Mr Kipling Honey Bee Slices review

Seeing as technology hates me, this is my first post for a few days due to my dead laptop which is also the reason for the poor picture so I apologize! However, bitterness aside I did discover a new little treat on my trip to the shops. Mr Kipling cakes are a British staple and they have released a lot of new products recently. These Bumble Bee Slices are the first cakes that have appealed to me as I don't think I have seen honey and chocolate flavours combined in a cake before.

 

There was an icing like layering top that contained most of the honey flavour. It was very sweet but very tasty. The cake itself was of Mr Kipling's usual high quality and the sweetness of the honey actually worked really well against the rich chocolate flavour of the soft sponge. These cakes are a lovely addition to the range but because if their name I'm imagining that they are around. They are sweet and chocolate so what more can you ask for. These cakes are exactly the reason Mr Kipling is so well loved.

Muller Rice Smooth Chocolate review

 

This is another one of Müller's limited edition flavours that has been released previously despite the "new" label. I remember having this last year but couldn't remember how much I liked it, so since it will probably disappear from shelves soon I had to try it again. Like The other varieties of Müller Rice, this dessert is high in calcium and low in fat, making it an all round winner!

On lifting the lid I was met with the usual creamy looking rice so I dug in my spoon to get to the layer of chocolate. Müller certainly didn't disappoint with the generous amount of chocolate-y sauce as you can see from the picture. I  mixed it all together and took a bite. This wasn't as sweet as I was expecting or in fact as sweet as most of the other varieties of rice. Nevertheless, it was still lovely. The chocolate flavour is quite strong but the overall taste is just very creamy.

I did enjoy this addition to the Müller Rice range but in all honesty it's not my favourite. It was lovely and chocolate-y and up to Müller's usual high standards but just not quite sweet enough for my personal taste. Don't get me wrong I would buy this again but when I was craving a chocolate hit rather than something sugary.

Popchips Barbeque review

Popped chips are something I have recently started eating and so I love finding a new flavour. Barbeque crisps are always a safe bet and I was curious to see how this flavour would work in this texture. A lot of barbeque flavoured crisps are very sweet especially in "healthier" alternatives and so I had a pretty good idea of what these would be like.

The bag contained a fair amount of crisps, more than it looks like in the photograph. I took a bite and it wasn't what I was expecting in terms of flavour. These tasted like traditional barbeque crisps like you would buy from walkers. They were much less sweet than I thought that they would be and they had that crunchy, crisp texture that you get with air popped crisps.

I really enjoyed these Popchips and was pleasantly surprised by how the flavour represented a traditional bag of barbeque crisps. For only 97 calories I will definitely pick these up again. They were light but still filling and more flavoursome than a lot of crisps especially for a lighter option. I you are the type of person who likes typical barbeque crisps then these are well worth a try.

ASDA Caramel Eclairs review

Éclairs are not a dessert that I would generally choose purely because I don't love choux pastry. I don't know why but the crispness of the pastry is something that doesn't sit very well with me. Despite this, my love of caramel forced me to put these caramel eclairs into my basket and seing as I havn't had an éclair in years, I thought that my tastes may have changed.

I cut it in half which was actually pretty difficult. The pastry was surprisingly soft which wasn't what I was expecting. There was a thick layer of set caramel on top which smelt very sweet and this followed through into the taste. The caramel layer was delicious but could quite easily be a bit sickly if your teeth aren't as sweet as mine. There was a fair amount of whipped cream inside that lightened the flavour of the heavy caramel and I have to admit that I quite enjoyed the pastry. It didn't add much in terms of taste and I will always find choux pastry a bit too dry but that's just my personal taste and it fairness it was actually pretty good.

For anyone looking for a traditional crispy éclair then you will probably find this a bit soggy and far too sweet, however if your looking for something slightly different then I can recommend these eclairs. They are sweet with a light cream filling and a soft pastry and the strong caramel flavour of these cakes was enough to win me over. In fact I think I will probably end up buying these again which is something that I didn't expect to say.

