Nak’d Healthy Vegan Snack Bars - GIVEAWAY

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nakd bars

nakd bars

Healthy Vegan Energy Bars.

Life can be topsy turvy at times. I was in Ojai, Southern California recently and saw a display of Nak’d Bars in the local organic grocery store. I was excited to spot them there. I had first came across the raw, natural vegan bars at their launch in 2012 in the UK. I had been invited along for a fun evening and I met with Jamie Combs, the co-founder of Nak’d. See the video and blog post Video interview & post from the 2012 UK launch. So, why topsy turvy you wonder? Well, Jamie is American, living in the UK. I am British and my travels have just taken me to Ojai, just north of Los Angeles. And this is where Nak’d have their US head quarters. Weird? Well, ok maybe not. What can I say? I am a coincidence junky. I see that stuff out.

Anyway, Nak’d are now pushing out their reach in America. I just wanted to let you know that. They sent me a box to sample and I’ve slowly been munching my way through them. After a run, after dinner, after another bar… If you want a healthy vegan, raw, gluten free bar to pop in your bag…these are your babies. My favs are the Mocha, the Banana Crunch, Rhubarb & Custard and the elusive (some wonder if it is just a myth) Bakewell Tart. This one is bliss for me. Nak’d have captured the flavour beautifully of the English tart my mother used to make us as children for Sunday tea. A layer of crumbly shortcake pastry, a layer of tart and sweet jam, then a sponge made with almond flour. It is heaven. Vegan versions abound. I found this one..looks great. Sub out the plain flour for a gluten free flour and Bob’s your Uncle! If you find a Nak’d Bakewell Tart Bar..snatch it up, go someplace quiet and savour-every-little-bite.

New to Nak’d sampler box 13 bars for $9.99 + FREE SHIPPING. A special offer for Nak’d newbies.

nakdbars

Enter as often as you like to increase your chances of getting your hands on that box! USA entrants only. 1 winner will be picked at random on 3rd April.

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What’s Better Than a Potato Crisp, Guilt Free And A Delicious Superfood?…. Kale Chips [with short video interview]

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Once you’ve popped a crispy, crunch, chewy kale chip in your mouth..you will be hooked. A warning and a promise!

I was at the Mind Body & Spirit Festival 2013 in London in June. We interview Dominik Schnell from inSpiral Foods A mainly raw food company with a great little cafe/lounge bar in Camden Town and an online shop. Selling all their raw and vegan products. They were the first to bring kale chips to the market in the UK. A little behind our American cousins, who’ve been crunching on raw kale chips for years, but better late than never! More and more companies are getting in on it now. Dominik is a bit of a raw rock god, in my eyes.. I’m in awe of anyone with the gumption to seize, and create the growing vegan market.


Kale chips are certainly not cheap. But, they are the most tasty savoury, crispy, healthy snack you can buy. Inspiral have now launched their bio degradable, fully compositble snack bag (world first eco pack..see below for the science). 30g only £2.19, much more accessible cost wise. They come in savoury and sweet options. I confess I go for the savoury nibble every time.
Dominik is a fascinating visionary. I hope you enjoy the interview.




Buy the new snack bags online, and at their cafe. They are sold in most whole food stores in the UK and selected places in Europe. I nearly peed with excitement when I saw them in the Vegan Store on my recent trip to Berlin.



Loving the kale!

Eating In Berlin: Dr Pogo - A Totally Vegan Store

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One of the reasons I flew to Berlin was to visit the vegan supermarkets I had been hearing so much about. One I couldn’t wait to step over the threshold of was Dr. Pogo. A vegan collective, out in the hip, bohemian district of Neukolln, Berlin (think vintage stores and scores of independent coffee houses).

I’d scribbled directions on scrap of paper and headed out, confident of my city orienteering skills.  It was 7pm, plenty of time, as they were open until 8.  I’m not going to go into the whole long drawn out process of walking around in a big circle and getting lost and chasing the proverbial ‘wild goose’, but I arrived as the lights were being flicked off and the clock ticked past 8pm.  I pleaded in English.  I know, how rude, but in my flustered state I couldn’t muster a single word in Duetshe. I was in luck though.  Steffen, one of the 11 Kollectiv that make up Dr.Pogo, was happy to let me have a quick look around.  I bought some locally made tofu and a baby cucumber and left with a promise to return.

