Creative Nature Chia & Cacao Brownie Mix (ASDA)

Last month I reviewed Creative Nature's Superfood bars, and promised that I would let you all know how I got on with their brownie mix. Now I've been craving brownies for a while, but for me brownies must be cooked on the outside but soft and gooey in the middle, and so supermarket versions just don't cut the mustard. I could bake my own, but a mix that you just add eggs and milk too sounded far easier. The trouble is, most baking mixes are pretty pants (I'm thinking Betty Crocker here), but I kept in mind that Creative Nature's bars had been good. There was other factor that was worrying me, but it might sound a little odd: brownies are so tasty because they're so unhealthy. Could an organic, gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, soya-free, coconut-free, sweetener-free, nut-free, 'superfood' mix really scratch my brownie itch? There was only one way to find out...

Well, kind of. I might've added Cadbury Mini Eggs. It was the Easter Weekend after all.

The instructions called for:

1) 400g Brownie Mix (the whole bag)
2) 4 large eggs (or 5tbsp chia seeds + 15 tbsp water for vegan recipe, which is on the pack)
3) 200g butter (or dairy free spread for vegan recipe)
4) 5ml vanilla essence

I whisked the ingredients together before adding the batter to 2 lined loaf tins, which I then topped with the Mini Eggs and baked for 25ish minutes. The whole process from opening the mix to warm brownies took less than half an hour, and as a bonus my house smelt like Willy Wonka's factory. Marvellous. 

The bag suggests that the entire 400g bag makes 20 servings, but I used half (plus the whole bag of Mini Eggs) and cut my brownies into 8 bars. They were certainly squidgy! Creative Nature suggest chilling them in the fridge, but I have zero patience when it comes to food and so enjoyed my first one straight from the oven with a side of Oppo's salted caramel ice cream.

Oh. my. frigging. days. They were divine; gorgeously rich, with a dark bitter-sweet flavour. Once cool they were just as good, and dare I say it, they didn't really even need the Mini Eggs. Mmm. I'm salivating again just thinking about them.

In fact they were so good that I almost didn't share my brownies with any of my family, but I had promised my sister some, so I took one each for her and her partner on Saturday. Except her partner never got one, my sister ate them both (it's ok, he always nabs her chocolate supplies) and she even blamed me for getting her 'back into brownies'. The cheek! 😉 

It's needless to say, if you are a chocoholic who wants a healthy-ish brownie hit without the faff of baking/ you're intolerant to wheat, dairy, or nuts/ you're vegan, then you must try Creative Nature's Brownie Mix. It's available to buy directly from them online, bigger ASDA stores and Ocado. A little birdie told me that it'll soon be stocked in Sainsbury's too, so keep your eyes peeled! 

9/10

NEW! Lumberjack Protein Packed Flapjacks (Online)

If you follow me on Instagram you may already know that I have recently returned to the gym after a break of a few years. With my mission to tone up and gain muscle mass, one of my concerns is how to get enough protein into my diet. I don't eat a huge amount of meat, and often prefer to have peanut butter at lunchtime instead of something more sensible. Fortunately there are a veritable plethora of high protein products available on the market now; some of which I've found to be utterly delicious (the vanilla and fruity Icelandic Skyr pots for example) and others I've found inedible (such as the B'Jammin PB&J and Protein Active Peanut Chia Blast bars). 

I was thrilled to recently receive a huge box of Blackfriars Bakery treats to review, which included a trio of Lumberjack Protein Packed Flapjacks. I'd never heard of Lumberjack before, but then I read the attached note and discovered that they are a new branch of the Leicester based company. I was a bit dubious about the flapjacks as I'd had such a bad experience with the PhD Protein+ Peanut Butter flapjack -so bad was it that it ended up in the bin! Would these be the same? I hoped not, especially as they came in such interesting sounding flavours.. Each of the flapjacks contains between 22-23% protein, are gluten free and suitable for vegetarians.

Ginger, Orange & Dark Chocolate

I love the packaging of all of these bars, they look really colourful and I imagine that they would really stand out on the shelf against their competitors.

As you can see, there was a decently thick layer of dark chocolate topping. It smelt like a normal flapjack, which sounds silly, but I was expecting the pungent chemical/whey protein odour that I'd experienced in the past. 

Biting into it, I would have been forgiven for thinking I was eating a regular flapjack. It was soft, squidgy and buttery -thanks to the inclusion of real butter. Thank the lord! The chocolate wasn't particularly dark, but I preferred it that way. Combined with the orange flavour which infused the oats, the flapjack tasted remarkably jaffa cake-esque. That was until I hit the ginger, which didn't enter every mouthful but occasionally injected it's warm, spicy tones into the bar. 

I was impressed.

8/10

Vanilla Flavour Fudge With Chia & Hemp Seeds

I was a bit surprised when I peeled back the wrapping and discovered the naked bar beneath, Where oh where was the fudgy topping I expected?

