Shapers Turkey, Stuffing & Redcurrant Sandwich (Boots)

Today I thought I'd take the opportunity to share with you the weekly highlight of my lunches. For a long time now I've looked forward to my Monday Boots Meal Deal, courtesy of o2's priority scheme. As a student I rarely buy sandwiches, instead I make and take my own in to uni with me as a far cheaper option. Normally I mix up the mains part of the meal deal between the various sandwiches, wraps, salads and sushi (of which there are a fabulous selection) but for the past 6-7 weeks I have been ruthlessly sticking to their Limited Edition Turkey,Stuffing & Redcurrant sarnie. Nothing beats a festive sammie. Well maybe a fish finger or sausage butty does, but as far as cold sarnies go Christmas is King.

"Cooked Turkey breast, pork, sage and onion stuffing mayonnnaise with cranberry and redcurrant sauce and spinach on malted bread."

Every Monday the bread has been soft with a welcome earthiness thanks to the malted nature of it. There's always a plentiful supply of spinach too which is perhaps an odd choice for a festive sandwich (I sure as hell don't have spinach on Xmas day anyway) but I'm grateful for the nod to some kind of veg -and lettuce just wouldn't work here either. 

Week-on-week the turkey is good too; it's moist and retains about as much flavour as you're going to get from the traditional Christmas bird. The cranberry and redcurrant sauce is tart enough to err on the right side of sweet, and complements the meat well. The reason why I'm addicted to this sammie however is the pork, sage and onion stuffing mayonnaise. I love a good stuffing (oo-er), and Boots have been very smart to incorporate it into the sauce rather than keep it as a separate layer. For me the biggest selling point of this sandwich is so often its downfall too. The amount of mayo is very hit and miss, some days it's smothering the turkey (just how I like it) and others it's like Boots' sarnie makers are running out of fillings (see today's pathetic covering below). Boo. 

The disappointment is just about bearable and I'll keep opting for the Turkey, Stuffing & Redcurrant Sandwich every week -and it'll be sorely missed come New Year. It's not as decadent or as filling as M&S' Pigs & Blankets sarnie, but it is a damn site cheaper (even at full price) and kinder on the waistline -I've got to make room for all the snacks to review after all! 

8/10 

Handcrafted Chocolate Log (Boots)

I've not held back when it comes to giving you my opinions on Boots' bakery style snacks. We've had the grim Cookie Dough Brownie, the awful Banoffee Flapjack and disappointing Red Velvet Cake Slice. More recently I've had better experiences however with their Carrot Cake Slice -which I've had a far few times since reviewing and am still quite happy with. Boots released a couple of Festive themed cake slices last month, at the same time as their festive Sammie range, and so I decided to take a punt as part of my Monday £1 meal deal on the Handcrafted Chocolate Log. 

"A chocolate sponge topped with chocolate buttercream, and a milk chocolate decoration."

I didn't have high hopes for the cake, not only because of my history with Boots' snacks, but also because I realised last year that I'm rather picky when it comes to Yule logs. Not even the highly exalted Tesco Finest Yule Log pleased my disgruntled tastebuds. Still, this little slice looked pretty and chocolatey, so I prepared myself to try it with fresh eyes.

I was forced to eat my hat. The cake was moist and soft, with a bold chocolate flavour that didn't border on bitter. I soon discovered an additional surprise too: the plentiful supply of dark Belgian chocolate chips which studded the mixture and added a lovely twist. The buttercream on top was also tasty, bordering on fudge-like in its thick, creamy softness. I had expected naff Kinnerton advent calendar quality from the fake 'flake' adorning the slice, but yet again I was stupefied and found it to taste rather good. Please don't get me wrong, we're not talking high end artisanal chocolate here, but it was crumbly, melted in the mouth, and left a pleasant aftertaste. Nom.

I'd certainly say that the Handcrafted Chocolate Log is as good as Boots' carrot cake, but there's just a couple of issues...

