Category: Totnes

Review: ReRooted Plant Milks

On By ClareIn Devon, products, TotnesLeave a comment

I have serious thoughts about plant-based milks. At the moment my favourite is Minor Figures which is a barista-style oat milk. We get it delivered a few cases at a time and mostly use it for hot chocolates. The level of waste is annoying so when we heard that Earth. Food. Love. would be bringing out their own plant milks we got very excited. And got one of every flavour.  We tried each one, first plain and then I streamed the milk and made us hot chocolate.

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First up is coconut. I’m a little biased against coconut. I find the texture a combination of too watery and too greasy – predictably I wasn’t a fan. It was also lacking in any sweetness which doesn’t make it easy to drink raw but did make the hot chocolate taste, in Kate’s words, like a dark chocolate Bounty.

oat

The oat milk on its own proved pretty tasteless (Kate thought it was rather sour) but it has a glorious texture which makes it perfect for your teas, coffees and hot chocolates. You might need a little sugar if you’re used to dairy – it’s lacking in the dairy sugars after all.

almond 50

This almond milk is 50% raw, 50% roasted almonds. As a result it’s a little bitter. It has the slightly nutty aftertaste that you expect from almond milk and it’s a good texture for hot drinks. I always like an almond milk in hot chocolate – the tastes really complement each other.

almond100

And last up our favourite: the 100% roasted almond. With a richer, sweeter, more robust flavour than the 50% we enjoyed drinking this both straight and in hot chocolate. Its distinctive taste might not be what you are looking for with your tea though.

ReRooted (website) milk is currently available at Earth. Food. Love. in Totnes. They’re hoping to start a milk delivery service soon so keep your eyes peeled if you live in the Totnes area.

Earth.Food.Love Zero Waste Shop in Totnes 

On By ClareIn Totnes1 Comment

We were eager to try out the new zero waste supermarket in Totnes as soon as we heard about it. Reducing our plastic use is really important to us and any new shop that helps us kick the habit is great.

Earth.Food.Love

The practice of buying from bulk bins went out of favour in the UK when I was a kid. Everything started arriving in plastic packages. A few remained in old fashioned grocers and health food shops but most have gone. In the past year or so we’ve noticed something of a comeback. As well as Earth.Food.Love there are also a few bins in Exeter’s The Real Food Store. Earth.Food.Love though is 100% waste free.

So what can you find there? We just went in of a nosey about but the range was impressive. You’ve got your spices, your flours, your grains – all that you’d expect – and then you have the stuff that isn’t as standard but is really impressive. They have cacao covered raisins. They are amazing. Kate prefers the cacao covered almonds but she’s wrong. The raisins are incredible. On the more practical side of things there is a section of liquids, things like tamari, agave and maple syrup. They have cleaning supplies too – loo cleaner, laundry detergent, – all served without plastic.

Yep, a machine for you to grind your own nut butters

You can bring any container with you and get it weighed but if you’ve forgotten yours or you just don’t have a dedicated arborio rice tub then you can buy any number of lovely containers. If you’re carrying things a long way then you can pick up onya weigh bags or use their paper bags. They also have the most lovely tea caddies. I was also delighted to find reusable straws. I took a metal one and a cleaning brush home with me.

The staff are friendly and on hand to help with the dishing out and weighing of your shopping but it was so easy to work the scales. As usual the only problem we had was remembering what we needed to buy. We’re already planning to get as much of our food from here as we can but if you are still sceptical then I have two more arguments for you. One is that Earth.Food.Love is owned by Vegan Northerners. The other argument is this: they sell nutritional yeast.

Earth.Food.Love is based in Totnes.

Pastifico Veneto Tortelli with Pizzaiola

On By ClareIn products, TotnesLeave a comment

When people ask us about vegan cheese, and they do, we always tell them that without a doubt the best one you can buy is MozzaRisella Classic. The Mozzarella log is uncannily like the real thing, both raw and melted on a pizza. So how could we resist pasta stuffed with MozzaRisella? We spied these in the chiller cabinet of Green Life in Totnes and brought them home.

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The package suggests serving with pesto, which in retrospect I wish I’d have done, but I was feeling lazy so I just boiled it up and tossed with a little olive oil and pepper. The pasta itself is lovely. It didn’t burst in the pan which is always a plus. The filling is yum, a mix of basil, tomato and cheese which adds a little decadence to every bite.

pasta

When I close my eyes and dream of pasta it’s always fresh and home made but when I can’t be bothered doing it myself (almost always) I’m happy to pick up a pack in the supermarket for a quick and delicious supper. These are a fantastic vegan alternative and I only wish I could get them close to home.