Kellogg's Ancient Legends Porridge Pot review

Porridge pots are still my go-to when it comes to filling and convenient breakfasts on the go. When browsing the cereal isle I noticed this ancient legends porridge from Kellogg's which I haven't seen before. The fancy design caught my eye but I was intrigued as to why it was labelled as "ancient legends" porridge. On further inspection I saw that it was based around the idea that grain was so valuable in ancient civilisations and so the finest grains were given to their heroic legends. All very interesting but at the end of the day this is still just porridge so I was more interested in how it was going to taste.

This porridge contains ancient grains and seeds such as barley, chai, spelt and oats. I was curious to see if the addidtion of the extra grains would make this porridge taste any different to your substandard porridge, especially as it also says that it has a coconut flavour. I simply added boiling water, stirred the mixture then waited a few minutes.

This is how the porridge looked when ready. It was nice and thick and I could clearly see plenty of small dark specks from the chai seeds as well as a mixture of grains. I took a bite and it did taste slightly more seed-y than a typical pot of porridge. I can't say that I particularly noticed any coconut but it was a very enjoyable porridge. There was more of a depth of flavour because of the combination of grains and slightly more bite to the texture. This wasn't anything spectacular but it was a tasty and filling pot of porridge that I would happily eat again.

Muller Light Apple & Elderflower Yogurt review

Although Muller lights are not usually my yogurt of choice due to the thin and runny consistency, I do end up buying them from time to time when I see an unusual flavour that tickles my fancy. This apple and elderflower flavour is the newest summer inspired flavour and comes in a brightly coloured green pot. I have had quite a few apple yogurts in the past and usually enjoy them, however I don't think that I have ever seen elderflower feature in a yogurt before.

I lifted the lid and saw that the consistency f the yogurt was indeed as I had expected. It was quite runny but I was still able to scoop it onto the spoon without any problems. There were also plenty of small chunks of apple throughout which I was pleased to see. I tasted the yogurt and in all honesty this is quite possibly my favourite of the Muller light range. The flavour was very unusual with the spot on combination of tart apple and sweet elderflower. The elderflower ended up reminding me of a white grape flavour and although this may sound strange it did taste quite floral. It had the same type of flavour as a non alcoholic white wine so was sweet, fresh and light.

The chunks of apple added a burst of flavour every time I had a mouthful and combined with the light floral flavour this was a really enjoyable yogurt. I will definitely be picking this Muller light up again whilst it is available and hats off to Muller for coming up with such an interesting flavour. This is well worth trying and at only 93 calories per pot, this would make for a lovely light dessert throughout summer.

Whitworths Plump Pears review

Healthy snacks are becoming increasingly popular and since supermarkets are now stocking these near the till rather than sweets it is a lot more tempting to pick them up. Pears are one of my favourite fruits but I don't think I have ever seen a dried version before. I decided I had nothing to loose by at least trying them so picked this individual sized 30g bag up. As the packet states that these are naturally sweet, 1 of your 5 a day and only 62 calories per bag I was curious to see what these would taste like.

I opened the bag and saw small chunks of dried pear. They felt soft and chewy although some had stuck together they were easy to pick out and eat. I took my first bite and couldn't believe how much these tasted like a bag of sweets. They were really tasty and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed them. Although the bag was only small I actually did feel like they did fill me up for a little while. Although I don't know if I would have actually known that this was pear if I hadn't seen the packet, the flavour was lovely and sweet.

These are a great option when you want a healthy snack and I am really pleased that I tried them. These are a great and easy way to get 1 of your 5 a day and I actually think that kids would love these too. If your trying to improve your diet or not I would recommend these to anyone with a sweet tooth because they really were a tasty snack.

Haagen-Dazs Salted Caramel Ice Cream review

Being a lover of both Haagen Dazs ice cream and caramel, I was more than excited to see that  new caramel mini cups range had been released. This salted caramel mini cup is one of the flavours in the box of 4 different caramel based flavours and having never tried it before I was eager to get stuck in. Described as caramel ice cream with a salted caramel swirl and salted caramel brittle this sounded pretty good and knowing how rich and luxurious Haagen Dazs ice cream is my expectations were quite high.

I waited for a minute and peeled back the lid to reveal a pale brown coloured ice cream small pieces of salted caramel brittle throughout. I took my first spoonful and have to admit that I wasn't disappointed. The ice cream itself was delicious and creamy, just like the rest of the Haagen Dazs flavours that I've tried have been. The salted caramel sauce was exactly that... "salted". It had that sharpness that a lot of products lack when producing any salted caramel treat. The brittle added a lot in terms of texture and I appreciated having that little bit of crunch when working through the smooth and sweet ice cream. It also added a little extra saltiness and emphasized the caramel sauce swirl.