1) It's a YULE LOG Boots, so please don't be giving us that Christmas red tape nonsense.

2) I'm now faced with a weekly dilemma on a Monday morning: do I go for the Merry Mince Pie Flapjack or Chocolate Log to complement my festive sarnie?

I think I can cope.

8/10

Carrot Cake (Boots)

Boots. Last chance. I was picking up my meal deal this week but didn’t fancy chocolate -shock horror, right? I went to pick up another Graze flapjack, but then realised that I had just ordered my first Graze subscription box. Hmm. Maybe, just maybe, Boot’s carrot cake wouldn’t be as bad as their cookie dough brownie, banoffee flapjack or red velvet cake. It would have to do.

Unlike their other baked goods, the carrot cake was noticeably soft and moist; so much so that it stuck to its cardboard sleeve. The slice was covered in an ample cream cheese frosting and I could spot a few seeds and raisins dotted about, alongside the slivers of carrot pieces. So far, so good.

The cake was very soft, but not so much that it fell apart. The texture was damn near perfect, light yet packed full of crunchy seeds and squidgy raisins to break up the consistency. Cinnamon was used to great effect, offering a hint of spice in every mouthful.

I wasn't particularly fussed on the cream cheese frosting, but then I'm not an icing kind of girl. I find it too sweet, and the cake was sugary enough as it was (brown sugar ranks highest on its list of ingredients). I'm sure if you do like icing that you would find that it wasn't too bad, and I know I'm just nitpicking!

FINALLY Boots, a cake you can be proud of. Don't get me wrong, nothing beats homemade cake, but this slice is a pretty decent effort for a mass-manufactured bakery treat.

8/10

NEW! Graze Cocoa & Vanilla Protein Flapjack (Boots)

I regularly pick up Graze's wonderful Lemon Drizzle flapjack as part of my Monday Boots meal deal (courtesy of o2 priority). I'd go as far as saying that I can single handedly thank Graze for rekindling my love with the citrus fruit, so much so that I recently opted for Gu's lemon cheesecake* over any of their chocolatey puds -shocking right? With that thought in mind, imagine my excitement therefore when I spotted a new chocolate flapjack from Graze in Boots this week (well, cocoa but same difference). I had to try it at once! But then, I paused. It was a protein flapjack, and my experience of them thus far has been less than pleasant... 

Hmm. Do I risk a bad flapjack over one that I know I love? Of course I do!

"Whole British oat flapjack with cocoa, vanilla and protein crispies."

As usual, the flapjack was split into three equal chunks. I couldn't smell any cocoa, which was odd considering how pungent the lemon is in their drizzle flapjack. 

I bit into it, and realised that this was no ordinary flapjack. There were big and crunchy (soy protein) pieces embedded throughout which meant it was less moist and squidgy than what I was used to. At first I was a little non-plussed: the chocolate flavour wasn't particularly strong and the texture was different to what I expected. Never again I thought, it's back to the lemon drizzle next week..

But then, somehow, I got my head around the fact that, yes, it was different -but that doesn't necessarily  equate to bad. When I dropped the term 'flapjack' from the front of my mind, I started to enjoy it, and I mean really enjoy it. The cocoa flavouring gave the treat a more hot chocolatey taste, although I couldn't detect the vanilla. The combination of textures made me think of a Rice Krispies' Square + Flapjack hybrid; It was really quite delicious! 

I won't always choose this new flapjack above the lemon drizzle flavour, but I definitely will have it again. I don't eat a lot of meat so sometimes it's useful to get a bit of extra protein in, and at 9g per flapjack I can think of worse ways to top up! 

My experience of Graze has been so good that I'm actually considering signing up. Are any of you subscribers? What are the best boxes?

9/10

*Also marvellous and perfectly refreshing! 

Cookie Dough Brownie (Boots)

Monday: £1 Boots meal deal day, and the highlight of my lunching week. Ever since the disastrous red velvet cake (not to mention the vile coconut & pineapple popcorn and pants banoffee flapjack) I have given their own branded treats a wide berth, but they say that time is a healer -and my curiosity has once again got the better of me. 

