Vegeleanor- tour de supermarket

Hello and welcome back to my blog. Going out to eat is so last week- this week Vegeleanor is going to be staying home, saving lives, and cooking for herself (even if her 26 year old oven is holding her back from reaching her Bree Van de Kamp potential)! Throughout this blog post I am going to be discussing and rating the different free from, vegan friendly products that my local supermarkets have to offer- how exciting! 

Morrisons 

For those of you who don't already know, I am the CEO of Morrisons. You don't need to google it, just trust me. Such a title means that I receive a 15% discount in store, so this is where my experiment began. 

Let's start with the hits. Firstly- the milk alternatives! I remember a couple of years ago you could only buy almond or coconut milk, but nowadays there is so much to chose from. I don't know what hemp milk is and I am not the biggest fan of cashew, so I opted for Morrisons' own brand oat milk. I must admit, it is a bit too sweet for my liking so next time I probably will chose something different. However, the milk alternatives get a 10/10 purely because of how many variations there are. Something for everyone and we love to see that. 

Next up is cheese! I am not the biggest fan of cheese, and I will only eat it if it's on pizza or maybe a quesadilla, just like Nick Jonas. However, like with the milk alternatives, there is so much variety! Morrisons stock free from red leister, mature cheddar, mozzarella, soft cheese, and more. Absolutely, amazing, it has to be another ten! 

Snacks! I have always decided against following a vegan diet purely because I didn't know what I would snack on. What if I want chocolate? What if I want ice cream? Morrisons have all of those bases covered. During my trip I found little free from chocolate puddings, plenty of chocolate alternatives, yoghurts, cakes, and other things that are perfect for satisfying a craving. I also bought some of Morrisons' own brand free from vanilla ice cream for only 80p! Really nice and such a bargain as well. Overall very pleased with the selection of snacks. 

Other honourable mentions include the vegan square sausage, Quorn ham, and the new Birds Eye free from chicken strips and nuggets. 

While I love Morrisons and what they have to offer, I do have to say that their labels could be a bit clearer and their gluten free and plant based items could be kept separate from each other. For those who don't have the time to study the packaging this could be a bit confusing. However, this could be my fault as this was my first time shopping for vegan items. Another issue for me was the extortionate prices charged for some items. I went to look at the Alpro chocolate ice cream and its retail price was £5! Five whole British pounds for 500ml of ice cream that I will inhale within ten minutes is just lunacy. I know that it is generally more expensive to produce and procure free from products due to the mass production of meat, but I think that these high prices render veganism inaccessible to many. 

Aldi 

I have always loved Aldi as it is cheap and obviously you can find everything you didn't know you needed in their middle aisle. Through seeing posts on Instagram, I've noticed that Aldi are starting to offer more and more vegan products and I had to see it for myself. 

Again, I'll start with the hits. When I visited, Aldi had just released their vegan pain au chocolats and petit pains and OMG they are incredible! The petit pains are so nice with a wee bit of jam, and the pain au chocolats are taken to the next level when heated up in the microwave for 30 seconds. Thank me later. 

We know I love a snack, so I picked up some vegan cookies and millionaire shortbread (!!!). I would recommend both and it goes to show that being vegan does not mean that you have to deprive yourself of nice things. 

Previously, Aldi's middle aisle would live in my head rent free, but now its their frozen aisle. I managed to pick up some of their free from sausage rolls, chicken burgers, steak bakes, and ice cream. They also stocked a BBQ jackfruit pizza, other burgers, and fish-less fingers but I felt they were a bit too exotic for me. I couldn't believe the range. Not that my opinion matters to them, but well done Aldi it's a 10/10 from me! 

Although I was obsessed with what Aldi did have to offer, I still felt that they could be doing more. There were hardly any chilled products and the milk alternatives were very limited in comparison to Morrisons. However, I understand that they are trying their best and I appreciate that. 

Lidl 

Normally I love Lidl and I would go all the time. I find that for vegetarians there are plenty of products to chose from and their bakery is phenomenal. 

However, I hate to report that there is really nothing to report. I managed to pick up a lot of nice fruits and veggies that were all so reasonably priced. I also love their middle aisle and saw some of those Lidl trainers that have been doing the rounds on Facebook. But that was honestly about it. I really hate to be negative about a shop that I have always liked but as a vegan I found it to be very limiting. I don't know if, like Aldi, Lidl are planning on introducing some new plant based products, and I would love to see that, but I was left feeling disappointed. And I'd walked 19 minutes to get there in torrential rain. 

I hope you liked this wee post. I apologise for only reviewing three supermarkets, but I live in the city centre without a car so this is all you're getting. Thank you for reading and stay tuned because next week I will be reviewing my favourite vegan sausage rolls!! 

Lots of love, 

Key worker, Vegeleanor xo