vegan christmas

Xmas burger at Temple of Seitan

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You might need to hurry if you wanna get your hands on this one.

With the way the threat of lockdown is hovering over our heads, I’m not sure if shops and restaurants will stay open for the remainder of the year.

And to make it even tougher to grab, this vegan Xmas burger special from Temple of Seitan is available in limited quantities each day until December 23, 2021.

The Kievin McCallister is the Temple version of a chick’n Kiev burger featuring garlic butter, rocket leaves, a seitan fillet, bacon, and a deep fried ‘Camembert’ patty.

Such intense festive flavours.

You can order in stores on via the online ordering system only. This special is not available via UberEats and it has limited daily quantities.

You can also follow Temple of Seitan on Instagram.

And… if you don’t know, I have been working a little bit with Temple of Seitan and I’m telling you that for the sake of transparency.

Vegan pies for Xmas delivery

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You all know about Young Vegans, right?

Young Vegans have made a name for themselves by making and serving delicious vegan pies (followed up by delicious vegan pizzas).

Their pastry creations are decadent and mouthwatering. They used to trade at Hackney Downs Vegan Market regularly and their own pie shop in Camden.

Time marches on and neither of those locations are with us, but Young Vegans are still going strong with their pies via a takeaway counter inside Planet Organic on Tottenham Court Road and their online shop for home delivery.

It is the online shop I’m here to tell you about today, especially the Xmas delights you can order right now for Christmas delivery.

Take a look at this Christmas pie. So stunning.

Santa’s Little Gobbler Christmas Pie is everything you need for a festive dinner, but inside a pie crust!

Back for the 5th year running, the pie features handmade vegan turkey goujons with stuffing, buttered leeks in a creamy white sauce, and cranberry sauce all inside the buttery pastry.

Once you’ve finished the main course, you are gonna need a mince pie.

Each handmade pie is filled with a traditional inspired mincemeat (currants, raisins, sultanas, ginger, and apple) and laced with Amaretto.

These mince pies are available in a six pack.

If you place your order by December 20, Young Vegans are going to make sure you get your delivery by Christmas Day.

Click here to browse the online shop and get ordering. There are so many tasty treats in the Young Vegans online store including frozen pies, pizza, cheese, and sweets. You can also follow Young Vegans on Instagram.

Vegan chocolates shaped like things!

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Wow! Chocolate lovers are going to love this post.

The friendly people of The Amazing Chocolate Workshop sent me a gift and I was blown away.

First up, the box housing the chocolates can be personalised and the UK company picked a photo of me for my box and included a sweet message.

And then I moved onto the INCREDIBLE life-like chocolates inside the box. I was speechless.

They were replicas of salami, cheese, and utensils!

Every single chocolate made by The Amazing Chocolate Workshop is vegan and you can select from a great range of shapes and re-creations.

Perfect for gift giving! Follow them on Instagram and order online.

Festive vegan beer delivered around UK

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I think you would be hard-pressed to find an industry struggling as much as independent brewing right now.

What an absolute sack of shit year it has been.

The bars and pubs that breweries rely on for moving most of their stock have been closed or are themselves on the verge of closing forever. Taprooms at breweries, normally a direct line of selling, have been closed on and off all year.

I decided to treat myself to a delivery from my favourite vegan beer producer as an act of solidarity during this unprecedented time… and I’d like to think of few people reading this will do the same thing!

Brass Castle is an independent brewery in Yorkshire.

If you ever attended any of my Vegan Beer Fest events around the UK, you’ll remember Brass Castle as a regular trader. They even ran the jumbo bar at the London outing of the event a few years running.

Every single beer produced and sold by Brass Castle is vegan, including all the gorgeous cans in their 12 Days of Christmas beer advent calendar!

This box is a 12-can selection pack of various Brass Castle faves, hidden behind advent calendar-style doors. All the beers are vegan-friendly and certified gluten-free.

