At Bread and Butterflies Linsey and I pride ourselves on a menu that suits everyone. Being vegetarian for over 15 years means that we have a lot of experience eating out and being limited to just one or two choices. When we were planning the menu for our tearoom we knew we wanted there to be as many vegetarian options as there were meat options. There's nothing like personal experience to make you realise when there is a need for a more balanced choice of sandwich fillings.
Last year on National Vegan Day we put out a special for vegans and it proved very popular in Lady Bay, even with non vegans. We made the vegan sausages a permanent fixture on the menu. But, along with our falafel sandwich the vegan choices have struck us as being rather limited at just two.
I became vegan last November and have really begun to experiment much more with ingredients and cooking. I have also learnt that many foods are vegan that you might not necessarily have thought of as being vegan. I am finding it surprisingly easy to cut out animal products. It has helped me to lose the weight that I had gained since opening the tearoom (so. much. cake.) and I feel so much healthier due to a more diverse diet.
Breakfast
For breakfast I tend to stick with the cereal I usually ate. Although coco pops are no longer an option I still get to enjoy Alpen, which I eat with either soya milk or hemp milk. I also still get to enjoy beans on crumpets with a dairy free spread rather than butter. I have also experimented with scrambled tofu as an egg replacement with spinach, mushrooms and potatoes and I have to say it was delicious!
Lunch and dinner
I have really got into my beans and pulses and adzuki bean stew with kale is a firm favourite. I have recently got a few recipes for marinating tofu that I'm eager to try and top of the list for this week will be either vegan saag tofu or baked tofu with mushrooms in a tomato sauce. There are many vegan substitutes on the market to try; burgers, sausages and pies which are all really good and easy and quick to prepare. Morrisons do a great range and their own jam filled donuts are actually vegan; a real treat! Cheese is difficult and I've tried a number of substitutes, some good, some not so good. Sainsbury's do a really good cream cheese and Asda (larger stores - West Bridgford being one of them!) stock their own brand cheddar which is really good melted.
snacks
| As well as the aforementioned donuts (from Morrisons; they're delicious!) Pringles paprika flavour are vegan as are Skips. Certain brands of Bourbon biscuits and Fig Rolls are also vegan. I am also a big fan of the Goupie brand of chocolates, there are some stockists, but you can also buy on line goupie.co.uk/ Hotel Chocolat have a great range of delicious, vegan products www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/shop/collections/dietary/vegan-chocolate/ |   |
Obviously I also disagree with animal testing and before you buy your next bottle of shampoo or mascara think about how easy it would be to check if your favourite brand tests on animals. If they do you can download a list of animal friendly cosmetics on line. You might be surprised to read that Tesco's own brand do not test on animals nor do Superdrug who do a great make up range as well as all the shower gel and conditioner you'll need (their coconut water conditioner is really good!)
At Bread and Butterflies we stock a lot of vegan friendly gifts that you can buy guilt free as they have not been tested on animals. All of the products from The Nottingham Candle co are made with soy wax and smell amazing. None of Cherry's products have been tested on animals and are completely vegan. The Nottingham Soapbox are animal friendly too (although their Bee the Best soap contains honey and bees wax)
| Each week you can order from Bake off and Pie who have a fantastic range of vegan products. All of Baz's bread is vegan and he also bakes fantastic vegan pain au chocolat, croissant, meatball pies and jack fruit pasties. So, why not pick up an order form from Bread and Butterflies and give them a go. |   |
For any of you thinking of giving veganism a go I hope I have helped you see that it isn't as difficult as you might think, that there are plenty of delicious food choices still open to you and due to my own experience watch this space for hopefully more vegan options to be added to the menu at Bread and Butterflies.
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