Skittles

Luckily to all those skittles fans skittles are vegetarian, but before 2009 they weren't, let me tell you why...

• Firstly, they used to contain E120 which is a dye, created by boiling beetles.

• Secondly, they used to contain shellac which is also made from beetles.

• Third, and finally, they used to contain gelatin, which as mentioned a number of times before is the stomach lining of a pig or cow.

Because of this many people weren't buying the skittles because many people are vegetarian. So, in 2009 they changed all these ingredients so that skittles were vegetarian and completely meat-free.

Marshmallows

Marshmallows
This may come as a shock to some of you and may not come a shock to others. Marshmallows are sweet, and who puts meat in a sweet treat? Although marshmallows are chewy, which gives people an excuse to put meat in. Most marshmallows aren't vegetarian and vegetarian ones are very rare. Although you can order them online from the following website:
http://www.freedommallows.com/
which is Vegetarian Society approved.

Jelly

Jelly
If you haven't already worked out why jelly is called jelly here's why. It's because it used to always have gelatin in which is an animal based product and therefore not vegetarian. Luckily, though, nowadays there are vegetarian jellies such as Hartley's Quickset sachets. 

Pesto

Pesto

As I have mentioned earlier on in my blog, sadly, some cheeses aren't vegetarian and since pesto is often used as a garnish for pasta it sometimes has cheeses in, such as Grana Padano and parmesan, which aren't vegetarian. Sadly, there aren't many vegetarian pestos, since most companies think it tastes better with non-vegetarian cheese in, although you can make your own following this recipe at http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/winter-pesto.html or buy zest vegan basil pesto which are both vegetarian.

Updated June 2015:
Recently the well know company Sacla have started creating their own vegetarian pesto. This is much easier to find than 'zest vegan pesto' and it is stocked in many supermarkets.

Quorn

Quorn

Quorn is a great vegetarian alternative to meat; it tastes like meat, looks like meat, and has the same protein that you miss from meat. You can buy Quorn as chicken style chunks, mince, veggie sausages and a lot more. Go to http://www.quorn.co.uk/range/ for more Quorn products.

Cheese

Cheese

Most cheeses are vegetarian, but there are three I know that aren't, and there are more. There are vegetarian versions of all these cheeses, but most are made with animal rennet. The three cheeses that I know are parmesan (parmigiano reggiano), gorgonzola and grana padano. As I said, there are vegetarian versions of all these cheeses, but unless the packaging says it is vegetarian it probably isn't.

Vegetarian jelly sweets

Veggie Percy & Veggie Colin the Caterpillar Jelly Sweets

Everyone who is a fan of jelly sweets might be a bit disappointed with the choice of vegetarian jelly sweets. Not to worry though, for Marks and Spencers have made two new types of jelly sweets:  Veggie Percy, is the vegetarian alternative to Percy Pig jelly sweets, and have a green ear to distinguish them from the non-vegetarian Percy jelly sweets; and Veggie Colin the Caterpillars, as an alternative to Colin the Caterpillars sweets. These are both gelatine free and are vegetarian.

Strada

Strada
July 2012

Fresh olives, rosemary salt chips, margheritta pizza

When I entered the restaurant the atmosphere was lovely, the light was dim and music was playing quietly in the background. I was shown to my table straight away and was greeted with a warm glow of a candle and a menu. The waiter soon came back with a kids’ menu and fun pack, which involved colouring in and drawing. The toilets were impeccably clean, considering they were public toilets. Then we ordered drinks, after about 5 minutes the drinks were there, which I thought was incredibly quick service. The chairs weren’t as comfy as I would have liked them to be; although there were also leather sofas the chairs were made of wood and weren’t as comfortable. Then I ordered my starter of fresh olives and rosemary salt chips. The starters arrived even quicker than the drinks, the olives went in about 2 minutes, but the chips lasted throughout the meal. After we’d finished our olives we ordered our main; pizza. If you’re a child who feels extremely hungry (e.g. me) then I suggest you have the adult pizza, which is an absolute whopper (even I didn’t finish it). If you don’t get the adult portion, I’ve heard the child portion has just the same topping. The pizza arrived after about 10 minutes, a bit burnt, I tried a slice. It was a bit too crisp, and a bit too burnt, but it was full of flavour and the basil leaves were a lovely touch. As I said before, I didn’t finish the whole pizza, so for those of you who are like me get a doggy bag and take the pizza home.