Vegetarian Christmas present ideas: sweets, Haribo, vegan marshmallows and more

Well, I've been rubbish at updating the blog. I have no excuses but will make it up with loads of interesting posts about tasty veggie treats.

Today it's the wonder of sweeties. As I may have said before, I've been a vegetarian since I was four so I don't "miss" meat and animal products in the way a more recent veggie might. One thing I do wish I could have is jelly sweets, marshmallows and other sugary naughtiness.

A friend from work did a bit of Googling and found me these websites:

Sweet Vegan

Sweet Vegan will be sending out Christmas orders up to December 21st. They appear to sell four products: vanilla marshmallows, coconut marshmallows (both £4.99 for 200g), mint hot chocolate and hot chocolate (both £4.95 for 300g).

Although there aren't a lot of products to choose from, the marshmallows are handmade and look like they'd make nice gifts. (Let's hope the boyfriend's reading this!!!) Next site is...


Scrumptious Sweets

This site sells classics like cola cubes, jelly beans and fizzy fangs.

There are tons of sweets to choose from and best of all they have Christmas gift packs including Deluxe Organic Vegetarian and Vegan Xmas Fondue Gift Box (£75) and a Fruit Sweet Treats in a Mug (£19.99) plus many more.

Gift packs range in price from £9.99 to the Exclusive Christmas Gift Hamper for a whopping £95 but it does include:

Exclusive Chocolate Fondue set.
Vegan 'Free From' Chocolate.
Vegan & Vegetarian Vanilla Marshmallows.
Vegan & Vegetarian Coconut Marshmallows.
Vegan & Vegetarian Cinnamon Pecan Marshmallows.
Vegan & Vegetraian Marshmallows Ghost.
Vegan & Vegetrian Peanut butter Smores
vegan & Vegetarian Rocky road.
Vegan & Vegetarian Organic Sour Fruit Drops.
Vegan & Organic Sweet Fruit drops.
Vegan & Vegeatrian Herbs and fruit Drops.
Vegan & Vegetarian Peppermint and Eucalytus Drops.
Jar of Vegan Organic Sugar Jelly Bears.
Jar of Vegan Organic Jelly Sour Worms.
Jar of Vegan Organic Oranges & Lemons Fruit Slices.
Luxury Gift Box or Hamper.
Personal Greeting card.
FREE DELIVERY to anywhere in the UK!

Sweetie World

No fancy gift sets on this site but lots and lots of choice from Wham bars to Raspberry Millions.

You can order up to December 22nd for Christmas and as a nice bonus £1 from every order made between the 16th-22nd December gets donated to charity Crisis.

There are loads more veggie sweeties site but I thought these three were quite different. If you're only going to look at one, I recommend Scrumptious Sweets for their gift sets.

Enjoy

The American Dietic Association says vegetarian and vegan diets are healthy

The American Dietic Association has announced that following a vegetarian/ vegan diet can be healthy.

In the July 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, it said: “It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.

"Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life-cycle including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence and for athletes.”

Read VegBang.com's fuller article.

PETA reveal country music star Kellie Pickler from American Idol as sexiest celebrity vegetarian

Country and music star Kellie Pickler only became a vegetarian last year but has topped a vote of sexy veggie celebs.

People Magazine reported she said: "One night I couldn't sleep and I was up just Googling random stuff and I'm like, 'Hmmm, PETA.

"I saw all the videos and I just thought it was horrible. It's animal cruelty. A lot of it has to do with knowing what happens to the animals. It really bothered me and so I will not eat meat."

Click here for more details about the news.

Wonderful vegetarian soup, salad and sandwich bar in Liverpool city centre: Soupernatural

Work is really busy today but just wanted to put a quick note on about a lovely veggie eaterie I found on my lunch. It's called Soupernatural and it's on Rumford Street in Liverpool city centre.


View Rumford St in a larger map

It's mainly a take away but has a few chairs and tables to eat in if you want. I had a "help-yourself" salad - pasta, cous cous, olives, houmous, etc etc etc. My other half had Italian vegetable soup and a cheese toastie. It was all obviously homemade and delicious. All this food plus two juices and a huge portion of veggie sushi only came to £10.


When I googled Soupernatural, I found this picture of the woman who served me and here's a link to an interview with her I found on a business website.

Her background and story are interesting. Worth a read. Anyway....I have to get back to work now.

Are vegetarians who don't drink enough milk more prone to brain strokes?

I came across this article today - it's a bit scary. It's about how vegetarians are more prone to brain strokes because we get less vitamin B-12.

A neurologist did a study of 460 cases of brain strokes and 80% were vegetarians who did not drink milk.

I don't really drink milk. I only have it in tea and I only have about five cups of tea a day.

Here's the Food Standards Agency info page on milk.

Right I'm off to the fridge for a large glass of the white stuff.

Ps. enjoy the Accrington Stanley Ad from the 1980s.

Nigella Lawson's involtini recipe

I know I haven't posted for ages but I had to share the recipe for this dish. My friend Kate came round to my new flat on Friday and cooked it for me.

It's called Involtini and involves lots of cheese and aubergine. My boyfriend, who's never had an aubergine and usually needs a bit of meat to keep him satisfied, loved it and even had leftovers the next day.

He's really becoming a fan of Nigella - we seem to be watching her a lot on tele of late. Hhhmmmm....

Anyway, enjoy.

Public school offer fees discount for vegetarian students

A public school, which costs £15,000 a year to attend, offered students a 10% discount in fees if they take up the Vegetarian Scholarship.

The Telegraph reported the story .

I'm not sure whether I agree with trying to bribe youngsters into making a decision on their diet. As long as people are healthy then they should be left to eat what they what.

