Articles written by Daily Bread workers and friends.
We are currently promoting our Gluten Free Doves Farm range of products here at Daily Bread. Now is the best time to stock up on gluten free flours and pasta for anyone looking to cut out gluten, or wanting to get a bit adventurous in the kitchen.
The Doves Farm Freee Gluten Free Plain White Flour is perfect for making our Coffee & Walnut Muffins. Simple to make, and absolutely delicious too!
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We are currently celebrating National Vegetarian Week here at Daily Bread! Come in store and grab one of our leaflets to see how including more veggie meals in your diet can have a great impact on the planet. It also includes a delicious recipe for a plant-based Budget Banana Bread!
You can also access the leaflet online 😊
Write comment (0 Comments)It’s Vegan Month and we thought we could offer some thoughts on tackling an ingredient that can cause a few issues when deciding to lead a vegan lifestyle: and that’s cheese. It seems to be the one thing that can hold some vegetarians back from taking that final step, but it can be easy to never look back at.
Many of us have grown up with melted cheese on various things, grated cheese, cheese sandwiches, cheese sticks, cheese sauce and a number of dessert options at restaurants so it can be a flavour and texture hard to remove from your diet. However, deciding you are making that final transition, should be a celebration, it’s a positive choice full of wonderful ingredients so maybe taking on board a few helpful tips maybe useful.
• You could either go completely “cold turkey” (sorry, “cold turfu” may be more appropriate) and decide to just remove it from your shopping list altogether. This requires a lot of will power and hard work if you really felt deeply for your cheese though. However, some of us can manage these changes much better when there is no temptation in the way, nothing in the fridge to catch you at a weak moment.
• You could use the reduce it gradually method to move on from cheese and start replacing cheese-based meals you had regularly been eating with new favourites. This is a great way to explore new ingredients and fall in love with new dishes as it is all too easy to reach for meals we have grown up on.
• How about learning a little about food and dishes from different countries and being totally distracted by them? If you were to visit Vietnam, Thailand or Cambodia for instance, and ate traditional meals there, you wouldn’t even see a piece of cheese and if you fall in love with their lemon grass, coconut, lime and ginger favours, cheese will in fact be the last thing you could imagine eating! There are a number of world cuisines that don’t use cheese, explore them!
• One other way to manage removing cheese from your diet and not feel like you are missing out, is to view vegan cheese in a different way. Some people feel a little disappointed when trying vegan cheeses, as they are expecting a pretty similar product to dairy ones (and may add “ooh, that tastes nothing like cheese” when trying it). However, you could view vegan cheese as something simply delicious in its own right? Some of them are wonderfully flavoured, with different herbs and spices. Some are made from nuts and provide a great source of minerals and proteins. Some are creamy, easy to spread, simple to cut and taste like a whole new product and maybe shouldn’t even be labelled as cheese?
Having said all this, we do sell a number of vegan cheeses which do have cheesy tastes. With new cooking methods and ingredients being developed all of the time, vegan cheeses are getting more a like dairy ones and some can behave like them too. Melting and grating is now possible and can be quite similar to what we have been used to.
Vegan Month is a great time to consider a short cheese break, just one month! You never know, you may just surprise yourself and never look back.
Some examples of products you can buy from Daily Bread below:-
Violife Creamy Original with its mild flavour & velvety texture is the perfect match for all your dairy-free sweet & savory recipes. Try it in a Passion Fruit New York Cheesecake or as a topping for baked potatoes, otherwise.....simply spoon it out of your container!
We’ve looked to our Greek heritage for inspiration with this flavour, toss in a crispy salad with olives and cherry tomatoes or melt into a Portobello mushroom for a delicious snack.
