FOODS THAT YOU MAY NOT REALISE ARE VEGAN

Hi lovelies! I'm finally writing another vegan/ food post, it feels like forever since I've sat down to write one of these! With wedding planning pretty much set to take over the next 11 months of my life, it's taken a while to get back into the swing of things and frankly, I've struggled to think of much else!! But, I love writing posts like this so I thought it was about time I did! 

Since going vegan around 6 or 7 months ago, my family and friends have been slowly learning more and more about what vegans do and don't eat, however when you don't know too much about veganism, it is a bit of a minefield and I do find that I get asked 'can you eat...' a lot. So, I thought I'd list a few foods that I regularly get asked about, or just foods that I think many non vegans may not realise are actually vegan. This could be helpful if you're a new or aspiring vegan or if you have someone who eats a plant based diet in your family. 

Bread

I started with this one as funnily enough it's probably the one I get asked about the most. This is for one of two reasons, many people assume all bread has milk or eggs in, or people assume that if you're vegan, you're also gluten free (which I'm not!). Most bread that you can buy in the supermarket is generally totally vegan. Pre packaged sliced bread in particular, but also many bakeries bake bread with no animal ingredients. Sometimes supermarkets package their fresh bread, in which case, allergens (including dairy and eggs) are generally listed, but if not, you can just ask. There are exceptions so do scan the ingredients*.

*Top tip, eggs and dairy are nearly always listed in bold on ingredients lists, as in the UK, allergens must be made clear, so this makes reading packets super easy!

Cereals

You'd be surprised how many of your favourite cereals (including chocolate ones!) are actually vegan. Obviously you'll want to use a plant based milk, but otherwise you've got a huge selection! I do stick to healthier cereals generally, but if I fancy a treat (yes, kids cereals are my idea of a treat), I love Aldi's own brand chocolate hoops or Cinnamon Grahams!

Biscuits 

Many biscuits are vegan but you do have to be careful where you buy. For example, Aldi's Dark Chocolate Digestives are totally vegan, Tescos ones aren't. Aldo's own brand Jammie Dodgers are vegan, the regular brand aren't. In fact, lots of Aldi's biscuits are vegan, so it's definitely worth a look!

Iced Buns and Jam Doughnuts

This is super random and we're clearly not sticking to healthy foods (you don't need me to tell you that fruit and veg are vegan I'm sure!), but a recent discovery of mine is that some - not all - iced buns and jam doughnuts are vegan! The Co-Op do a pack of jam doughnuts that don't contain eggs or dairy. Some bakeries also do iced buns that are vegan but sometimes they are made with milk so it is important to check just in case!

Chocolate

Of course, not all chocolate is vegan, in fact most isn't. However, many dark chocolate bars are vegan, some supermarket own brand chocolate is vegan (I actually really like the 35p Sainsbury's basics kind!), Cadbury bournville is vegan, many Lindt dark chocolate bars are (most importantly, the dark chocolate bunny at Easter!), just check the ingredients for milk. If you like dark chocolate, it's good to know that you don't always have to go for the expensive free from ranges in super markets!

Sorbet

You may think the dessert menu when eating out is pretty off limits as a vegan, but spotting sorbet on the menu is a joyous moment as a plant eater. Sorbet can contain dairy, but it very rarely does, so do check if you're unsure. Side note, for those in the U.K., I massively recommend trying the Sorbet at Zizzis, they have three flavours, all of which are amazing.

'Meat' Flavoured Crisps

This one blows my mind a little too sometimes, but many meaty kinds of crisps like bacon frazzles, BBQ Pringles (not all pringles are vegan though!), skips, even bacon bits (not a crisp, but those little bacon flavoured crispy things that feature at many salad bars for some reason) are vegan. Always check with any kind of crisps, but you would be surprised how many options there are.

Pasta

When I initially went vegan, I assumed pasta at restaurants would be mostly off the menu.  However it surprised me how many restaurants actually don't use egg pasta, so that's fab! Near enough all dried pasta in the shops is vegan too, which was something a lot of my friends and family hadn't realised so that's your quick 'I finished work late and can't be bothered to cook' dinner sorted!

Instant Noodles

Not something I recommend but my fiancé buys these every now and then and I was surprised reading the ingredients of a couple that they were actually generally totally fine for vegans. Once again, there are exceptions and I'm sure many contain meat, eggs, or milk but again, another quick, if a little nutritionally lacking, meal idea.

So, that's all I can think of for now! If you liked this post though or found it at all useful, I'm definitely up for doing more posts like this!

Let me know what your favourite 'accidentally vegan' food is in the comments!