Propercorn Fiery Worcester Sauce & Sun-Dried Tomato review

As I am now a Propercorn addict I feel the need to try every flavour that I see. I have put off this flavour as I generally don't really like Worcester sauce but purely because I trust the brand so much I decided to give them a try. There are 93 calories per bag and despite my dislike of Worcester sauce, the unusual sound of the flavour did interest me.

I opened the bag and there wasn't much of a strong smell which I was expecting. The popcorn had a slight red tinge from the coating and I was eager to try a piece. If I'm honest, these are not my favourite from the popercorn range. I didn't think that they had much flavour and I couldn't pick out either tomato or Worcester sauce in the taste. The main flavour came from the after taste which was a mild burn down the back of my throat. I also found tat they lacked the usual crunch that you get from popercorn.

These weren't horrible but I can't say that I would choose to have them again. The flavour disappointed me mainly because of the lack of it. I don't know if I just had a dodgy bag because the texture was so much softer than I have experienced from any other flavour and they felt almost stale. I am tempted to try these again because I was surprised at the quality of this bag and am hoping that these had just been stored poorly so that my love for Propercorn isn't tarnished.

Soreen Toffee Squidgy Cake review

Soreen Is famous for its "squidgy" texture and I personally can't get enough of it. The addition of the flavour of toffee sounded amazing and especially in these snack sized loafs which means that they are perfect for eating on the go. These are also low fat (although I don't think Soreen ever tastes low fat because of the dense texture) and also have low sugar so no guilt when tucking in!

As I said, they come in these convenient loafs which are perfect for lunchboxes.... whatever your age. I opened the packet and there was a subtle toffee scent. I tasted it and it had that heavy and slightly naughty feeling that you always get with Soreen that I absolutely love!

These are such a simple low fat snack and they taste delicious. I still find it hard to believe that these are actually a relatively healthy alternative and the toffee flavour just made these even more of a treat. I am so glad that I found these little loafs and my love for any product from Soreen continues after finding these!

Marks & Spencers Salted Popped Potato Chips review

These Salted popped potato chips are a part of Marks and Spencer's guilt free snacking range which is always expanding and becoming incredibly popular. There are only 93 calories per bag and as I love the taste of salt these seemed worth a try. There is nothing worse than a bland crisp so I always worry with something like this that there isn't going to be much flavour as it is just labelled as "salted" so I was hoping that these wouldn't disappoint me.

I opened the bag and there was quite generous portion inside. These looked the same as any rand of popped chips and the texture was the same. They were light but still maintained a good crunch. I was also pretty impressed with the flavour itself. I needn't have worried about these being bland because there was a lovely salty taste that wasn't too strong so even those who aren't as salt obsessed as myself should probably enjoy these.

I really did enjoy these popped chips as a light snack and found them surprisingly flavoursome. They were crispy and salty which is all I could have asked for from this type of snack. For 93 calories these are vey impressive and I'm sure that I will pick these up again in the future.

Lindt Hello Strawberry Cheesecake review

Strawberries and chocolate are a perfect combination and when it comes from a brand as well established as Lindt, this quickly became a need to buy. This was an individual treat bar which I haven't seen in this variety before so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it.

I opened the packet and the bar was actually quite large and there was a strong sweet smell. I broke off one piece and it revealed a pale pink filling. There were dark flecks throughout the filling and a strong strawberry scent. The flavour was delicious. A very strong and sweet strawberry filling was the prominent taste. The dark pink flecks were crunchy which I wasn't expecting but it was an addition to the texture that I actually enjoyed. The chocolate itself has the usual creamy taste that Lindt are known for and it complimented the sweet filling brilliantly.

I thoroughly enjoyed this chocolate and it tasted incredibly luxurious. For anyone who likes strawberry chocolates such as strawberry roses or Cadbury strawberries and cream bar then you will love this because it just tastes like a much higher quality version of these types of bars. I will definitely track this down again and I think it will be a lovely summer time treat.