Gluten free and vegan
| 100 grams Ground almonds |
| 60 grams Oat flour |
| 1/2 tsp Xanthan gum |
| 1 tbsp Nutritional yeast |
| 1/2 cup Dairy free “cheddar” style cheese, grated |
| 1/2 tsp Garlic powder |
| 1/4 tsp Salt |
| 70 grams Dairy free butter, cubed |
| 2 tbsp Dairy free milk |
| 1 tbsp Poppy seeds |
| 1 tbsp Nutritional yeast |
Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 and grease or line a baking tray.
Place the ground almonds, oat flour, xanthan gum, nutritional yeast, grated “cheese”, garlic powder and salt into a bowl and stir to combine.
Tip the cubed dairy free butter into the dry ingredients and using your finger-tips, rub the butter into the flour to create a mix that resembles bread crumbs (tip – if a small child is doing this, try and make sure the dairy free butter is very cold, as it will be less sticky).
Depending on how soft your butter is, you may be able to just squeeze the mix together to form a dough, if not, stir in a little water to help.
Roll the dough out to about ½ cm thick and using a star shaped cookies cutter, cut out shapes and place on the baking tray.
Using a pastry brush, brush over a little of the dairy free milk and sprinkle over the poppy seeds and extra nutritional yeast.
Place in the oven and cook until just golden.
vegetarian
Per Serving
November is Vegan month so we have a blog post by Sophie on why she is a Vegan.
The reason why I'm vegan
With it being World Vegan Day November the 1st and World Vegan Month for the whole of November, I thought now is the appropriate time to celebrate how great I think veganism is in my first ever blog. So please forgive me if it’s not perfect!
I’ve been vegan for 4 and a half years now, and wow- what a life changing experience it’s been.
Veganism, for me has opened up a whole new world. It’s given me more compassion, more sanity (gosh I need that), more energy, more meaning and more life.
My whole family are vegetarians. I have been a vegetarian since the age of 1 (ish) so I've never experienced meat (queue the ‘but bacon’). Initially, I went vegan for my health. I experienced some eating disorder tendencies and lost a lot of weight in a very short space of time… One night I thought enough is enough, I need to sort myself out and so I came across Deliciously Ella. I’d been toying with the idea of veganism for a while so overnight I became a vegan (just to note, veganism doesn't always mean healthy!).
I started to get more fascinated with health and how food can have a massive effect on our body. I came across daily bread a few years ago and was so chuffed that a wholefood shop like this existed, with all my favourite things! I am also currently doing a degree in nutritional therapy as I would like to help other people to regain back their health.
Now I'm a vegan for everything, for the animals, for the planet and for my health. Vegans and vegetarians look set to make up a quarter of the British population in 2025 so it shows how much mainstream It has become. For me, food is a BIG part of my life and I’ve never felt deprived.
I am a snacker and am obsessed with our range of Pulsin bars, Montezuma 100 percent chocolate and Ombar mylk buttons.
I order in a range of brilliant vegan food from suppliers, including Flo’s kitchen, Naturally vegan cheese, Vork pie, The raw chocolate pie company, Pure and raw and Nat’s (No bad stuff) so please do pop along and have a look at some yummy treats that we sell!
Why not try vegan one day a week? We don’t just eat lettuce leaves or grass, promise. :)
Sophie
Write comment (1 Comment)Welcome National Baking Week! 14th - 20th October 2019
There really does seem to be a national day or national week for most foods and diets nowadays. This a great way to support food producers, special diets and show compassion and interest towards various dietary choices and lifestyles, but there are some of course, that may be seem a little ridiculous: World Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day, Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day and World Drive-Thru Day, to name a few! However, finding some of your favourites to add to your own family calendar can create quite a lot fun at home.
A new kid on the National Week block, is National Baking Week and this is one that October should embrace. Running during the week 14-20th October, this is a great opportunity to put a little time into cooking something from scratch. Baking has become a national favourite over the past 10 years and it’s a pastime or hobby that just keeps getting stronger.
Baking is social. Firstly, the actual “making” brings a kitchen to life. The smells of various bakes wafting through the house is heart-warming, comforting and creates a heart in a home. Baking is something to be done together and talked over and it brings a “togetherness” to a family or friendship.
