31 August 2024

Jude’s Blue Vanilla Spirulina Ice Cream (Ocado) By @SpectreUK

Jude’s Blue Vanilla Ice Cream

"You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream" a colleague in a previous workplace said that to me one hot summer. It's getting a little cooler presently, so I thought I'd try this Jude's Blue Vanilla Ice Cream before it gets colder. It's made with Spirulina, which is a blue-green algae, which was first eaten by the Aztecs for it's nutritional values. It's packed full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and protein. It's most recently been used by NASA for supplementing astronaut's diets on space missions.

 
Jude’s Blue Vanilla Ice Cream

Most people would say I'm pretty spaced out much of the time, so this Jude's Blue Vanilla Ice Cream should be right up my street. On opening the tub you can see from the photograph that the ice cream is certainly blue. I don't know why, maybe it was the mention of algae, but I was expecting it to be glowing or something. On taste the flavour is similar to vanilla, but not quite there. Creamy indeed and an unusual taste, I liked the flavour, and would have this blue ice cream again for its nutritional values. On the plus side, it went rather well with a bag of Maltesers I had for pudding.

Information on the box; Each 100ml tub is 98 calories, with 4.8g of fat, 6.5g of sugar, 0.1g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Jude’s Blue Vanilla Ice Cream

30 August 2024

Grimace Shake (McDonalds) By @Cinabar

Grimace Shake (McDonalds)


You have one week to catch this in Britain. The Grimace Shake has been all over Tik Tok in the states; it has a cult following, and for one week it is visiting our shores. Grimace is the purple monster mascot, and the rumours are that he’ll do anything to get his shakes back, so if you do order one, keep an eye open. 

We decided to have a McDonald's takeaway and give the drink a try. The colour is gorgeous; it is a lovely, bright, fun purple colour. I gave the thick shake a sip and couldn’t help but smile. The drink has a sweet blueberry taste; it is fruity, fun, and creamy too. This is an absolute delight to drink. I loved every sip, and I am not ashamed to say I slurped my way to the end. I love that there is something fruity on the menu for milkshakes that isn’t just strawberry, and this Grimace Shake needs a permanent place on the menu. I also managed to finish the drink without Grimace turning up and wanting it back, so that was a win too. 

29 August 2024

Wickedly Welsh Salted Caramel Chocolate [@NLi10]

 On our recent holiday to Wales we visited Skomer Island and saw zero puffins (wrong time of year) but also very little else due to a massive storm.  We did however get some consolation chocolate on the way home.


Looks pretty classy


And is actually also from Pembrokeshire where we were.  Good to see the supermarkets picking up local brands!


The bar itself is nicely decorated and easy to snap & eat.

The flavour is milder than I expected, but in a nice way.  I'm not a huge fan of the caramel flavours (except for Rolo) but this was great.

Unfortunately we have to go back to Wales to get more, but maybe on a nicer day.










28 August 2024

Nestle Kit Kat Chunky Crunchy Double Choc (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

Nestle Kit Kat Chunky Crunchy Double Choc


I fancied a break during my weight lifting earlier. I haven't had a Kit Kat for a while, I must get some more in. I especially love Kit Kat Chunkys. I found this Nestle Kit Kat Chunky Crunchy Double Choc waiting for me in the Foodstufffinds cupboard. I do love chocolate, so anything that states "Double Choc" is going to grab my attention.

 
Nestle Kit Kat Chunky Crunchy Double Choc

As you can see from the photograph there was soft dark chocolate ganache nestled in between the familiar wafers. On taste there was definitely a decent crunch. I exclaimed a long "Mmmmm….", which is certainly a good sign indeed. The creamy milk chocolate coating melted in the mouth to join the dark chocolate ganache for a merry dance in between the crunchy wafers. I definitely have to get some more of these.

