NEW Pringles Pigs in Blankets

These new Christmassy Pringles got me really excited! It was disclosed at the start of November that Pringles were going to be launching a new limited edition flavour based around what is arguably the best part of Christmas Dinner, and I've been eagerly awaiting their arrival into stores since.

Chipolata and Bacon Flavour Savoury Snack

Now the one thing I couldn't get my head around was how Pringles were going to differentiate the two pork products. I think after all, what makes 'pigs-in-blankets' so special is the contrast between the crispy bacon casing and the squishy sausage within. So does it work in Pringle form?

For me? No. Whilst the Pringles had a lovely smoky flavour, I didn't find them particularly meaty. The most powerful flavour by far came from the Paprika, with an acknowledgement towards pork (which was more ham than chipolata or bacon) resulting in a product that's probably better described as Barbeque. I've found in recent years that Pringle's flavourings have become more mild, lacking the 'pow' that once kept you going back for more until you'd finished the entire tube.

They are a pleasant crisp, and make a welcome change to the normal salt & vinegar that is the Pringles staple in our house, but I won't be stockpiling them before they're gone from supermarket shelves.

6/10

Laffy Taffy Apple, Funyuns & Trident Pineapple (Taffy Mail Part 1)

As a lover of American snacks, I was over-the-moon when Taffy Mail kindly offered to send me a box of their November 'Classic' Box to review. Taffy Mail are a subscription based service who will send a surprise selection of American treats to your door every month, with prices range from £7.49-£24.99 depending on how many goodies you'd like to receive. The classic box is their mid-priced product and contains 10-12 American Sweets & 1 can of Pop.

I felt like Christmas had come early when the Postie dropped mine off. The box was chock-a-block full of goodies, and so I'll be reviewing it in parts over the next week or so! 





















Just for info, the box contained:

• Laffy Taffy Sour Apple
• Laffy Taffy Strawberry
• Mike & Ike Zours
• Trident Pineapple
• Take 5
• Twinkies
• Double Dipped Nerd
• Hawaiian Punch "Juicy fruit Red"
• Twizzlers Twists
• Milk Duds
• Funyuns

Laffy Taffy Apple














The Laffy Taffy was a very long rope style sweet, and although it claimed to contain no artificial flavours, it certainly contained  artificial colours as it was luminescent green and would have made an excellent glow-stick!




















It was apple-y although not particularly sour, and had a good amount of chewiness (which I was thankful for as my teeth can't handle hard caramels). It was fun, but nothing hugely different to what we can get here in the UK -it's  similar to a long Maoam- although I did like the terrible joke on the back!

5/10

Trident Pineapple
I get through quite a lot of chewing gum, and I really like flavoured gum- especially the Turbulence range because the flavour is powerful and it lasts a long time too. I wish we had more of the exciting flavours that the Americans are accustomed to, and so I was looking forward to enjoying a fresh new flavour.

It certainly tasted exotic and refreshing to begin will, but within 30 seconds the flavour faded to nothing and I was forced to throw my piece in the bin.
3/10

Funyuns

Ooh clever play on words- but basically these are just onion rings -standard, maize based snacks that you can buy from any British supermarket. 

They were tasty, but they're not particularly different to what we have here in good ol' Blighty (and pickled onion Monster Munch waaaay outstrip them!)
4/10 

NEW Tesco Banana Bliss Bars

As I mentioned when I reviewed the Nakd Christmas Pud bars last month, I'm having a bit of a passionate affair with their range. I've since tried the Cocoa & Strawberry Crunch bars, which are so tasty! The only problem is... I'm a bit skint. So love them as I do, I have to limit the amount of bars I buy. 

Tesco may have solved my problem however, because they've released two new cold pressed fruit bars: Banana Bliss and Berry Blast. Priced at £1.19 for four bars they undercut Nakd's approximate 75p a bar RRP by about two thirds! Similar to Nakd's Crunch range they are also high in protein and are wheat & dairy free 

Cold pressed fruit and nut bar with dates, soy protein crispies, raisins, cashew nuts and banana.