Baking of course brings bakes! And this is just as social as the making! Whether you are providing a cake for tea, bread for breakfast or a cookie for a treat, they all bring smiles and a sense of happiness. There is something to be said for knocking on a friend’s or neighbour’s door with a homemade cake, just because they had been having a tough time. This is an act that requires little effort but brings delight and pleasure to many of us.
Growing up with baking is also wonderfully useful and important for the future. Not only do you make memories with children, stirring and laughing over the mess being made, you are also providing the building blocks of cooking. When it so easy to take something from a packet or box, already made, we should all maybe make the effort to endorse the magic of creating something ourselves from raw ingredients. There is something quite fascinating of how measures of flour, sugar, butter and eggs can create something so amazingly tasty!
Ok, maybe you’re not one for cakes and biscuits, but baking doesn’t have to be about the sweet stuff. The raw ingredients that are available to us now can create other bakes. Savoury crackers and breads can be just as much fun and can provide functional food to add to homemade soup, stews and salads. Flapjacks, pie toppings and flat breads can all be savoury, using flavours and spices from different parts of the world and can be easily made.
However, as we all embrace National Baking Week and start buying large quantities of sugar and butter, it is important to add the words “all things in moderation”. Many of us have healthy eating and better food choices at the front of our minds, but baking doesn’t have to be bad for you. There are a wealth of alternative natural sweeteners, dried fruits, seeds, nuts, flours and fats to choose from and when using healthier recipes, you can actually produce bakes that don’t just taste good but are functional too. They can provide energy and essential nutrients to your diet, which can help build a healthier you.
So yes, enjoy National Baking Week! Treats can be enjoyed in moderation, but enjoy the time looking through healthier recipes and learn a little about cooking from scratch. There are so many ingredients available to try, so have a browse and most importantly, have fun, as making memories with loved ones is worth every effort.
Here are two recipes designed for little hands to make at home. They are low sugar and full of energy and can help towards reducing a sweet tooth in the future.
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National Allotment Week is upon us and during the week of the 12th-18th August, we should all take a moment to think about this fantastic initiative!
Since the WW2 Grow For Victory campaign, allotments really have become part of many communities, offering many health benefits and providing cost savings for families and this has progressed over the years.
With many of us growing up with warm memories of time spent tending a plot, the National Allotment Week initiative aims to continue to promote, support and provide opportunities for each generation over the years. This year sees the 12th official week and with Open Allotment Days and events going on, it’s worth having a look to see what’s on around you.
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We’re reaching the end of the season for foraging the mild leaves and flowers from the Wild Garlic but before wondering where to find this pungent taste from next, maybe you planted some autumn garlic last year? These juicy bulbs will be ready to harvest shortly and provide a wealth of health benefits and taste to any diet.
But what makes garlic so popular?
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Nowadays it is so easy to follow a Vegetarian or Vegan diet that it makes you wonder how on earth anyone managed 15-20 years ago! There are “free-from” shelves, separate menus, clear labelling and a whole host of recipes, advice and tips on how to make this change as easy and nutritious as possible.
With another National Vegetarian Week (13-29th May) here, we should be celebrating how popular abstinence from meat and animal products has become. According to the figures from The Department of Food and Health Standard Agency and their National Diet and Nutrition Survey, between the years of 2010-2012 the amount of both adults and children who began to follow Vegetarian diets, almost tripled!
However, even though there is a huge amount of help available to Vegetarians and Vegans, there are still some areas that you need to watch out for, where animal products quietly lurk.
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With Fairtrade Fortnight just around the corner, we think it’s a good opportunity to take a moment to celebrate this wonderful initiative and the help it brings to so many lives.
What is Fairtrade?
It’s an ethical approach to enable many workforces in the world to live and work in fair conditions, to work for fair pay, to gain support to continue to produce quality products and to sustain and develop their community and environment around them.
Is it more Expensive?
