A week on Saturday we pried ourselves away from the internet and our home offices to go to Vegan Fest 2014 in Wolverhampton. We took our trusty carnivorous band mates Adam and Matt along so they could sample some delights. This event had been in our calendar for a few months since we couldn’t get down to London (next year maybe!) but having such an event almost on our door steps really couldn’t be missed. We met many lovely people including the brains and beauty behind The Vegan Kind Box and discovered many delicious treats and shinies to take home as treasured spoils.
Here are some of the delights we brought home:
Round Up Hand Crafted Gourmet Wagon Wheel Cake
I definitely miss marshmallows as a non meat eater. Unfortunately they are in a lot of nice foods – wagon wheels, rocky road cake, luxurious hot chocolates from the German Market. When we saw these, we’d almost convinced ourselves that we didn’t need them. Unfortunately second time round the stalls, we didn’t get away and ended up buying one each. Since I knew I was going for an hour long power walk that evening, I had mine immediately after taking a few snaps and it was absolutely divine! Much better than the “real thing” and something I’ll be on the look out for again.
£2.50 from Ananda Foods
Vege Bears – Slightly Sour
Another thing I miss is sour sweets – Haribo Tangfastic Cherry’s and fizzy cola bottles if I had to pinpoint them specifically. These were found on the way in and were the first purchase of the day. Surprisingly, they’ve lasted me all week and although they aren’t quite Haribo they come a close second.
£12.39 for 8 packs from Amazon
Harper’s Bizarres Soya Candle in Cinnamon Dreams
I’m a huge candle lover, so finding Vegan scented candles that are animal friendly was like a dream come true. If the array of deliciously scented candles wasn’t enough to fuel our need to buy things, the lady behind it all was an absolute pleasure to talk to and made the whole experience of sniffing candles a thousand times more exciting. This candle was an experimental one and I really hope they decide to make more because it is absolutely gorgeous. I’ve already got a list of the other candles I’m going to pick up from her online store next payday as well.
£5.00 from Harper’s Bizarres
Dairy-Free Bellissimo Parmesan
As a child we would always have grated Parmesan in the cupboard reserved strictly for “Spag Bol” nights, after discussing this at the Harper’s Bizarres stand, we were kindly pointed into the direction of Ananda foods where they had an ample supply of Vegan Parmesan. I’ve tried it since on a few pasta dishes and it’s absolutely perfect as well as reunited me with a few childhood memories.
£3.49 from Ananda Foods
Lush Snow Fairy
I wish they had pop up Lush stands everywhere! I can maybe manage to stand in a store for about 10 seconds before I’m hit in the face with a massive migraine, so being able to browse a few bits without this was amazing. Gem spotted the snow fairy first and after I’d given it a sniff I was hooked. I bought this and ended up with a free sample of beard wax and a badge too.
£3.75 from Lush
Banana Choc Drizzle Marshmallows
As I mentioned above, I miss marshmallows so much and recently thrived off having a taste of “Freedom Mallows” in a recent Vegan Kind box. When I saw these I just had to try them. I’m a bit of a sucker for Banana flavored things, so I was pretty excited about munching my way through these, even if my inner self was frowning at the potential calorie count. Despite my excitement though, they weren’t that nice which was a little disappointing. Having been spoiled with Freedom Mallows I think I ruined the future of Vegan mallows for myself. Still they won’t go to waste as my other half will be sinking his teeth into them.
£3.75 from Ananda Foods
Vegan Kind #TVK12 Box
Amie has been a subscriber to the amazing Vegan Kind box for nearly a year now, but I’ve never quite talked myself into it on the basis that I’m a really fussy eater (and anytime there is something I would enjoy inside Amie shares hers with me anyway!) but after meeting the lovely masterminds behind the box I just had to pick on up from their stand. You can see the full contents and read Amie’s thoughts on TVK12 here.
£7.00 (full price £10 + P&P) from The Vegan Kind
Harper’s Bizarres Soya Candle in Waffles
I really had to talk myself out of buying one of everything from the Harper’s Bizarres stand, but finally settled on “Waffles” a one-off experiment fragrance that completely satisfied all my sugary cravings! All the candles are handmade from vegan-friendly soy wax and are completely animal friendly, and with so many gorgeous scents on offer I’m sure to be placing another order online soon!
£5.00 from Harper’s Bizarres
Dairy-Free Bellissimo Parmesan
I am one of those terrible vegetarians who tries to go vegan every other week but ultimately fails because of cheese. This however might just be my savoir! It’s not too heavy on the calories and does have a lovely nutty cheesy flavour.
£3.49 from Ananda Foods
Round Up Hand Crafted Gourmet Wagon Wheel Cake
The thing I miss most from my omnivore days is probably a toss-up between jelly sweets and marshmallows, so seeing a whole stand full of fluffy white nommy-ness, I knew I had to have something. I settled for a vegan wagon wheel and oh my god – it’s the best thing ever! Way nicer than I remember it being even!
£2.50 from Ananda Foods
Lush Snow Fairy
I’ve always wanted to try Snow Fairy, but much like Amie I find that going into the Lush stores gives me a headache. Seeing it on the Lush stand meant I had to have a quick sniff and it was purchased mere moments later! The lovely Lush ladies also gave me a free beard wax that has been put aside for Roode, and a badge.
£3.75 from Lush
Miso On The Go Soup
I’m not actually a fan of miso soup as I find it far too fishy, but my other half adores all things that taste of the ocean so he will be receiving the many many free samples I picked up along the trip!
£0.90 from Clearspring
We had an amazing time and already can’t wait for our next Vegan adventures. It definitely makes us feel more comfortable knowing that we can still eat all the (naughty) nice things whilst keeping up our cruelty free lifestyle. Have you been to any Vegan/Veggie related events recently? If so, let us know which ones and what spoils you picked up!
Totally hellbent for not having to check labels when we shop
Gem & Pants
