So last Saturday there was a knock on my door and it was the postman with my The Vegan Kind box. I was quite excited about it as I did really enjoy the last one and I was interested to see what I would get this time.
On top was the information about The Vegan Kind, the charity they support, and a description of all the products.
The recipe that came with this month's box is the Summer Fruity Water by My Fruity Kitchen. I haven't had the chance to try this yet (though I have tried the cashew cream cheese from last month and it's delicious), but am thinking this is the perfect time with all this sun - maybe with gin added. I have had a look at My Fruity Kitchen website though and the recipes look amazing - the Healthy Chocolate Milkshake is most definitely on my list.
Unfortunately I'm not a fan of Salt and Vinegar (I know, I know, that's really weird and unusual) so I didn't get the chance to try these Popchips. But I am keeping an eye out for these in a flavour I like as the idea of getting to eat something that's crunchy (my favourite snack) without all the oil. I'm not sure if the other flavours are vegan though so I'll need to check on that.
This is definitely the product I'm most intrigued by, I don't think I've even seen water that's actually been tapped from a tree. TAPPED ticks all the boxes with it's organic trees, no refined sugars, not from concentrate, and it contains 25% of your daily manganese (an antioxidant). The only thing that worried me about this is the fact it comes from a birch tree (the pollen of which I'm allergic too). Thankfully there was no reaction to it and the taste is very mild. You don't get a particularly strong taste of the berries themselves, in fact I can taste the grape juice more anything, but it is refreshing and something I will look for if I'm needing something when I'm out.
I love peanuts, absolutely love them. In fact, I have to be very careful I don't eat entire bags all in one go, so I was interested in how this would taste. Protein bars don't tend to taste particularly pleasant by any stretch of the word and the last time I ate a protein bar it had whey protein in it. I ended up feeling ill afterwards and haven't eaten one since. However, the Creative Nature Peanut Protein bar contains pea protein instead of whey and there was no negative impact from it. I wouldn't say I was particularly keen on the taste, even with the peanuts in it, but it would definitely be my first choice over any other protein bar if I decided I need one.
The one thing I missed when I became a vegetarian wasn't bacon (I know, I know, I'm weird) but chewy sweets. I used to love them and they would be my snack of choice at the cinema. The Jealous Life Tropical Wonder Sweets don't have quite the same chewy texture I'm used to, but they still have quite a squiggy feel and the flavours are amazing. They taste the most like the fruit they are meant to represent then any sweet I've had before. I'm definitely going to be looking out for more flavours of these in the future.
As my diet has become healthier and more plant based I've become less interested in chocolate, but I do enjoy having a little bit now and then. It's mainly dark chocolate that I go for now and the chilli flavour is my favourite. I've never seen the brand Conscious before and I was very interested to try a completely vegan chocolate bar. The one thing I will say about this is that if you love mint you will love this. Made from peppermint essential oil it is a very strong flavour and cuts through the bitterness of the cocoa. I've already had a look at the Conscious Chocolate website and they do have chili flavoured. Going to be getting myself one of those I think.
I particularly love the non-food items in these boxes and this time it's this Friendly Soap facial cleansing bar. I like that this is fragrance free, which is usually the first thing I choice, and the very small number of ingredients (cocoa butter, olive oil, coconut oil, and water) which are all ingredients that work well with my skin. I haven't tried this yet as I still have a face wash that I'm using at the moment, but once that is finished I will move onto this. I'm actually enjoying using a bar soap over shower gel to wash my body and I'm expecting the same will be true for my face. I might even moved to a bar to wash my hair.
On top of the discount codes you get for most of the products in this box you also get a code for a free pack of Sgaia vegan Streaky Rashers. I've never heard of Sgaia before and haven't seen any in any of the stores near me, so I had a quick look online to see what they produce and it seems to be the vegan equivalent of gourmet meat. I am thinking of getting the streaky rashers for my partner Jim. He's not vegetarian/ vegan, but is trying to greatly reduce the amount of process meat he eats for health reasons. These might be a particularly good substitute.
So far I've enjoyed the two The Vegan Kind boxes I've had so it'll be interesting to see what June brings.
See my last blog on The Vegan Kind here.
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