McDonald's UK Sausage & Egg McMuffin review

On the rare occasion I force myself out of bed early enough to grab a breakfast from McDonald's, the good old sausage and egg McMuffin is an absolute must! This is a lightly seasoned pork sausage patty, a free range egg and a slice of cheese all encased in a toasted English muffin.

The English muffin was warm with a  doughy texture, however it had a good crisp to the outside. The sausage patty was well seasoned and I could taste the herbs throughout the pork patty. The patty is of a surprisingly good quality and although very slightly chewy, far less than you would typically expect from processed meat. The egg was thick and soft with the cheese slice adding to the overall flavour.

Each part of the sausage and egg McMuffin is tasty but when you combine all of the flavours it creates this delicious meaty breakfast. This burger like breakfast is ideal when your looking for a savoury breakfast treat and the convenience of its burger like design makes it more convenient to eat than a full on traditional English breakfast. For anyone who hasn't yet had the pleasure of tucking into one of these on a dark and grim morning you are missing out so set the alarm on your next day off and you will not be disappointed.

Costa UK Coffee, Oat & Banana Smoothie review

A smoothie would never usually be my choice of drink because I love my coffee way too much. Costa however, have cleverly come up with a smoothie that even coffee addicts such as myself can order in an attempt to get a few extra nutrients into our diet after an overly indulgent few weeks (months). This smoothie contains a whole banana, honey, coffee, oats and is made using Alpro oat milk. I am a massive fan of banana flavour products so when I saw this on offer I decided that this was a smoothie that I had to try.

The drink came and was a pale brown colour and looked pretty much like an iced latte. The smell of banana hit me straight away and there was a small layer of froth on top of the drink. I took a sip and was really impressed with the flavour of this drink. This was a predominantly banana flavoured drink with a delicious coffee taste. There were small oats throughout but they were so small they weren't too noticeable, however they did add another level to the texture of the drink. The honey flavour was very mild but did add to the overall sweetness of the drink. The oat milk was much thinner in consistency than traditional milk but it still had a creamy, almost nutty flavour that worked really well with the other ingredients of the smoothie. As a fan of coffee and banana flavoured products I thoroughly enjoyed this drink and knowing that I was getting one of my 5 a day the same time means that I can enjoy this completely guilt free. This is not like a traditional fruit smoothie but I would recommend trying it whilst it is available.

Marks & Spencer's Balanced For You Prawn & Crab Macaroni Cheese review

With everyone on their new year's health kicks, Marks and Spencer's seem to be expanding their balanced for you range which promotes a high protein diet with carbohydrate moderation. Being a lover of any type of seafood as well as cheesy- pasta, the new prawn and crab macaroni cheese was an easy choice. This meal contains only 399 calories and also has a paprika crumb topping which is pretty impressive for a cheese and pasta based dish.

I cooked this meal in the oven for the recommended time and it came out looking pretty amazing. The paprika crumb had crisped up perfectly creating a deep golden brown top with small flecks of herbs throughout. The smell surprised me as although I knew this meal contained seafood there was a surprisingly strong fishy smell. I tucked into the dish and if I'm honest I found it slightly bland. The portion was generous and I really did feel full afterwards but the cheese flavour was so mild I could barely notice it. I didn't really notice any pieces of crab but this was detectable in the flavour. I was pleasantly surprised at how many prawns were throughout this meal as I tasted a prawn in almost every mouthful. This is a low carb meal and so there wasn't a massive amount of pasta but there was certainly enough macaroni to satisfy me. The soft and chewy texture of the pasta worked really nicely against the large amount of crispy paprika crumb on top.

Overall this was a decent and filling meal but I don't know if I will buy it again. This is definitely one for any fish lovers as the crab and prawn flavours by far dominated the cheese. The pasta was really enjoyable and the paprika crumb was a fantastic addition to the overall meal. I'm glad that I got to taste this meal as it is rare to see a seafood-pasta dish from supermarkets especially in a healthy range. I will give credit to M&S for this meal considering that it is from their eat well range but if I'm completely honest I cant say that I would choose this over an indulgent cheesy pasta in future.

Frankie & Benny's Californian Pizza review

Pizza would without a doubt be my last meal and I would say that I probably order one in almost every week. Because of how often I order pizza I rarely eat it out in restaurants, however on a recent visit to Frankie and Benny's this Californian pizza caught my eye with its unusual toppings. This is a meat free pizza that is topped with avocado, goats cheese, red onion, mushrooms, peppers and mozzarella on a pesto and tomato sauce base.