This is another excellent ice cream from Haagen Dazs. If you like ice cream and salted caramel then you should definitely give this a try. It was the perfect combination of sweet and salty that I am looking forward to tasting again. The fact that this comes in a variety box which are already portioned with a spoon just adds to the convenience and is a big help when trying not to eat a whole tub in one sitting!

Muller Rice Chocolate & Coconut review

The latest limited edition Muller rice was the chocolate and hazelnut flavour which has probably been my absolute favourite and so I was pretty gutted to see it go. In its place is the new chocolate and coconut flavour. I have only recently decided that I quite like coconut flavours and so I was actually pretty excited to see what this new version would be like.

This is the newest "Going the Distance" flavour and so also offers the opportunity to win athletics tickets or prizes and so the blue coloured pot is quite eye catching. I lifted the lid and could already see some of the chocolate sauce creeping to the top. When I mixed it all together it turned a dark brown colour which made it look very rich and chocolatey. The dominant scent was chocolate but I could detect the subtle smell of coconut so I dug in to saw if this would follow through in the taste.

Chocolate was indeed the stronger of the two flavours and the coconut was more of a subtle after taste. I could definitely taste the coconut so don't get me wrong it certainly added to the flavour but in all honesty I was left a little disappointed. Perhaps my expectations were a little to high after the amazing chocolate & hazelnut variety but I found this a little boring. It wasn't as sweet as I would have liked and although it did have the creamy texture and taste that Muller rice's usually have, I wasn't blown away. For a low fat dessert this is still pretty good as it was tasty and filling. I think I would have preferred it if it was a little sweeter or the coconut was a little stronger. This is still worth trying if you enjoy Muller rice or the combination of coconut and chocolate, I just wont personally be rushing out to buy it again.

TGI Friday's UK Blackened Chicken Jambalaya review

TGI Friday's have recently added some new items to their menu and one of these is their jambalaya which can be served with either my choice of blackened chicken as well as roasted veg or shrimp. I have ever had jambalaya before but it sounded pretty good from the menu description "Spicy rice, roasted veg, spring onions, sour cream and sliced chillies, served with cornbread and Cajun cream sauce". I have had cornbread when I have visited America and loved it so much that this is basically the main reason I chose this dish. To make this even better, this meal has under 700 calories which I was really impressed with considering it is a product of TGI Fridays!

The portion was particularly generous and did look a lot more appetising once he spring onions had been moved out of the way. There was a small but thick slice of cornbread which was just as good as I had remembered. Slightly sweet yet salty with a crumbly texture. There were plenty of roasted vegetables such as peppers, mushrooms, onions and aubergines all cooked perfectly. The chicken was tender and flavoursome and I was really pleased to see that TGI's hadn't been tight with the amount of meat. The rice was tasty with just the right amount of spice and the sour cream & Cajun sauce countered the heat very well. I thoroughly enjoyed this jambalaya and will definitely order it again. I think its great that TGI Fridays have finally produced some healthier alternatives and the fact they are still so tasty is very impressive indeed!

Marmite Rice Cakes review

I never really got the whole love it or hate it thing with marmite. I kind of feel a bit indifferent about it, I mean sometimes I quite enjoy it but I don't massively crave it. I saw these marmite rice cakes and figured maybe trying these would help give me more of an opinion and since they contain less then 3% fat I didn't really have anything to loose.

The rice cakes themselves had the same light and crispy texture that all rice cakes have. There were plenty of bite sized rice cakes inside the bag with a very slight pale brown coating. there wasn't much of a scent when I opened the bag so I was eager to see how they would taste.

I actually quite enjoyed these rice cakes. The marmite flavour was quite subtle but I could still detect it was there. These were very more-ish and although I'm not jumping out of my seat to rave about them I would happily finish off another bag. I would imagine that any marmite lovers would be very impressed with these but I cant say that I have been hugely converted. I am still slightly indifferent towards marmite spread itself but at least I have discovered a tasty new snack.

Quorn Mince & Sweet Potato Casserole review

Despite not being vegetarian, I really enjoy Quorn mice. I like the slightly chewy texture and mild meaty flavour. This casserole with sweet potato and mince caught my eye, probably because sweet potato is one of my favourite foods. This is a frozen ready meal is 2 of your five a day, low in fat and high in fibre so pretty good for the health conscious. This casserole can be easily cooked in the microwave and also contains broccoli and mixed beans.

