NUTRITIONAL YEAST
If you never tried nutritional yeast before, then run to the shops! I think basically all vegans (and probably a lot of non vegans too) will agree with me, that nutritional yeast is heaven. Especially when you like a cheesy flavour, this is what you want. You can use this on your pasta (my personal favourite), in Risotto (very good too!), in salads, soups and sauces. You can use this basically in anything you want to create a cheesy flavour. It’s used a lot for cheese sauces (think mac&cheese!). You can endlessly experiment with this. And the best past is, it’s actually 
good for you. It’s full of B vitamins, folic acid and zinc. It contains no artificial preservatives, colouring, flavouring or genetically-modified material and it has added vitamin B12. There is also one without B12, so pay attention to the one you get. I always get the one with added B12, because it’s always good to have some extra B12.
CHOCOLATE
I just love this packaging. I secretly wanted it because of this, haha! Just look at it. I love the colours (my favourite pink!) and everything. Simple, but perfect. Looking at the ingredients of this chocolate made me really excited to try this too. It only has 5 ingredients and that is what you want. Products with not too many (all natural) ingredients. It contains (virgin)Cacao butter, (evaporated)Coconut nectar, (raw)Cashew nuts, Coconut and (pink lake)Salt. All good ingredients, so no guilt. It doesn’t actually have cacao in it, only the butter. So not sure if it’s technically chocolate, but it sure looks like it. It’s 
heart shaped and it says ‘luv’, what I love. It looks so attractive. It melts quite fast, so you can’t hold it in your hand too long, unless you have very cold hands, hehe.. the taste is very nice though. It melts very nicely in your mouth and it’s very soft and creamy. It’s sweet, but not too sweet and you can taste it’s made with good ingredients. It’s very filling, so just half of it is kind of enough. What makes it great to share! They sell it at Portobello Wholefoods, but I’m sure you can get it in other health shops too.
Did you already know these products or are you going to try them after reading this? Please let me know or show me on Instagram by using #PlanetManel. Would you like me to test and review your product(s) or do you have any suggestions? Please send me a message via CONTACT! It can be anything (food, drinks, beauty..) as long as it’s vegan. Thank you! X
When my friend and I walked back to the station after reviewing the Temple of Hackney we walked passed Hackney Fresh. We went inside, because it said vegan and organic. Then you just simply have to go in! It’s not a crazy big store (but also not small!), but they do have a lot of stuff. I got so excited looking at all the stuff. One of the first things I saw were vegan croissants! Real proper looking vegan croissants! Plain, almond and also some pain au chocolat. This is something what is still very hard to get your hands on. This is actually the first place I’ve been that sells croissants like this. I had to get them.. obviously! Even though I was so full from the dinner still. It’s nice to know that they’re made very locally, the baker lives above the shop. Can you go any more local? There are fresh croissants every morning (from 8:30).
Hackney Fresh is an independent family business, established in 2014. So it’s still quite new. They want to transform the way people think about fine provisions and sustainable food. They sell so many things. Several cheeses, meat substitutes, cereals, snacks (healthy and not so healthy..), croissants (!), buckets of peanut and cashew butter, a variety of plant-based milks, fresh organic fruits and vegetables, supplements, beauty products and even some very nice animal postcards. I got one with a sloth mum and baby. Because when I see a sloths I want it. At first you would say the whole store is vegan, but they actually do sell some animal products too. It’s a very very small section though. I think this is very unfortunate though, because I think as an all vegan store they would be even more attractive and very new as they’re a lot bigger as the 
Hackney Fresh is not only a shop to get all your vegan groceries, but they also serve coffee, tea and fresh juice. So a perfect place to get a take away breakfast for example. It’s such a shame it’s not a little closer to me, because I’m sure I’d go here all the time. They actually remind me a lot of 
BODY BUTTER CREAM
It’s such a lovely cream. I use it on my face before I go to bed, but it also really helped me with my dry hands. When it’s a little cold (we don’t really have that problem at the moment, do we..) in combination of washing my hands a thousand times a day, my hand get dry. I only have to use the cream once and my hand are soft for very long. Something what I find important with a cream is that it’s quickly absorbent. Nothing annoys me more than being sticky of cream the whole time. With the iUVO Body Butter Cream it’s not like that. Though you do have to make sure you’re not using too much. You really only need a little bit of the lovely organic ingredients to nourish your skin. I’m loving it!
