Blue Moon Cafe, Sheffield (and other vegan treats!)

I treated myself to a couple of day's holiday this week, and was grateful to be able to stay snuggled under my duvet while the rest of the city shuffled through slush to make it to work. I had hoped to visit my parents for my Dad's birthday, but the snow scuppered our plans. To cheer myself up I decided to treat myself to some cake from the Blue Moon Cafe in Sheffield.

Chocolate cake with Alpro vanilla custard!

When looking for vegetarian and vegan food in Sheffield, Blue Moon always comes up in conversation. The large cafe is bright and airy, noticeboards adorned with flyers for spare rooms, yoga classes and hundreds of other events and services for veggies, vegans, environmentalists and spiritualists. The Blue Moon isn't just for crusty hippies though, when I popped by on Friday the place was full with everyone from families on days out to ladies doing lunch. If it hadn't been so packed I might have stopped for a hot chocolate (soy and dairy options available), but I was eager to get home and warm, so just chose a slab of cake to go (£2.40). Their chocolate cake was first introduced to me by my housemates in second year of uni, when they bought me some for my 20th birthday, and I've not tasted a vegan chocolate cake that compares to it yet (sorry, Mum!). Their carrot and walnut is also delicious.

Their website is currently unavailable (and has been for years), so there's no menu online, but each day you can be guaranteed several cakes, at least one soup, fresh bread and salads, plus at least 4 or 5 hot options (only £6 for a huge plate plus choice of sides). Hot and cold drinks and ice creams are also available, and everything can be ordered to go. As Sheffield's only 100% vegetarian cafe (as far as I know...?) it's a real gem, and has been featured in The Guardian amongst other veggie publications. 

Before and after...

As this was fast turning into a day of indulgence, I increased my comfort-food quota with a trip to Holland and Barrett and bought a Redwoods Meatless Feast Pizza. I don't normally eat fake meat or cheese so this was a bit of an experiment. The cheesy topping was quite nice as pretty realistic from what I can remember (fact: a lot of processed frozen pizzas use fake cheese made from fats anyway, gross!), but the fake pepperoni and what I presume was supposed to be imitation ham was tasteless and had an unpleasant squishy texture. I'm pretty sure there was nothing of nutritional value in this meal either, and at nearly £3 it wasn't great value. I've learnt my lesson and will stick to veggies from now on (we made our own pizza on Sunday night and it was a million times better!). I would imagine Redwoods' products are a life-saver for feeding fussy veggie/vegan kids, but I'm just not a fan. Even when I was an omni I never really cooked meat except sausages, and luckily Linda McCartney takes care of those for me!

In other vegan news, I saw an update on the Sheffield Animal Friends facebook page this morning, for a new event called The Vegan Approach. It's a month-long event from 23rd March - 20th April 2013, and if you pledge to follow a vegan lifestyle you get cooking demonstrations, nutrition info and a buffet lunch. This looks like a great way to get round to the vegan way of thinking and eating, by following 10 easy steps! It seems like a promising initiative and I'm hoping I can convince someone to sign up with me...who can say no to a free buffet. My challenge for this year is to eat more homemade food, and properly find out what's in my food when I eat out. Veganism really isn't that hard, I think I just got a bit lazy and prone to comfort-eating after the stress of the end of last year. I've cut out coffee and diet coke and am trying to eat less soy and remember to take my vitamins. I already feel more energetic and rarely have that 'oh my god I can't get out of bed my limbs are so heavy and my eyes won't open' feeling in the mornings anymore. How long this will last I don't know but hopefully til the end of Jan at least!

The Blue Moon Cafe is open Monday-Saturday 8am- 8pm and is on St James' Street, next to Sheffield Cathedral. The Vegan Approach is held 23rd March - 20th April in a city centre venue yet to be confirmed.