ASDA Cocoa Fruity Oat Bars review

These breakfast bars are a part of Asda's Good & Balanced range and they claim to be a source of fibre, with no added sugar and also be one of your five a day. This all sounded pretty promising especially with the word "cocoa" in the title. These are actually golden syrup and vanilla fudge flavour oat bars with dried fruit and cocoa powder so essentially a spin off of the Nakd bars which are quite popular.

I opened it up and could smell some chocolate but a strong scent of dates hit me. These bars were a dark brown colour with flecks of oat running through them.  I took a bit and initially didn't know what to make of these. There was definitely cocoa present but I would say the overall flavour was probably predominantly dried fruits. I quite enjoy most dried fruits so for me by the second bite, I found myself really enjoying it.

For anyone looking for a replacement for a traditional chocolate bar, then you will probably be very disappointed but if you re the type of person who likes their sultanas and prunes, especially if you don't want something overly sweet then you might really enjoy this. There are four bars in this pack and I don't think that any of them will waste. The texture was softer than I was expecting but also less chewy. I couldn't detect the oats but again this is something that didn't really bother me because I was pretty impressed with the flavour. I'm now tempted to pick up some nakd bard to try to see how they compare.

Space Raiders Spicy Flavour review

Time for a bit of nostalgia today as when passing through my local corner shop I happened to see these spicy space raiders. I used to buy these for about 15 pence all the time when I was young and I couldn't help picking them up just to reminisce slightly about why I used to like them so much. They were 20 pence now but to be fair, that's still not very much so I happily handed it over.

I opened the bag and they looked and smelled exactly as I remembered. They are a corn based snack so have more of that "puffy£ texture that a lot of children's crisps have. They were the same alien face shaped and there was a subtle smell of spice. I took a bite and al those memories came flooding back. They had a fair crunch and although I wouldn't say that they were spicy, there was certainly a fair amount of flavour.

I cant honestly say that these are the best crisps I have ever had but I did genuinely enjoy them. There was a nice amount of spice that wont blow your head off and there were quite a generous amount in the bag. These are a bit fun and different to your regular bag of crisps and made nice change, especially for only 20 pence. I guess my tastes as a child weren't half bad considering I would still happily chomp down on a bag of these today!

John West Light Lunch Mild Curry Tuna Salad review

I was in desperate need of a quick lunch on the go when I realised there were no sandwiches or sushi packs that I liked left on the shelf. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted these John West light lunches which come in a variety of flavours. I wouldn't normally go for this type of meal that you keep in the cupboard as the idea of it is slightly off putting but being as it was from such a well establidhed brand and I was starving I decided that I was going to have to give it a try.

It came in a small tin like tray and when I opened the lid, probably because of its packaging it did resemble cat food. However there was a lovely smell of mild spices which actually gave me a little bit of hope. I could see a fair amount of tuna with chickpeas, rice, peppers and sultanas in a golden brown type sauce. The packet also states that this contains under 250 calories so I was curious to see if this had any result on the taste.

I tucked in with the fork provided and was actually really impressed with the flavours. It wasn't spicy but there was a strong curry taste with a generous amount of tuna. Although it didn't appear that big of a meal I found it surprisingly filling. I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I would and have since been out and bought more varieties of these light lunch packs. If you fancy a change to your lunchtime routine then this is certainly worth a try and the convenience of not needing a fridge or a microwave just makes these even better!

Chai Pod Vanilla Bean review

I am a big fan of chai spices so this Chai Pod caught my eye when I was passing the free from desserts in Tesco's. It is gluten free and the pot states that it contains only coconut milk, cinnamon, ripened chai seed and vanilla bean. On further inspection, I read that this dessert is suitable for vegans as well as coeliacs and contains 5g of fibre as well as 3g of Omega 3. Since 'clean eating' seems to be the new 'in' thing, I was curious to see how this would compare to a standard vanilla dessert.

