Monday, 15 September 2014

Vegan Colchester Christmas Guide 2014

As ever  this information is to be used as a guide only.  Please do your own research to check suitability before buying/booking!

Supermarket shopping:

Chilled Buffet food: Vbites "Vegi Deli" range is available at Holland and Barrett, and includes things like mini sausages, pate, ham style slices, etc.
Most supermarkets also sell chilled spring rolls, samosas and bhajis, which can be cooked for buffets.
Vegan cheeses can be found at Natural Foods (Eld Lane), Sunflower Natural Food store (St Botolphs Street), Holland and Barrett (Priory Walk) and Tesco (Highwoods).

Frozen Buffet food:  Linda Mc Cartney sausage rolls are sold in most supermakets. Supermarkets such as Iceland and Tesco usually sell frozen buffet food such as vegetarian Indian snack selections, veggie spring rolls etc. 

For more party food ideas visit "The Vegan Woman" website: http://www.theveganwoman.com/vegan-party-food-the-safe-choices/

Crisps and snacks: Many  crisps are vegan-just watch out for whey powder/lactose, and perhaps honey.  
See a list of some suitable crisps/snacks on the Vegan Womble website, here:http://theveganwomble.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/crisps

Biscuits: Biscuits include hobnobs, Oreos and most brands of bourbons, 
For a list of vegan biscuits see the Vegan Womble website, here: http://theveganwomble.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/vegan-biscuits-uk.html

Festive sweet treats! (Mince Pies/Stollen/ Christmas Pudding): Mince pies can be found at Iceland, as can stollen, and christmas puddings. Other supermarkets also seem to often have vegan-friendly stollen and Christmas puddings.

Ice cream: 
-Most supermarkets sell vanilla Swedish Glace. 
-Tollgate Sainsbury's also sell "Food Heaven" icecream, in mango and raspberry flavour.
-Waitrose sell 4 flavours of Almond Dream, 3 flavours of Swedish Glace, and also ice cream by "Coconut Collaborative".  
-Holland and Barrett and Natural Foods sell Booja Booja icecream, made using cashew nuts.

Chocolates: Natural Foods (on Eld Lane) and Holland and Barrett will have specialist brands of vegan chocolates, as will most supermarket's "free from" sections.  
Other mainstream dark chocolates may be vegan..just watch out for whey powder, lactose or butterfat on the ingredients list. 
Tesco sell these very delicious and creamy hazelnut "Gianduiotti" chocolates, which just so happen to be vegan! http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=284158782

Sweet Pastries/pies:

-Most supermarkets sell frozen fruit strudels which are usually vegan.
-At last check the following Mr Kipling products were vegan:
Mr Kipling Jam Tarts, Lyons Jam Tarts, Lyons Treacle tart, Mr Kipling Apple and Blackcurrant Pies, Mr Kipling Treacle Tart.
(Add some Alpro cream or custard, and you're good to go!)
-Jus rol sell a few read-to-bake pastries, including pain au chocolat, and croissants.

 Booze: 
Co-op and Marks and Spencer label which of their wines are suitable for vegans. Vegan beers include Heineken, Stella Artois and Budweiser.
The Barnivore website is a handy place to check the suitability of beers, wines, spirits and mixers when shopping: http://www.barnivore.com/

Recipe Resources:


Christmas Mains:

There are some great looking recipes for vegan roasts on the "Mouthwatering Vegan" website.  Ie:








More festive recipes from Mouthwatering Vegan can be found here:http://mouthwateringvegan.com/http:/mouthwateringvegan.com/vegan-life-magazine/festive/

 More recipes can be found at:
Viva! Christmas recipe selection:http://veganrecipeclub.org.uk/christmas


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Eating Out Guide


 The Minories, High Street Colchester

 2 courses £19.50
3 courses £24.50
Group bookings for lunch/dinner available from Dec 1st. Contact clare.bambury@ac.uk, phone 01206 712432

Starter:
Homemade vegetable soup. 
or 
Mushroom and Tarregon pate, served with melba toast and a rocket and cherry tomato salad

 Main
Chestnut and cranberry nut loaf,  with seasonal vegetables, roast potatoes and homemade vegetarian gravy

 Dessert
Vegan cake, to be confirmed!

 ___________________________________________________________________
The Rose and Crown, East Hill.

Party nights £25-£35 depending on date. Christmas lunches £17-£19 depending on date.
Vegan options
-Mixed vegetable sausages with mash potato and caramelized onion gravy
-Garlic cream Mushrooms on a homemade onion Rosti
-Filo pastry pillow, with Tuscan style vegetables and tomato sauce, served with seasonal vegetables and potatoes.
No dessert option. Information on drinks not available.
Visit the Rose and Crown website here http://www.roseandcrowncolchester.co.uk/
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The Lemon Tree, St Johns Street

3 courses advertised at £22.50, although only 2 vegan courses available.

Starter:
Spiced parsnip soup with fresh bread

Main:
Apricot, leek and walnut vegetarian roast with vegetarian gravy and roast potatoes**

or

 Grilled artichoke and chestnut risotto topped with rocket (request no parmesan)

No dessert option.
No vegan drinks available.