The pack comprises:

  • Pilsen Thrills 3.9% Pilsner (440ml can)
  • Hoptical Illusion 4.3% Citra/Comet Pale Ale (330ml can)
  • Well Wisher 4.5% Citra/Columbus Golden Ale (440ml can)
  • Dune Bug 4.7% Lemon & Samphire Gose (440ml can)
  • Fruit Lupe 4.8% Mosaic/Blueberry Pale Ale (440ml can)
  • Brewtalism 5.2% Grapefruit Wit Beer (440ml can)
  • Bad Kitty 5.5% Vanilla Porter (330ml can)
  • Christmas Kitty 5.5% Festive-spiced Vanilla Porter (440ml can)
  • Sunshine 5.7% West Coast-style IPA ( 440ml can)
  • Hygge Figgy 5.7% Fig, Blueberry & Almond Porter (440ml can)
  • Burnout 5.8% Beechwood Smoked Porter (440ml can)
  • Wallop 7.4% wood-aged Yorkshire-style Stingo (440ml can)

This box is available for pre-order now and will begin to ship out of Brass Castle from November 26, 2020.

This is the perfect gift for yourself or any other beer lover in your life, as well as a great way to support an independent vegan business.

Click here to order the vegan beer advent calendar now.

Follow Brass Castle on Instagram.

Vegan Christmas hamper from London independents

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Wanna put your money where your plant-eating mouth is and support independent business before this disastrous year comes to a close?

Mooshies London has launched a hamper filled with gorgeous vegan items and you can buy it for yourself, a friend, or an enemy. Hey, I don’t know how you get your kicks!

Each company involved in building the hamper is paid retail price for their item, so your money is directly helping these independent companies after what can be best described as an extremely tough year.

Launched from the Mooshies shop on Brick Lane, the hamper can be delivered nationwide. The hamper can currently be ordered via the Mooshies website with delivery scheduled for December 16 and 17, 2020.

Companies and products involved include:

Breakfast pot by @bexfast_
Jackfruit wings by @biffs_uk
Vegan chocolate by @darksugars
Kimchi by @eatchayclub
Cranberry cheese by @kindaco
Pesto sauce by @pickywops
Mochi balls by @vegan_yes
Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix by @vidabakery
Pick ‘N’ Mix by @sweetlifeldn @plantpoweredprince
Set of 5 sauces @mooshieslondon
Pick ‘N’ Mix by @mooshieslondon

Each company is a small independent business and local to Mooshies.

Instead of buying the products at cost price, Mooshies is purchasing them at retail to give each company a sale via their hamper. Mooshies takes no profit and does all the labor and dispatching themselves. It’s a way to keep all the small businesses in people’s mind while supporting each of these amazing companies.

Do it. Buy one!

The hamper can be bought via the Mooshies online shop at www.mooshieslondon.com/shop

Christmas as a young non-vegan

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This is an excerpt from my book Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink and Live Like You Give a Sh!t.

You can order the book via Amazon if you personal politics permit. You can also get the Audible version read by me. Buy from WH Smith, Foyles, or order from your local independent bookstore via Hive.

Christmas in my hometown was always brutal. First of all, it was always sweltering hot and furthermore we had the joy of sitting around with relatives ranging from mildly to wildly racist.

Animals featured heavily Christmas day, from the pig-now-called-ham wrapped in a water- soaked pillow case to keep it fresh to the family dog sitting under the table hoping for scraps. Prawns, crabs, chickens and turkeys who used to all be alive at some point were scattered around the buffet in order for me and the people I didn’t like all that much to experience festive cheer.

So, animals were absolutely everywhere in my life as a child in Australia, but I honestly didn’t give them much more thought than what I have described above. Not one adult explained to me the difference between prawns on the table and the dog under it. Understanding how animals lived and died was not my concern. I was socialised into thinking animals were available to eat, wear and prod with sticks unquestionably.

That’s what I think I have in common with a lot of you turning these pages (or reading this blog post) right this moment.

Reflect for a moment on just how much animals were used in your young life, but how little thought was given to the how, what, when and why. Did adults and people responsible for your emotional growth explain the process of factory farm to dining table? The shark took a chunk from the turtle (early story in book) just as I watched crabs being boiled alive in my kitchen at Christmas time, but they were all just ‘things’ in my mind. Objects. Just like the pine cones and the cliffs and the polished glass fragments at the seaside.