As I'm sure you'll agree though, price isn't everything, and if they taste pants then what's the point? Nakd's banana bar is my favourite of their Crunch range, so I decided to try Tesco's version. 

The bars are a similar colour, but Tesco's is more rectangular in shape. Consistency wise, I found Tesco's to be slightly more crunchy (you can see the soy crispies in the photo below) which I preferred.The flavour was indistinguishly different to Nak'd's bars, with a strong and natural banana taste. 

Nak'd I love you, but Tesco- you've got me hook, line and sinker. If you're a regular consumer of Nak'ds range I urge you to give these supermarket brand version a go! 

8/10

Belvita Soft Bakes Chocolate Chip

Belvita released these soft bakes back in August, but given how saturated the biscuit/cookie market is, I wasn't too excited by them and haven't bought them until now. They come in a box of five biscuits and Tesco stock three different flavours: golden grain, red berries and chocolate chip.

Of course I chose the chocolate chip, and when I unwrapped it, the biscuit was thicker than I was expecting. It was oval in shape and was abundantly adorned with miniature dark chocolate nibs which permeated the entire bake. 

It's soft and chewy like a fresh bakery cookie, with little puffs of cereal which add an extra textural dimension. The chocolate is rich, and complements the sweet biscuit wonderfully. It's quite satisfying to eat, and although I wouldn't eat it instead of breakfast, It's a perfect mid-morning/afternoon energy boost.

Belvita, you've pleasantly surprised me with this line- I'll certainly be buying them again!

8/10

NEW Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha at ASDA

I was just picking up a carton of milk when some lovely red festive packaging caught my eye on the shelf above. Next to the regular iced Starbucks coffees was this new Christmas edition- White Chocolate Mocha. It seems an odd time of year to release an iced coffee, but it did sound good so I thought I'd try it out: white chocolate and coffee are two of my favourite commodities after all!

First off, rather stupidly, I was taken aback by the colour -expecting it to be look similar to the white chocolate 'Options' drink- but of course, it's fundamentally coffee and so looked more like a Latte. 

The taste was super sweet, but lacking the distinctive flavour of white chocolate... Or any kind of chocolate to be honest. The coffee element was nice enough, but it was just a sugary standard iced latte. I drank it in a bit of hurry, so perhaps I didn't give it a chance by lending enough time to properly enjoy it, but I probably won't buy it again.

Disappointing Starbucks!

3/10

Apple & Cinnamon Bounce Energy Ball

Another Boots meal deal equals another opportunity to try a snack I wouldn't ordinarily buy. The little Bounce Energy Balls caught my eye a few weeks back, and although I was a bit unsure as to what to make of of them,  I finally bit the bullet and got round to picking up an Apple and Cinnamon one this week.

They are only little and easily fit in the palm of my hand. However the packaging professes plenty of health benefits, including that they are high in Antioxidant Vitamin E, which contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress -whatever that means. They are a "chewy mix of cashews, Whey Protein and Seeds", and are gluten free, high in protein and contain no artificial preservatives. 

The ball, once unwrapped, looked like a rather alien-esque brown blob, and was embellished with chopped cashews. The flavour was better than expected with a strong sweet cinnamon flavour, well balanced by the apple. It was really dense which made it satisfying to nibble, although given the size of it, it didn't take long to eat.

I enjoyed the Bounce Ball, but as I'm not an athlete I wouldn't spend the RRP of £1.99 to buy one.

6/10

NEW Raspberry Cheesecake Brownie Müller Corner

How did I miss this new corner when reviewing Müller's new limited editions last month?

 Raspberry + Cheesecake + Brownie + Yogurt = Could it sound any more appetising? 

With so many components would Müller pull it off? 

"Cheesecake flavour yogurt with a raspberry layer and digestive & chocolate brownie pieces."

