Tea and Sympatico

I'm really enjoying doing these mid week munchies posts and checking out what other bloggers taking part around the world are eating and buying too. Check out this link to find out more. Last week my purchases were all from my local super cheap discount store, Heron Foods. This week I've gone to the other end of the scale for my town of Glossop and am going to feature three purchases from our Marks and Spencers Food store. I'm also going to count this as my Halloween link up post. Check out this link to see Halloween related posts from other bloggers. I initially went in because I wanted to buy something Halloween related. We had been planning a Halloween get together this year but then Matt got a gig. So, instead we're doing something the week after with Bonfire night themed food. I couldn't resist this big bag of Vampire's Fangs though which are a salt and vinegar flavour maize based crisp. At £2 they are pricey but they are also part of a big 3

A couple of weeks ago we had one of the best holidays I have ever had. I'm torn between recommending this place to everybody and keeping it to myself it was that good! We spent a week in Harlech in North Wales. I had never been to Harlech but Matt had spent many childhood holidays in the area and was keen to go back. When I saw the amazing beaches I could see why! We were there in October and the sun didn't stop shinning, we didn't have a drop of rain all week. When we decided on the area I set out searching the internet for somewhere to stay. We were on a strict budget of £300 tops for accommodation and we thought we'd be unable to find an apartment at that price and would be looking more at caravans although October is low season and cheaper than other times in the year. I'd not been searching long when I came across some new apartments in the grounds of Harlech castle. They were so new that there weren't any photos of them online but they fitted our budg

Jennifer at My Blissful Journey blog has set up an off season Vegan Mofo bloggers community and one of the regular blogging challenges is called Mid Week Munchies. We did our weekly shop at the weekend and it didn't really contain anything out of the ordinary but yesterday I popped into Heron Foods which is a local discount store. They mainly sell frozen and tinned stuff. It's really cheap and occasionally some interesting vegan friendly items pop up! I made a couple of purchases that I reckon are suitable for a mid-week munchies post. I picked up some of these Lemon, Lime and Ginger Firefly drinks which were 3 bottles for £1. They are usually around £1.55 each! I have a sinus condition and had been reading the other day about how citrus fruits could help so I thought I'd give these a try. There's no added sugar and they also contain ginger, nettle, dandelion and rosemary. They have a nice refreshing taste, are not overly sweet and you do feel as though you are

Back during Vegan Mofo last month we had a massive bake sale where I work. Vegans were pretty well represented as there are a few of us and my sister also made some vegan stuff. It was part of a series of annual  Macmillan  fundraising coffee mornings that were happening up and down the county. For any non UK readers, Macmillan is a charity who provide nurses to give help and support to people living with cancer and their families. Unlike a lot of the other cancer charities they aren't involved with research and animal testing and I've recently signed up to make a monthly donation and take part in their regular lottery. As part of the coffee morning we also had a baking challenge based on the Great British Bake-Off tv show to bake the best brownies. I only decided to enter on the last minute and to my surprise following a blind tasting my brownies were picked the winner! Here I am receiving my prize from Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood aka my work colleagues and judges Julian an

I had a fantastic time taking part in Vegan Mofo 15 and came across lots of great blogs. One of those blogs was Jennifer's blog My Blissful Journey . Jennifer had the idea to keep things going throughout the year between Mofo's by a series of blog prompts that people could sign up to. If you'd like to sign up to the Vegan Mofo Off Season Community then sign up here! Our first prompt is called Pick 3. For my Pick 3 I've gone for sharing 3 vegan products which I am in love with at the moment. Inspiral who are famous for their raw treats have just made some new additions to their range. They have come out with a lighter version of kale crisps and these coconut pecks. The pecks come in raspberry flavour too which are good but my hands down favourite are the Smokin' Pecks. Made from dehyrated coconut and flavoured with nooch, smoked paprika and lime these are quite simply a taste sensation. at around 80p - £1 these are a good price point too for a raw snack. I

Wow, what a week!!! I've had no time to mourn the end of Vegan Mofo . As soon as we finished work on Thursday it was straight into action with We Shall Overcome weekend. Matt played at 7 different events over 4 days and it was an amazing experience seeing the whole idea come together with events all around the country happening at the same time and for the same reasons. My friends who happen to be vegans too put on fantastic events. Here's Lynnmarie who runs Manchester Vegan Society and her partner Martin the Mod who runs Mod's Veggie Vegan Cafe . They put on a brilliant day in Manchester City Centre at the Thirsty Scholar Pub with bands, poets and speakers and off course Lynnmarie's wonderful vegan cakes for sale. This was a picture just outside the Thirsty Scholar and too good an opportunity to miss. The woman with pink hair is our friend Morag Rose who runs psychogeographic group, the Loiterers Resistance Movement . Morag curated and led a fascinating walk