Once I had bitten off my first chunk, I forgave Lumberjack entirely. I'm not the world's biggest advocate of chia seeds (they seem a bit tasteless and therefore pointless to me) but the flavour and texture of the bar was amazing! The delightfully sweet vanilla fudge was omnipresent, and the crunchy texture from the seeds kept the bar just as interesting as the ginger did in the first flapjack. 

Another winner!

9/10

Yoghurt Flavour & Mixed Berries

I was actually a little concerned by the time I tried this last flavour in case it was disappointing in comparison to the others. I was therefore pleased when I unwrapped the flapjack and saw a thick yoghurt-y topping. This was looking good.

Sweet bejesus! One of my best friends makes the most incredible white chocolate and cranberry flapjacks, and I kid you not, these tasted so darn similar! I think I'm going to have to check that she's not Mrs Lumberjack in disguise. The tart cranberries and sweetened dried blueberries worked perfectly with the raspberry flavoured oats, offering the ultimate in dried fruit symphony. What made the flapjack taste even more indulgent was the yogurt topping, but that's pretty self explanatory seeing as yogurt coated raisins are one of the best snacks known to man. Note to self: must buy some ASAP.  

10/10

Conclusion

I've been mightily impressed with this new range of protein flapjacks from Lumberjack. They taste less like a health product and more like an indulgent treat. If I were you I'd head on over to Blackfriars' website ASAP -where you can get 10% off until the end of July by using the code 'LUMBERJACK10'.

Many thanks to Lumberjack for the free samples.

Protein Active Peanut Chia Blast Bar (Home Bargains)

I can't think of a more unusual shop than Home Bargains. It's the only place where you might find Emma Bridgewater wellies for less than a tenner, LED Gnomes, Matrix Hair Oils, and Heinz Worcester Sauce (which for info tastes like chinese!). On a recent store exploration, I spotted this Peanut Chia Blast bar. In the same way that Magpies are attracted to all things shiny, I'm drawn to anything with peanut in...

'Healthy Protein Snack made with Carob, Roasted Peanuts & Chia Seeds'.

The bar came in slab form, covered in what looked like chocolate, but was in fact Carob. Biting into the bar, the texture reminded me of a powdery Nougat. The sweetness greeted me with my first mouthful, and although it tasted unlike anything I'd had before, I thought I'd hit the flavour jackpot. I couldn't really detect the peanuts, which was disappointing, but I was enjoying it so I didn't really mind. By the time I'd made my way half way through, the bar became cloying, and I felt queasy. Not wanting to quit, I carried on -ignoring the alarm bells ringing in my head- but it was a mistake: a BIG mistake. The bar had turned my stomach to the point of no return... 

I'm not sure if it was due to the high levels of Whey protein in the bar, but my body couldn't handle it. It was the worst thing I've eaten in a long time (it was even worse than the Beetroot yoghurts). I've tried looking on their website for this product, but I couldn't find it; so I don't know if other people have felt the same and its since been discontinued. All I know is, I won't be buying this, or any of Protein Actives's other products ever again. 

0/10

NEW! Kellogg's Ancient Legends Cereal: Spelt, Apple, Sultana & Chia Seeds (ASDA)

So apparently, Kellogg's have created the 'Breakfast of Legends'. Unfortunately it's not a Full English, Eggs Benedict or Pain au Chocolat, but a instead range of cereals containing a mixture of healthy grains.

'Help get set up for the day ahead with our brand new range of wholesome Kellogg's mueslis, cereals and granolas. Made from a carefully prepared blend of nature's finest ancient grains such as barley and spelt with oats, chia and flaxseeds, one bowlful of delicious Kellogg's Ancient Legends gives you the nutrition you need to help you perform at your best* – just like the legendary champions of ancient times.'

ASDA are currently selling the entire range at the offer price of £2 per bag, and so I chose to try the cereal version.  I wasn't sure what to expect -I'm certainly not one of the clean eating brigade- and my cereals are either normal chocolate-y, sugary or ultimately a mixture of both (although I am partial to a bowl of Fruit 'n' Fibre every now and then).

Pouring myself a bowl, it looked strikingly similar to Fruit 'n' Fibre. I could see plenty of apple slices, and what looked like puffed rice amongst the wheat flakes. The sultanas were very sparse, and I could see little nutty looking clusters dotted about too. 

On to the tasting... It was very similar in flavour and texture to Fruit 'n' Fibre, but without the sweetness that usually comes from the sweetened banana chips and coconut flakes. The wheat flakes were just as bland and cardboard-like as one would expect, whilst the 'puffed rice' (actually the toasted spelt) offered an extra textural depth, but not much in the way of flavour. Again, the 'nutty clusters' (Chia Seeds) contributed some crunch, but were pretty bland. The apple and raisins were sweet, which was truly needed to help make the non-sugared cereal more palatable. 

The cereal was OK: It tasted healthy, and would probably offer some variety for regular consumers of Fruit 'n'Fibre/Bran Flakes/Raisin Bran. I think I'll try it with (sweetened) yoghurt tomorrow to see if that makes it tastier.

6/10

Update:

This morning (Tuesday) I had the Ancient Legends cereal with blueberries and forest fruit yogurt, and the extra sweetness made it far more enjoyable.

8/10