The cookie dough brownie sounds like such a magnificent concept -after all Ben & Jerry have nailed the combination with their 'Half Baked' ice cream- but the trouble is, I've been burnt before by Boot's badly executed marvellous ideas. That said, I just couldn't not try it. Like a moth to the flame...

"A Belgian dark chocolate brownie topped with cookie dough, Belgian chocolate chips and fudge pieces."

I told you it sounded good!

As you can see, the proportion of cookie dough to brownie was pretty much equal. I couldn't smell the cocoa once it was unwrapped, but I tried to forget my previous experiences and enjoy the treat for what it was meant to be.

The cookie dough was pretty scrummy -very sweet, but squidgy and grainy- just like the naughty scrapings from the baking bowl. I couldn't find the chocolate chips (12%) or fudge bits (2% -unsurprising really) but I didn't really mind as the dough was so tasty.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the brownie beneath. The overwhelming flavour was odd -I couldn't liken it to brownie and it just left an odd chemically aftertaste. Not nice. I was pleased to find that it wasn't rock hard, and had retained some softness, but the texture couldn't detract from the unpleasant taste.

I decided to microwave what was left of the cookie dough brownie -after all brownies are always better warm and melty- but even this didn't make the base taste any darn better (although I can report that the doughy top was even more delicious warm).

Yes, this is another disappointing Boot's treat. It's marginally better than their other baked goods, but I think I'll stick to the chocolate bars in future.

4/10

Red Velvet Cake (Boots)

Today's my birthday and so it feels only right to write a cake review of one of my favourite cake flavours, the American classic Red Velvet.

You'd have thought that I would have given up on Boots' own-brand snack range by now. All of my finds so far have looked and sounded delicious, but have in fact tasted pretty rubbish. Remember their awful Cinnamon & Vanilla Popcorn, even worse Coconut & Pineapple Popcorn and disappointing Banoffee Flapjack? Well I hate giving up on anyone/anything, and seem to live in constant hope that they'll redeem themselves one day, so bought Boots' 'Delicious' Red Velvet Cake Slice (albeit with my fingers crossed).

The cake looked pretty with its creamy icing and red sprinkles. It wasn't the bright colour that I'd have liked it to be, but I felt I could forgive Boots as it's so much harder to get that vivid shade nowadays thanks to the stringent laws on the use of artificial colours. 

The knife cut through the cake easily thanks to its fluffy texture and soft icing. The cake was moister than expected, with a good even crumb structure... But, that's where the positives stopped.

Once again, Boots clearly haven't given enough thought to the flavours. The cake had a faint cocoa flavour, but it was so bland that it tasted more like it might have absorbed any lingering fridge smells. It really was that bad. 

The icing on top didn't improve matters either; surely a key characteristic of 'Red Velvet' is the tart cream cheese layer? Well, Boots forewent it altogether, instead opting for a 'white chocolate' buttercream. I'm a huge fan of white chocolate, so this shouldn't be a huge problem, but I couldn't remotely taste its inclusion... so I checked the packet and read that it only accounts for 1% of the ingredients! How pointless. 

3/10

Now, despite a FOURTH bad Boots review, I'm still tempted by their 'Cookie Dough Brownie' and Carrot Cake (yes, I'm a mug). 

Please get in touch if you've had any of Boots' cakes or snacks that actually taste as good as they sound! 

Banoffee Flapjack (Boots)

I'd forgotten just how much I love flapjacks until (thanks to O2 Priority) I got the chance to try any of the Graze boxes sold in Boots completely free of charge! I was in a bit of a dilemma  as I liked the sound of the chocolate dippers and strawberry & blueberry coins, but then I spotted the lemon drizzle box and my choice was made. 

The lemon drizzle Graze was exquisite, soft yet gooey with a sweet citrussy kick, and hands-down the best flapjack I'd had in years. It was so good that it made me consider signing up to Graze!