I popped it in the microwave and saw that there were plenty of broccoli florets, chunks of sweet potato surrounded by the vegetarian mince. There weren't a lot of mixed beans but they weren't the main reason that I bought the meal so I was happy to let that slide. I tasted the ready meal and if I'm honest, it was "fine". I finished it off and felt pretty full afterwards, but I did find it quite bland. The dominant flavour was the mince and I cant say that the sweet potato was particularly noticeable. The texture was enjoyable and the broccoli maintained a decent bite but I feel that this meal would have benefitted from a more flavoursome gravy.

Considering the health benefits of this meal and the fact that it did keep me full, I can understand the appeal of this casserole. For vegetarians especially this may be a decent option but I don't think that I will buy this again due to the lack of flavour. There was a generous amount of broccoli and sweet potato although the meal itself was pretty small in size. This is far from the best Quorn product I have tried but it is still a fairly decent meal, just not one I would choose to but again.

Serge Island Peanut Punch review

I quite enjoy having a browse down the foreign foods isle in supermarkets to see if any new or slightly unusual products take my fancy. When passing through Tesco, I noticed this peanut punch by Serge Island and being a lover of practically anything peanut butter flavoured I couldn't resist trying it. This is a peanut flavoured milk drink which comes with a straw in an individual 240ml carton.

Considering a lot of peanut flavoured products have an overwhelmingly artificial flavour I was slightly worried that this drink would be the same. My curiosity got the better of  me and I am so glad that it did because I cant tell you how much I enjoyed this drink! It is definitely one for those of us with a verrrry sweet tooth because this is basically a milk drink that tastes of sugar and peanuts. Although ridiculously sweet, I found this very moreish and couldn't put it down. I think the amount of sugar in this is probably why it didn't taste artificial because the main flavours were that of peanut and sugar, not artificial sweetener. I can not wait to buy this again already and if you like sugary, peanut-y treats as much as myself then you really do need to keep an eye out for this peanut punch.

Nando's UK Fillet Steak Preggo Roll review

Nando's isn't usually my first choice when I'm looking for somewhere to grab something to eat but I ended up there when out with some friends this week so decided to have something a little different. The reason I rarely o to Nando's is because I find chicken a little boring and so I treated myself to the fillet steak preggo steak roll. This consisted of a flame grilled beef steak marinated in piri piri ( I opted for medium spice), with spinach, tomato and garlic aioli mayonnaise in a Portuguese roll. I ordered my roll without tomato but with a side of chargrilled veg. At £10.90 without any sides this is one of the pricier items on the menu and so I hoped that I wouldn't be disappointed.

The roll came with a fair amount of spinach and a generous helping of the garlic aioli mayonnaise. The roll was warm and crust and the steak was also a pretty decent size. I bit into the roll and actually really enjoyed it. The heat of the peri peri wasn't overwhelming and complimented the steak really well. The steak was tender, cooked through and considering that Nando's is infamous for its chicken, I was surprised at both the quality of the meat and how well it was cooked. The chargrilled veg was also very tasty with the perfect mixture of sweet and crunchy Mediterranean vegetables. I would actually love to have this again so hats off to Nando's for this one. This is certainly worth a try if you fancy a change from chicken even if it does cost a little more.

Popchips Ridges Smoky Bacon review

Popchips have been around for a while now and with everyone a little more focused on healthy eating they have become increasingly popular. I saw these Popchips ridges in my local store in smoky bacon flavour and I think that these are a new product since I haven't seen them before. The packet states that these contain only 99 calories per bag and since I don't think I have seen a lighter version of a bacon flavoured snack before I was eager to give them a try.

Although bacon crisps are a favourite of a lot of people, I personally find them a bit hit or miss. The bacon flavour can often be too full on and artificial tasting and so I hoped that this wouldn't be the case. I opened the bag and saw that the chips had the same light and almost "puffy" Popchips texture but they were very chunky in size with clear thick ridges. They were coated in a dark orange like dusting and there were actually a fair amount of chips in the bag. The smell was full on smoky bacon and so I was worried that I was going to find the flavour of these a little too intense but I tucked in anyway optimistically.

The flavour of these Popchips ridges was indeed "smoky" but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed them. The flavour was quite full on as I expected but the balance between the bacon and the smokiness was pretty good and stopped them from tasting too artificial. The texture was exactly as you would expect. A combination of light and crunchy but I really enjoyed the addition of the wave-y ridges. I think that any bacon fans out there will love these especially if you are trying to eat a little better. I think that these are a great new addition to the Popchips range and would definitely pick these up again if I had a craving for a meaty flavoured snack.