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.

Haagen Dazs White Chocolate & Almond Ice Cream Bars review

Haagen Dazs have been on a bit of a roll recently with all of the new products they have been releasing and being an ice cream lover, I was desperate to get my hands on all of the new varieties. I started with these white chocolate and almond bars since you can't really go wrong when white chocolate is involved! These are basically like a posh Magnum but the ice cream also contains caramelised almonds and so these are a little more special.

The ice cream is 30ml in size and came coated in a smooth layer of white chocolate. The chocolate itself wasn't very thick but was sweet, creamy and very tasty. The ice cream itself was the usual luxurious and very rich vanilla that Haagen Dahs are famous for and the addition of the caramelised almond pieces only made these even better. There were plenty of almonds which were noticeably sweet and I loved the addition of the crunchy texture to the smooth and creamy ice cream.

Hats off to Hagen Dahz for releasing such a delicious and high quality ice cream without any gimmicks. These are a simple and yet very impressive product and I would highly recommend them. These made for a slightly more sophisticated ice cream dessert and I am sure that I will be buying these again throughout the warmer summer months.