A financial incentive not to eat meat seems an awful idea and shouldn't be allowed. Guilt should never be attached to food and having a "special" prize for eating a certain way is bound to affect how those without the prize feel about what they eat.

The article says students at Wycliffe College aren't interested and I'm glad. Let's hope no parents try to influence them to get a cut in fees.

Kareena Kapoor wins sexiest vegetarian from PETA India

India Today reported Kareena Kapoor has won the PETA India's sexiest vegetarian celebrity of 2008.

She said: “If my fans are looking up to me and have turned vegetarian, then I am happy about it. I am a pure vegetarian and it helps me keep fit and healthy."

She beat international celebrities including Pamela Anderson and Paul McCartney to the title.

Read the full artcile here.

Non-dairy vegetarian diets versus Amanda Cross' low Gi diet

Found this blog called Pace and Kyeli while messing about on the internet.

It's about a couple of people who are trying to be non-dairy vegetarians for three months. The writer, Pace, says some interesting things about cheese - When I stopped eating dairy, I felt better, more clear-headed, more compassionate, and I had more energy."

I have to disagree with this completely. I recently decided to lose weight and struggled to find a diet to suit me. Weight Watchers was ok but working out all the points could be a nightmare.

Slimmers' World was rubbish for me because red days (where you lose the most weight) are difficult when they advised so much meat.


I settled on Amanda Cross's low GI diet book . It was tough at first because I got headaches and fatigue but after a while I felt a lot better. It was amazing how much energy I had from eating such high levels of protein.

It was really difficult to eat as much as the diet required but I would recommend it to fellow vegetarians. High protein definitely made me feel better - less bloated, chubby and stodgy.

One last thing - I now find that if I eat something like pasta then I crave it for days afterwards but if I avoid it I can live without it easily.

Is Eating Meat Bad for your Skin?

I found this really interesting article about the effects of eating (and not eating) meat on your skin.

It's written by a beauty scientist called Laurie. She/ he discusses heart disease, prostate cancer, sex hormones and other health issues.

It's interesting but doesn't really come up with anything conclusive and the actual effects are vague. Still worth a read though.

NBC ban Super Bowl ad because it's too sexy

Apparently, NBC rejected this PETA ad from the Super Bowl because it was too sexy.


PETA reported getting this reply to the ad from the NBC:


The PETA spot submitted to Advertising Standards depicts a level of sexuality exceeding
our standards. Listed below are the edits that need to be made. Before finalizing the
spot, we would like to view a Quicktime file as well as a DVD with high resolution.


:12- :13- licking pumpkin
:13- :14- touching her breast with her hand while eating broccoli
:19- pumpkin from behind between legs
:21- rubbing pelvic region with pumpkin
:22- screwing herself with broccoli (fuzzy)
:23- asparagus on her lap appearing as if it is ready to be inserted into vagina
:26- licking eggplant
:26- rubbing asparagus on breast
Victoria Morgan
Vice President, Advertising Standards
NBC Universal

Check out PETA's Veggie Love website.

I think it is too sexy for family-time tv but the NBC banning it probably gave it more publicity than if it'd been shown so it's win-win for PETA.

Wall Street trader suing boss over vegetarian homo comment claim

This story is all over the internet but here's My Fox's coverage or read Daily News' article here:

A Wall Street trader is suing his former employer over allegations that his vegetarianism led his ex-boss to repeatedly accuse him of being gay and to eventually fire him.

According to a New York Daily News report, Ryan Pacifico claims that his former boss at the American office of French financial firm Calyon called him a "vegetarian homo" when another trader wondered what Pacifico would eat at a company outing at a steakhouse, and reacted to Pacifico's vegetarianism by asking, "At what point in time did you realize you were gay?"

Pacifico is not gay, and says that he served steak to guests at his wedding.

The suit also alleges that Pacifico's former boss made a point of only ordering hamburgers and pizza with meat toppings for weekly team lunches, and that the firm manufactured reasons to fire Pacifico when the real reason was his boss' perception that he was gay, the New York Post reports.

Hospitals to take meat off the menu to cut carbon?

NHS hospitals could cut meat meals in a bid to curb carbon emissions.

The Guardian article said that last year the NHS served up 129m main meals costing £312m.

Read the entire Guardian article here.

Outburst at "obnoxious" vegetarians is uncalled for

I had to post a link to this article.

"Meanest Mom" reckons you can tell a vegetarian at a party because they are the ones "asking about the ingredients of everything on the buffet table and making little throw up noises when you take a bite of your chicken satay."

What an idiot? How can she talk about vegetarians as a whole? She obviously socialises with very ignorant, rude people.

Her point about restaurants not having to have options for vegetarians is so old fashioned. For God sake - get with the times.

I also get vexed by veggies who try to impose their choices on others but I'm not rude about it and I don't make "little throw up" noises. I find people are interested in why I'm a vegetarian so if they ask, I'll tell them but otherwise I keep it to myself.

Great Tapas restaurant in Liverpool with vegetarian options

Hi. Sorry I've not posted for a while. Life's been a bit hectic after Christmas at work and at home.

Had to let you know about a lovely restaurant I visited on Friday night - Tapas Tapas on Back Colquitt Street in Liverpool city centre.

We had six dishes including Pimientos Con Queso, which was peppers stuffed with vegetarian goats cheese. I also had Champinones Paprika, which was mushrooms sauteed in olive oil, garlic, paprika and cream. Really tasty.

As well as six dishes, we ordered a bottle of Cava for £14.95 and the whole bill only came to £40.40 - amazing. If you're in the area, I'd definitely say give it a try.