Happy Veganuary - with the superheroes of sustainable snacking!

yemiking
Jan 9, 2019
3 min read

Who else has hit January hard with the go-to new years' resolutions!? Some last a few days, some a few weeks, well celebrating Veganuary is to introduce virgin vegans with a helping hand into this way of eating.

Our household is not a vegan household, but we do like to try new things. The children had a taste of these vegan snacks below.

Shore Sweet & Smoky Seaweed Puffs / Shore Thai Chilli Seaweed Puffs from The Scottish Seaweed Co. Their snack is made with what they consider the best quality and tasting plants handpicked in the season.

My 10-year-old girl was the first to try out the seaweed puffs. She is a super fan of seaweed anyway, so she was very eager to see what these would be like. She compared the look to what she knows as Monster Munch. She found the smell of the Sweet and Smoky quite delicious. The flavour like a mild BBQ. She tried one or two and found herself digging back into the bag for more. I say that it is an addictive characteristic of the snack. With no knowledge of what Vegan food is like, the next line out of her mouth was "it doesn't taste vegan!" She wasn't too keen on the Thai Chilli Flavour. She found it a bit too fishy! Though she loves seaweed.

The 12-year-old felt the same about the Thai Chilli flavour, but added that he preferred the texture of the puff to most puffy snacks he has tried before. I can agree to this, it has a more substantial texture that is quite filling and doesn't feel like a puff of air. He also mentioned though the flavours were sweet and salty and the puffs didn't leave that salty tangy burn on the sides of your mouth feeling, other snacks leave. All in all, they both said they wouldn't mind having these in their lunch packs for school. I really like these too!

The Real Coconut Himalayan Pink Salt Coconut Flour Tortilla Chips. These are made from organic coconut flour and come from Mexico.

The verdict was split in the house. I am not really sure if I could replace this for Veganuary, but I gave it a good try even with non-vegan dips. But I think it's just personal preference. I never really enjoyed coconut water etc. I can cook with a teeny bit of coconut oil but I love the smell of coconut on my body, just not sure the other 2 senses can convert.

The kids: Miss 10 year old found the flavour ok. But again with the senses confusion, she found the flavour too sweet for her taste buds and she LOVES tortilla chips. The texture was too hard for her teeth. However Master 12 year old loved these tortilla alternatives. From the flavour, texture and smells, these chips were a winner for him.

Finally, we have Ombar Ecuadorian Chocolate made with raw cacao, cocoa butter, coconut sugar and the live culture: Lactobacillus acidophilus (2 billion CFU). It is certified organic. Fairtrade certified according to the Fair for Life standard (63%). Cocoa solids 72% minimum.

Now I had the honour of trying this one on my own. I do love dark chocolate although I only treat myself now and then. My boyfriend loves chocolate but sticks to milk chocolate mainly. I gave him a little try, he smiled! I enjoyed the chocolate bar. No real flavour difference as I am pretty sure most of my vegan friends say that if they eat chocolate its normally dark anyway.

So, as it is now coming up to ⅓ into the month, you can give these tasty snacks a try yourself.