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.

Dr. McDougall's Right Foods

I have been trying out quite a few recipes from Dr McDougall's website lately, and have been reading his books (check out his book "The Starch Solution"). There are also quite a few of his food products on the shelves at Coles (in the health foods section) and in health food stores.
Although there is quite a range, I have only seen a handful available here, so I will cover those that I have tried. Note that all of the range is vegan though only some are also gluten free.
These are for light lunches and snacks. I tend to boost the noodle cups by adding some chopped up cooked veggies to them.

In the Noodle Cup range, my fave product, hands down, is the Miso Ramen Noodle Soup. So tasty! Not gluten free, though, so this is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. I have found this one to be the easiest to find in Coles. The next more common one is the gluten free Pad Thai, which I also like though not as much as a the Miso Ramen. I have seen in some health food stores, the Tortilla Soup with Baked Chips which I wasn't all that keen on.





There is also an Asian Noodle Cup range. These are 'entree' size which means, even bolstered by cooked chopped vegetables, there really are only snack sized. My two favourites from this range are the Teriyaki Noodle and the Spicy Kung Pao Noodle. These tend to be a little harder to find, but have sometimes found them in Coles.

Apart from the noodle cups, I have also found the Ready To Serve Soups. Some of these come in Low Sodium varieties. I have also found these in Coles, in amongst the health food section. They are just the right amount for a lunch meal and are super tasty. I think my favourite is the Split Pea Soup. Again, there is quite a few varieties in this range but I have only seen a few in the shops - the Lentil Soup and the Minestrone Soup. Both are flavoursome.

It is good to know that a major supermarket stocks some vegan convenience food. Sure, nothing beats home cooked but when you are tired or lacking time, or even travelling, having these kind of products to hand is great!

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.