Fish, Chips and Mushy Pea Stacks (Asda) By @Cinabar

December has a reputation for being peak picky-bits season. Supermarkets suddenly dedicate whole aisles to party food, and even if there’s no actual party happening, the snacks still find their way into the trolley. I fancied an easy dinner, something we could have with a bit of salad, so we went hunting for nibbles. Tempura prawns were an automatic yes, but these Fish, Chips and Mushy Pea Stacks caught my eye straight after. They were also part of a three-for-two offer which led to prawn lollipops sneaking in as well. I never say no to seafood.

The idea behind these stacks is simple but clever. They’re designed to pack the essentials of a fish and chip supper into a couple of bites. Each piece has a tiny battered fish topped with mushy peas and a single chip laid across the top. They look adorable, far more fun than I expected, and they cook quickly in the air fryer.

Once ready, the flavour hit was spot on. There’s a proper salt and vinegar punch that immediately gives fish and chip shop vibes. The fish is soft and flaky inside its crisp batter, and the mushy peas and chip finish the whole thing off perfectly. Yes, they’re a novelty, but they’re a novelty that delivers. They look great, they taste good, and they made a very easy dinner. These will definitely be a repeat buy for us.

Mr. Filbert's Olive Snack - Lemon or Chilli (Holland & Barrett) by @NLi10

I really like Olives.  I didn't used to, but going to Italy and Spain a lot gave me a new-found love for the salty little things.  Granted I know that it's not really the olives that I like - posh places with unmarinated olives are always a disappointment. Here though we have portable, marinated, non jar olives.

Granted Holland & Barrett is more associated with lotions and potions (CBD oil trials still ongoing) but they do great snacks.  They used to be the only place for the big plain bags of kettle chips, but now they are mainstream.  I think little things like this will get there too.

Essentially the lemon and oregano olives taste of salty lemon goodness, and while a little squashed sometimes are easily good enough for a starter.

These however are maybe a little to potent to eat all at once and are more suited to snacking and having a couple at a time.  They are both a pain to photograph in the bag as the hole isn't huge, but this just leads to them staying fresher for longer.  The bags have a sticky strip that reseals too.

At £1.99 a bag they aren't amazing value, but they are a lot more exciting to pick up when in town than a bag of crisps or a chocolate bar (for me at least).  And people don't tend to want to join you in the oily snack so you get more.  Hurrah!

A big flavour and convenience hit for me then - I've made it through 4 bags so far...

Chicken and Bacon Chow Mein (#Amoy) [By @Cinabar]

Im a big fan of quick and easy food, so when Amoy asked if we wanted to try out some of their sauces I couldn't resist. They sent some of their instant noodles too so it was time to get creating.
We decided to go for the Chow Mein to start with, and picked up some diced chicken, bacon lardons and a bag of stir fry veggies. Whats more we thought we'd make it as a quick but tasty dinner on a work night.
We had a recipe to follow, but altered it slightly for our own tastes. We added the chocken as an extra as I like the idea of mixing chicken and bacon, but I think it would work well with a number of meats, or indeed prawns.

We started off by frying the chicken and bacon lardons is a dash of oil until cooked. We added some onions, followed by a tables spoon of dark soy sauce and the rest of the veggies.

We added the Chow Mein sauce next, which smelt wonderful especially when combined with the aroma from the bacon and onions.

The noodles went in next, they started off as a block and soon broken down into fine noodles. The final touch was another tablespoon of soya sauce just to add a little saltiness to the final flavour.
The meal was very quick to prepare, even after a full day at work. I loved adding the noodles straight to the pan, so simple. The flavours were outstanding, far surpassing any ready meal or take-way. The Chow Mein sauce was the good balance of flavours, the soya sauce and ingredients balanced it off so very well, it was the perfect savoury flavour. It was meaty, tasty, slightly salty but fresh and moreish. We all cleared our plates and cant wait to try some of the other goodies we were sent.
By Cinabar

Meals on the go! Couscous & Vegetables (Chinese Market, Birmingham Indoor Market) [By @SpectreUK]

It says "8 minutes and it's ready" on the front of the cup. I was hoping that included boiling time of the kettle, as I can get very hungry when I return from the theatre. I lost hope when I saw the instructions on the back of the pot that told me to add boiling water, stir, curl the metal lid back on the top and then wait for eight minutes. We went to see "The Play That Goes Wrong", which was utterly hilarious. I could swear I almost laughed myself to death. By the interval I was a complete teary mess I had been laughing so hard!

Got back home, popped the kettle on and rather enthusiastically started to peel back the metal lid, which immediately tore. Suddenly I had visions of this being "the cup of hot vegetable couscous that goes wrong!" There was a plastic spoon in the pot, but I opted for a metal one as plastic and boiling water are never good bedfellows. I added boiling water, stirred, and waited the very precise eight minutes. Actually it was more like nine as I was typing notes for this blog at the time. I peeled back the lid and was shocked to find the couscous had soaked up all the liquid leaving a solid mass in the plastic pot. I checked around the kitchen to see if any cupboards had been left open for me to bang my head on and then preceded to the lounge to enjoy my cup of couscous and vegetables, with some toast and crisps on the side. I gave the almost solid couscous a stir. There were many diced bits of carrot, onion and leak amongst the couscous. There was a light spice and vegetable taste, mainly of leek and onion, with the mildest hint of parsley. I found this Meals on the go! Couscous & Vegetables flavoursome, and would definitely have it again as a tasty alternative to a cup of hot noodles.

Information on the plastic cup;
Produced by Osem Foods in Israel. 84g having 115 calories, with 1.5g of fat. No preservatives, no artificial food colouring, natural ingredients only, including; Couscous (79%), onions (4.7%), carrots (3%), celery (1.6%), leeks (1%), Palm oil, yeast extracts, salt, corn maltodextrin, spices, and parsley. Contained gluten, soya and celery, and could contain traces of sesame seeds and eggs.

Jannocks Oatmeal Biscuits (@teebayservices) [review by @NLi10]

While at Teebay Services I spotted these oatmeal biscuits, and while they are from Shropshire and not the lakes I thought they looked worth a go. I hadn't seen many things with a lavender flavour so I picked that variety - as it turns out people have been telling me that it's quite fashionable!

The biscuits themselves are well made oatcakes and have a nice texture and a good crisp snap to them.  I wasn't that sure on the lavender though - to me it conjors up perfume and cleaning flavours! 

I did think that the lavender may be better suited to having a topping on the biscuit so I made one like that.

In the absence of peanut butter I stuck a Reece's Cup on top and munched away. This did work well, but I don't think peanut and lavender is a taste sensation that will set the world aflame.

I think with a balancing flavour then these would work well, but alone the lavender is a little too much. I have other lavender things to review soon to see whether sweet works better!