VEGAN ADVENT CALENDAR GUIDE 2019

Just a few years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you if you’d told me we’d be overwhelmed by the choice of vegan advent calendars; but here we are in 2019 here and I’ve gotta say it’s a pretty great dilemma to be in. To make your choice a little easier, I’ve rounded up a huge selection of vegan advent calendars to suit all budgets, from traditional chocolate, to sweets, to beauty. Have a little scroll through & see which advent calendar appeals to you.

Holland & Barrett (£2.49)

holland and barrett vegan advent calendar

The Holland & Barrett advent calendar is super affordable so is perfect if you’d like vegan treats on a budget this Christmas season. It’s available to purchase at Holland & Barrett online and in store.

 

Asda Free From (£2.50)

asda free from advent calendar

Asda also offers a very affordable vegan advent calendar in their free from range. It’s available to purchase at Asda online and in store.

 

Moo Free (£4.99)

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The Moo Free advent calendar can be purchased for around £4.99 from Waitrose, Sainsbury’s & Ocado and it is also available alongside the moo free selection box on Amazon* for £9.99.

 

Nomo (£9.99)

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This Nomo Advent Calendar is gluten and nut free as well as vegan. It is available exclusively at Holland & Barrett online and in store.

 

Candy Kittens (£10)

candy kittens vegan advent calendar

If you’re more into sweets than chocolate, then the Candy Kitten advent calendar is for you. It’s available to purchase at Amazon*, Waitrose, Boots online and in store.

 

Hotel Chocolat (£12.50)

hotel chocolat vegan advent calendar

This luxury calendar is the perfect seasonal splurge for all of the dark chocolate lovers out there. It is available to purchase at Amazon* and Hotel Chocolat .

Superdrug Studio (£20)

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If you’re more into Beauty Advent Calendars than chocolate or sweets, Superdrug has one of the most reasonably priced vegan advent calendars. The Superdrug Studio calendar is currently on sale and is available at Superdrug online and in store. For a more comprehensive list of vegan beauty advent calendars, check out Vegan Beauty Girl’s post.

I hope you found this list helpful and if there are any calendars I’ve missed that you think should be included, be sure to let me know so I can add them in :).

*Links with a asterisk are affiliate which means I earn a small commission for recommending this product which enables me to continue to produce free content

RIFUGIO ROMANO – VEGAN RESTAURANT IN ROME

The food highlight of our trip to Rome was definitely visiting Rifugio Romano – a cute little restaurant with an extensive vegan menu, as well as a non-vegan menu – making it the perfect place to visit with non-vegan family and friends. The restaurant is located close to Termini station and has a small seating area both outside and inside. Both times we visited it was super busy – a testament to how amazing the food is – so be prepared to wait a little while if you’re in a bigger group, it’ll definitely be worth it!

The menu is full of traditional Italian dishes that have been veganised and everything looked so delicious that Matt and I really struggled to decide what to order. So we decided to order a few extra dishes and share it all.

For starter, we ordered the falafel, arancino and crocchetta. All 3 were delicious, but the falafel with vegan mayonnaise were my favourite – the mayonnaise was definitely one of the best mayonnaises I’ve ever had!

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For main we ordered the carbonara – which is one of Matt’s favourite foods – and the lasagne. Being a pretty much life-long veggie, I’ve never tried carbonara before but I absolutely loved it, and I’m pretty sure Matt was an even bigger fan!

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We also both loved the lasagne, which was creamy, tomatoey and full of flavour.

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Although it is super easy to veganise italian main courses, aside from gelato, most of the vegan dessert options on non-vegan menus were sorbet or fruit. So, I was super excited to indulge in a decadent vegan dessert at Rifugio Romano and decided to go with the tiramisu.

Facetune_24-07-2018-18-33-15Matt went for this creamy caramel biscuit dish (the name of which escapes me) which he loved!

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If you find yourself in Rome, Rifiguio Romano is a must visit. We absolutely loved every dish we tried and there is so much choice that we could have eaten there every day and enjoyed something new!

