The many colours of Costa Rica (black & purple ice-cream?!) [@NLi10]

 We've been in Costa Rica for 3 weeks which meant it was very hard to blog (I didn't take my mini keyboard) but I ate a lot of odd and fantastic things - and many of them were very vividly coloured! 

A lot of the food colours are banned by the EU because they send some kids a bit wild - so when a European visits the Americas they see some new sights.

Here we have the Black & Purple ice-cream - and the flavours were listed as Cahuita Special (black) and Exotic (Purple) which doesn't explain much.

They were both sorbets - so dairy free - so I figured it was worth the risk.

And they were both essentially fruitiness.  The black had a deep fruity flavour, with the exotic having a familiar blend of dragon-fruit and maybe Lychee in there which actually balanced it out nicely.

My partner had the traditional dairy versions - which melted a lot faster and was funny to watch - she had coconut & chocolate.

Lovely little place - right outside a national park - and frankly the ices didn't need to be anywhere near as high quality or decent taste as they were - and the prices were fair too!

As a contrast I saw these iced teas at a nature reserve and had the black one to try

It was just very expensive, weak black tea! Can't win them all.

White Choc & Rasp Granola - Sainsbury's Free From Range [@NLi10]

 I had a look for a new exciting cereal, and unexpectedly found one in the 'free from' section.

My main issue with granola is that it tends to be a bit heavy for breakfast, but I wondered if this would work out as a slightly lighter alternative.

It's basically just normal granola which has been made in a gluten free environment.

Milk free white chocolate alternative is the only real concern - plus the fact that the choc looks like it's melted into huge lumps.

Quite pretty, but but has resulted in clumping - lets see what it's like.

Sticking to the dairy free theme I've gone with Oat Milk as my Alt Milk (I get whichever is cheapest usually) and it worked pretty well.  

The grain bits have crunch, there is a decent variety in them too. The choc stuff is actually a highlight - the not-milk helps it blend in with the rest.  There isn't much of the red fruit bits - but what is there is good quality and strong tasting.

With a handful of blueberries or something to balance the lack of fruit bits then this would be perfect.

I think I can eat this happily on relaxed weekend mornings but I do love a larger bowl of cereal on a week day so see how it goes.

Asda Christmas but Free From Gluten & Milk [@NLi10]

 My Mom tends to eat gluten free food so we keep a look out for exciting variations on seasonal things.  My partner spotted these on a trip to Asda and so I thought I'd share here too.

I do like a chocolate tart, and adding Orange and cotrus peel to the top is a definite win.

While a little small these do look particularly luxurious.

And they have a hidden squidgy layer right at the bottom.

Very hard to see here.

These are pretty lovely though.  You'd not know that the pastry was gluten free, and the chocolate dairy free.  Ignoring the special dietary needs I'd have these again happily.

I don't like mince pies at all so didn't try these but my Mom did.

She said that the pastry was good again and that the filling was great too.  The size here mattered a little more (the choc one was about right due to the sweetness) and if you only had this with a tea you might not feel in full Christmas spirit, but again - a really good Gluten Free option.

I'd been advised that Asda really got their gluten free stuff right by someone else (who uses them for cheaper ingredients) so it's good to have that confirmed.  Maybe I'll make up a mini Christmas Gluten Free hamper for my family.

Gluten Free Dairy Free Milky Way Magic Stars - No Fun, Just Chocolate [@NLi10]

 Looking at the speciality chocolates I spottd a definite oddity.  £1 gets you a Gluten Free Dairy Free Milky Way

This is odd, as having a dairy free product with milk in the name is a little confusing, especially when Milky Way is all about the fluffy interior.  This doesn't have an interior, but it does have potatoes.

The ground tiger nuts that rescue this bar and make it less dark are in the potato family!

It also has chicory root so tastes a little like the disappointing 80s vegan chocolates.

It actually has stars on it so it's not quite as boring as I'd feared.

And it doesn't have a fluffy core.

I think this needs to exist as a brand name is sometimes important to children, and it sucks not being able to eat specific things due to allergies.  But - it's just not that great a bar.  There are definitely more adult styled dairy free chocolates that are creamy enough for childish tastebuds, and I'd probably just buy those and put them in more suitable containers as treats.

I'd start with the (also confusingly named) Buttermilk range that is also in supermarkets and Holland & Barrett.

That said - absolutely overjoyed that the main brands are trying to make life easier for parents and given a few years they might actually get it right!

Vegan Block Naturli - like butter - only no milk (@NLi10)

 While undertaking the extensive preparations for the Coronation that's happening next weekend (ha!) I spotted some fantastic things to eat to celebrate us getting a king.

I've saved all the real stuff for closer to the day, but while there were lots of things to snack on no-one had really capitalised on Charles's love of the animals. So - I picked up some Vegan Block. Now ordinarily you'd go with a fun brand name like "I can't believe it's not butter" but that already exists, and portmanteaus like Not-Butter would come out as Nutter or Notter which both just sound wrong.