Next time I was prepared. I had wheels. I was on my newly purchased(old) bike.  I found the store with ease, and this time, Steffan had agreed to take a break and chat with me.

Three years ago, Steffen, baseball-capped and fresh faced, was a film maker.  In late 2012 he packed it all in and joined a mixed group of men and women. Their mission, to fill a gap left by a previous, much loved, vegan store, and open their own shop and serve the pining clientele. 
With no previous shop owning experience (though a few of them had worked in some) they rented a store space, cobbled together their own shelving and counters, and in January 2013, opened their doors to the people of Berlin. 
Each of 11 bring their individual strengths, to make the whole.  Steffan says they work well together and are a happy bunch.  All dedicated vegans.  
The store is well stocked and the products are carefully chosen. Most come from Europe, a few from further afield.  Wanting to be sustainable and connected with their community, they try and include as much local products as possible.  A big baking pan displays home cooked vegan pizza, made locally.  Inviting looking cakes and pastries line the wooden counter.  All made by local friends.  The tofu from Soy Rebels, it turned out, was the best I’ve ever eaten.  Super firm, smokey and with a good dry texture.    
The store has a well stocked bulk section, fresh produce, raw items, cosmetics, vegan condoms, cleaning products, books, a long row of chilled products; cheeses, fake meats. Ice creams.  Everything you could want, and all vegan. They are even a pick up point for CSA veggie boxes All the new product names and labels made my head spin.  I want to try everything!
They have a small, intimate space in the corner to sit, have something to eat and drink and pass some time.

As we chatted, a steady flow of people came in and then left, laden with vegan goods.  Steffen tells me some of their local customers didn’t even realise the store was meat-free until they’d visited many times. Their customers, Steffen tells me, come from all walks of life. Their primary goals differ; the organico’s, the localvores, the ecovists, or the mamas and papas who want the best for their kids. Those with a (glutenfrei) gluten free diet. The vegans can be oriented from a number of ways too. He see’s the fitness/health vegans, the animal activist vegans, the ethical or the sustainability crowd. All coming to the same conclusion that vegan is best. All are welcome. The store has a comforting, old fashioned (from the UK perspective anyway) feel about it.  Just like buying your stuff from friends.

As with the theme of most collectives, they all pay themselves the same. No hierarchy exists.  They currently habour no dreams of world domination, and are happy with the way things are. I see this in Steffan. He is a guy with much contentment.

After they opened in January 2013 (despite well meaning friends saying it would take at least 2 years to get off the ground) the store was thriving. The people just came.  It makes me want to live in Berlin. Learn German. Bump up the Kollectiv from 11 to 12. 

I ask Steffen where he likes to hang out when he is not working in the store.  He tells me of a collective of groups from locations all over Berlin that, on any given night, serve up food to those who seek it.  Voku (short for Volks Kuchen…translated: Peoples Kitchen) list many vegan happenings in Project Houses. I hope to try at least one during my stay.
  
additional info:
pizza supplied from Sfizyveg.de
Cakes and treats from Majas Deli

Karl-Marx-Platz 24
 12043 Berlin

Closest U-Bahn: Karl Marx Strasse
Closed (geschlossen) on Sundays (as most stores seem to be in Berlin).


For a list of Berlin Kollectiv’s 

Neukolln has a number of vegan restaurants and cafes. I will be hopefully getting around to visiting them all! Are you signed up for emails?  Make sure you don’t miss out on future reviews..and, at some point when the trip is done, recipes!

Take that, Coffee. You brute!

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The bitter, rich aroma of coffee does it for me.

I have often been known to waltz into a coffee shop or specialist coffee seller, to plant myself in the midst of all the rows of exotic varieties and ‘roasted this’ and ‘Columbian that’, to just allow the lids of my eyes to fall as I inhale, so deeply that I get a little spacey, and exhale slowly with erotic pleasure at the provocative, sensual aromas that cause me to temporarily loose my mind.

But the taste, or should I say the aftertaste, doesn’t.  I couldn’t drink it.  I order herbal tea in the ‘coffee house’ and drift, my head full of clouds of pungent smelling air, out of the specialist store empty handed.  I just didn’t get it.  The foul covering languishing on the tongue, the aftertaste that turned sour.  No, no, no!

UNTIL…!

