliciousness. Lazy Day have taken a slice of my childhood and turned it into vegan, gluten-free, finger-sized delights.

Cake and fruit and icing, oh my!

Get into your local health food provider or spend some time perusing the free from aisle in the supermarket to snap up these delights today. And when you are settled in with a few bars of marzipan-topped fruit cake and a cup of tea I want you to sit back, smile and think of FGV eating himself sick as a young wedding attendee back in Australia.

Small FGV not eating the cake on the table… yet!

Visit Lazy Day Foods online

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A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom

Summer is almost upon us here in the UK but you’d be forgiven for thinking it had passed us by without saying hello. There are dark, ominous clouds filling the western sky as I type from under my blanket. I feel there is only one thing that can bring the warmth and brightness back into my dull world. Cider.

I am a huge fan of Brothers cider. Their vegan range is an impressive collection of tasty drinks housed in bottles and cans. I have written about their strawberry, toffee apple and pear flavours previously and am always on the lookout for their other varieties.

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They don’t come much sweeter

As the next London Vegan Potluck comes hurtling toward us, I have the pleasure of announcing the sponsor of next week’s event.

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The shops and the lights look so pretty

Kensington High Street in West London is a shopper’s paradise. Huge department stores coexist alongside snappy boutiques and regular town street stores. If you have money to spend, Kensington High Sreet and its inhabitants will gladly assist you in removing a lot from your wallet.

But it isn’t just clothing and accessories on offer to tempt eager consumers along this famous shopping strip. Vegan foodies will be delighted to learn of a sophisticated eatery serving up 100% plant-based fare. It is called Saf.

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Something I’m having a hard time resisting

It is time for a straight up vegan food blog post. Sometimes I love simply describing a delicious meal and nothing more.

222 Veggie Vegan is a glorious restaurant situated in West London. If you want details on their fabulous vegan alcohol menu or their handy location, check my earlier post. This one is just a quick fix for serious vegan foodies.

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Cherry cherry boom boom

I’m in a quandary, dear viewers. It is tearing me apart. Do I love cherry, strawberry or raspberry beer the best?

Vegan fruit beer... strawberry, cherry and raspberry

Regular visitors to the Haus of FGV will be all too familiar with the relationship I am fostering with the good folk up in Tadcaster known as the Samuel Smith Brewery. These traditional ale, lager, cider and beer producers have been turning out the liquid good stuff since approximately 1758. They are the last remaining independent brewery in the town of Tadcaster and the majority of what they create is suitable for vegans.

You will often find me frittering away an afternoon in one of the 300 or so Samuel Smith pubs scattered around the UK. Give me a pint of Cider Reserve and my woes are temporarily dismissed… and I’m rather pleasant company.

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One of everything, please

Do you ever have difficulty deciding what to eat when faced with many options?

One way out of this precarious situation is to buy one of everything. My trip to Whole Foods Market in Kensington a few days ago saw me tempted to do just that. I was entrusted with the task of buying some pre-packed goodies for Josh and myself to devour. The plan was to nab a window seat in the store’s food court, eat ourselves silly and watch frenzied Christmas shoppers collide with each other on the obscenely-busy high street below.

So sit down, relax and enjoy the visual delights of my lunchtime shopping spree. For a FGV, I was actually rather restrained.

Whole Foods in-house vegan yoghurt varieties

I wanted to commence the meal with healthy food that tasted great, so I opted for two tubs of vegan yoghurt with muesli and fruit. Buying both flavours was the only option when I couldn’t decide between mixed berry and blackberry. They weren’t fabulous, but fulfilled my expectations.

Saf is a vegan restaurant located in Shoreditch, East London that has now opened an outlet in the Whole Foods Kensington food court. While  I didn’t buy from them directly, I chose one of their pre-packaged wraps from the sandwich case instore.

I promise I’m not being hysterical when I state it

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