You know what its like when you've rekindled a love for an almost forgotten treat and suddenly become acutely aware of its presence? Well, I go into Boots every Monday for my £1 meal deal (thanks again O2) and for the first time, acknowledged their own-brand range of flapjacks -including a banoffee version. As a lover of anything banoffee, I couldn't resist!

'Oat flapjack with caramel and banana, topped with belgian chocolate.'

The flapjack was a sizeable slab, weighing in at 61g. There were three dried banana coins on the top, and a generous chocolatey drizzle. The gooey caramel layer had stuck to the packet in places, meaning that the slice had a slightly messy appearance. As I've said before, I don't believe that looks are a reflection of taste, so I eagerly got stuck in to my treat.

Unfortunately, the Boots flapjack tasted utterly different to its Graze cousin. It was stodgy, and overwhelmingly sweet, with the caramel layer compounding the problem. Instead of the luxuriously silky Dulce De Leche style caramel that I experienced with the Morrisons 'Millionaire's Shortbread Mash Up' ice cream, it was a gritty saccharine layer that wasn't pleasant. The banana element came solely from the three chips on top, so felt somewhat like a lazy afterthought.

I couldn't help but think the flapjack would've been improved from the caramel and banana flavours being rippled through the oats, instead of being clumsily added on top. It's such a shame, there was so much promise for the Boots Banoffee Flapjack, if only it'd been given the thought and execution it deserved.

3/10

NEW! For Goodness Shakes Chocolate Milkshake (Boots)

As you may have gathered by now, chocolate plays a huge role in my every day life. In fact, one of my New Years resolutions is to eat chocolate every day, and my other half will agree that I'm far less grumpy as a result! As such, my eyes are now preprogrammed to spot anything with cocoa in, and so when I spotted this chocolate milkshake in Boots with the word 'new' emblazoned on the front, I felt impervious to resist.

It wasn't until after paying that I realised that it was a protein shake, with claims to many health giving properties. The Goodness Shakes range consists of low sugar, low fat drinks containing 20g of protein and 14 minerals and vitamins. I'm certainly no athlete (unless you count the daily dog walk!) but I figured that as a rare-meat eater, the vitamins and protein in chocolatey form could do me no harm.

I gave the bottle a good shake, and was pleased to find that it was lovely and thick. It wasn't quite as dense as a Frijj milkshake, but it was certainly thicker than semi-skimmed milk. The chocolate flavour was very sweet considering the product's low sugar content, but that was only a bonus for me. There was an odd, almost metallic, aftertaste which I attributed to the 'lean milk protein'. I was certain I could detect notes of coconut, but it wasn't expressly stated on the ingredients, so unless it was included in the flavourings I must've just imagined it.

If you're craving a Frijj milkshake, this won't hit the mark. If however, you're in need of extra protein and/or fancy a healthy alternative to the chocolate bar that's calling to you at lunch time, give this a go and see how you get on!

7/10

NEW! Coconut & Pineapple Flavour Popcorn (Boots)

Whilst picking up my meal deal from Boots, I spied this new Coconut & Pineapple flavour popcorn. I hesitated, wondering whether it would fare any better than their rather revolting Cinnamon & Vanilla flavour which I reviewed back in October, but as the bag cost just 70p I decided to take a punt on Boot's having improved their range. 

I opened it up, and saw lots of fluffy looking plain coloured kernels. I could detect a slight whiff of tropical flavour, which unfortunately wasn't as aromatic as the popcorn made my Propercorn or Portlebay. Biting into my corn, I realised that the flavour was just as lacking as the smell -there was the mildest hint of pineapple, with absolutely no coconut to be found. 

The kernels lacked the crunchiness of Portlebay's Kracklecorn, and without any flavour to back it up, I just felt like I was eating mouthful upon mouthful of polystyrene. To make things worse there was loads of unpopped corn, and at one point I actually thought I'd broken a tooth. Propercorn Peanut & Almond is an absolute taste sensation and utter joy to munch, but this popcorn from Boots just felt like a never-ending chore to eat. 