I was doing my monthly wholefoods shop online.  I was feeling open minded and ‘down with it’, and was ordering new products to sample at my leeesure.  Loves, I spied something I’d long relegated to the hippy bin, along with Jesus sandals and tie dye (I know, now I’ve said it, it will bite me on the ass and become the height of fashion..AGAIN!), but, being swingy and floaty from the effects of sudden sunshine in Britain, I ordered a box of coffee I swore could never hit the spot.

When my groceries arrived, I tore into the box and tapped the button on the kettle.  I was ready for this.  I ground, spooned, poured and plunged and filled my lungs with bitter scent.  Transported to heaven.  My best and never used, coffee cup was dusted off and became a vessel for the thick, dark, liquid.   My stars!  It was DELICIOUS!….AND, not a coffee bean in sight.  What?  Loves, it was DANDELION COFFEE.  I kid you not, it is a very deep and dark horse and it is mighty, and bitter, and rich, and SATISFYING.  Mick Jagger would be changing the lyrics of his Chart topping ditty, if he imbibed this baby!

UTTERLY, SUPREMELY DELICIOUS.  Caffeine free. Made from the roasted root of the dandelion.  It’s FREE, probably sunning itself in your back garden.  You can make it yourself.YouTube tutorial)  Reported to be blooming good for you  (protects liver, reduces acid indigestion & heartburn, improves memory, rich in potassium, blood purifying, cleansing…).  Remember in school when kindly fellow classmates would chide you if you innocently picked a dandelion and put the fear of God into you that you’d wet the bed?!  An old wives tale that got bandied about the playground. Well, old wives tales are factual more often than not (clever Mrs.).  Dandelions are diuretic and can help relieve water retention (good for PMS).  For more benefits go here

yep…  There you have it.  And it isn’t just me.  I taste tested it on a few of my coffee loving friends and they, like the clocks on a dandelion, were blown away!  I am drinking copious amounts of it!   It delivers a hit!

When you purchase it from the store.  Make sure it is 100% roasted coffee root (some add sugar and other unnecessary crap…leave those tins on the shelf!).  The brand I tried and am drinking copious cups of is Cotswold Dandelion Coffee.  Smooth and utterly satisfying!

x

Brighton VegFest 2012 News - Part Two

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Part Two  (Part One if you missed it) of my ‘News from VegFest’, from the safety of my sofa, I breathe a sigh of relief, as I tackle a raging food hangover today.


Nakd where very liberal with the dolling out of Nakd bar samples yesterday.  Besides tasting ALL of their 7 flavours yesterday I also tried their new Beond bars.  New because they are now not only raw but organic too.  The berry flavour is a feisty little number.  Full of berry brightness.  Yum.


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Moo Free have VEGAN Easter Eggs. Oh the marching forth of the VEGAN band!

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Brazilian footwear company Jinga are 100% VEGAN



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Algae from Klamath lake in Oregon.  Reported to be extremely beneficial to humankind.  I’d love to see how it’s farmed from the lake!



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I Am Natural were showing off their natural toiletries range
Yes, this picture appears twice…blogspot is being a little gremlin this morning. I couldn’t remove it.  Weird!
Vegusto have some luscious vegan cheese.



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Kinetic were there with row upon row of great products from the US.  Chia, protein shakes, energy bars, Amazing Grass, and Jason beauty products.



A gorgeous couple of fresh graduates have been winning lots of awards with their range of SUPERFOODS.  Like the furry baobab fruit pictured above.  If you shake it you can feel the powder moving inside.  Yes, it is not ground, it actually is powder inside the pod!  Organic Burst  They had such a great ‘business start-up story’ I hope to bring you more news of them at some point.




The pioneer behind this skin care company caught my eye too.  Only using raw naturally occurring ingredients in his skin food range.  Raw Skin Food are not only alcohol free products but free of 8 common food allergens too.  The guy who began this company produced the range because out of his own needs and because the market lacked what he needed.  I hope to bring you more news about Raw Skin Food in the near future.






I hung around the inSpiral stand so longer they could be forgiven for thinking I was staff!  Based in Camden with a cafe and with an online store too, they have lots of delicious raw vegan treats.  Their chocolate ‘cake’ is wicked.  Wicked good and wicked slightly naughty, if you eat too much (oops!).  I put on several disguises so I could keep going back and sampling their kale chips and crackers.  I bought and quickly devoured their raw fudge - unctuous and rich and some of their new chocolate kale chips (too ‘sugary’ for my taste…ditch the palm sugar, Inspiral!).