 *Edit: Large parties may be able to negotiate a better menu, including dessert! (I heard the staff at Lush did!) 
Visit The Lemon Tree website at http://www.the-lemon-tree.com/

 _______________________________________________________________________

 Toby Carvery, London Road Stanway

 Nut Roast Wellington £6.29
Sweet potatoes, grated carrots and parsnips 
spiced with paprika and sage, then mixed 
with crushed walnuts, cashew nuts and butter 
beans and wrapped in a pastry jacket

 Visit Toby Carvery website at http://www.tobycarvery.co.uk/thewhitehartcolchester/

 _______________________________________________________________________
Further afield....

 The Veggie Red Lion, Great Bricett, Suffolk
2 course £14.90 
3 course £19.90 

 Starters 

Creamed pea, brie & tarragon pithivier Can be made vegan  [pithivier is a pie, for those not in the know!]
or
Cauliflower, caraway & almond soup Can be made vegan 
or
Chestnut & sweet potato cakes with caramelised pineapple & ginger salsa Vegan

 Mains 

Chestnut, wild rice, parsnip & pistachio roast with red wine gravy Can be made vegan
 or
Mushroom, cashew & port hotpot pie Can be made vegan
 or
Pumpkin & aubergine tagine with cranberry and sunflower seed cous-cous Vegan

Desserts 

Dark chocolate, cherry and amaretto torte Can be made vegan
or
Xmas pudding Can be made vegan

Booking essential.
Visit The Veggie Red Lion website here: http://www.theveggieredlion.co.uk/

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Drink Guide

Use the Barnivore website to check the suitability of beers, wines, spirits and mixers when drinking out:



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Monday, 8 September 2014

NEO Training







I was recently contacted by James Goode- a vegan Sports Nutritionist based right here in Colchester!

James offered to analyse my diet in return for me sharing the word about his new business venture.

About James

James works at The Gym in Colchester as a self-employed Personal Trainer and also offers diet analysis, as part of his business "NEO Training".
He has a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science and a MSc in Sport and Exercise Nutrition, and is member of the British Dietetic Association.

About the Diet Analysis Service

The service James offers is an analysis of a 3 day food diary.
The diary can be completed either via an electronic copy, or by filling in a printed A5 diary, (which James posts out, along with a self addressed envelope to return it in).

I opted for the printed diary option, as it seemed easier to keep on hand to fill in as and when I ate/cooked a meal.

                          
                                Pictured: The food diary and sample pages showing how to fill it in

The Consultation

Once I'd completed and returned the diary James analysed my food intake, and got in touch to arrange a consultation to go over the results.
We opted to meet in town (members of The Gym are welcome to have their consultation there instead, or alternatively it can be completed over the phone).

James provided a breakdown of each day's intake of calories, salt, sugar and other nutrients, and an average of the figures over the 3 day period. This was then compared  to what is the ideal range, and so showed which areas needed working on.

My breakdown showed -

-I ate too much sugar most days!
-I was a little low on selenium and iodine.
-I was low on Vitamin D on a couple of days, and also vitamins E, K and B12.

James made recommendations on where I could get the vitamins and minerals I was lacking.  For example I was reminded that it only takes one or two brazil nuts a day to meet the recommended daily level of selenium!

Other recommendations were:
-to eat more starches and protein for lunch to avoid sugar dips during the day.
-to see desserts as a treat , not a given! (and to not eat whole packets of dates!)
-to eat a wider variety of colourful vegetables.
-to remember to take my supplement each day! (for peace of mind!)

I drink a lot of water, so James advised that I could use this opportunity to get more nutrients, by drinking things like rose hip or herbal tea.

 Cost

James's introductory price for this service is £40, which includes the 3 day food diary analysis, and a 30 minute consultation.
(A full list of services, and prices can be seen here:http://www.neotraining.org/?page_id=27)

Who the service is good for:

-Anyone who would like a snapshot of their average nutritional intake, especially vegetarians and vegans who should be mindful of their intake of certain vitamins (ie B12, and Vitamin D).
-People watching their calories.
-People who will actually take on board the information and follow the recommendations!

Who it may not be of interest to:

-People following unconventional diets, such as those not interested in calorie intake (ie high carb/low fat diets which are high in fruit sugar).
-People looking for tailored meal plans.

In conclusion

I found it really interesting and useful to see a snapshot of how I actually eat.
It served as a reminder to keep an eye on certain vitamins and minerals,  and was a useful wake up call to eat less sugar!
 It was also reassuring to see  that I am eating enough protein without even thinking about it (take that, vegan haters!), 

James has kindly provided a recipe for his home-brew herbal tea, for an antioxidant boost!

- 900 ml cold water
- 4 heaped tsp fine cut hibiscus (available from www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk/)
- 1 cm crushed, fresh root ginger
- Juice of half a lemon
- 4-6 lightly crushed mint leaves  

Best made in a cafetiere (so that the plunger can filter out all the bits and pieces!) Otherwise can be made using a tea infuser. Leave in the 'fridge overnight and it's ready to drink! Virtually no calories and packed with antioxidants!

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