vegan UK

Mini festive market 2023

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If you think it feels like a long, long time since I’ve posted on the blog you are completely correct.

The reason I’m coming back to speak to you all after all this time is because it’s the end of 2023 and I’m inviting you to a celebration!

To celebrate this blog being alive and well again, I’m thrilled to announce that I’m hosting a vegan mini festive market in conjunction with vegan food charity, Made in Hackney.

Please join us in The Redmond Community Centre on Saturday December 16th, 2023 between 11am and 4pm for festive fun, gift shopping with local traders, tombola, live music, and time to socialise with friends old and new.

Drop in anytime across the day and say hi… we can’t wait to see you! The market is in support of all the crucial work Made in Hackney does around plant-based food security and nutrition.

Independent traders and stalls will include:

VG Coffee – selling hot drinks and hand held nibbles
I AM NUT OK – award-winning plant-based cheeses perfect for your festive table
Pinkeens Prints – gift ideas including hand-painted mugs in support of London wildlife conservation
Ecotricity – chat with Britain’s leading ethically-sourced energy company
Made In Hackney – chat with us about or community classes and masterclasses
Citizen Cake – homestyle cakes and bakes
Con Pasión Perú – cook-at-home Peruvian tamales and snacks
Cake Cult – decadent cookies, cakes, and tray bakes
Canopy Indoor Plants – plants and pots for you to buy for loved ones… or yourself!
Copperhouse Chocolate – handmade artisan chocolates and chocolate drink mixes
POH Books – specialist in African and Caribbean books for all ages… including vegan recipes!
Singing Santa – the jolly old man will be on the mic singing your favourite pop songs

Extra note: FGV and Made In Hackney would like to thank Ecotricity for financially supporting this event. If you would like to find out more about this ethical energy supplier, click here for a quote. Ecotricity will kindly donate money to Made In Hackney for each new customer signing up via that link.

Order vegan cheesecakes

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I was recently gifted this salted caramel vegan cheesecake by the kind and talented people behind @wildhealth_los café and cocktail bar in Leigh-on-Sea, Southend.

How on Earth did they get this hefty cheesecake to me in London? Wild Health now has a nationwide delivery service so you can get a dairy free, soy free, and refined sugar free cheesecake delivered to you.

My gifted cheesecake was DELICIOUS and I got a lot of slices from it.

Other cheesecake flavours include:

  • Mocha
  • Pecan pie
  • Peanut butter
  • Chocolate Orange
  • Ginger nut lime
  • Matcha pistachio
  • Triple chocolate
  • Black Forest
  • Cherry Bakewell
  • Raspberry & white chocolate
  • Blueberry & white chocolate
  • Strawberries & cream
  • Lemon swirl
  • Pumpkin pie

To order you can go to wildhealthshop.com

And don’t forget to visit the Wild Health café next time you are in Southend for a huge range of tasty treats including coffee, juices, smoothies, soups, sandwiches, and more!

Vegan company moves to plastic free

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Oumph! is phasing out plastic in preference for recyclable cardboard packaging. The multi award-winning Swedish plant-based food producer is rolling out the new cardboard packaging into all markets where Oumph! is sold, starting with the UK, Australia, and the Netherlands.

“Our food is a progressive choice and we wanted the packaging to match that. With our new recyclable packaging the aim is to further further limit our environmental impact”, says Linda Arnason, Global Brand Manager at Oumph! which is one of the LIVEKINDLY Collective’s brands.

Arnason, who is leading Oumph!’s packaging project continues:

“There are certain challenges in creating a more sustainable packaging for frozen food, and we are pleased to announce that we’ve found a solution with recyclable cardboard packaging. Not only is it better for the environment, but we’re also receiving positive feedback from retailers because the packaging is easy to stack, and requires less freezer space.”

The new Oumph! packaging is now available in the UK, Australia, and the Netherlands, and will be rolled out in Sweden, the Nordic countries, Germany, Ireland and South Africa this spring.

The new packaging is designed to match Oumph!’s bold brand attitude, and it has received good feedback from consumers and retailers alike.