Information on the wrapper; The 42g contained 223 calories, with 6.9g of fat, 18.7g of sugar, and 0.08g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Nestle Kit Kat Chunky Crunchy Double Choc

27 August 2024

Walkers Wotsits Crispy Bacon (Ocado) By @Cinabar

Walkers Wotsits Crispy Bacon


When I was a kid, I didn’t get Wotsits as a concept. I don’t know why; I’ve always loved crisps. It is only since becoming an adult that I’ve really taken to Wotsits and their cheesy goodness. Now they have launched some new flavours, and I am all stocked up. The first ones to try are Walkers Wotsits Crispy Bacon. Now these crisps will be up against Frazzles in my head, another favourite.

This bag is from a multipack, but I have to say each of the single packets are quite small. They are low-calorie, but partly that is because of the size. I gave one a try, and I did love the taste and texture. They had the firm crunchy munchy feeling, and the smoky bacon was just lovely. There was a meatiness, plenty of smoke, and a touch of sweetness. These Walkers Wotsits Crispy Bacon were yummy and moreish. My only complaint is the packets are too small, so, er, I had two! 

Walkers Wotsits Crispy Bacon

26 August 2024

Mark’s Choc: Chocolate Candy Beans, Orange Jellies & Popping Candy (M&S) By @Cinabar

Mark’s Choc: Chocolate Candy Beans, Orange Jellies & Popping Candy Milk Chocolate


This new bar was found in the M&S food-hall. It has the most gorgeous bright pink and orange packaging, and the branding looks lovely and vibrates. It's modern, but somehow the neons give off a 90s vibe too. The bar too is rather fun; here we have Mark’s Choc: Chocolate Candy Beans, Orange Jellies & Popping Candy Milk Chocolate. There is a lot of flavour to unpack there, so once home, I gave it a try.

I opened the wrapper, and even inside, it is still fun to look at. The inside wrapper is bright, and the chunky chocolate shows the orange candies shining through. I gave a piece of the chocolate a try, and what a win this is. The flavour is spot on; the milk chocolate is thick and creamy, and there are lots of rich cocoa tones. The orange shines through good and strong with a nice citrus blast. The balance is so good. Add in the fun texture from the candies and the popping candy, and I was in heaven. The Mark’s Choc: Chocolate Candy Beans, Orange Jellies & Popping Candy Milk Chocolate is a proper treat; it's rich and tasty, and every bite is different. I can’t wait to see what else is out in this new Mark’s Choc range. 

Mark’s Choc: Chocolate Candy Beans, Orange Jellies & Popping Candy Milk Chocolate

25 August 2024

Itsu - salted caramel bao buns at home! [@NLi10]

 Itsu frozen Bao are great, but what if they were also a pudding?!



I spotted these and couldn't resist - gooey caramel and tasty bao


Easy to cook in the microwave - we used the bags the other bao came in and they all popped a bit!



Here is a raw one




Here are two with exploded bottoms!



Adding a bit of cinamon or nutmeg does wake these up a lot so well worth hunting the spice supplies.

And they aren't the most exciting (and I'd say you want a portion of two) but they are really tasty and a great addition to a meal.  Maybe even perfect for Halloween!

Not too 'burnt' caramel either - the flavour is pretty good - and I can imagine they may do other flavours if these are a hit.







24 August 2024

Master Stoat Coffee Stout (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

Master Stoat Coffee Stout


I do like a stout with my steak and chips. Steak and chips are rare these days, and I like a treat at the end of the week. This Master Stoat Coffee Stout should wash my dinner down perfectly with it's notes of coffee, and sweet caramel. Produced by Badger Beers and brewed with natural flavourings, this stout was 5% in volume. Apparently the stoat is the Master Brewer.

On opening the bottle there was a scrumptious sweet and strong aroma of caramel, dark chocolate malt and roasted coffee. Poured almost black, there was deep chocolate malt and caramel sweetness to begin with, followed by a slight herbal bitterness from the hops, and then more caramel and roasted coffee into the aftertaste.

My steak was medium rare, just the way I like it. Master Stoat Coffee Stout tasted like heaven in a beer glass. This stout would be perfect for a pudding beer with its oodles of caramel and chocolate malt, or indeed for washing down my evening meal. Gosh, what a clever Master Stoat.