The yogurt was surprisingly good, and almost made me jump up and down with glee at the surprisingly rich and creamy tanginess of it that genuinely resembled cheesecake. The raspberry sauce was extremely sweet - more like jam- and despite not being quite as tart as I would have liked, worked well with the yogurt.. The brownie pieces packed a powerful cocoa punch for such small little cubes, and the digestive biscuits offered further texture to this wonderful little dessert. 

The components perfectly complemented each other, resulting in my favourite Müller product to date- it's safe to assume that I'll be making the most of this limited edition whilst it lasts! 

10/10

Tesco Beautifully Balanced Tandoori Chicken

Tesco sent me some vouchers to try their new frozen beautifully balanced range as part of their Orchard scheme*...

'"Our new Tesco Beautifully Balanced range of ready-meals, soups and pasta sauces are expertly prepared with great quality ingredients, then frozen to keep all that fresh flavour locked in. So it’s really easy to enjoy deliciously healthy food in a flash."

I chose the Tandoori Chicken which it suggested microwaving (from frozen) for 12 minutes. I'm always a bit dubious about microwaveable frozen chicken, and was expecting a dry, tasteless (although apparently healthy!) meal. The pack contained two chicken breasts in a Tandoori sauce with red onion and red & yellow peppers. I couldn't fault it on Tesco's promise of it being ready in a flash, and I served it with easy cook rice, which meant that my entire dinner was ready in less than 15 minutes. 

The chicken breasts were nice and plump, and actually retained a lot of moistness despite being subject to the wrath of my microwave. The peppers were succulent- even my other half ate them who normally refuses to eat any veg. I was actually really impressed! The sauce had a certain kick, but just an enjoyable heat and certainly not a sweat inducing intensity. Anyone who says you can't eat healthily when pushed for time and on a budget (the pack should have cost £3) should give this range a go! 

8/10   

*If you shop at Tesco and you're not part of the Orchard scheme, I suggest you sign up! It's a free service run by Tesco, who invite you to try certain 'programmes' where you can try certain ranges or products for a fraction of the price- or most of the time completely free. 

NEW Naughty But Rice Coconut & Raspberry

Naughty but rice is a new British company who produce indulgent rice puddings made with whole milk and cream. They make three different 'fabulous flavours': Salted Caramel, Chocolate Orange and Coconut and Raspberry, which are stocked in Morrisons stores. I thought I'd take advantage of their offer price of 75p (for one pot) to try their Coconut and Raspberry as  I love coconut but it's relatively underused in British desserts. 

Each 140g dessert comes in a very pretty little pot decorated with Pop Art style illustrations. Naughty But Rice advise that you can eat it hot or cold, but given how cold it was last night I decided to heat mine up in the microwave. The coconut and raspberry flavour does not come from a layer like the Muller rice pots, but is incorporated into the whole dessert, which means it's a pretty dusky pink colour. 

I heated mine for the suggested one minute, but it was only lukewarm and so I popped it back into the microwave for a further 30 seconds. I might have made a mistake though, because the dessert was really claggy -almost the same consistency as peanut butter- something I'm not used to as a regular consumer of Muller Rice. The flavour however was delicious, the coconut and raspberry both came through wonderfully in equal measures. It was a comforting combination and brought me right back to being a child and enjoying warm jam & coconut sponge.

If I buy these again, I'll try them cold and see if it's less claggy, but I'm not in any hurry- I think I'll be sticking to my Muller. 

6/10 

Portlebay Cinnamon Swirl Popcorn

I'm a bit of a cinnamon fiend, so much so that I'll sprinkle it on cereal, peanut butter, and even bananas. It's my favourite spice and I'd be a bit lost without it, hence my utter disappointment at the revolting Boots Cinnamon Popcorn I reviewed last month. Portlebay popcorn also make a cinnamon variety, and I've hoarded it until almost last from that box they sent me. I prayed it wouldn't disappoint in the same way, but their other flavours are (mostly) wonderful so I wasn't overly concerned.

The popcorn was a lovely golden colour, and it was perfectly light and crunchy. The cinnamon was perfect, it was warming and festive, with the much needed sweetness to back it up. There was a strong apple flavour that came through deliciously, which meant that the popcorn tasted more like Apple Crumble- what a treat! 