BUDAPEST VEGAN GUIDE

Budapest is an awesome city to visit, as not only does it have an abundance of delicious, reasonably priced vegan food; it also has lots of unique things to do. I’ve compiled this city guide of all of the food, attraction & accommodation highlights of our trip to save you guys time when planning your visit. I hope you have an awesome time in Budapest!

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WHAT TO EAT ▹▸▹

GREAT BISTRO BUDAPEST

Great Bistro Budapest came with very high recommendations from my lovely instagram audience, so we were very excited to discover that it was located just a short walk away from our hotel. It’s a fully vegan restaurant with cute decor and delicious food which definitely lived up to and even exceeded our high expectations (evidenced by the fact that we visited three times during our trip)!

The chickpea omelette with tofu bacon was both of our favourite dish. In addition to the perfectly crisped tofu bacon, the flavourful omelette was brimming with salad, vegan cheese and a delicious creamy sauce.

Great Bistro Budapest

Accross our various visits, we also ate a tofu bacon sandwich, pancakes, tomato pasta and risotto, all of which were delicious. But what really stole the show for me was the traditional hungarian dessert (I ate it twice in one day!!) I’m not sure exactly what the ingredients are, but it tasted like chocolate and traditional custard and had the most delicious pieces of sponge cake in the bottom.

Great Bistro Budapest

HUMMUS BAR

Hummus Bar was another of our favourite eateries that we also happened to visit 3 times during our stay, twice to eat in and once to take away as it was so close to our hotel.

They serve delicious falafel, hummus and tahini in very generous portion sizes. Unfortunately the vegan options aren’t labelled on the menu, so I’ve contacted Hummus Bar on Facebook to ask for a full list of vegan options and will hopefully be able to share that with you all here soon. In the meantime, be sure to ask the staff which dishes are suitable for vegans on your visit.

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VEGA CITY

Vega City is a great 100% vegan, buffet style restaurant. They offer a huge selection of food and the warm meal menu changes week by week, keeping things fresh and exciting.

As the food is so reasonably priced and everything looked delicious, Matt and I ordered quite a few dishes between us to try. Matt’s favourite was the carrot kofta, whilst mine was the cashew cheese in breadcrumbs. We both also loved the battered seitan so much that we didn’t want to share, so had to order some extra!

Vega City Budapest

GOVINDAS

Govindas is a pure vegetarian restaurant serving authentic indian cuisine, with lots of vegan options. The staff were really helpful and pointed out which dishes were vegan-friendly. The creamy pasta dish was both of our favourite and we also loved the mini battered veggies.

Govindas Bu

WHAT TO DO ▹▸▹

SZECHENYI THERMAL BATHS

One of the coolest things about Budapest is that that it sits on thermal springs meaning there are lots of outdoor thermal baths you can visit. From all of the research we (and when I say we, I mean Matt) did before our trip, Szechenyi Baths seemed to be the most popular. There are 18 pools, both inside and outside, of varying temperatures from ice cold to hot. Our favourite was definitely the beautiful outdoor hot pool, with the water temperature at 28 degrees, whilst the air temperature was only 10 degrees!

Szechenyi Baths Budapest

Szechenyi Baths also has the biggest sauna I’ve ever been in, as well as massage facilities if you feel like treating yourself to the ultimate pamper day.

Top tip: bring flip flops, as when you get out of the baths your feet will feel super cold walking on the paving!

CLIMB TO THE TOP OF GELLÉRT HILL

We climbed to the top of Gellért Hill which gives an amazing view of the city. Depending on your fitness levels, it is a little bit of a tricky climb but it is definitely worth it for the panoramic city view you get at the top.

Gellert Hill

RUIN BARS

Ruin Bars are a super cool concept found in the old Jewish Quarter in Budapest. They are built in the ruins of abandoned buildings and are filled with weird and wonderful eclectic furniture and decorations. Szimpla Kert is the original ruin bar and has two levels with various drink stations and lots of different rooms and unique features to explore.

Szimpla Kert Ruin Bar

Szimpla Kert is located just around the corner from Karaván, a street food court which includes vegan burger van Las Vegan’s. Unfortunately Karaván was closed on our visit but it has very high reviews, so I’m sure grabbing a vegan burger would make the perfect end to an evening at Szimpla Kert.