“Oumph! has an edge as a brand and we want that to be reflected in the packaging. We believe the new design will stand out in the supermarket freezers for consumers to easily find their favourite Oumph! product”, comments Anders ‘Ankan’ Linden, Co-founder, Corporate Chef and Head of Innovation at Oumph!

“With several new product launches planned for this year, the new cardboard packaging plays an important part as we continue to develop tasty, appealing and innovative plant-based food products.”

Visit Oumph! online.

Dining at Stem & Glory

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HUGE thanks to @stemandglory for sponsoring me to try their current menu today.

This 100% #vegan restaurant is usually an eye-opening and tastebud-pleasing experience, with today being no exception.

The kimchi pancakes and Korean ‘fish’ tacos were packed with flavour. I especially loved the mini blue corn tortillas for the tacos.

The large bowl of Szechuan aubergine (with side of kimchi rice) was a fascinating mix of sweet and spicy tastes.

Before today I’d never heard of Swede gnocchi and I was impressed. The creamy sauce featuring roasted chestnut mushrooms, spinach, and spiced walnuts took it to another level.

The @stemandglory dessert game is no joke, either. Pick from sticky toffee pudding with custard or warm cherry crumble with ice cream. Or be like me and get both.

Get over to stemandglory.uk to book a table at the London or Cambridge locations of @stemandglory and watch for a second London location soon.

Take a look at the Instagram video below to see all the delicious dishes!

Veganuary at Danish bakery

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As far as Veganuary menus go, this Danish bakery chain has torn ahead of the competition in the UK.

It’s that time of the year when us vegans get inundated with extra options. There are so many plant-based options in January it can be tough to stay on top of it all.

@oleandsteenuk sponsored me to come along to try their Veganuary menu and I was blown away.

The passionfruit slice was heavenly and mousse-y and I want ten more. The berry slice was just as delicious.

I slurped every last drop of the curried sweet potato and coconut soup.

Toasted focaccia sandwich with nduja paste, cheese, and spinach? Perfect.

And… the absolutely stunning raspberry and almond swirl pastry. My life is never gonna be the same. It is buttery and creamy and flaky and my new best friend. I ate two of them.

@oleandsteenuk has 15 London locations and one in Oxford.

Big thanks to @oleandsteenuk and their PR team for the invite.

Watch my Reel from Instagram below!

Vegan carbonara for the win

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Just in case you can see the text within the post above, here it is again.

Do you need easy to prepare vegan carbonara that is so foolproof even the most-challenged chef would succeed?

You gotta order this vegan carbonara kit from @pastaevangelists for home delivery. I’m not just saying that because they sponsored this post. It really is that fabulous.

Pasta Evangelists joined forces with award-winning plant-based meat producers @this.uk to recreate their Carbonara of Dreams for vegans.

Their creamy cashew sauce blends with crispy ‘bacon’ lardons from @this.uk to make a dish that is heavenly.

This kit can be ordered and delivered to your house THIS WEEK ONLY so hurry if you want it.

Go to pastaevangelists.com and use code VEGANUARY for 50% off your first order.

Temple of Seitan in the North

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I’ve been helping legendary London restaurant Temple of Seitan for a little while now and the most common comments I see from customers when I’m hanging around their social media have to do with the North of the UK.

People really want to see a Temple of Seitan location up North.

I’m sorry if I got you excited and made you think there is now a full location of the famous food chain in the North, however you can buy and eat Temple of Seitan in Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool as part of their collaboration with Yard & Coop.

Yard & Coop is not a vegan restaurant chain, so please use caution if you go sniffing around their website. You could stumble across animal-derived foods.

The vegan offerings however ARE gorgeous-looking and they all use Temple of Seitan chick’n.

Visitors to Yard & Coop can choose between:

AbraKEBABra – seitan with sweet pickled cabbage, diced tomato, minted yoghurt, chilli sauce, pickle chilli and crisp fries wrapped in pitta. All Veganuary dishes are served with a portion of fries

Karen’s Doing Veganuary – Temple of Seitan tenders accompanied with crispy bacon, street slaw, lettuce, tomato, BBQ sauce and vegan mayo

Massive Vegan Cock Burger – a 12″ plant-based version of the original Yard & Coop Massive Cock dish. Standing at 30cm tall, piled high with Temple of Seitan tenders, 2 hash browns, salt and pepper cauliflower, and street slaw. There’s also vegan bacon, cheese slices, lashings of chilli and mint yoghurt, iceberg lettuce, fresh tomato, gherkins, and red onion topped with a seitan wing perched on top. This monster is all crammed within a vegan brioche bun with loads of fries.

