Quaker Oats Fruit & Oat Squeeze: Red Fruits (Waitrose) By @Cinabar

I am always looking for things I can have for breakfast at my desk, that will fill me up to lunch time. I usually go for a simple cereal bar, or as it has been cold recently an instant porridge sachet. When I was shopping in Waitrose this drink caught my eye, and so I bought one to take to work. It is called a Fruit and Oat Squeeze and is made by porridge specialists Quaker Oats.
The first instruction on the packet of this drink, well porridge drink, is to shake well. Given it feels like quite thick contents shaking didn’t seem to be having much of an impact. I decided to squeeze the pack a bit to help mix it up. I unscrewed the top and gave it a taste test. Before I come to the flavour let me talk about texture, it is thick and has the feeling of a thick porridge, which for reasons I’m not sure about I didn’t quite like in this format. I don’t think it was because it was cold, as I’ve even overnight oats before and not been bothered about the temperature, but there was something in this squeezy cold porridge format that meant I didn’t get on with the texture. I think I got the thought of baby food in my head, and couldn’t get passed it! It is a shame because the flavour actually works quite well. It has a yoghurt tang, and surprisingly sharp berry flavour which gives it a nice juicy taste. I liked the acidic raspberry taste, and the hint of strawberry worked well with it too. It also kept me full to lunch time, which is a bonus, it stopped me from raiding the works chocolate tin! Having said that I still prefer instant porridge, besides it is warming in this cold weather.

Leftovers and Cottage Delight Apple chutney (@NLi10)

As with other years we have lots of odds and ends left after all the family festive food, and we got a gift to help us take care of it.

While it’ll take us most of a year to get through all this preserves are a welcome addition to any cupboard.

The just For Pulled Pork is a smart angle to go for, but frankly I can’t wait for the pre-chewed Pork phase to pass. I mean McDonalds got told off for selling mechanically reclaimed meat, and now it’s a big trend. I’m fine without.

This does look like a nice treat though so let’s find some regular meat to try it with.

Doesn’t look like much on the plate, but it packs a mighty punch. The hot part is nice, not overpowering but suitably picante. The smokey was less noticeable but the sweet flavour of the apple carried it through. The bites had varied texture so I’m guessing you’ll get peaks and troughs in the flavours too which is nicer than a purée or jelly.

I’ll enjoy trying the other parts of this box too (thanks mom!) but for now a spoonful or two of this can be expected to be added to every meaty meal that I eat. Lovely stuff.

Mackerel Fillets in chip shop style curry sauce (Sainsbury’s) By @SpectreUK

I do like tinned fish. I've written a few blogs in the past about them. I sometimes have them in salads, often on sandwiches, but more than likely just have them in the tin on the side of a meal for a bit of surf and turf. Produced by Princes this tin of Mackerel Fillets in chip shop style curry sauce struck me as a little different. I haven't had chip shop style sauce for ages, instead opting for chicken tikka kebab meat, battered sausage and large chips whenever we visit the local chippy. Chips and curry sauce was a staple favourite of mine on the way back from the pub on Friday and Saturday nights when I was a lad. I don't know what it is about chips dipped in chip shop curry sauce, but it goes particularly well after a few pints and especially with a chip butty on the side.

On peeling back the tin lid there was a familiar creamy yellow tint to the sauce covering the mackerel fillets. There was a smell of curry sauce mixed in with the mackerel aroma. I had some chips on the side with bacon and fried eggs. I dipped a chip in the sauce and was rewarded with that good old chip shop curry sauce flavour, albeit a little fishy. Eating the mackerel out of the tin with the rest of my meal was indeed a treat. The chip shop style curry sauce went surprisingly well with the mackerel. In fact I'd go as far as to say that this is one of my favourite flavoured sauce tinned fish and will definitely be hunting out some more Mackerel Fillets in chip shop style curry sauce.

Information on the tin;

The 125g tin contained 186 calories per 100g, also having 12.4g of fat, 1.3g of sugar, and 0.71g of salt. Rich in Omega 3 fish oils, please see photograph for the ingredients.

Ferrero - Golden Gallery (Debenhams) By @Cinabar

I am a big Ferrero Rocher fan, they are some of my favourite chocolates. This Christmas I have been treated to some of the Ferrero chocolates you can only get at this time of year in Britain, a selection box called the Golden Gallery. This includes all the brother and sisters to Ferrero Rocher, which involves a mix of different chocolate and nuts. Big thanks to my mum for this fab selection box.

Ferrero Tenderly Biancoretti
This is a white chocolate shell with a white chocolate praline inside with an almond filling. I should point out almond filling is code for marzipan, and this was the dominant flavour. Im not the biggest marzipan fan, but even so the praline and the creamy white chocolate still compensated enough to make this a tasty chocolate.

Ferrero Manderly
Paradoxically I do like almonds, just not marzipan. Almond and sugar combine to make marzipan and I like both ingredients separately, but not together. The point is that this Ferrero Manderly contains actual almond and as such I really liked it. The decoration on it went everywhere though when I opened it, but the texture was fun, light and crispy to eat. There was a lovely white chocolate and hazelnut filling, which complimented it well.

Ferrero Tenderly Torroncino
This is a milk chocolate housing a hazelnut and a praline filling. It is a surprisingly sweet chocolate, and the hazelnut tones are good, as is the crunchy nut inside. I was convinced that this chocolate contained honey it was so sweet, so I checked the ingredients but couldn’t see any, I think it might be the added vanilla.

Ferrero Delicius
This is like a dark chocolate version of the Ferrero Rocher. I have seen a dark version before and it was covered in little bits of chocolate as a decoration, which was rather messy. This is like the tidy version. I love the dark chocolate flavour with the hazelnut it is just heaven. This chocolate would really take off here, if it was more commonly available.

Ferrero Rocher
Finally we have the Ferrero Rocher, the main chocolate. If you haven’t had one before it is a fantastic combination of textures, wafter, nut, soft chocolate filling and a whole hazelnut. I love these, and really enjoyed trying out all the other variants in this fantastic box set too.

Nature’s Store Tomato Corn Rolls (Sainsburys) By @Cinabar

First I’d like to start by wishing everyone a very Happy 2018. I have to be honest and admit that 2017 was a bit of a tough year for us, but I have high hopes for the year ahead. It is only day one and we already have many exciting things planned. Starting on Friday (eek) with a house move! The daily blogging here at Foodstuff Finds will continue though, as it always does, and we hope to pack the year full of tempting treats and interesting products for you to look out for and for us to taste test.
First up then is this bag of Tomato Corn Rolls from Nature’s Store. They are also Gluten Free for those that needs snacks with that accreditation.
We poured some out to share with lunch and have to admit there weren’t as many in the bag as we had hoped for, Spectre still got the largest portion, but he always does! The corn rolls have a sprinkle of seasoning and smelt pleasantly spiced. The flavour wasn’t a sweet tomato, it was a little bit tarter, but was lifted by nice seasoning that meant these are easy to munch on. I particularly liked the corn roll element, this gave them a lovely crunchy texture, and a nice corn background flavour. I’d buy these again, but if you are sharing in a group I’d suggest two bags.
Happy New Year everyone - have a fabulous 2018!