NEW! Nutri-Bombz (Online)

I was very lucky to recently receive a sample box of goodies from Nutri-Bombz, a company that you might have heard of if you regularly use instagram -they seem to be everywhere at the moment! But who are they and what do they do? 

"Nutri-bombz contain no added sugars, additives or preservatives; just really healthy snacks that we deliver to your desk or door."

The box handily fit through my postbox, which means no nasty "we've got a parcel waiting for you" note to deal with. Inside there were 12 bombz in total -4 different flavoured packs containing 3 bombz- which all sounded delicious! The containers are designed so that you can open just one segment at a time, but I was too greedy for that and ate each pack in one sitting. 

Goji Fruit'N'Nut Breakfast Bombz
The healthiest sounding of the bunch. As ever I tried it first expecting to like it the least. This flavour is simply made from nuts, fruits, seeds, cacao and vanilla powder which means it is gluten & dairy free and also suitable for vegans.

The balls (oo-er) had a slightly irregular homemade quality to them, which I rather liked. Texturally they were soft, and moister than expected -much more so than Nak'd's products for example. I loved the additional crunch that came from the pumpkin seeds, and found that I really enjoyed them! 

7/10

Choccy Hazelnut Nutri-Bombz
I had heard brilliant things from other Instagrammers about the deliciousness of this flavour. The combination of chocolate and hazelnut always makes me think of Nutella, so my hopes were heightened before the pack was even open. As with the goji flavour, these bombz are gluten & dairy free, as well as being vegan friendly. 

The bombz were generously coated with a smattering of chopped hazelnuts. Unfortunately they just weren't chocolatey enough for my liking -I'll stick to Nutella for my choccy hazelnut fix in future. 

6/10

Coconut Nutri-Bombz 
Also suitable for vegans and the above allergies; would -and could- this taste like a healthy bounty?

The coconut, dates and cacao worked well together, but again I felt it wasn't chocolatey enough for me. I found that the cacao and dates fought for dominance and I'm afraid that the dates won. The coconut was punchy though, and I liked the tropical element. The coconut nutri-bombz are a good, healthy snack choice for warm summery afternoons. 

7/10

Salted Caramel Protein Bombz
The protein-bombz pack an impressive 4g of protein each (12g per pack!). The protein comes from milk however, so they're not suitable for vegans or those with a lactose intolerance. This flavour was another one that came highly recommended on Instagram, so would I feel as disappointed as I was with the hazelnut bombz?

Not at all, I really loved the fudgy, slightly indulgent taste to these bombz! They were really tasty and I would happily have them again.

8/10

Conclusion
Nutri-Bombz offer a great product, and I'm suitably intrigued by most of their other flavours -especially banana pie, cappuccino, peanut butter and rhubarb and custard! 

So how does it work? Well, you head over to their website where you let them know which bombz appeal to you, where then hand-select four flavours and post them out to you... all for £4.99 per box! Marvellous. 

Thank you to Nutri-Bombz for sending me the sample box.

Rhythm 108 Apple Pie Dessert Bar (Amazon)

Have you heard of Rhythm 108? If you haven't, then not to worry, neither had I until December. I was reading a magazine article comparing various energy bars, which lauded the benefits of Rhythm 108, a company who produce delicious sounding, good-for-you dessert style bars. All of their products are made entirely of high quality natural ingredients, contain no added sugars or syrups, are naturally gluten free and count as one of your five a day. I've since been in contact with the company who kindly offered to send me a sample of their entire range to review, and so each week I'll be reviewing one of their five flavours. First up is Apple Pie...

The Apple Pie bar consists of: two dates, four almonds, a whole apple, 1/2 glass of milk, 1/2 teaspoon amaranth, pinch of cinnamon and three drops of apple cider vinegar. It is designed to be heated up, and so once unwrapped, I popped it in the microwave for 30 seconds. It was firm to the touch, but it wasn't dry, and had a far moister texture than any other health bar I've ever tried. It also had a good crunch coming from the chunky nuts dotted throughout, which provided a lovely contrast against the otherwise smooth bar. 

The taste was convincingly similar to the centre of a home-made apple pie, the apple and cinnamon worked in perfect harmony, with a natural flavour that I simply wouldn't expect from a healthy, long-life energy product. I enjoyed mine with greek yogurt, resulting in a delicious dessert treat that tasted much naughtier than it was.

If you like the sound of this bar and would like to try it for yourself, you can buy them from 'The Natural Kitchen' or Heartcore Fitness in London, otherwise they are available for order from the Rhythm 108 Amazon Shop. I certainly can't wait to dig in to their other flavours! Thanks Rhythm 108!

9/10

Pip & Nut Peanut Butter (Sainsbury's)

As a peanut butter fiend, I get through an awful lot of the stuff. I'm afraid I'm not a loyal brand buyer though, and I go through phases of preferring the salty-sweetness of Sun Pat smooth, to craving the gritty -but more natural- Whole Earth. I also regularly like to mix things up with adulterated peanut butters such as the M&S Maple & Pecan (utterly wonderful if you haven't tried it) and the ASDA own brand chocolate chip.

Pip & Nut are a brand who specialise in nut butters made without palm oil, and have recently gained listing with Sainsbury's stores nationwide. Their peanut butter simply contains peanuts and sea salt- so I imagined that its closer to rivals Whole Earth than Sun Pat. The peanut butter is currently on offer for £1.80 for 250g (normally priced at £2.30).

Removing the lid, I discovered the peanut butter to be extremely runny -almost to a pourable consistency. Having bought Meridian's spreads before, I realised that the oils may have naturally separated so I gave it a good stir -but it didn't make a jot of difference. I tend to enjoy my peanut butter on warm toast or bagels, so I was undeterred by its liquidity, thinking that it would simply make it easier to spread. 

In fact, it was so thin that it started to drip off the edges of my bagel. Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse, the peanut butter wasn't salty enough for me, and my sweet tooth missed the characteristic sugary-ness of Sun Pat. The consistency also meant it stuck to the roof of my mouth, giving it a rather unappetising claggy texture.  

It might be easy to blame my disdain for this product on my addiction to sugar (and salt), and my recent phase of Sun Pat love, but I probably won't fork out the extra pennies for this premium brand in the future (I'll save up for Peanut Butter & Co's 'Cinnamon Raisin Swirl' instead!).

4/10