During my time at university, I attended an induction course to be a student ambassador. At the beginning of the induction, we were asked to say a few facts about ourselves. Being the self-assured person I am, I proudly declared my veganism. I then remembered that ‘joke’ people make about how to know if someone is vegan, the punch line being ‘don’t worry they’ll tell you’. I couldn’t help but smile to myself although I distinctly remember not being able to look anyone in the eye after the realisation I was that vegan.
Don’t get me wrong, I was proud of my veganism but frustrated I had succumbed to the ill-conceived stereotype perpetuated by meat eaters that vegans are all pompous boasters. I pondered over the stigmatisation of vegans and concluded only one thing: I have to make veganism popular. So, here I am on my blog attempting to make veganism popular – which does mean I’ll be posting regularly about veganism (if anyone has any suggestions for me, let me know).
Popcorn
This is by far my favourite thing to snack on. I usually end up eating the big bags of popcorn that are meant for sharing but I just love it so much. Tyrells Poshcorn sweet and salted is my favourite, I also like the Butterkist sweet and salted popcorn and it’s cheaper than the Tyrell’s one!Dried Fruit
Dates, apricots, raisins, cranberries and goji berries are the ones currently on the shelf in my kitchen cupboard. There’s plenty of dried fruit out there, the best place to get dried fruit is health food shops because you can buy them in bulk but they’re readily available from most food stores. They’re easy to shop for and even easier to snack on. Plus, they’re healthy too. If you want a bargain, Poundland also stock dried fruit.Fruit
Another healthy option is fruit; I couldn’t really mention dried fruit with out mentioning fruit. I frequently keep grapes, bananas, apples, pears and oranges in the kitchen to nibble on. I tend to grab a few pieces of fruit if I don’t have time to make breakfast in the morning to eat on the bus. I also store a lot of fruit in the freezer for smoothies.Nuts
I have a packet of cashews in my bedside drawer and often eat them because I read they were a natural antidepressant, I can’t say I’ve particularly noticed a change but it’s reassuring for me to eat foods I know are good for me. I also regularly eat pistachios, walnuts, peanuts and almonds.Chocolate
Milk chocolate is often one of the things that many people tell me stop them from going fully vegan. But I shit you not, once you start exploring the various brands of dark chocolates and vegan chocolate, you wont miss a thing. I assure you, you haven’t lived until you try Booja-Booja hazelnut truffles. I recommend Divine dark chocolate with raspberries, Green and Black’s Organic dark chocolate and if you want something cheap Co-op dark chocolate is only £1 and it tastes amazing (all of the aforementioned chocolate is fair-trade).Herbal Tea
I know these aren’t a snack but I don’t know how I would live without them! There is something so relaxing about waking up and having a hot cup of tea. Unfortunately, I suffer from IBS and after countless trips back and forth to the doctors they prescribed me peppermint oil. I didn’t even know peppermint was a natural way to improve digestion problems. I didn’t want to buy peppermint oil at prescription price so I googled to see if I could find it on amazon and that was when I stumbled across peppermint tea – it saved my life. My love for herbal tea blossomed from then on. Nowadays, I usually drink green tea in the mornings, peppermint tea after meals to subdue my pain and bloating and camomile tea before bed. My other favourites are acai berry, orange and coconut.Olives
My love for olives began at a food stall on Cambridge market in my first year of university. I wandered past the food and the man behind the stall asked if I wanted to try any of the olives. Before this, I had only eaten olives from a jar and wasn’t so keen. I thought why not and pointed to the garlic stuffed olives, they were delicious. He asked if I wanted a box of them and of course, I did. I picked the olives in marinated in mint, chilli, lemon, rosemary and more. I wanted them all. As I previously mentioned, I was only familiar with olives from a jar, which were about 80p so I wasn’t worried about the amount in the box. It was a slight miscalculation. The total price was just under £12. I handed over a 20 pound note through gritted teeth and made a mental note to never buy olives from a market in Cambridge again.Edamame Beans
My Favourite Japanese snack! Edamame beans, also known as soybeans, are great with a pinch of sea salt or a splash of tamari/soy sauce. You can buy them frozen in most supermarkets but I like to go to my local Japanese takeaway and ask for a tub of already boiled ones.Hummus
Are you really a vegan if you don’t eat hummus? On it’s own, hummus would be quite strange although if that’s you’re thing go for it. Personally, I like to slice up cucumber, celery and carrot into fingers to dip into hummus. Alternatively you can dip crisps, bread, crackers or anything else that takes your fancy.Banana ‘ice cream’
I was so happy when I discovered how to make banana ice cream. This isn’t a snack you can grab whilst you’re on the go but it’s one I had to share because I love it so much. All you have to do is chop up a few bananas, put them in a freezer bag and leave them in the freezer overnight. Then, the next day pop the frozen bananas into a blender and there you have it – banana ice cream!Seeds
If you’re already vegan you’ve probably heard the ‘So if you’re protein question maybe 50 times by now, depending on how long you’ve been vegan for. Well, here is your answer: hemp, flax, pumpkin, sesame, chia and sunflower seeds are all good sources of protein. They’re great as a snack but they also go well with porridge, mixed into stir-fries and sprinkled onto salads.Non-dairy yogurt
I like to buy the large tubs of the Alpro yogurt to keep in the fridge. The Vanilla and Strawberry & Rhubarb are my favourites. I’ll either grab a spoon and eat it in straight from the pot or put a few dollops into a bowl with fruit, nuts or seeds – sometimes all three.Crisps
I know quite a few brands of crisps unnecessarily add milk to the recipe but it’s fairly easy to find brands that are vegan friendly – you just need to check the labels. Kettle chips, Pringles Original, Paprika and Barbeque flavour, Root Vegetable crisps, Hula Hoops, Disco’s, Pom-bears and Skips are ALL vegan friendly. The list of vegan friendly crisps is probably endless; again, you just have to check the ingredients on the packets!If anyone has any vegan related recommendations of blogposts I could write, message or @ me on twitter: @emalemonpie
Thanks for reading my vegan ramblings.
I’m going to end this blogpost with a meme I made today:
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