WHERE TO STAY ▹▸▹

We stayed at Prestige Hotel Budapest which was absolutely stunning. The lobby sits in the place of the former courtyard with the beautiful balconies of the inside rooms surrounding it creating an extremely breathtaking aesthetic.

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It was also ideally located amongst lots of vegan and vegan-friendly eateries, with Govindas opposite and both Hummus Bar and Great Bistro Budapest just a short walk away.

The hotel has an underground spa which is the perfect setting to relax in after a busy day of exploring the city. Located next to the gym, the spa has a chill out area, a sauna and the coolest hot tub I’ve ever been in (we’re talking 4 different jet controls, changeable flashing lights and a mini water fountain)!

I hope you all found this guide helpful and if you have any questions / recommendations of your own, please feel free to leave them down below.

M&S Vegan Yoghurts

With delicious new vegan options becoming available at mainstream chain restaurants + supermarkets there has never been an easier or more exciting time to go vegan. Recently it’s been amazing to see vegan options popping up all over the place, be it new vegan restaurants opening like Mildred’s Kings Cross, or mainstream restaurants offering more and more vegan options like Zizzi’s new vegan menu, or chain supermarkets offering delicious, new vegan options like the new M&S dairy free yoghurts.

My mum and I tried these out last week and I can confirm that they definitely make delicious little snacks! My favourite was the Apricot flavour, as it kinda tastes like greek yoghurt with honey but yummier!

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Head to M&S to try them out for yourself and let me know which is your fave xo

Superfood salad recipe

I am all about super foods recently so following on from my favourite superfood pizza recipe, I decided to create a superfood salad recipe to share with you all. I’ve combined some of my favourite super foods (spinach, red peppers, avocado, garlic & kale) to create the ultimate delicious and nutritious salad.

superfood salad recipe

What’s so great about this recipe is that you can make as much or as little of it as you like, depending on whether you’re making it for lunch or dinner, so I haven’t included any measurements in the recipe. I hope you love it!

Ingredients

  • Mushrooms
  • Broccoli
  • Red pepper
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Garlic olive oil
  • Kale
  • Spinach
  • Avacado
  • Sea salt
  • Ground black pepper
  • Paprika
  • Lettuce
  • Beetroot
  • Mixed seeds

roasted veg

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
  • Chop the mushrooms, broccoli, red pepper, onion, and garlic into slices
  • Place chopped veg in a baking tray, season with salt and pepper, drizzle in garlic olive oil, and then roast in the oven for 20 minutes stirring at 5 minute intervals
  • Whilst the veg is roasting in the oven, prepare the salad:
    • Chop lettuce and beetroot into slices
    • Mash avacado and sprinkle with pepper and paprika
  • Remove roasted veg tray from the oven and mix in the spinach and kale
  • Roast in the oven for a further 2 minutes
  • Serve the roasted veg on the bed of salad and sprinkle mixed seeds on top
  • Enjoy!

Superfood Pizza Recipe

Last week, some of my healthy instagrammer uni friends who are trying out veganism invited me to a vegan pizza making party – sounds like my kinda thing! We had so much fun creating our own healthy pizzas and they tasted insanely good. We used wholewheat tortilla wraps as the pizza bases which is an ingenious idea as it puts such a healthy-twist on a traditionally unhealthy meal!

pizza party

Since the party, I have done nothing but dream about my next tortilla base pizza. Seriously. So yesterday, I went out and bought lots of tortilla bases and played around with ingredients to create the ultimate Superfood Pizza recipe which I am so excited to be able to share with you all. Not only is this pizza incredibly yummy, it is also jam-packed with a ton of superfoods making it the perfect healthy dinner. If that’s not enough for you, it only takes 5 minutes to cook! How great is that?! I hope you all love it as much as I do; I’d love to hear from you if you made it so definitely comment on this post or drop me an email!