I didn’t understand that these animals were capable of fear and pain because nobody told me, and I would bet my last block of tofu they didn’t tell you either.

Christmas themed vegan syrups

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I love Sweet Freedom.

The company has been around for a number of years now and I adore how they keep expanding their range, sometimes even releasing limited edition vegan sweeteners and syrups.

Speaking of limited edition releases, the brand has just a few days ago released four Christmas products which are available in Aldi stores around the UK.

So, what have we got in the range?

  • Gingerbread Syrup
  • Cinnamon Syrup
  • Choc Shot Winter Spice
  • Choc Shot Mint

All of the Sweet Freedom products are perfect for adding to coffee, frappes, cocktails or drizzling over pancakes and porridge.

Follow Sweet Freedom on Instagram and get your Christmas supplies from Aldi stores.

Vegan Christmas pizza in London

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Vegan pizza is everywhere.

I’m in no way saying that is a bad thing, I’m just commenting on how it seems to be popping up everywhere in London.

One of the most-loved vegan pizza joints in the UK capital is Good Belly which is located inside The Railway Tavern just a few steps from Dalston Kingsland Overground station.

The pizzas at Good Belly get rave reviews from those in the know, so I can only imagine how delicious these two Christmas-themed specials will taste.

The first seasonal special I want to tell you about is their Christmas Day Pizza. It is constructed from a cranberry & merlot tomato base, mushrooms, red onion, stuffing crumbs, bacon bits, parsnip puree, and shredded sprouts.

That is one dreamy Christmas pizza!

Another special they have is their flaky (and delicious) Santa’s Sausage Roll. Good Belly assure me it is one of the best sausage rolls on the planet.

Check it out.

Both of these specials from Good Belly will be on their menu until December 22, 2019 so hop along rapidly if you want some seasonal treats.

You can see the full regular menu from Good Belly online here, follow the restaurant on Instagram, and check out the exact location of The Railway Tavern thanks to Google Maps.

Vegan Yorkshire puddings in London

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Great news!

Legendary vegan bakery Ms. Cupcake of Brixton are now stocking Mabel’s amazing vegan Yorkshire Puddings. They are the ONLY place in the country to get these for Christmas.

The Yorkshires come pre-made in a batch of four, which you can keep frozen until you need to bake them off.

In Mabel’s own words, these Yorkie’s “give you that authentic flavour, with a crispy top, a soft bottom, shaped perfectly for you to pour gravy into.”

As an added bonus they are palm oil free and use compostable bio-plastic packaging.

Get down to Ms. Cupcake quickly to pick up a pack or two for your festive meal. It’s the perfect excuse to get some cake in, too!

Follow Ms. Cupcake on Instagram and see their exact shop location thanks to Google Maps.

New vegan sweets delivery company

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Are you ready for a fabulous and ethical vegan sweets company that will deliver to your home or office?

You got it!

Liberty Vegan Sweets & Gifts is a 100% vegan, family-run enterprise that has spent the past two and a half years exhibiting at vegan festivals and fairs across the UK with Got No Beef Burger Bar and Liberty Vegan Ice Cream & Beverages.

It was at these events that the family behind Liberty Vegan Sweets & Gifts decided to offer vegan pic ‘n’ mix alongside their soft-serve ice cream.

It was a huge lightbulb moment and they decided to plug the huge gap in the market with a fully vegan and ethical sweet store.

They launched their online store of vegan sweet hampers and pic ‘n’ mix boxes in early November 2018 and the response has been fantastic.

Check out some of these photos!

Liberty Vegan Sweets & Gifts try and do the right thing on top of delivering delicious sweets.

They donate 5% of their profits to vegan-friendly charitable causes, their packaging is fully-compostable, recyclable and re-usable, and they offer a range of gluten/soya free options.

These boxes are the perfect gift for a loved one or even yourself!

You should probably head on over to the Liberty Vegan Sweets website where you can get a special 10% off your first order discount with the code ‘Liberty10’.

You can follow Liberty Vegan Sweets on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.