23 August 2024

Werther’s Original Blissful Bites Caramel Edition (Morrisons) By @Cinabar

Werther’s Original Blissful Bites Caramel Edition


These new Werther’s Original Blissful Bites Caramel Edition sweets launched without much of a fanfare. Normally I see new products being promoted somewhere, and sometimes, like these, I just randomly spot them while browsing. Although there are numerous Werther’s Original Toffees available (toffees, butter candies, chewy, etc.), this product seems to be a step in a different direction, with the addition of a new centre, which is malt. I’m thinking Maltesers, but without chocolate, and toffee instead.

Once home, I opened up the bag, and there was the most lovely aroma of rich caramel. The toffees looked nice, perfect golden spheres. I was pleased they weren’t sticking together. I gave one a try; my other worry was that the toffee would be sticky, which was completely wrong; it was actually a melt-in-the mouth texture, which gave way to a crunchy ball of malt. They are sweet and rich and have an interesting, fun texture. I thought these were lovely. I would definitely buy them again. I’ve already added another bag of these Werther’s Original Blissful Bites Caramel Edition sweets to my next online order. 

Werther’s Original Blissful Bites Caramel Edition


22 August 2024

Proper Chips - Katsu Curry Chickpea Chips [@NLi10]

Proper chips isn't as classy a name as Proper Corn (best variety here) and the branding change confused me at first and I thought these were linked to Pop Chips - but once I'd figured it all out I had to try these.



The ideas here are twofold - the original plant bit is high quality, and the flavours are adult and interesting.

97 kCal per serve is a bit mean here as the bag supposedly contains 5 20g servings - which means most people will eat 2.5 servings and not really notice.


Approx. 4 servings is also funny as 20g gives the 97 Kcal on the front - no wonder we are all failing our maths GCSEs!

Good ingredients and positive mission though.


And they look the part, smell the part & taste great.

And while they aren't that filling so I easily had half the bag as an afternoon snack, they are really nice and a great alternative to potato crisps or pop-corn.

Bonus points too for a) deciding to do a Katsu Curry (or chip shop curry) version - and b) getting it to taste like it's supposed to.  

I'd happily take a bag of these to the cinema to share and be nicely set up for a meal afterwards to discuss the film.



21 August 2024

Walkers Sausage Sarnie with Heinz Tomato Ketchup (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

Walkers Sausage Sarnie with Heinz Tomato Ketchup


When I started work just after art college there was a food van nearby the factory. Every Friday I would have either bacon sandwich or a sausage sandwich. Sometimes I'd go wild and have a fried egg on my sandwich too. I don't think Bob either stored the food very well or cleaned the area he cooked on though. Every time I had a sausage sandwich I'd be ill all weekend. So, I stuck with bacon sandwiches for a while until I realised I'd put on two stone, and got to exercise and healthier eating instead.

These limited edition Walkers Sausage Sarnie with Heinz Tomato Ketchup crisps should remind me of those days gone by, just hopefully not with the illness afterwards. I reckon Tomato Ketchup is probably better on a sausage sandwich than brown sauce, though either or can be used on a bacon sandwich.

On opening the packet of these crisps there was a good strong smell of Heinz Tomato Ketchup, with the meaty aroma of freshly cooked sausages. On taste the bread and sausage were the key flavours with a light complement of Tomato Ketchup. Walkers obviously don't know just how much sauce I put on my food. I loved the flavour and decided to have the rest of my packet of Walkers Sausage Sarnie with Heinz Tomato Ketchup crisps on a sandwich, for a crisp sausage sarnie sarnie, with no added Ketchup. It's the type of guy I am really.

Information on the packet; The 25g bag contained 128 calories, 7.3g of fat, 0.7g of sugar and 0.17g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Walkers Sausage Sarnie with Heinz Tomato Ketchup

20 August 2024

Barratt Flumps Marshmallow Milkshake (Home Bargains) By @Cinabar

Barratt Flumps Marshmallow Milkshake


I have been saying for a while that the choice of milkshake mixes currently available is a little bit disappointing here in the UK. I couldn’t even find a simple vanilla in the supermarkets. Rest assured, my cupboard already contains chocolate, strawberry and banana and I was just after something a bit different. At the weekend, we had a look around Home Bargains, and it did not disappoint. I found this Barratt Flumps Marshmallow Milkshake. It may not be vanilla, but I’m hoping it will hit the spot.

