Amazing Vegan Competition - Hannah Banana Bakery

Hey everyone!

The amazingly talented Hannah from Hannah Banana Bakery is having a HUGE competition in honour of 4,000 likes on her Facebook page.

I'm sure everyone that reads this blog knows all about Hannah Banana Bakery. For those that don't, HBB is a one woman, vegan bakery business based in Southampton.

To be in with a chance of winning all those incredible vegan goodies, pop on over to Hannah's website and follow the instructions http://hannahbananabakery.wordpress.com/2013/03/16/4000-likes-vegan-130-pamper-hamper-give-away/

Hello again

Hi everyone! It's been nearly a year since we last posted on here. This depresses me =( so I've decided to make more of an effort and start posting here regularly. I currently write 3 other blogs, so please forgive the lack of updates, I'm determined to change this though and will start posting food blog posts here shortly.

If anyone is interested in writing posts on here, or has any ideas about what they would like us to write about, please email me at kemiller11@hotmail.co.uk. It would be nice to include perhaps some vegetarian and vegan family posts, days out at veggie friendly places, anything really. I'd like to keep Hampshire Vegetarians and Vegans a happy friendly place, for everyone visiting =)

So yes, there will be more posts coming soon =) and please except my apologies for the lack of posts.

Love, Kate xx

Hello

Hi everyone, and welcome to the new look Hampshire Vegetarians and Vegans website/blog.

I am looking for more writers to be part of HVV, so if you are a vegetarian or a vegan living in Hampshire and are interested, please email me at vegankate@hotmail.co.uk :-)

The blog posts can be about anything vegetarian or vegan related, so I was thinking reviews of products, cafe's/restaurants in the Hampshire area (and outside the Hampshire area), animal rights information, nutritional information (sources will need to be included), and anything really that is related.

I would like to build this up to be a great resource for new vegetarians and vegans, and to be a happy friendly group. I would also like to arrange events once interest starts to rise, including get togethers, fundraising events and fayre's selling good veggie and vegan food and eco items (handmade/upcycled, etc).

I am also going to have a Hampshire Vegetarians and Vegans business listing on here, so if you are a vegetarian or a vegan in the Hampshire area and would like your business included, please email vegankate@hotmail.co.uk with a little bit of information about yourselves and your business and I will add you :-)

I received so much support from other vegans when I went from a vegetarian to a vegan (especially from Hannah at Hannah Banana Bakery (Southampton based vegan bakery) that I would like to give something back and help others as much as I can. Also where I live, I don't know many people that are vegetarians or vegans, so it would be nice to see how many of us are out there, and to also offer support to new veggies or vegans that are struggling with whatever issues :-)

It would be awesome for others to get involved :-) please email me if you are interested ♥

Redwood Food's 'Vegi Deli' Gourmet Meat Free Chicken Style Pieces

Last night, I decided to try Redwood Food's Vegi Deli, Gourmet Meat Free Chicken Style Pieces for the first time. We decided to have a salad and baked potato with them, so I decided to marinate the chicken style pieces in a BBQ sauce (I used Morrisons Sticky BBQ Marinade).

I put them in a bowl and marinated them in the BBQ sauce for about 3-4 hours.

 I then put them on a baking sheet and cooked them for about 10-15 mins

They were absolutely out of this world!!! They were really succulent and even looked just like meat. My husband said this was the kind of thing he had been missing since he went Vegetarian. I am now a Vegan and I have to admit, it freaked me out a bit eating them, because they were SO similar to meat. But they are totally guilt free and no animal has had to die for it! They truly are delicious :-)

I would challenge ANY meat eater to a taste challenge between these and pieces of chicken thigh meat (bleurgh!) marinated in the same sauce. I truly believe no one could tell the difference!!

I am a huge fan of Redwood foods and have placed a large order this afternoon for Christmas and the New Year, that is, if we don't eat it all before that!! haha

If you are looking for a GOOD meat replacement, especially if you are a new Vegetarian or Vegan, you seriously cannot go wrong with these chicken style pieces.

Kate
My Personal Blog - Stinky Boo

Any Vegans in/around Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK?

Hi everyone, we had a message on our Facebook page from a lady doing a dissertation on Vegans, looking for Vegans to interview. Is there anyone out there that can help? If so, please contact her by replying to the thread on Hampshire Vegetarians and Vegans Facebook Page and she will get back to you.