I opened the ild to reveal what can only be described as a thick gel that looked a lot like frogspawn. This texture didn't change at all when I stuck the plastic spoon that came with this pod into the pot. It was very goopy and I struggled to get it out of the pot and onto the spoon. I took my first bite and felt very confused. I could taste the cinnamon and coconut water but it didn't have a lot of flavour. The vanilla was extremely subtle and it wasn't really sweet at all which is what I was expecting. There were small seeds throughout which were very easy to chew and although when I took my first bite I wasn't too keen, the more I ate the more I got used to the unusual texture.

I can't honestly say that I am desperate to buy this again and infact when I first tasted it I didn't like it at all but by the third bite I started to get used to it and quite happily finished it off. It did take some getting used too because of the odd texture and there wasn't really anything sweet about it but the mild cinnamon flavour saved this for me. If you enjoy coconut milk then you may be more impressed than me as this was probably the dominant flavour but if I did require a free from diet, this might just become a regular purchase.

Tesco Healthy Living Sour Cream & Black Pepper review

A regular snack in my cupboard is Propercorn's sour cream and back pepper popcorn and so when I saw this version of the same flavour available in Tesco's I thought that it might be worth a try. The bag has only 88 calories and I was interested to see how this would compare to other brands.

I opened the bag and there was a fair amount of popcorn inside. Unfortunately that is where the good news ended. This bag is a prime example of why I am hesitant about buying store bought popcorn as the texture was so chewy it tasted stale. There was no crunch to it at all which there should be with any popcorn. The flavour was slightly better but again far from great. The black pepper was stronger than I expected which can be seen by the amount of black dots covering the popcorn. The sour cream flavour was also noticeable but the overall taste of the popcorn wasn't anything special.

I definitely wont be buying this again and recommend anyone thinking of purchasing it to go for a higher quality brand. Although the flavour was palatable the texture for me personally was completely off putting. If you don't mind chewy popcorn, then you may have a very different view of this snack to me but I need much more of a crunch to really enjoy it

Kinder Chocolate Mini With Cereals review

Kinder is a well established brand mainly associated with kids but I have to admit I do enjoy it. I like the mixture of white and milk chocolate together and it is one of the sweetest chocolate's there is. I have seen this version with cereal in on shelves for a while but I haven't been tempted to pick it up until I saw it on offer.

These were the bite size version so individually wrapped. The cereal pieces were exactly like sugar puffs and added a nice crunch. The chocolate was the same sweet flavour that kinder is famous for and because of this I don't think I could eat too many of these in one go without feeling a bit sick but since I was able to just pick out as many as I wanted due to the bite size pieces this wasn't a problem.

Overall I did enjoy the addition of the cereal pieces to the kinder chocolate although I don't think I would pick them up if they weren't on offer. You would have to like the original kinder chocolate which has a very milky taste because that is essentially what these are just with a bit of a twist. I can imagine children would really like these and they would be handy for a little treat.

Brothers Toffee Apple Cider review

Always being the type of person up for trying a slightly alternative flavoured cider, the sound of toffee apple was right up my street. I might be wrong but I think that this was originally a limited edition flavour around Halloween a few years ago but it must have been so popular that it became a permanent part of the Brothers range. Brothers are an English company and although fairly well known are not available in a lot of bars.

The smell of this cider alone let me know that I was about to have a mega sugar rush and I loved it. This tasted strongly of toffee which is exactly what I was hoping for. If you like traditional apple cider and don't have much of a sweet tooth then this will probably be your idea of hell, however for anyone like me who thinks when it comes to cider the sweeter the better then I cant recommend this enough! It is exactly what the label says a traditional cider with a strong and sweet toffee flavour and it is quite possibly the nicest cider that I have ever had.

Weight Watchers Toffee Yogurt review

I do enjoy a yogurt now and again if I'm trying to be a bit healthy but most are sugary and full of cream so I generally go for a lower fat version. The problem with this is that a lot of low fat yogurts are very watery in consistency (like Muller lights) but weight watchers is a brand that is known for being of a high quality. I saw these yogurts n offer and decided they would be worth a try.

The picture below was taken before I had given it a good stir but at least this means that its thickness can be seen. The yogurt was a light golden brown colour and surprisingly thick and creamy. The pot itself was rather small and the toffee flavour was sharper than most toffee desserts but considering it was only 54 calories I suppose I can't really complain.