I added four teaspoons to my glass. The mixture is a powder, but it dissolves easily in the milk with a little stir. The milk felt a little thicker, and the colour was a shade creamier, but it didn’t look much different from milk.

I gave the drink a sip, and it tasted rather lovely. It was sweet, just like marshmallows. It wasn’t quite vanilla, but that was there too, and it was a little creamy. I rather loved this Barratt Flumps Marshmallow Milkshake. It was fun and different, and it was just what I was after.

Barratt Flumps Marshmallow Milkshake

19 August 2024

Walkers Cheese Toastie With Heinz Beanz (Tesco) By @Cinabar

Walkers Cheese Toastie With Heinz Beanz


Firstly, Heinz linked up with Richmond Sausages for their new beans flavour; now they have linked up with Walkers for a new limited edition crisps flavour. I’ve always been a fan of Heinz; I like their ketchup, and their beans are always in our cupboard for an easy jacket potato meal. Their beans are the inspiration for this new flavour of crisps. Here we have Walkers Cheese Toastie With Heinz Beanz. 

My first thought when I heard about the flavour was that it sounded weird to me, not beans and cheese; they go together like a dream, but I’d never dream of having them in toasties. That's what jacket potatoes are for. Do people make toasties with beans? I guess they must.

I opened up the bag of Walkers Cheese Toastie With Heinz Beanz crisps, and they had an orange-coloured seasoning, and the aroma was mostly of sweet tomatoes. I gave one a try, and the flavour was incredibly spot on for beans and cheese. I could taste a sweet tomato taste, but it was also actually a proper baked bean flavour, and running with it was this creamy but flavoursome cheese. They were like magic and had a delicious flavour. It is a shame they are a limited edition, because these are super tasty, and I’ll pick up a second multipack when I’m back in the shop. 

18 August 2024

Blueberry Bubble Tea - Costa [@NLi10]

 We have a whole lot of cinemas in Birmingham - and two multiplexes are pretty close to our house (15 mins on the bus) so with 30 mins to show-time I'll frequently book a ticket and show up just as the trailers start.

To help with this I like to pick up a drink and a snack, but unfortunately sometimes that doesn't pan out and I have to resort to cinema food!  Starbucks actually has decent Chai Latte but Costa has never managed to get me to settle on one drink.



Today I decided that I'd go with a 'soft' drink as I was quite warm and had their Blueberry Bubble Tea for £4.40 as the Cola bottles were £3.75 and this felt more luxurious


It certainly looks that way and has the flavour filled popping bubbles which I prefer.

Overall the initial fruitiness was good, but the main body of the drink was a bit watery (maybe due to the ice) and not a patch on the Happy Lemon bubble teas that I love.  While I'd say this is a step above a make-at-home bubble tea its more of a squash with bubbles arrangement.

Ideal for a cinema visit, but I'd have much rather they gave me the tea based version instead of the juice!

I'll have to keep looking through the menu to see what else there is.



17 August 2024

Double Tonka Frappe Latte Stout (Tesco) By @SpectreUK

Double Tonka Frappe Latte Stout


I have a homemade cheese burger tonight. I'd like to say that it's with chips, but it's with a surf 'n' turf tuna salad instead. Though that's mainly because I am saving my calories for a large packet of vanilla fudge and also chocolates for pudding, and besides, I had a crisp sandwich for lunch. I do like a crisp sandwich now and then, so then I save my protein hit of the day for dinner instead.

This Double Tonka Frappe is a Tonka Bean stout produced by Vocation Brewery. At 8% in volume, on the can there was a promise of sticky caramel, with a roasted coffee stout taste and added vanilla flavour from the Tonka Beans. I've never tried Tonka Beans before, some places swear by them for vanilla flavour. I guess I'll find out.