1/10

New Limited Edition Cinnamon & Vanilla popcorn by Boots

Monday's tend to be a pretty rubbish day for most people, but I now have a good reason to look forward to the first day of the working week. As an o2 customer I can make use of their priority offer- a boots meal deal for £1 every Monday. Yes I know it's a bit sad, but as a student, trust me when I say that this lunch feels luxurious compared to the rest of the week. I've got into a bit of a meal deal habit: sarnie/wrap, Pepsi & Portlebay Lemon Sherbet Popcorn. Today, however, I made an exception because I spotted Boots' limited edition Cinnamon & Vanilla popcorn. 

I love cinnamon, it's my absolute favourite spice, and so Boots couldn't have really chosen better in terms of my tastes (unless they'd produced a peanut butter and/or banana popcorn.) I've heard good things about Portlebay's cinnamon popcorn but as I haven't located it anywhere yet,  I thought I'd try Boots' version.

The bags are a decent size and when I opened it up I could see the lovely tell-tale dusty cinnamon powder. I expected it to be sweet- rather like the ProperCorn Sweet Coconut & Vanilla that's also a personal favourite- but it wasn't!

Neither sweet or salty, the popcorn was rather neutral- and as cinnamon can be used in both sweet and savoury cooking- It was left with a bit of a split personality. I wondered if I'd just got an un-sweetened price of corn, but it was consistentlu poor throughout  the bag. I was left feeling really confused (and a bit upset I'd chosen it in favour of the Lemon Sherbet Portlebay.)

I'm now not sure whether I'd like Portlebay's cinnamon flavour or not and so  I'd be keen to know if anyone else has tried it? 

Meanwhile, it's back to the Popcorn I know is good...

1/10

Portlebay Lemon Sherbet Popcorn

I love that Popcorn seems to be the snack of choice at the moment, with new brands being stocked in an increasing variety of stockists. I have a particularly sweet tooth and so what excites me most about this new craze is the sheer innovation in flavours- both sweet and savoury. Of course I'm naturally  more drawn towards sweet popcorn in flavours such as the 'Sweet coconut & vanilla' by Propercorn (which are absolutely delightful), and the Tesco own brand 'chocolate orange', 'strawberry toffee' and 'salted caramel' popcorn (which come in a pack of 6 single serving bags).

Whilst in Boots picking up a meal deal I spotted these 'Lemon Sherbert' bags by Portlebay. Each bag is 25g, contains 115cals and costs 80p.  I remember seeing something on the net a few months ago about Portlebay bringing out a coffee flavour popcorn which I'd have chosen above Lemon Sherbet, but never-less I was suitably intrigued by Portlebay and decided to give them a go. 

They're packaging tells me a little more about Portlebay- apparently they are a small crew from Devon who want to make great tasting, interesting food. They 'pop it by hand in small batches with a splash of rapeseed oil and a touch of raw cane sugar to give it a delicious crunch.' They 'then sprinkle it with our natural Lemon Sherbet seasoning.'

I munched on my first mouthful and was disappointed that I wasn't hit with a strong lemony flavour, just a mere citrusy tang. I thought I'd made the wrong choice in not purchasing the Propercorn 'coconut & vanilla' that I know I love, but as I continued through the bag I was rewarded in my persistence. The popcorn increased in intensity, and was reminiscent of the classic Lemon Sherbet sweeties I had as a child.

When I reached the bottom of the bag I realised that Portlebay had completely redeemed themselves and I felt satisfied both by taste and in satiety. I was also impressed that I found a lone hard kernel in my bag, notably less than you would find in a bag of Butterkist for example. I guess that's a benefit of popping it by hand, and I welcomed not having to watch out for that painful crunch when you bite down on an unpopped corn.  

I'm definitely on the hunt for their coffee popcorn now. However,  I'm far more eager to try Propercorn's newest release- a peanut and almond flavour which I absolutely cannot wait for!

8/10