Vegan Block does sound like a protest though, or a self-defence move. It also feels like heresy as my family have an Irish Dairy in Co Donegal!

We will try it out on Scotch Pancakes.  Anyone who says these aren't essential is very wrong, and these store brand ones have the perfect crisp/fluffy ratio.

The Vegan Block has the perfect fat/different fat ratio. 75% oil - I can hear my arteries screaming already.

Certainly looks the part - it's slightly softer than butter would be out of the fridge so with the right knife you can get some lovely curls going.

Pop on some essential jam (see pic 1) and enjoy!

Verdict - tastes like decent butter.  Not quite as strong as the Kerrygold, and doesn't have that distinctive Lurpack taste that reminds me of childhood baking (turns out Irish Nanny was occasionally a heretic too!) but - it works really well.

The price/size of this is higher than regular butter but I was shocked at how effective this is.  First person to get a catchier brand name (Faux Butter = Fautter? Sham Butter = Shatter ... I give up - comment new suggestions) can take this as global as the pretend milks the coffee shops of London now report as going in more Coffees than Dairy.

Now if only I had some Royal Themed food to try this on...

Milky Way Magic Stars Popping Candy - Dairy Free (Tesco) By @Cinabar

Everyday is a school day, so for those that didn’t know, Tiger Nuts are a tuber plant like potatoes. Why am I telling you this? Well, it was on the back of the packet of this Milky Way Magic Stars Popping Candy Dairy Free chocolate bar. The dairy substitute in the bar, if you hadn’t already guessed, is Tiger Nuts. I don’t know my way around milk substitutes very well, but they are usually things like almond, so this is something a bit different.

I unwrapped the bar and, although it was clearly milk chocolate, it did look a little darker than you would expect. The chocolate is nicely moulded with stars in the design. I broke a piece off and you see some specs which must be the popping candy.

I gave it the taste test and have to say I was impressed. It isn’t as creamy as the standard Magic Stars, but it is still creamy, and the flavour of the cocoa comes through nicely. The popping candy is fun and crackles away in the mouth. Here is hoping I never get too old to smile at popping candy. This was a fun and enjoyable bar made with an unexpected dairy substitute that still made a creamy chocolate. I would buy this again even though I don’t actively avoid dairy.

Non-Dairy Cheese, and Fresh Dairy Milk (@NLi10)

 It’s a fairly simple thing, but fresh milk is just a little different to the milk we pick up from the shops.  Naturally with all the (very necessary) health steps involved you can’t really get hold of milk with grass in it, fresh from the cow. But you can have the farmer who owns your holiday cottage knock on the door and hand you a bottle of freshly squeezed, and freshly pasteurised milk - as in around 4 hours from cow to doorstep!

So - what’s the difference? Well, you don’t get all of the milk, even pasteurised milk from the store has the cream and such taken off, and the skimmed versions are even less milk.  This means that this is a lot thicker and creamier than you’d expect, but not quite single cream. It worked great with crunchy nut cornflakes, but was maybe a little overpowering for the tea.

A lovely gesture and a nice throwback to visiting my families dairy farm.

My veggie partner picked this up to go with her friends dairy free fajitas.

It’s basically coconut and other stuff, and really offputtingly smelling cheese like chemicals. I tried some in the interest of science and while it did have some of the cheese taste it was very sticky and lingered a little too much.  Not a fan.

I also managed to have scones (I am on holiday after all) with real cream - although I’m in Dorset so not really scone country. Great though!

Mighty Pea M.LK - vegan and nut free (@NLi10)

So. You don’t want to use dairy milk, but you also want to avoid nuts - what options are there? Well - soy milk exists but tastes like the water used to recycle paper. How about you pea on your cornflakes?

I’d not seen this before, and I figured it would be worth a few cheap pea jokes so gave it a shot - and actually it’s pretty decent.

It’s white not green, and it tastes like a really mild pea soup might. I’ve not poured that on my crunchy nuts yet though.  It’s an enjoyably different flavour too, and I need to try it in more drinks before I pass judgement on that angle.

It’s got things in that are good for you

And it’s got friendly messages about how it’s good for animals, and actually uses less water than almond milk - but I’d have to do research on that.

And it’s similar enough to skimmed milk in texture and looks that the pictures of the stuff itself were not very exciting.  We don’t go to Sainsbury’s very often so I’m not sure that I’ll become a regular (almond milk is my default now), but it’s certainly made a fan out of me.

If you are looking for a dairy alternative then give peas a chance. 