These Veganuary specials will not be around forever (until February 6, 2022) so if you are interested, get along to Yard & Coop in Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool ASAP.

You can get all store location info as well as links for ordering delivery on the Yard & Coop website.

You can follow Temple of Seitan on Instagram.

Now, let’s keep hoping for that permanent Temple of Seitan location in the North!

Halo Burger and Yard Sale Pizza

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Yard Sale Pizza has a new collaboration vegan pizza!

In celebration of Veganuary, the pizza shop has launched a vegan cheeseburger pizza in partnership with burger joint, Halo Burger. Additionally, as part of their Stuffed Crust Mondays, Yard Sale Pizza will be launching a very special vegan stuffed crust Margherita for January only. 

Yard Sale Pizza and Halo Burger are celebrating a month of plant-based eating in a big way. You Had Me at Halo is a fully vegan creation which will feature Beyond Meat burger patties, gherkins, melted American-style vegan cheese, vegan mozzarella, jalapeños and diced onions, finished with Halo Burger’s signature sauce. The mozzarella comes courtesy of Hackney-based vegan cheese purveyors I Am Nut Ok, which has been developed in direct collaboration with Yard Sale Pizza co-founder and director Nick Buckland to be the perfect melting mozzarella for pizza, and is used across Yard Sale’s signature vegan pizza offering.

You Had Me at Halo will be available from 5th January until 1st February and will be priced at £12.50 for a 12” (or £23.50 for 18”) The pizza will be on offer at all Yard Sale locations for delivery and collection, and for dine-in at their Crofton Park, Crystal Palace, East Dulwich, Hackney Road, Leytonstone and Finsbury Park locations. A gluten free version will also be available, meaning everyone’s invited to get in on the action. 

Halo Burger are popular producers of vegan junk food including burgers, pink salt fries, and soft-serve ice cream. Originally based in London, with branches in Shoreditch and Brixton, the brand has since expanded outside of the capital, with a Bristol location. 

Speaking about the collaboration, Ross Forder, Founder of Halo Burger said, “Halo Burger has always been committed to perfecting the taste of vegan treats and we admire the Yard Sale Pizza team for their shared commitment to leading the charge when it comes to high-quality plant-based eating. We’re excited to be celebrating Veganuary with them with this limited edition pizza.”

Co-founder and director of Yard Sale Pizza, Nick Buckland, added, “It’s very important to us at Yard Sale Pizza that our vegan offerings aren’t just great vegan pizzas, but they’re banging pizzas that happen to be plant-based. Veganuary provides the perfect opportunity to do something special so we’re thrilled to be hooking up with our friends at Halo Burger to make a plant-based cheeseburger pizza – the ultimate new year treat!”

While You Had Me at Halo will only be available for January, Yard Sale Pizza’s is serving vegan pizzas forever! The brand boasts a full-time vegan menu featuring three vegan pizzas, a vegan cheese and garlic bread (with their signature Marmite topping as an option), and a vegan ice cream sandwich featuring cashew ice cream, smoky salted caramel and a corn and miso cookie.

Visit Yard Sale Pizza online. 

You can follow Yard Sale Pizza and Halo Burger on Instagram.

My wish list for vegan 2022

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I’m not sure about you, but 2021 for me was not a lot of fun.

There were ups and downs, lockdowns, restrictions, grocery shortages, and even a hospitalisation. COVID got to me hard and, after an 11-day illness at home, I spent another 5 days on a ward.

The NHS saved my life and I will never be able to say enough good things about this public health system. I am also extremely grateful for free vaccines that might just have been the deciding factor in my survival.

Most of my events and money-making opportunities were cancelled, meaning my financial situation was challenging to put it mildly. Thankfully the tax office has allowed me to enter into a payment plan meaning I avoided legal trouble with the UK Government!

Of course there were some silver linings with the happiest being my marriage to my partner.