superfood pizza

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 wholewheat seeded tortilla wrap
  • 2 table spoons garlic olive oil
  • 3 table spoons pasata
  • 1 table spoon sundried tomato paste
  • 1/4 red onion
  • 1/4 red pepper
  • 2 mushrooms
  • 1 handful spinach leaves
  • 1 handful kale
  • 1 table spoon mixed seeds
  • Handful Daiya/ Vegusto/ other vegan cheese alternative (optional)

superfood pizza

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Chop red onion and red pepper into thin slices and then place on a baking tray and drizzle 1 table spoon of garlic oil on top
  • Roast in a preheated oven at 250 degreed for 25 minutes
  • Place tortilla wrap on a baking tray covered in baking paper
  • Spread 1 table spoon of garlic oil evenly over base
  • Mix pasata and sundried tomato paste together and then cover evenly over base
  • Place roasted vegetables and mushrooms on top
  • Grate vegan cheese and sprinkle on top (optional)
  • Place in a preheated to 180 degrees oven for 4 minutes
  • Remove and add kale
  • Place back in the oven for 1 minute
  • Remove and add spinach and sprinkle mixed seeds over the top
  • ENJOY!!

Interview with Sarah Argo of Southernblondevegan.com

Today I am beyond EXCITED to share the first post in the JGV Interview Series where I get a chance to chat to some truly inspiring people and share a little about their beautiful stories with you all. I have never felt healthier and happier than since I adopted a vegan lifestyle almost 6 months ago.  I started my blog to show how easy it can be to live a cruelty-free lifestyle and thought it would be great to share the stories of people who are thriving on a vegan diet and inspiring others along the way. What better way to start than with the gorgeous Sarah Argo of southernblondevegan.com.

sarah argo

Sarah is a beautiful vegan mom who shares her healthy food creations with her 10,000 followers on instagram and recently on her new vegan food blog. Not only are her meal pictures mouth-watering, but her kind soul also shines through in her writing. It was great getting to know her a little better through this interview & I’m so happy to be able to share this with you all ▷►▹▸

sarah argo interview

Q: How did your vegan journey start? What were you main inspirations and influences?

A: My vegan journey started almost three years ago, following the birth of my daughter Maizy. My initial drive was to be the healthiest version of myself possible for her, and as the years went by and I began to do more research I learned just how important a vegan diet/lifestyle is for every living thing. Not just for our health, but for the injustice done to animals by our food industry and the devastating effects our over-consumption of meat is having on the planet we will one day pass on to our children. Although my daughter was a newborn at the time I decided to go vegan, she was my inspiration. She is my inspiration for a lot of things.

Q: It’s so great that you’re a vegan mom raising a beautiful vegan daughter, have you got any tips for someone planning on raising a vegan family?

A: The best advice I can give any parent wanting to raise a vegan family is to get your children involved. Take time to teach them about all the different incredible foods that grow from our earth, let them help make meals, and be patient with their little taste buds. There are certain foods my daughter wouldn’t touch a year ago that she loves now! I think our perception is warped a bit in thinking that healthy vegan foods are complicated and difficult to prepare. One of my daughters favorite foods are bananas – I don’t think it gets much faster, cheaper, or easier than that! Fruit is the ultimate fast food!

Q: You have recently extended your beautiful Instagram into an awesome blog, sharing lots of your yummy vegan recipes. Tell us about your Instagram journey and the inspiration behind your blog.

A: Instagram has been a really fun way to share more of our day-to-day meals, snacks, and tips for thriving in this lifestyle! I was hearing a lot of the same statements from people considering veganism – “I just don’t know what I’d eat.” or “I would get so bored with that food.”, and lots of “Do you just eat salads all day?”, so I wanted to share just how diverse and FUN eating a vegan diet is! I love the platform Instagram provides and how easy it is to use, but as it progressed I decided to start my blog to share more in depth reasoning behind my decision and detailed recipes with everyone.

Q: All of your recipes look so yummy. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life what would it be?

A: That’s such a hard question, haha! I love food so it would be very difficult for me to choose, but I think a big plate of roasted vegetables would be my number one meal. That may sound a bit boring to some, but it’s definitely the ultimate comfort food for me!

Q: Not only are you beautiful on the inside but also on the outside. What is your favourite cruelty-free beauty product?