There are quite some Farmers’ Markets in London. What is great, because it gives you the opportunity to buy directly from the farmer. All fruit and veggies come straight from the field into your fridge, how great is that?! A lot of Farmers’ Markets are also selling organic fruits and vegetables. You can check on the 
Unfortunately the Farmers’ Markets are not vegan. Not even vegetarian. They also sell meat, fish and other animal products. I personally really dislike that, especially if the smell is very strong. Luckily there are also some surprisingly nice vegan things to get. In my Queens Park Farmers’ Market there is a stand called 
Since I can remember I like to go to supermarkets. If my mum went groceries shopping, I always liked to go with her. I still like to be in the supermarket, maybe even more since I’m vegan. I can easily be in a big supermarket for 2 hours. Yes. Just to look at all the products, read ingredients and make recipes in my head. It really inspires me, sometimes I don’t even buy anything. Here in the UK you have really big supermarkets and gosh I love them,, BUT.. there is nothing like the WholeFoodsMarket! This is definitely my favourite supermarket at all times.
The WholeFoodsMarket is an American supermarket chain which opened it first store, with a staff of 19 people, in 1980 in Austin, Texas. Since then they have grown a lot. Today there are at least 431 stores within the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In 2007 the first WholeFoodsMarket opened in the UK(Thank God!), on High Street Kensington, West London. That also happens to be my favourite one. I almost feel magical walking inside. I get so excited walking around and finding new and healthy products. I enjoy the colourful vegetables which are all put down with care, the ‘organic’ signs and tags, the herbs and spices you just want to buy all, because they smell so fantastic. The self service area where you can fill bags with oats, beans, dried fruit and all sorts of dry stuff.. The nut butter machine! There is too much to mention.
There is a whole fridge section with vegan foods: tofu, cheese, yogurts, burgers, etc. I can easily stand there for ages. I like to slowly walk all the aisles, even if I just needed to get 2 things. I almost always see something new. They have lovely, good quality, kitchen accessories as well and a lot of cook books. Though they do have a few, I would love to see some more vegan ones. Also they have a big area with all sorts of supplements, beauty products, make up, baby and kids stuff(very nice things, I like to look there for presents) sport accessories(yoga) and even a massage chair. It’s a joy to look around and to learn all sorts of things.
The High Street Kensington store has 3 levels. The basement has the most products and that is mainly where you shop. On the ground floor there is a bakery, a take away food buffet, a juice bar, a flower corner and a cheese section(non vegan). I don’t drink myself, but if you enjoy a good glass of wine, you can also find quite a big wine area on the ground floor. The top floor is not for shopping, but for eating. You can enjoy the food you just bought, get a tea, smoothie and snack or enjoy a meal in one of the little restaurants.
The WholeFoodsMarket stands for good quality products, free of artificial preservatives, colours, flavours, sweeteners, and hydrogenated fats. What unfortunately means they also sell meat and all other animal products. I always try to ignore it and focus on all the amazing products. Most of the time there are promotions and you can taste or try new products, which might be fun and handy, as the person promoting it can tell a lot about it.I also like that there is quite a lot of staff, so there is always somebody you can ask in case you’re looking for something.
I would really love to get all my groceries there, but it’s quite expensive and for me it’ll not be possible. That’s why I go about 2 times a month. I would like to go every week, but I know myself and I will spend all my money. So I don’t, haha! Another good reason to only go twice a month is that I never leave the store without buying a Vego chocolate bar!
Planet Manel 