On my 3rd visit to InSpiral I consumed a cheery little scoop of their mint choc ice cream.  Made with cashew nuts and lots of body loving goodies like spirulina.  Food that nourishes. Great flavour, the mint was practically zumba’ ing on my tongue! Nice.

I purchased some of these buckthorn berries from Marap  VEGANS and non-vegans note - these are a natural source of B12.  They are very tart and you only need a few to do the trick.  I think they’d make a good addition to a chutney.  Experiment on the ‘to do’ list..

Raw Delights had some, well, raw delights.  Hand made raw crackers and granola. So VERY ….delightful!   Many samples passed my lips! 

I quickly snapped up a pot of this sassy little number.  Olives and seaweed.  Wow!  what a combo. Super excited to make this discovery Tartar seaweed and olive conserve.

There were quite a few caterers and pre-cooked meal producers at the festival.   Lilli Chilli had some fluffy and light steamed chickpea flour cakes.  The flavours and texture was wonderful.  Pillows of Indian spiced sponge.  Yummy Lilli.

 I do kick myself when I see the vegan caterers as I really should be baking for the masses.  That’s all to come.  What do they say…?  ‘timing’.
Loving Hut were there too.  They are great for their fake meats and transitional meat to veggie fayre.  Did you know they did raw food?  I didn’t.  I do now!
Lots of buzz about alkaline diets with water filters that alkalize your water (I didn’t realise tap and bottled water was acidic).  Live blood tests analysis was getting busy under the microscope.
Farmaround (not a franchise) were touting their ever widening catchment of organic boxes.  They are a local vegetarian company.

 

New Internationalist A monthly magazine which cleverly focus on one each for each monthly publication.  I had a lovely long chat with one of the stand members who was a food anthropologist.  I’ve not read any of their material so  I signed up for a free trial they had exclusively at the show.
There were lots of animal rights charities there, doing lots of good work. I spoke to Matt from The Monkey Sanctuary (Wild Futures) about their West Country Green Tourism, working money sanctuary. I was flabbergasted to know that owning monkeys as pets is still legal?!! I pray this is swiftly changed and new laws brought into power. Hopefully, I will visit them one day and show my support.

So there you have it.  My review was really only a fraction of the VEGAN wonderland that I swanned around yesterday.  You can see the full listing on the VegFest website .  I was super excited about the amount of vegan companies at the show AND the festival was packed the entire time.  Looks like my prediction for a vegan world by 2035 is on right on track!

Idyllwild California

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Idyllwild, is a small mountain town.  A ‘getaway’ place. Extremely friendly with lots of hiking, cabins & retreat centres.  It’s gorgeous.  I came to stay for a few days.

I decided to go to Nature’s Wisdom.  Three years ago they were offering organic raw & vegan entrees.  The menu has changed and the raw has been replaced with meat dishes and only one vegan option…soup.  Not overly succumbing to the rather tatty interior I requested a sample of the soup.  It was a ‘chop it all, chuck it all in’ type veggie broth, that failed to rally my appetite for more.  Especially the cost $8 for a bowl of soup, served in a plastic bowl.  I think not.  Shame.  I said thank you and promptly left.

The next three days I didn’t even consider eating elsewhere after I discovered a small health food store tucked away on the fringe of town MOUNTAIN HARVEST MARKET.  It is not a restaurant but they have a little homemade food section, comfy sofa and tables around a toasty fire and smiles.  My lunch was a ‘to go’ rice based entree of perfectly cooked brown rice, zucchini, kale, red peppers, onions and peas.  It came with a tub of DELICIOUS vegan ‘gravy’.  So satisfying and just the right amount.

I loved this so much I had it two days on the trot.  The last day I had a spicy biryani style dish which was a smidgen away from pulling it off as a dead heat. I was also fortunate to meet lovely Cathy, the woman responsible for the dishes.  She effuses enthusiasm and warmth.  She clearly loves good food and enjoys offering her meals at great prices too.  $4.75 for an entree or salad.Bargain!
The first day I had room for dessert and grabbed a slab of Earth Cafe Pumpkin cake.  Hmm, it had a  strange texture and a weird ‘unnatural’ kind of flavour.  It was not very nice. 4 out of 10. I know they can do better.  ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ used to be a frequent pud rattling around in the bottom of my shopping basket. I’ve not eaten them for a while but I guess the other flavours are still hitting the spot as they netted an award with a vegetarian magazine as Best Raw Goodies, winner. Earth Cafe