I have never had avocado on a pizza before but the mild, buttery flavour worked really well against the creamy goats cheese. The red onions, mushrooms were all cooked perfectly ( I requested my pizza without peppers but I'm sure that they would have been great too). There was plenty of mozzarella on top which was delicious when paired with the tomato and pesto base. The texture was thin and crispy and overall this was a very flavoursome pizza especially considering it had no meat. I would definitely recommend this to both vegetarians and meat eaters as the delicious combination of flavours resulted in a very unique pizza.

ASDA Extra Special Sea Salted Caramel Panna Cotta review

I would never usually think to buy a panna cotta for dessert purely due to the fact I often find them quite bland and boring. Despite this my love of salted caramel took over me when I was browsing the desserts in Asda and I ended up buying this panna cotta from the extra special range. This is described as a clotted cream panna cotta with a salted caramel sauce which was sitting neatly on the top.

I could see flecks of vanilla throughout the thick panna cotta and the caramel sauce had a swirly pattern was a lot runnier than I expected. The spoon cut through both layers perfectly and the texture was smooth with just the right amount of chewiness. The flavour however was outstanding! This tasted exactly like a rich Werthers sweet. It was creamy, with a luxurious tasting vanilla flavour and the salted caramel was sweet and delicious. I cant say that the salt was instantly recognisable but it did add another dimension to the flavour that had me instantly hooked.

This is without a doubt one of the best desserts that I have tasted in a long time and if I'm completely honest I was actually expecting to be slightly disappointed. This definitely tasted like a high quality product and I cant recommend it enough! This is a fantastic addition to Asda's extra special range and I am already desperate to get my hands on it again.

Caffe Nero UK Tiramisu Slice review

In a last minute attempt to taste all of the festive cakes and other goodies available before the new year really kicks in, I paid a little visit to Caffe Nero to try the limited edition Tiramisu slice. This is a sort of alternative to the traditional caramel shortbread with a chocolate shortbread base, a layer of coffee flavoured caramel and topped with a cocoa and gold dusted white chocolate. Just when I thought caramel shortbread couldn't get any better! This sounded absolutely delicious and I couldn't wait to tuck in.

The chocolate shortbread was pretty nice but quite a bit softer than I expected. It wasn't too sweet which I was grateful for when I tasted the thick layer of sweet white chocolate. The smooth coffee caramel however was without a doubt the best part of this slice for me. The coffee flavour was instantly noticeable but not overpowering and it somehow maintained the sweetness of a traditional caramel. The overall this slice was representative of a traditional tiramisu dessert with a mild and sweet coffee flavour. Although the shortbread was slightly soft, the slice maintained a respectable bite with the gold and cocoa dusting making for a festive appearance. I don't think that I have had a cake like his before and am really glad that I got to try it. If I'm honest however, I don't think that I would chose it again over the classic version but if you haven't tried it then I would recommend tasting this sweet and rich little treat whilst they are still available.

Starbucks UK Cinnamon Spiced Apple Bircher review

Well welcome to 2017! After sliiiiightly over-doing the eating over Christmas, I couldn't quite face another cake or greasy spoon this morning. On a much needed Starbucks run after a bitterly cold and early start, I picked up this cinnamon spiced apple bircher. This bircher was made up of Greek style yoghurt with oats, apple and cinnamon-spiced winter compote. On top of the bircher there was a hefty topping of sultanas, pumpkin seeds, roasted apples & pears.

As usual the bircher was much more filling than it looked due to the thick and creamy Greek yoghurt. Apple was the most prominent fruit throughout the bircher with plenty of shredded pieces along with the oats. Being a over of cinnamon I was slightly disappointed at how mild the flavour was, however I could detect it in the sweet roasted fruit toppings. I was also impressed with the generous amount of pumpkin seeds and sultanas that were on top as these added both a crunchiness and juiciness to the overall texture.

Overall I did enjoy this winter themed breakfast. I think that this bircher could have been improved by adding slightly more spices, however the combination of the apple flavour with the pumpkin seeds, sultanas and roasted fruit means that this is a convenient little breakfast that I would pick up again. The oats were very small but still required chewing and when paired with a hot, milky drink this ended up being a sweet and creamy morning snack.