A: That’s so nice, thank you! I have many favorites, but right now I’m really loving ELF‘s Mineral Lipstick. It’s extremely affordable, excellent quality, and cruelty-free! The colors are all super vibrant and beautiful!

Q: Since going vegan I have experienced so many amazing health benefits; what positive effects has adopting the vegan diet had on you?

A: The health benefits are truly never ending, and I just keep seeing more positive effects as the years go by! My skin and hair have never been healthier, my energy levels are higher than when I was a teenager, my weight doesn’t fluctuate much although I eat in abundance, my mental clarity is sharper than it’s ever been, I literally never get sick, and I’m a much happier person all around! I could honestly go on and on, it’s changed everything.

Q: Describe a day in the life of Sarah Argo.

A: I’m a stay at home mom, so my days are usually pretty simple! I get woken up by my sweet 3 year old girl, who always says the same thing – “hi mamma, lets play!”, so we get up and have breakfast and play, I walk/jog on the treadmill, we run our errands, make lunch, I catch up on emails and work on the blog, do some yoga, then my husband gets home and we all make dinner and spend time together until bedtime. Our house is extremely family oriented – we typically do things together! Spending the majority of your time investing in the people you love is food for the soul.

Q: Your positive mindset is something that really shines through on your blog/ Instagram; do you have a favourite inspirational quote to leave us with?

A; “Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.” – Mother Teresa. I think above all else – love, kindness, and compassion should be the goal. If we feed ourselves the best foods and treat our bodies well, it’s all empty without love for every other creature.

Thank you so much Sarah for sharing your story. Be sure to check out Sarah’s awesome blog at: southernblondevegan.com for lots of yummy meal inspiration ♥

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Skinny chips and salad

Now that I’m back at university, I’m enjoying having a lot more time to cook and experiment with recipes. One of my favourite dinners that has become a staple over the past couple of weeks is Skinny chips and salad as it is so quick and easy to cook, as well as being super yummy!skinny salad and chips

love the homemade chips from this meal as not only are they skinny in appearance but also in that they have way less fat that regular chips. As I’ve been eating this meal a lot recently, I decided to mix things up and add some carrot ‘chips’ into the mix… they were a little unusual but definitely a great addition to the meal.

I wanted to share this recipe with you all and hope you love it as much as I do!

Ingredients (serves 2)

4 potatoes

1 carrot

1 squeeze of lemon

Sea salt

Ground black pepper

Paprika

1 avocado

Choice of salad (my favourites are onions, mushrooms, lettuce & beetroot)

Olive oil cooking spray (I use Fry light)

Instructions

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  • Preheat the oven to 250 degrees
  • Peel the potatoes and carrot and then cut them into long thin slices
  • Cover a baking tray in grease proof paper and place the sliced potatoes and carrots on it ensuring they don’t overlap so that they are all able to cook properly
  • Cover with approximately 6 sprays of olive oil cooking spray, then sprinkle paprika, salt and pepper on top
  • Cook in the oven for 15 minutes
  • Remove from the oven and turn each chip over (this is the most tedious part of cooking this meal – sorry guys; the yumminess is so worth it though!)
  • Put back into the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes
  • Whilst the chips are cooking, mash 1 avocado & squeeze a little lemon on top along with some group black pepper and paprika
  • Remove the chips from the oven and serve with the mashed avocado and salad of your choice
  • ENJOY! (Or if you’re anything like me, take a couple of pictures first ;))

skinny chips and salad

If you do make this meal I’d love to hear from you/ see a picture so please do get in touch.

Have a lovely day,

Jade xo

My Vegan 21st Birthday Party

Just over a month ago I finally turned 21 and my mum threw me and awesome party! I’ve been meaning to write a post about this for ages; however, soon after my birthday my boyfriend also turned 21 and to celebrate both of our birthdays we went on an awesome 2 week trip around North America. We got to try so much amazing vegan food in each of these places, you can read more about this here, here & here! So now that I’m back I decided to back up a month or so and share more details about my birthday party.