Minor Figures Coffee - Nitro Cold Brew Mocha (Stoke Station) By @Cinabar

I’ve been to a meeting in Stoke today with work. As it was lunch time when I finished I decided to look for something to eat and drink on my way back. I spotted a tasty looking salt beef and pickle sandwich at Stoke Station and also on the shelf was this Minor Figures Coffee - Nitro Cold Brew Mocha.
The nitro part refers to the fact that this coffee is cold brewed slowly in its preparation. Also it might go part of the way to explaining the penguin headed man on the tin, but not completely. The can was pretty smart and modern to be fair so it got my attention. I opened up the can and gave it a sip, the taste wasn’t what I’d been expecting. The flavour had some mild coffee and a hint of sweetness from the chocolate and a very much in your face oat flavour that was almost nutty in taste. It was so strong I checked the ingredients and only then realised this was a dairy free drink made with oat milk. The flavour didn’t hide this, but the oat milk wasn’t clear from the front of the can. I assume if you avoid dairy you might just know from the brand, but it surprised me. It also has no added sugar and uses Stevia instead which is still plant based.
Once I got used to the flavour it grew on me, it was still creamy from the oat flavour. For me I would want coffee and chocolate to be the dominant taste in a mocha, even a dairy free one, so this didn't hit the nail on the head even though it was quite pleasant.

Califa Farms Unsweetened Almond (with Vanilla) (@NLi10)

I always investigate the not-milk section of the supermarket (on my rare visits) and stock up on the one true king of the almond milks (not roasted, not sweetened, just almonds) but spotted these luxury carafes of ALMOND in the fridge section.

As you may have spotted - one of these is not actually food - but the fresh stylish packaging meant they gravitated together in the packing.  I guess the goals of light airy health overlap somewhat.

These drinkable almonds are a little more luxurious than normal - in fact I was driven to treat them more like fresh dairy.  I put them straight in the fridge and have been using them alongside the more typically watery versions that I use daily.

It's got a few more calories than the ones in the round-up we did, but it's just that little bit thicker and heavier while still being 100% vegan.  Because of this it is much more drinkable and doesn't require something else to be added to it to make it usable in the same way as dairy.

The vanilla one is really quite special and I'd probably just gravitate towards that one in future.

Duchess the review cat can't quite believe that it isn't dairy either!

While it's not quite the same as the thick coconut milk for making Katsu sauce with paste it did work reasonably well (and better than my attempts with water or dairy milk) and once it was heated properly thickened up well.  As I used the vanilla variety here too the kitchen smelt heavenly - if you can use this in recipes successfully you will convert anyone!

I don't think it's a good everyday milk though - it's a bit too heavy on some of the wheat based cereals and I got rather full when having my usual double portion bowls.  I switched back to the lighter Alpro for mornings and kept this for drinks and for attempting to cook with.

It's a little too expensive to just fill the fridge with, but as a here-and-there option to add variety to the not-milk options it's pretty good.  And if you are looking to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly by dropping dairy every so often then this is probably a great way to start!

Coconut Milk Latte (Starbucks) [By @cinabar]

This month Starbucks in the UK launched Coconut Milk as an alternative to cow's milk, and this means Coconut Milk Lattes are on the menu. I downloaded the app for Starbucks and as it is January and "extras" are free, I thought I'd see what it was like.
I had also seen quite a bit of controversy on Twitter about the drink, it seems to have a bit of a Marmite effect. There is some serious love and hate for the drink.
My Coconut Milk Latte arrived looking much like my favourite milk based product. I gave it a sip and have to admit to being impressed. If you were a expecting a rich creamy coconut flavour you would be disappointed, the drink is very much closer to tasting like regular milk. This is not a coconut latte, it is a latte made with a milk alternative. The flavour is impressively similar to a regular latte, so I think this is something Starbucks should be proud of, there is a slight hint of sweetness, and a very slight bitter aftertaste, but it is still good. It's a nice milky coffee, and it does the job well. If I was dairy intolerant I would be very happy with the drink, the coffee was good and strong and the coconut milk worked well with it. As I'm okay with regular dairy I will stick to that, it does have the upper hand.
For those that don't like this drink please remember it is just an alternative, meant really for those who have problems with regular milk. If it isn't your thing soy milk and dairy are still firmly on the menu if that is your preference.

By Cinabar

Koko Dairy Free - Light & Low Fat + Original [by @NLi10]

As part of my new Fuhrman diet from Eat To live there are two words in particular that struck fear into my soul - 'NO DAIRY'.  While for most people the cheese part of this is the issue, for me it's the milk - I love the stuff!  I have cereal for breakfast every morning, and while the cereal part is requiring some interesting choices the milk side of things requires total substitution.  So i've invested in these Koko milk replacements that are based on Coconut.

Here is my first attempt at tea (decaf - no caffeine allowed!) and as you can see it's oddly dark.  I quickly figured out that for this kind of thing you need to double the amount you use to get the colour and flavour back.  This aside - surprisingly it worked.  I did click after this that the red label is probably supposed to be imitating skimmed milk which i'd never consider buying so it's a good start that I can work from.