Not really. Many supermarkets are coming up with their own brand of Fairtrade products now, so the higher priced brands don’t have the monopoly of the market any more. In particular, coffees and teas can be found in many shops with own brand labels, high street coffee shops and fast food establishments are also now proudly flying the Fairtrade emblem from their premises.
Does the money REALLY go direct to the Farmers and Communities?
Absolutely. By the time the product gets to the retailer, the better deal has already been made to the producer and community, the retailer is the one that decides the end selling price according to their own running costs.
Does Fairtrade take away in the incentive for producers to improve quality?
Apparently not. When looking at the list of food and taste awards achieved, there is a high percentage of Fairtrade products out there. It could be argued that communities living good lives based on their farming would produce pride in their work and a desire to maintain quality.
Fairtrade support is so easy to give. Just swop your usual choices for ones with the Fairtrade logos. These can be found on nuts, butters, dried fruits, coffees, teas, chocolate, sugar, rice and grains, gold, cotton, flowers, wine, beauty products, of course, bananas and the list is growing!
So, keep your eyes peeled, look out of the logo and help support communities to develop and work. We all deserve to be treated fairly.
Blackstrap Ginger cookies recipe.
Products we sell that are Fair Trade
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Last Veganuary (2018) saw another, even larger crowd of people join the animal free month, and many had their eyes well and truly opened to the growing number of foods, producers and “eating out” options becoming available to Vegans. It’s never been easier to make this change to animal free living and it’s a change that will make a huge impact on both our overall health and environment.
So, this January, have you stopped to wonder the “what if”?
What If I Stopped Consuming All Dairy?
According to The Grocer publication, dairy milk sales fell by £240 million between 2014-2016 in the UK and this sets to continue to decline with 1 in 3 shoppers regularly buying plant-based milks.
Have you tried the gloriously rich and tasty almond, soy, coconut and oat milks out there?
Have you been curious to try vegan cheese alternatives and look at the new dairy free ice creams emerging!
How will your body feel?
What If I Stopped Consuming Meat Products?
The call for vegan and vegetarian food has increased the variety of meat free meals available both in the shops and in eating establishments.
According to the BBC, it is reported that ¼ of midweek meals are already either vegan or vegetarian, so a number of the meat eaters out there are already trying different options in their diets.
Your cupboards and fridge would see an increase in tinned pulses, lentils, fresh fruit and vegetables, all of which are full of fantastic nutrition, protein, anti-oxidants, fibre and they’re very filling.
How will your body feel?
What If I Stopped Buying Non-Vegan Beauty Products?
According to Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD), vegan beauty company launches have more than doubled in the past five years, growing by 175% from July 2013 to June 2018.
As much thought needs to go in to our outside as our inside when we are thinking about Veganuary. Find some beauty products on offer, new product launches, embrace natural concepts and try something new.
How will your skin feel?
What If I Gave My Environment Some Love?
According to the Guardian, an Oxford University study in June 2018 – researching the damage farming does to the planet, found that avoiding meat and dairy is the single, biggest way to reduce your impact on Earth. It is worth noting that animal farming provides just 18% of calories but takes up 83% of our farmland!
How will your planet feel?
But, how about a more basic consideration, not requiring statistics, reports or figures. Vegan food can be delicious. The textures, flavours and colours found in plant-based foods are a joy to the eye and superb nourishment your body will thank you for.
After a heavy Christmas of late nights and eating and drinking excessive quantities of “excess”, maybe Veganuary is a good time to sit back and give your body, mind and planet some consideration. To date, over 250,000 people have already signed up to the 31 day pledge in Veganuary and by the end of it, the charity are expecting a further 300,000 to have joined in.
So, think “what if” and visit www.veganuary.com for all the information and inspiration you need.
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Closed from 5pm on Saturday 23th December for Christmas.
Open Thursday 28th
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Open Saturday 30th
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Open Tuesday 2nd January onwards as normal.