This yogurt did have a slight artificial taste that made it slightly more bitter than a full fat yogurt but even so I did happily finish it off. It was much thicker than any other low fat yogurt I have had before and the overall flavour was pretty good. There was a strong toffee flavour that was easily detectable and I wouldn't mind having these again. These came as a part of a multipack with vanilla yogurts too which were also pretty tasty. They were equally as thick and creamy with a strong vanilla flavour, again my only criticism would be the slight artificial taste.

Tesco Sweet Potato Oven Chips review

I absolutely love eating sweet potato chips/fries when I go out for a eat and so when I saw that Tesco have released their own version I couldn't wait to try them. I didn't think to take a picture of the bag but these can be found in the frozen isle alongside many other sweet potato products such as wedges, fries and mash. I heated them in the oven for 25 minutes and the result was what you see below.

I generally don't like oven chips as I find them a bit boring so I was hoping that I wouldn't be disappointed in these and luckily I wasn't. They were delicious, in fact I would even say that they were better than some sweet potato fries that I have ordered from restaurants. They were quite thick which meant that there was a good amount fluffy sweet potato filling to taste and a crispy outer coating that held a lot of flavour. They didn't taste greasy at all but also didn't dry out whilst they were cooking and so were perfectly soft with just the right amount of "squidgy-ness". I think these may become a staple product in my freezer and I cant recommend them enough to any sweet potato fans.

Grabits Chinese Chicken On A Stick review

A pretty simple review today of Grabits Chinese flavour chicken stick. I picked this up from WHSmiths when I needed a little something just to hold me over until dinner. The packet states that it is made with 100% chicken breast which is pretty unusual for a chicken snack. I usually find these types of  products are made from all sorts of rubbish rather than actual meat and so I figured this was worth a try. When I sat down I also saw that this stick contained less than 2% fat and so is a much more nutritious than other snacks available.

There was a strong spicy smell when I opened the packet and there was a fair amount of meat on the stick. The smell was that of traditional Chinese spices and it was very red in colour. This did have a slight sauce-y coating that I can't imagine the original version would have. I bit into it and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. This was very flavoursome with a good amount of spice without being so hot that it was overwhelmingly spicy. The texture was very chewy, similar to the texture of fridge raiders and I actually double checked that this was 100% chicken breast but it was.

For me personally I didn't mind the chewy texture but I think that if you only like very high quality meat then this may put you off. I was also pleased to see that there were less than 70 calories in this stick which was actually quite filling I can definitely see me picking up another one of these chicken on a stick's in future as it made a nice change from the usual snacks that I buy and I was very impressed with both the flavour and size of the product.

Boots Shapers Cheddar & Caramelised Onion Popcorn review

I have tried products from Boots Shapers range before and have generally been pretty impressed. It is a calorie controlled range which is part of a healthier lifestyle. Cheddar and caramelised onion is a pretty popular flavour but I'm not sure that I have tried it in a popcorn before so when I saw this bag with a "new"stamp on it, I decided that I had to give it a go.

I opened the bag and there was a very generous portion inside.This whole bag contained only 82 calories so I was eager to get stuck in. There was a strong smell of cheese and onion which followed through in the flavour. It was a bit unusual at first mixing the texture of popcorn with a flavour that is so associated with crisps but after the initial mouthful I quickly got used to it. My pet hate with store bought popcorn is that it is often quite chewy and I have to admit that this bag did lack a certain crunch that you get with fresh popcorn, however considering the calories and the strong flavour I was able to get over this.

I can't say that this is the best quality popcorn that I have ever had but I did really enjoy the flavour. This snack is one for those people who like a strong cheese and onion flavour so if you're on the fence, you probably wont enjoy this too much. I still can't quite believe that there were only 82 calories in the entire bag because it was such a generous portion. Although the popcorn was much chewier than I would have liked, I think I would have been expecting a bit much for anything more for the calories and the taste was good enough that I think I would still pick these up again.