No matter how difficult these past 12 months (and a bit more) have been, I somehow haven’t lost my optimistic outlook for promoting veganism and I am hopeful that more people than ever will start to explore their compassion this year.

To celebrate surviving 2021, I’ve put together my wish list for 2022.

I am hoping for:

Return of vegan markets – outdoor markets are a great place for showcasing independent vegan traders. Sadly, street markets around the UK suffered from the stop/start unpredictability of the year and many small businesses just could not survive. I want to see small artisan markets return this year. These opportunities for people to be self-employed are crucial for our communities.

Meat reduction in restaurants – I am thrilled to see so many vegan options popping up on mainstream menus, however I am hoping to see more reduction of meat and dairy instead of the vegan stuff being added as extra items. When Greggs or McDonalds add a plant-based option, I wish it meant something non-vegan was taken away. Perhaps this can be our new approach to vegan consumer activism? We want new vegan stuff to take the place of non-vegan stuff!

Time with friends – oh, how badly have you missed your friends? It has almost been two years of restrictions and social distancing. This period of time has been a lonely road for a lot of us and I can’t wait to be able to have regular get togethers with my friends. I hope 2022 is the year it happens.

Travel to Australia – some people are surprised when they discover I am originally from Australia. They usually find out when they hear me speak for the first time! One of my big wishes for this year is to get the chance to visit my friends and family Down Under. It has been a few years since I was able to get down there and I have only been back once in the past 12 years. Let’s hope for a quietening down of the pandemic AND an improvement in my financial situation!

London Vegan Beer Fest – for six years I ran London Vegan Beer Fest, the much loved summer social event that brought people together from all over the UK and beyond. After a few years off, I am tempted to bring back the legendary event as a way to celebrate coming out of the darkness. Would you like to see London Vegan Beer Fest return?

Visit Mexico – my husband has missed two Christmases in a row with his family in Mexico and he is getting increasingly homesick. Travel restrictions and prioritising health has made traveling to his home impossible. I don’t think he will cope with another year without seeing his friends and family, so we need to work hard to get him over there ASAP.

Keep supporting independent business – fatgayvegan.com started over 10 years ago and has always been a place to support independent vegan business. My Instagram account has taken over a bit when it comes to viewing numbers but the blog, Facebook page, and Twitter account all still play their role. If people want to help me keep this vegan promo show on the road, they can pledge a small monthly amount via my Patreon page. I spend a lot of time and effort being FGV and all support is deeply appreciated.

Finally travel with VCC – I have been working hard with setting up Vegan Culinary Cruises for quite a few years now and 2022 feels like we will finally get some travel action going. Please? Our first outing is set for May 2022 and is a week-long land tour (staying in a fab hotel) through some of the most breathtaking National Parks in the USA, including the Grand Canyon. This vacation is all vegan and will be the perfect way for us all to ease back into travel. Click here for details and booking.

Eat in UK cities and towns – because I haven’t been able to move around the country due to the pandemic, I have missed out on a lot of good vegan eating in cities, towns, and villages. Of course I love the vegan food scene in London but there is so much more out there to be enjoyed. If it is safe to travel, I will be planning several small trips to hunt out some new food hot spots. Let me know where I should go!

Attend live shows, events, and concerts – I have been easing myself back into larger scale events by hosting and attending my new monthly night, London Vegan Social. It takes places on the first Wednesday of each month at a pub in Central London. As it becomes safer, I want to venture out even more and start seeing live music and theatre again. I have lost track of how many gigs have been canceled on me during the past two years! I’ve got tickets to see The Cure live this December so let’s hope we are all in the clear by then.

What are your wishes and dreams for 2022? Let me know in the comments.

Go Vegan TV advert

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If you have any spare cash (yeah right!), you can help broadcast a new TV advert asking people to consider switching to a vegan lifestyle.

Take a look below.

Viva! Campaigns has produced the spot in the hope of getting people to think about their role in animal production and slaughter.

The advert will run on Channel 4 in the UK just before Valentine’s Day 2022 if the charity can raise enough money via their fundraising campaign. They have already raised more than £25,000 of the £40,000 target.

If you would like to find out more about this campaign and possibly make a donation please click here.