On opening the can this Double Tonka Frappe stout poured almost black in colour. On smell there was certainly roasted coffee, and dark chocolate from the malt. There was also a sweet malted barley aroma with added herbal hops, a sweetness of caramel and a little vanilla.

On taste this deep thick almost gooey stout smothered my tastebuds with flavours of roasted coffee and dark chocolate, the sweetness of sticky caramel enveloped my tastebuds further complemented by the velvety goodness of vanilla, or Tonka Bean in this case.

This Double Tonka Frappe stout was a luxurious treat to my senses. It washed down my surf 'n' turf beef burger and tuna salad a treat, and I saved a little to wash down my bag of vanilla fudge and caramel chocolate pudding too. Cheers and yum.

16 August 2024

Pepsi Electric Blue (Tesco) By @Cinabar

Pepsi Electric Blue


Everything in my instinct tells me not to drink blue things. I know there are plenty of safe food colourings in the industry, but it is one of those things that always gives me a little uncomfortable feeling. I love new stuff, though, and I love anything a bit different, so I picked up a bottle of this Pepsi Electric Blue drink.

Once I got home, I opened up the bottle and poured it into a glass, and I realised just how blue the drink is; even the foam from the fizz was blue. Oh my. 

I gave it a tentative sip. The drink tasted good; it was Pepsi with a super nice fruity twist. If I had to guess the flavour, I would say blueberry and lemon were involved. I think there was a nice, sharp citrus taste, but also something fruity and a bit more mellow. I might be influenced by the colour here with the blueberry element, but that is how it tasted. 

The drink is a fun colour; blue might not be my thing, but flavour-wise, this Pepsi Electric Blue worked. Have the drink chilled with a slice of lemon, and you have a perfect new summer flavour. It is one I’d buy again; just because the fruity citrus taste is just so nice. 

Pepsi Electric Blue


15 August 2024

Sondey Milk & Hazelnut Wafer Sandwich (imitation Knoppers!) [@NLi10]

 


Hey - this looks familiar! I love the Knoppers bars, always have done since the 90s. Lidl have a whole dozen of these for £2.30 and that’s pretty cheap - let’s see how they shape up.


That’s a chunk of snacks.


That’s a decent slab of chocolate too.


So this has lots of lovely layers, wafer, hazelnut spread, crunchy bits and goodness.

But is it a Knoppers? No. It’s closer than I thought though. The general satisfaction level of eating one of these is about that of eating half a Knoppers, but if you ate two it’d be far too dry. This said, at the price they are selling these for it can be a regular snack instead of a rare treat.

I’m all for more Eurosnacks appearing on our shelves - it’s a lot cheaper than hopping on a train. Let’s see what else appears!








14 August 2024

McVitie’s Penguin & Friends (Iceland) By @SpectreUK

McVitie’s Penguin & Friends


I like little calorie controlled bags of chocolate biscuits. They're supposed to be for kid's lunchboxes, I guess, but I like to tip them on top of a tub of low calorie ice cream on an evening as part of my pudding. These McVitie's Penguin & Friends are McVitie's take on all the other biscuit bag varieties out there. I love Penguins, I have done since I used to have one everyday in my lunchbox as a child, so now I'm going to try mini Penguins on my evening tub of ice cream.

I opted for vanilla ice cream to try with these cocoa flavoured Penguin and other animal shaped biscuits. On opening the packet you can see the cocoa coloured animal shaped McVitie's Penguin & Friends biscuits. On first taste these biscuits had a lovely crunch to them. Though that's were the fun stopped.

McVitie’s Penguin & Friends

On first taste I was taken aback. These cute little Penguin and friends biscuits shapes are crunchy indeed, but not very chocolaty, not very sweet and they were actually quite dry in texture and flavour. These McVitie's Penguin & Friends biscuits could be mistaken for savoury biscuits, they could possibly be eaten with cheese. They definitely needed my ice cream more than my ice cream needed them. I think I'll leave it at that.