This popcorn couldn't be more different to the Boots atrocity. If you've got a penchant for apple crumble, but want something a bit healthier, then this might be the perfect snack for you!

9/10

Their other flavours I've reviewed:

Lemon Sherbet

Wasabi & Sweet Ginger

Chilli & Lime

Sweet & Salty

Very Berry

Crispy Bacon & Maple Syrup

Reese's Christmas Tree

What's better than a Christmas Tree? A peanut butter Christmas Tree of course! I'm so glad to see that the UK is finally getting more of the Reese's seasonal goodies, because I do find that the Americans tend to make better peanut butter treats than us Brits. I found the Reese's tree in Tesco priced at 50p. 

Each little treat is in a rustic tree shape -there's no fancy moulding here. They follow the same format of Reese's peanut butter cups- peanut butter wrapped in chocolate... Well, chocolate flavoured coating more specifically. Put it this way, you wouldn't want to eat a bar of the coating by itself. The peanut butter centre is thicker and grainier than what you would spread on your toast, but it means that it holds its shape well and can be nibbled without oozing out everywhere. 

The salty, nutty filling combined with the super sweet chocolate coating is an absolute winner for me, but I do love Reese's. I know what I'll be putting on my Christmas list...

9/10

NEW Cocoa & Orange Echo Falls Fruit Fusions

Echo Falls have recently launched three new winter flavours into their fruit fusions range: Winter Spice, Orange & Cranberry and Cocoa & Orange. 

Chocolate flavoured wine sounds unusual, but I bought a chocolate infused red wine from Tesco last year at Christmas in the bargain bin, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately however I haven't been able to find it since (and I've forgotten the name now). So with this in mind, I thought I'd give Echo Fall's Cocoa and Orange fruit fusion a go. 

Looking at the label, it doesn't actually mention any wine content- it simply states that it's an 'alcoholic mixed fruit drink', oo-er. The second alarm bell went off when I read that it should be served chilled or over ice.  Echo Falls have the following to say:

I could smell a strong orange scent when I unscrewed the bottle, with a faint nod to chocolate.. The liquid was more translucent than red wine, and tasted... Well.. Different. It's kind of similar to a very watered down mulled wine, and so I couldn't help but think it might be more enjoyable warm. Orange is by far the most prevalent taste and it is palatable, however the barely detectable cocoa felt like an afterthought, and was rather synthetic- despite Echo Fall's claims to natural flavouring. 

It wasn't unpleasant,  just different, and I think I'd buy the winter spice version if I decide to try any more of the new fruit fusion range.

6/10

Walls Gingerbread Sandwich Ice Creams

I feel like I need to apologise for another review of a festive product that was first released in 2014. Once again, I didn't get around to trying them last year, so I'm trying them this year for the first time- but I'm guessing I may not be the only one! 

'Gingerbread Sandwich is the perfect Winter Ice Cream! 

Gingerbread Sandwich is a special treat on cold, Winter days. When 2 delicious Ginger Biscuits meet creamy, tasting vanilla Ice Cream you get the perfect Winter Ice Cream. Enjoy it with a cup of tea, or just as a special snack in cold days, for the joy of Ice Cream with a special Winter taste'. 

I've got to be in the right mood for ginger; I often find gingernuts too crunchy and spicy, however I love a good slice of Jamacian Ginger Cake (especially warm with a large pool of Ambrosia custard!) and eagerly await the return of German Lebkuchen into the discount supermarkets in the run up to Christmas.

Unwrapping the ice cream, I discovered that it was a good sized portion, unlike the tiny Oreo ice creams. The biscuits were a lovely deep golden colour, and the ice cream was contrastingly stark and bright. 

The ginger biscuits were soft, chewy and perfectly spiced, offering a genuine satisfying warmth. The whiteness of the ice cream concerned me and I hoped it would't taste cheap and artificial, but I couldn't have been more wrong -it was in fact rich and creamy, which offset the ginger wonderfully. It's not often that I find an ice cream particularly comforting (delicious and moreish yes) but this dessert made me want to nestle into my sofa with the fire on and a festive film. 