And with my quality bran based cereal (that is probably a bit of a cheat in itself) the not-milk worked really well.  I thought the nutty flavours worked well with the bran.

I could get used to this quite easily I think!

Later in the week I tried the semi-skimmed version, which has more coconut and a stronger flavour. I wasn't so keen on this initially as it overwhelmed the Bran a Flakes taste, but as I used it up I grew to quite like it. The texture is also closer to milk which is reassuring.

Milk Free Milk Chocolate Goose Egg (Hotel Chocolat) [By @Cinabar]

In a fairly small office at work (20 people) there are two people who have an intolerance to milk. I’m not sure whether that number is higher than average, but the number of milk alternatives being advertised certainly leads me to think that a lot of people have an issue with milk. Hotel Chocolat has developed a milk chocolate that is milk free, i.e. it uses almond milk instead of dairy. I had the lovely opportunity of giving it a taste test in the form of this rather smart Goose Egg.

The egg is very smartly packaged, showing off the chocolate. Inside the box there is a lightly marbled egg and a very generous bag of buttons. The egg is quite thick and took a bit of effort to break. I started tapping it on the table but ended up firmly knocking it against a slate tile! :-D Better that way though.

The taste of the chocolate is very impressive. I found it quite dark for a milk chocolate, and it reminded me of the Super Milk that Hotel Chocolat has recently released. The flavour is very good, the rich tones of the cocoa were very tasty and the chocolate was just sweet enough. The buttons were a nice addition too, and I was enjoying allowing them to melt on the tongue.

The only tell I could spot that the chocolate was different was in the texture. The chocolate felt very slightly thicker in the melt and the texture wasn’t as silky as normal. It is a minor comment really, something you’d only notice if you were looking for the differences. To be fair, to say this chocolate is dairy free it is way ahead of any of the others I’ve tried, as it manages to maintain that luxury.
This the perfect Easter gift if you know someone who thinks they can’t eat dairy chocolate, it will make their day. If you have an intolerance yourself there are actually several goodies at Hotel Chocolat utilising this new recipe, so it is defiantly worth having a look.

By Cinabar

Everything But The Cow - dairy free smoothie [By @NLi10]

There is a band - Everything But The Girl, named after a wedding shop that provide's everything but the Bride-to-be for the perfect occasion.  This is a non-dairy smoothie called Everything But The Cow.  Now - either this is a name inspired by a wedding to someone that you really don't like, or they are providing everything that you need for a smoothie - but you have to provide your own cow.  Maybe it's just me - I've never had to use a cow to make a smoothie, I get the milk from a third party, but also they have given us everything that we need as this is a complete drink.  I mean I get the intentions behind the name, and it's probably what made me pick it up, but it kinda doesn't work if you overthink it (which I tend to do). 

That said here is the drink!

I've moved offices so this marks the debut of the new black office chair being used for the background instead of the lovely green one that I used before.  The products kind of look like they are floating in space though so I'm liking it at the moment.

What we have here is a banana and kiwi smoothie, but not.  As we explained at the start this is dairy free, but still manages not to quite be a fruit juice drink.  Thanks to some clever blending and the addition of a touch of soya this does genuinely feel more like a smoothie.  The flavours on offer were also pretty interesting but I decided to pair them up as there are a lot of products to get through at this time of the year.  First up we have Banana and Kiwi.  A lot of people are not fans of banana in drinks but I'm OK with it, especially when there is enough additional flavour to make it work.  Here the sharpness of the kiwi gives it a much needed fruitiness and keeps it interesting.  The texture is smoothie like (definitely not a 'thickie' but not a fruit juice) and it had the desired effect of staving off the afternoon snack cravings.

Next up on the interstellar voyage we have the Strawberry and Raspberry variety.  Regular readers will know that the red flavoured berries are my favourite and here it's no exception.  It's a bit sweeter and just has that lovely summer flavour that you get from a good blend.  I'd choose this one again first, but if it was sold out I'd not hesitate to pick up the banana version.  They are different enough from a smoothie to be their own product, and I guess the name explains this slot quite well.

My only complaint if you can call it that was that they both seemed to end too soon.  I'd have happily drunk a 500ml version of this - 330ml didn't last quite long enough.  I approve of the clever and distinct packaging and once opened it passed the shake test so I'll happily buy more when out shopping.

The nice lady from Holland and Barrett said she had a chat with the lady whose company it is when they visited the store and it seems to be going well for the brand.  Hopefully it'll appear in more places and with more flavours to try.  As nice as Innocent Smoothies are it's great to see some smaller companies making a niche for themselves.

And - despite having a look at this 90s Dance playlist - I can't come up with a better pop-culture pun that says this product is dairy free than the name they went with, so they win on all fronts.