Information on the packet; There are 5 x packets at 91 calories per bag, with 3g of fat, 4.9g of sugar, and 0.2g of salt. Made with no artificial colours or flavours. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

McVitie’s Penguin & Friends

13 August 2024

Jaffa Cakes Cola Bottle Special Edition (Tesco) By @Cinabar

Jaffa Cakes Cola Bottle Special Edition


Well, this is a bit of a different twist on a Jaffa Cake. Although we have had different flavoured Jaffa Cakes before (blackcurrant was awesome), I think this is the first non-fruity one. And it is a bit of a curious combination, too. Here we have Jaffa Cakes Cola Bottle Special Edition; yes, these ones are flavoured like the popular sweets. I’m not sure cola and a chocolate coating sound like they should go together, but I'm obviously happy to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I opened up the packet of Jaffa Cakes Cola Bottle Special Edition, and the minute the packet was opened, I could smell the playful aroma of cola bottle sweets. They did smell delicious. I gave one a try, and wow, they made this work. They shouldn’t have worked, but they did. The cola sweet taste was quite a sharp flavour, not quite zingy but more on the sour lemony side of things. This gave the flavour a fruity taste, and that made it work with the chocolate. There was such a nice contrast between the cola and the rest of the Jaffa Cake. They were zingy and moreish, one of the nicest limited editions they have done. They are even up there with the blackcurrant. Who knew this would work, but I think the lesson learnt is to never doubt a new variety of Jaffa Cake.

Jaffa Cakes Cola Bottle Special Edition


12 August 2024

Quick Milk Magic Sipper Strawberry (Asda) By @Cinabar

Quick Milk Magic Sipper Strawberry

Why aren’t there more exciting milkshake flavours out there? I’m really struggling to find new varieties. It is hot, and it is milkshake season. Could someone please tell me where I can even find a vanilla syrup? In my search, though, I found these Quick Milk Magic Sipper Straws in Strawberry. I mean, I know these are meant for children, and I know I’m a grown adult, but I don’t care; I’m loving milkshakes at the moment, and this was something new for me to try.

I opened up the packet and found five plastic straws; these ones are not recyclable in my area, which was a bit disappointing. They are filled with pink milkshake graduals, each semi-sealed at the end. So that the graduals don’t fall out but the milk can run through.

Quick Milk Magic Sipper Strawberry

My glass isn’t that big. For example, a can of drink holds more liquid than my glass; if I pour myself one, I have to finish part of the drink from the can itself as it doesn’t fit. What I’m saying is that my glass is not that big. I filled it with milk and popped a straw in. I gave it a try, and the first sip was a magically sweet strawberry flavour; it was lush. I have a sweet tooth, and this was working for me. A few more sips, and the drink went rather milky. I took the straw out, and before I had reached half way on the milk, the straw was running on empty. It was nearly so good, but this Quick Milk Magic Sipper Strawberry just didn’t work for the whole glass. Oh well, I guess I am still searching for the perfect milkshake mix.

Quick Milk Magic Sipper Strawberry

11 August 2024

KFC Kentucky Mayo Twister - with crisps for some reason. [@NLi10]

 When i have lunch with certain work friends we always have to go to fast food style things over at the retail park (for various reasons) so i got to have actual KFC for a change.

I prefer the boneless stuff so used the magic touch screen to select the wraps - and one of them was a magical deal that was the same price as just the othet flavour wraps - but it came with a drink - and a bag of crisps.


This sometimes happens in a posh pub, but ive not seen it for fast food. I assumed that this was the reason for its cheapness but apparently like `subway there is a deal of the day. 


The twister itself is ‘slaw’ and tangy mayo (not salad cream thankfully) and is like a german chicken schnitzel but in a wrap.

I had the tea as my soft drink because they are allowed to leave the calories in that (uk is mad).

The crisps were a zingy salt and vinegar variation, and actually really good. The bonus of this was that i could take them with me too and eat on the way back saving time. Fast food at lunch time can be a bit stodgy too so this was that little bit lighter,

Overall a surprising win and for £5.50 not too harsh on the wallet.