Thank you,
Kate xx

Capers - Marmion Road, Southsea

I initially avoided Capers for quite a while after they opened as they took over what used to be a Vegetarian and Vegan cafe, The Greenhouse Kitchen, which was the only completely Vegetarian/Vegan cafe in Southsea. When the new owners took it over, they changed the name to Capers and re-introducted meat to the menu.

A few months later, I decided to give it a go and was surprised at the choice of Vegetarian options on their menu. Since they opened in January, I have eaten in there countless times, and it has always been a lovely meal, cooked by clearly very talented chefs.

On my last visit, which was Tuesday 18th October 2011 and I had the Sunblushed Tomato, Rocket and Brie Quiche. Capers quiches really are fantastic, very creamy and lots of flavour, it was absolutely delicious. The Quiche came with a lovely salad with sunblushed tomatos and peppers, new potato salad, gorgeous home made coleslaw and Caper's amazing croutons (which they sell bags of on their counter). The only disappointing thing about my meal at Capers on Tuesday, was that the new potato salad was a bit too vinegary, however, it isn't normally like that, I know because I have eaten their Quiches many many times haha and have even asked for the receipe for their new potato salad before.

I also had a Latte, which came with a small shortbread biscuit, which, again, was delicious.

They have many Vegetarian options on their menu, from breakfasts, to quiches, to sharing platters.

Since my visit to Capers on Tuesday, I have started making the transition from Vegetarian to Vegan, so I am not sure what Vegan options Capers have, or whether they serve Soya milk Lattes, thats something I will have to find out on my next visit, but I know from chatting to the staff before that they are very adaptable with their menu, and have been told that they can adapt dishes, so I'm hoping that on my next visit, I will be able to have a Vegan meal and drink. I will update with how that goes ♥

Capers Menu:

My overall experience (out of 10):

Food: ********* (9)
Drink: ******* (8)
Atmosphere: ******* (7) (can get a little loud in there at times when very busy)
Friendliness of Staff: ******* (7)
Cleanliness: ******** (8)

Capers have their own Facebook page: Capers - Facebook

Sainsbury's Cafe - Farlington, Portsmouth

I've eaten in Sainsbury's Cafe quite a few times so thought I would pop in and do a review before I made a start on my shopping.

They used to have a puy lentil and goats cheese salad that was lovely, but that is no longer on the menu. They had a mediterranean vegetable lasagne and macaroni cheese, but with both over 1000 calories per dish (AAGGGHHHH!!) I thought better of it.

I decided on mushroom soup and a poppy seed bread roll and a large latte.

I sat down and started drinking my latte and having a chat with my Mum. 30 minutes later (and about 20 minutes after finishing my latte), my soup turned up! They actually have a sign in there to say 'We don't serve fast food, just great tasting food as fast as we can.' Fair enough, I expect to wait a bit longer for decent food, but 30 minutes for a soup?!?! Are you having a laugh? Thats a bit ridiculous if you ask me.

The soup itself was actually quite nice, it had a hint of garlic in it and was quite peppery and creamy. I reminded me of the New Covent Garden Wild Mushroom Soup (not that I buy those soups anymore, after finding meat in them!)

It wasn't until I started to get to the bottom of the bowl that I realised that there were small bits of sliced mushrooms in the soup. They tasted quite watery and tasteless unfortunately. The roll was nice and crusty (and I love poppy seeds) However it was warm on the outside and ice cold in the centre! The roll was also served with a portion of butter straight out of the fridge.

The latte wasn't great in all honesty. Served in a cappuccino cup, it got cold very quickly and although it wasn't the weakest latte I've had, it was a bit blah :-/ quite weak and the milk tasted like it was skimmed as it had no creaminess to it.

My Mum had a childs portion of pasta with a cheesy tomato sauce with broccoli. I didn't taste it, but she said it was ok. It looked like sick on a plate to me (sorry Sainsbury's, but look at it!)

Anyway, the food filled a hole, it wasnt awful, but it didn't impress and neither did the service particularly.

I do have to say that at least Sainsburys do seem to try to offer more vegetarian options than alot of other places. I'll never forget the time I asked at the Tesco's food counter cafe in Havant if they had vegetarian sausages as an option and I was looked at like I was a Martian!

My overall experience (out of 10):

Food: **** (4)
Drink: *** (3)
Atmosphere: ***** (5)
Friendliness of Staff: ***** (5)
Cleanliness: ****** (6)