Vegan eating this Christmas

vegan-eating-this-christmas

When I logged onto Facebook the other morning, my memories from past years popped up. The one from last year said “You know it’s Christmas when you have a fridge full of cheese.” In years gone by, that’s what Christmas was – all the cheese, all the sweet stuff and several bottles of Baileys. This will be my first festive season vegan, and while 99% of the time I avoid processed foods, refined sugar, and too much booze, I’ll be making a few exceptions over Christmas. It wouldn’t be Christmas without a few sweet treats and a glass or three of something boozy now would it?!

There is a surprisingly good selection of vegan foods available at most supermarkets now, meaning it’s not impossible to enjoy most of your usual festive treats just because you’re egg and dairy free.

Christmas Dinner

Starting with the main event, it’s easy to make most of a traditional Christmas dinner vegan-friendly. I’m firmly a make it all from scratch kinda gal, doing as much of the prep on Christmas Eve as I can.  For mains, think tarts, roasts, pies and wellingtons {pinterest has some great ideas if you’re stuck} or even a ‘traditional’ nut roast. If you’re looking for something you can buy, Morrisons has a pack of two Wholefood Roasts with Thyme Gravy, Sainsbury’s  offer a Taste the Difference Three Nut and Mushroom Roast with Onion Gravy, M&S have Butternut and Beetroot Filo Parcels, the Co-op have a Butternut Squash & Quinoa Roast with Apple & Plum Glaze and Linda McCartney offer a Vegetarian Beef Roast with Red Wine and Shallot Glaze. Phew – I may have to have more than one Christmas Dinner!

For sides, think carrots and parsnips baked in maple syrup. Crispy potatoes roast in olive oil, salt and rosemary. Roasted Brussels Sprouts are delicious, Yorkshire Puddings can be made vegan and braised red cabbage is my favourite sidedish! Oh – and don’t forget the gravy! Most supermarkets have vegan-friendly gravy granules available.

Desserts

I’ve found vegan-friendly Christmas Puddings in Morrisons and Waitrose, and I hear Aldi have one too – or you could make one from scratch. Asides from a Christmas Cake slice in Costa, I’ve had no luck finding one – but it’s a fun tradition to make your own – this is my favourite recipe. If you’re looking for something a little less traditional, you could make an egg-free pavlova, pick up one of the frozen strudels from Asda that are both accidentally vegan, or pick up a box of frozen churros from Tesco’s.

Drinks

While Snowballs may {sadly} have to be waved goodbye, there are thankfully, a lot of vegan drink options available.  Tesco have a delicious sweet cherry brandy, M&S offer a Gold Crème Brûlée Liqueur, Besos De Oro is a great Baileys alternative {or you could of course, make your own} and Sainsbury’s have a pre-made Cosmopolitan Cocktail.  Most supermakrets have a good choice of wine available {you can find lists here for which ones}

Sweet Treats and Chocolate

Asda, Waitrose and the Co-op all have vegan mincepies {though I prefer to make my own!} Jus Roll cinnamon swirls and pan au chocolat’s are vegan {they’re our standard Christmas morning breakfast!}, Tesco’s have a great range of dairy free chocolate – they even have a dairy free selection box! Asda have dairy free chocolate orange buttons {which go perfectly in some cookies}, Aldi have some gorgeous Rose, Violet and Orange Creams in and Morrisons offer Lazy Days Tiffins {I picked up selection box of these last week!}

Cheese

Cheese is the one thing that people often cite as what they’d miss most about being vegan. I was a big cheese lover, but I can hand on heart say I don’t miss it.There are some good vegan cheese alternatives available now – Tesco’s Smoked Cheddar and Chilli and Jalapeno cheeses are both delicious, Sainsbury’s Cheddar-Style with Chives is tasty, Tyne Chease Cashew Truffle is a good ‘fancier’ option and Violife have launched a vegan cheese platter!

Vegan Hampers

If you have a  visitor coming to stay for Christmas, and you’re not sure what to buy in – why not get in a vegan hamper with all the essentials? There are some great options around – but my favourite is this Vegan Jute Bag – Filled with sweet and savoury treats and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc it’s a great starting point for festive nibbling!

So there really is no reason to go without any of your usual treats this festive season!

2 Comments

  1. Jess @ Living on leaves

    December 6, 2017 at 08:08

    Such a good time to be vegan! There are so many new products coming out every day! xx

  2. Ashley Woodward

    December 6, 2017 at 12:04

    It really is the best time to be a vegan, there are so many new products and so many great bloggers that are sharing their recipes and inspiration daily. And there is no reason not to go all out for Christmas. Thanks for sharing, really like your blog!

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