Kez's Free and Naked Choc Mud Bars

I came across these snack bars at my local Coles supermarket, in amongst the healthfoods products. I am familiar with this brand, as they do gluten free biscuits and other stuff, but I had not seen these bars before.

They come in a pack of 5 and although each bar is fairly small (25g), I find this to be just the right size, as they are a bit rich. They are gluten free and clearly labelled as being vegan. The bars contain 5 ingredients - dates, cashews, cocoa, sesame seeds and chia seeds. That's it. A simple but pleasing combination.

I keep a pack in my desk drawer at work, for when I am having a craving for something sweet.

Harvest Box snack packs

I do enjoy poking around supermarkets, looking for new vegan appropriate products. My partner spotted these by Harvest Box, in amongst the other dried fruit and nut packs. They are handy to throw into your bag just in case you get an attack of the munchies while you are out of the house.

There are two varieties that are suitable for vegans.

The Raw Mix is a nice though I am not a fan of peanuts, so there is a bit of wastage with this one for me. This mix as a 'tart' quality to it, due to the dried apple and cranberries.


My partner prefers the Go Bananas mix, as it is sweeter with the dark chocolate bits and the dried banana.

Both varieties are gluten free.

The Bar Counter

I recently stumbled across these at my local Coles supermarket. There were a whole heap of varieties and as I fossicked through them, I was starting to lose hope that any would be vegan. My perseverance paid off, however, as I found their Raw Blueberry and Vanilla bar which is clearly labelled as being vegan on the front. (I LOVE that kinda of labeling. Makes shopping so much easier for us.) It contained dates, blueberry, almond, fig, vanilla and raw rice protein. I was a bit skeptical. I have tried these date based type of bars before and have always found them to be too sickly sweet. I need not have worried, as this bar was delicious. Sweet, but not overly, with a lovely vanilla flavour and a hint of blueberry and fig. I also loved the texture the almond supplied. Oh, and this bar is also gluten free!

The Bar Counter also make another vegan bar - the Raw Chocolate,Coconut and Lacuma bar, which is also gluten free. I will have to try this one next!

Tyrrell's English Chips

One of the most frustrating things about shopping as a vegan, is the way so many snack products have animal ingredients in them. And I am not talking about the obvious things, like cheese flavoured crackers or  whatever, but rather things like salt and vinegar chips that contain dairy! What the hell?
Before going vegan, S&V potato chips were my fave. But after going vegan, I was surprised and then pissed right off to see that they contained milk products. Since then, I have been on the look out for a vegan S&V chip.

One day, I was scanning the snack shelves of Coles and noticed a new brand. This one was called Tyrrell's and was from England. I  spotted their Sea Salt and Cider Vinegar variety, and picked it up, turned it over and read the ingredients list, fully expecting it to list 'milk solids' or some such useless crap. But no! Eyes dilated, hands trembling, I turned to my partner (who has a habit of exclaiming very loudly in supermarkets "Why does this have milk in it!?") and said "This looks like it is vegan!".
In disbelief, he snatched the bag out of my hands and had a look. Yep, vegan! Even says so on the pack! No palm oil either, and gluten free, to boot.

Well, once I got home and opened the pack up (yes, I waited that long), I stuck my nose into the bag and inhaled. Oh that vinegary aroma! The first chip - wow! Bursting with flavour but not overly done. I remember in the bad old days with the non-vegan potato chips, you eat a few and your tongue goes numb. Not with these ones! I savoured each and every chip in that pack and they have since become my firm favourite.

Since that first foray, I have also tried their other vegan varieties, such as the Lightly Sea Salted (nice), Sweet Chili and Red Pepper (tasted a bit too much like tomato to me), and the Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper (yummy - not too peppery).
There are other varieties, but they are not vegan, so give them a miss.

Beanfields Bean and Rice Chips

I found these savoury snacks in the health foods section of Woolworths. They are clearly marked as ‘Vegan’ on the front of the pack and after peering at the ingredients list, I found that they were, indeed, vegan.

So far, I have seen three of the varieties in Woolworths – Salsa, Sea salt, and Nacho. The Nacho is my favourite. Very tasty, very cheesy in its flavour. The Salsa has a smoky sort of flavour to it.

There are also 2 other varieties that I have yet to see them in the shops here in Perth. One is Salt N’ Pepper and the other Unsalted.