One of the coolest things about it was that we found a caterer who was able to serve an entirely vegan menu. Most of the people there weren’t vegan or even vegetarian so it was really fun for me to be able to show them how varied and delicious vegan food can be. And it definitely worked as not only was the food a big hit with us veggies/ vegans but even some of my most carnivorous friends came up to me during the night to say they were shocked by how great it was! My favourites from the menu were: calzone with roast butternut squash, pine nuts, sultanas & thyme and falafel with a tomato and mint dip.

vegan party food

As a little momentum of the night, my mum made me this room decoration using an old candle holder and the fairy lights & table gems we used for party decorations. I love it as it’s a great reminder of the night and also… how cute does that look?!

Home decor

One more thingI loved about my 21st birthday was the incredible present I received from my lovely boyfriend: a donation in my name to Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. As you probably know, I love all animals and have a particularly soft spot for dogs, so for me helping dogs in need was the BEST. PRESENT. EVER.

battersea dogs and cats home

Overall this summer has been amazing; going vegan has been the best decision I’ve ever made and I’ve loved sharing the experience on the blog. Now the summer is coming to a close and I’m back at university, I’ll have lots more free time to spend on the blog. I have some super exciting plans for Jade Green Vegan including: a little makeover for the site, vamping up the recipe section & interviews with some awesome people . I hope you’ve all had a beautiful summer too and continue to follow along this journey with me ❤.

Cruelty-free in NYC

In the past month, Matt & I have both turned 21 and to celebrate we decided to go on a 2 week trip around North America! First stop was New York City, and to say I was excited to try out the vegan food scene in one of the vegan food capitals of the world would be an understatement!

The  trip got off to a great start with this yummy vegan plane food courtesy of Virgin Atlantic. I get way too excited about plane food, and this vegan curry and potato salad did not disappoint!

virgin vegan plane food

Moving on from my weird plane food fetish, let’s get down to all of the amazing food we ate in NYC. On our first morning we found an awesome bagel shop right around the corner from our hotel. They had a varierty of delicious tofu cream cheeses that were so good that we found ourselves there every morning of our entire trip!!bagel express NYC

Turns out tofu cream cheese bagels also make the perfect picnic snack in Central Park alongside a fresh fruit smoothie from a street vendor.

vegan tofu cream cheese bagels in Central Park

As well as eating a lot of bagels, we also visited some cool vegan/ vegan-friendly restaurants. Candle 79 – an entirely vegan restaurant – was my absolute favourite, so much so that we went their twice in our short visit. The servers were so friendly and helpful, the atmosphere was chilled and elegant, and the food was insanely good! We ordered way too many dishes both times we visited, but somehow managed to eat it all! Below are pictures of our favourite dishes…

Angel’s Nachos

nachos candle 79

Grilled Portobello Steak

Grilled portobello steak candle 79

Seitan Piccata

Seitan Piccata

Black bean-pumpkin seed burger (my favourite meal of the trip!)

candle 79 vegan burger

Another great restaurant that we visited with a varied vegan menu was Pala Pizza.

We both ordered the Funghi E Salsiccia Pizza and it was definitely a great choice (sorry for the poor quality photo – it was really dark in  there!!) The veggie sausage had such a great flavour, and Matt & I fell in love with daiya cheese. I really wish we could get it in the UK as it is the best cheese alternative I’ve tried.

Pala Pizza Funghi E Salsiccia

Despite being full, when we saw the table next to us eating this delicious chocolate cake we decided we could make a little more room for it. And boy am I glad we did, as it was one of the nicest vegan deserts I’ve ever had.

pala pizza vegan chocolate cake

On the last night we found an awesome juice place, Juice Generation, on the way to Times Square. Their mango juice made a perfectly refreshing snack on a warm NYC evening.

juice generation

They also had a great selection of vegan muffins; my personal fave was the pineapple + coco one. I wish we’d found this place sooner as I’m sure we would have been back to sample the rest of the gluten free, vegan bakery.

vegan muffins juice generation

We had an amazing 4 and a half days in NYC, and the vegan food scene definitely lived up to my expectations. Until next time NYC xo NYC vegan

P.S. A BIG thanks to Matt for all of the arty photos for this post ♥, the rest of the sub par phone photos are courtesy of me – sorry guys!