Top marks Walls!

10/10

NEW Fox's Empire Bars

As we're getting closer to the release of the new Star Wars film (something I can't escape due to the almost daily countdown from my other half) there is an ever increasing array of new themed products on the shelves. Earlier this year Fox's released some strawberry lunchbox biscuit packs: Frozen 'Ice Whirls' and Star Wars 'Galactic Snacks'. This must have been a lucrative move for the brand because they have just launched two new licensed lines: Star Wars 'Empire Bars' and Frozen 'Enchantment Bars', which are essentially the same product -chocolate and raisin biscuit bars.

Of course, I fell for the Star Wars theme, and picked up the pack of 8 Empire Bars from ASDA for £1. They are finger shaped biscuits with different characters on each individual packet- and at only 55cals each they are even smaller than the new Rocky Cookie bars I reviewed a couple of weeks ago. 

Looking at them they are very similar (except for the even smaller size) to the cookie bars, and taste virtually identical. I couldn't find any raisins in mine, but then again it was gone in less than two mouthfuls! 

They are tasty, and I guess they provide a bite size sized sugar rush for the children they are aimed at- but for me they're too much style and not enough substance. 

3/10

NEW Chocolate Orange Beanies Coffee

I love coffee -especially flavoured coffee. However, as a student I sadly don't have a huge amount of disposable income to be able to regularly get my fix from coffee shops (although I did treat myself to the new Tiramisu latte at Costa yesterday, which I thought was delightful). 

Fortunately there is a solution in the form of flavoured instant coffee. I fell in love with the Douwe Egberts 'Flavour Collective' range when it was released two years ago, and haven't really returned to standard coffee since. More recently I've dabbled into Beanies' flavoured coffee range, although my local Tesco only stocks their Amaretto Almond. Sainsbury's stock a much larger range and so I took the opportunity to stock up on the different flavours when I visited recently, including the new Chocolate Orange Coffee.

Chocolate instant coffee is something I've had bad experiences with. I once bought Little's Swiss Chocolate Coffee, but it was so bitter and had such a disgusting chemical aftertaste  that I was put off the idea completely; so much so that I haven't even dared try the Douwe Egberts version. As the entire Beanies range was on offer for £2 per jar, and given how much I enjoy their Amaretto Almond coffee, I decided to give their jaffa-inspired coffee a go.

'So chocolatey, so orangey, it’s not theirs it’s ours! Smooth milk chocolate with tangy orange flavours - try it once, you'll be hooked - trust us! At just 2 calories per serving every cup of Beanies Chocolate Orange is like a little taste of happiness. All our flavours are 100% SUGAR FREE and suitable for Vegetarians & Vegans!'

Lifting the lid, I was greeted by the sweet scent of dark chocolate combined with an orangey citrus zing- it certainly smelt better than what I remember of the Littles' coffee. Sadly, the chocolate didn't translate as well in taste, however the orange was much more palatable and came through as the star flavour. I guess that making a chocolate coffee with no sugar but maximum taste is quite the challenge, which meant that the cocoa element had a similar (although much less sharp) synthetic aftertaste to the Little's chocolate coffee.  Fortunately the orange saved the day, and whilst it's certainly not my favourite coffee, it won't be going in the bin. It's a shame though, because I think that the other Beanies coffees are wonderful.

5/10

Ratings I'd give other Beanies Coffee:

Amaretto Almond 8/10 

-It's smooth with lovely end note of Almond

Cinder Toffee 6/10

- I didn't find that there was huge amount of flavour, although it's pleasantly sweet

Irish Cream 9.5/10

- If you like bailey's I'd highly suggest buying this, it's difficult to believe this creamy coffee is just 2cals* per serving!

*unless you give it a good slug of milk like I do!