And new to the range is Barbecue and Ranch. My partner managed to find small packets of these two in the Loving Hut café in Victoria Park.  The Ranch variety tastes a lot like sour cream and chives to me.

All of these products are gluten free, veganand non-GMO. Hopefully, the other varieties will eventually be available in Woolworths. I have noticed that the current ones sell very well at my local supermarket. 

Product: Crimpers by Orgran

Orgran have done it again - a new product that is both gluten free and vegan!

Crimpers are a baked snack food that come in two flavours: salt and vingear, and sea salt.
I spotted this product in a health food store. I was rather pleased to see 'YES it is vegan!' written on the outside of the box. Nice, clear information on the packaging is such a help! I have found so many vegan products either don't mention they are vegan or state they are vegetarian, when they are actually vegan.

I tried the salt and vinegar variety first. Very crunchy, with a powerful vinegar flavour - just how I like it! So many salt and vinegar chips contain dairy, that I had to forgo them once going vegan. These Crimpers come close to filling that little gap.

I next tried the sea salt variety. They were quite salty, so I wasn't tempted to eat the whole packet in one sitting - just as well!

You can buy these snacks in boxes of 10  - each packet is 20grams, which is perfect size for a snack.

Product: Gopal's Power Wraps

When I go to PAWS, I like to have a good look on their shelves and try something new. These 'power wraps' were tucked away against a wall. I had a look at the different varieties, peered at the ingredients and thought "Why not? Let's give one of these a go." I opted for the 'Italian' one but it was a close call between that and the 'Japanese' one.

In the pack, you get two wraps. I was going to eat just one and give the other to my partner to try. I had good intentions, but it tasted so good that before I knew what I was doing, I was munching on the second one. Seriously yummy! Full of flavour. I had another look at the ingredients. It tasted so 'cheesy' that I was worried that somehow, there WAS some of that dreaded stuff in there.

Nope! None in there! Not only is this savoury snack delish, but it is also gluten free, vegan, organic, and raw. In fact, this company, Gopal's, soaks and germinates most of its own seeds and nuts.

To top all of this off, this company's manufacturing plant  is situated on 100 acres of pastureland in Texas, the American state renown for its exploitation and abuse of cows and other animals considered to be 'food' or 'entertainment' (rodeos, or public lynchings as they should be called). This 100 acres is home to several cows that the company is protecting and their name 'Gopal' even means 'friend of the cows' in modern Anglicized Sanskrit.

I will definitely head back to PAWS for some more of these!

Recipe: Kale chips

I just tried out this super simple little snack recipe from www.care2.com  and I think I am on a winner. It is pretty quick to make too. Washing and cutting the kale is probably the longest part, but even that is not all that hard or laborious.

As mentioned in a previous post, kale is super packed with vitamins and minerals and tastes good, to boot.

So far, I know kale can be bought at the Wanneroo Markets, Fresh Provisions, and Fresh Stop at Dogswamp Shopping Centre. I dare say some other groceries might have it too. None of the major supermarkets seem to ever stock it though.  Hunt it down whilst it is still available. It is worth the effort.

What you will need:
a bunch of kale (about 4 cups worth)
1 tbsp olive oil (I use cold pressed extra virgin)
a dash or two of sea salt, herb salt or Cajun spice

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
Line a baking tray with baking paper.
wash the kale and cut out the stem. Then cut the kale into pieces. Not too little, as they will burn, but don't make them too big, as they won't cook fully. The right size will be a case of trial and error, I have found. But once you got it, you got it!
Toss the pieces in a bowl with the olive oil until coated and then arrange in a single layer on a baking tray.
Roast for 5 minutes and then turn with tongs. Roast for another 10 minutes. kale should be beginning to turn brown, crisp and brittle.
Remove from oven, sprinkle with seasoning and eat straight away.

Chic Nuts - vegan snacks

I have to admit, I am a bit of a 'snacker' and I like my snacks savory and crunchy. I am naughty, and often opt for potato chips but sometimes I grab some Chic Nuts.
 Chic Nuts are roasted chickpeas that are great for a snack or entertaining. They come in two varieties - ' Lightly Salted' and 'Sicilian Herbs and Garlic'. They are crunchy, tasty and high in fibre and protein. Oh, and they are also gluten free. You can buy them in the larger bags or in the 25g snack pack size.

Also available are their 'Fava Nuts' which are roasted, split broad beans. Have not tried these yet but intend to!

These products are available from Woolworths supermarkets and some IGA stores.