NEW Knickerbocker Ice Cream Cones at Tesco

Tesco, thank you for creating yet another new ice-cream in the British Gelato drought season that is otherwise known as winter. Hidden in the freezer aisle, these new additions were modestly situated amongst the other own-brand cones, at the very reasonable price of £1 for the box of 4.

Knickerbocker Glorys have become somewhat of a a retro dessert- something you don't often see on menus anymore- and indeed it seems to be open for debate as to what the dish consists of.

For example the Telegraph's recipe calls for 'vanilla ice cream, raspberry ice cream and raspberry coulis' whereas the Cambridge Dictionary defines it as 'a ​sweet ​dish consisting of ​layers of ​ice ​cream, ​fruit, ​jelly, and ​cream, ​served in a ​tall ​glass.'  

Tesco have taken a completely different route altogether, and their take on the Knickerbocker Glory cones are 'Peach & strawberry and cream ice creams in a biscuit cone coated with chocolate flavour coating, rippled and topped with peach sauce and sugar balls.'  I guess that Knickerbocker Glory sounds much more enticing than Peach and Strawberry-  in fact I don't think I would have purchased them if I had realised that's what it was!

The sprinkles were a pretty addition, and there were also generous dollops of peach sauce drizzled on top. The ice cream tasted more tutti fruity than strawberry & peach, as the flavours muddled together within the cone. The sauce offered an enjoyable contrast, providing a tartness that cut through the sweet ice cream, and the biscuit cone had a lovely dark chocolate rim which added an extra depth of flavour.

These are much more refreshing than the standard flavour cones, and if you're a fan of fruity ice cream I'd suggest giving these a go!  I'll probably stick to chocolate in future...

7/10

NEW Cocoa Filled Breakast Biscuits & Maple Syrup Granola Bars by Sainsbury's

I went on a rare shopping trip to Sainsbury's to find the Christmas Pud Nakd Bar that I reviewed yesterday, and couldn't resist browsing the aisles to see if they have anything interesting and/or different to what I normally find in Tesco or ASDA. I came across Sainsbury's 'new' own-brand cereal bar range which are currently on offer at £1 per box. Given how wonderful I think ASDA's peanut butter granola bars are, I thought I'd give a couple of their products a try.

Maple Syrup Granola Bars

If you look at the packet of Nature Valley's granola bars you'll notice that they are manufactured in Spain which also happen to be the place of origin for the Sainsbury's maple syrup bars; this led me to believe *hope* that the 'own-brand' was actually Nature Valley in disguise.

However, when I unwrapped the bars I realised that I'd made a silly mistake, because although they follow the same format -2 biscuits in one pack- and are a similar amount of calories, they are very different in consistency: the Sainsbury's bars are completely solid and lack the signature crumbliness of Nature Valley. This means that they're much tougher to munch on, and I was exceedingly grateful for the great big mug of coffee I had to dunk them in. Once dipped, they did soften, and the maple syrup flavour came through perfectly.

6/10

Cocoa Filled Breakfast Biscuits

Sainsbury's have also released two varieties of  'filled' Breakfast Biscuits: Cocoa and Coconut & Yogurt. Whilst the coconut would have been my preferred choice (particularly because it's much more unusual) it was unfortunately out of stock. Given my love of chocolate I picked up the Cocoa flavour anyway.

I've always wondered why Belvita haven't yet added a chocolate filled breakfast biscuit to their range. The cocoa biscuit sounds nice- but it's the cocoa filling that I like! When I bought this pack, I was of the impression that the chocolate filling would be enveloped by the biscuit outer. I've got to stop making preconceptions because I was utterly disappointed when I unwrapped the bars and found them to be just like the Belvita bars- with a chocolate layer sandwiched between two biscuits.

The biscuits are made from wheat, rye and barley and are suprisingly sturdy. They are quite tough to break and don't have a huge amount of flavour- reminding me of a particularly thick cheese cracker. In contrast, The cocoa layer was soft and gooey with ample chocolate flavour.

They tasted more healthy than the new PiCK UP bars I reviewed last week- but they're nowhere near as tasty. Perhaps they just need some caramel!

4/10