Kit Kat Cereal - Tesco - surprisingly decent! [@NLi10]

We like chocolate bars, we like novelty cereals - and here we have them both together!

11 servings of the child portion, 7 and a bit servings of the adult portion, for me - this box is a par 5.  What i'll probably do is blend this with regular cornflakes for texture mix up and saving money - although I think this was only £2.50 due to introductory offers.

KitKat is one of those chocolate bars that just keeps going - it's about the only EuroWafer that has ever got traction in the UK because (like Bounty & Twix) it can pretend to be a chocolate bar so Brits buy it.  The Chunky ones are great as they can add stuff, and the flavours they make in the Japanese factories are exotic.

These are just the usual cereal with three lines on it. Maybe they could add frosting in the lines and sell it as Adidas cereal too.  Smells chocolaty though so it's at least appealing (unlike the terrible Oreo cereal)

Hey look - adding almond milk fills in the lines too!

Joking aside it's about as KitKat a cereal in both look and flavour as you can get - and it's nice.  I'm not sure it's filling enough as an everyday cereal, but as a luxury topper on a base cereal like shreddies or corn flakes then this works well.  As long as it stays on the cheap intro price I have no problems encouraging people to grab a box.  I suspect this will be a long term cereal that we will still see for years to come.

 

Doris gets her Oats (The Wee Beer Shop) by @Spectreuk

I like to try and take it easy. I'd like to say it's because I'm lazy, but I exercise way too much for that. I have finished at my local gym, which had a decent sauna and steam room, but has become too expensive for the service provided, which was minimal due to lack of cleanliness. That's probably why it's often nice to stay away for a night, and a spa hotel is more my speed of holiday these days.

The last minute deal we had on a night away this week at a super gorgeous spa hotel not too far away was bliss for a night and a day. We hadn't been to Ragdale Hall for more than five years. I hadn't been able to drive that far due to my last knee operation, so it's testimony to my hard work on rehabilitation that we arrived and also returned in good time, even for a sneaky weights session on the evening.

On the evening at Ragdale Hall I had a succulent steak and chips, followed by a cheese board and a glass of port for afters. We played Othello in the lounge and then played more games in the room. I had brought along this can of Doris gets her Oats Imperial chocolate and cardamom stout, and drank it whilst playing dominoes and various card games, such as Pontoon, UNO and Dinosaur Top Trumps.

Doris looks like a ghost on the front of the can. I am not sure if she had gotten her oats by then, because it looks more like she needs some. This 11% in volume Imperial Stout made for a good late evening pudding beer. There was lactose in ingredients, as well as barley, oats and wheat. Brewed by Pomona Island Brew Company, Doris gets her Oats was produced to celebrate their fifth birthday.

This stout didn't blow up when I opened the can, and smelt amazing. Almost black in colour with a dark frothy head, Doris gets her Oats smelt of deep rich malted and roasted chocolate barley. There was a fruitiness behind the chocolate malt and a strong alcohol aroma with a creaminess to finish. On taste this Imperial stout had a milky creaminess to start with, velvet smooth dark chocolate malt, with a winter fruitiness, stong in alcohol and then a roasted chocolate flavour with a touch of coffee running into the aftertaste.

This was a purely indulgent chocolate Imperial stout treat of a pudding beer, with mild warming cardamom which ran into the aftertaste and left me cuddled in the comfort of liquid chocolate cushions. And in a lovely spa hotel it just finished off the evening perfectly.

Pumpkin Spice Drinking Chocolate (Hotel Chocolat) By @Cinabar

Today is my favourite kind of weather; it is not too hot outside, but there is just enough sunshine and a little breeze for it to be perfectly pleasant outside. I also love this season, the start of autumn, because there are new hot chocolate varieties in the shops as it is the official start of cocoa season. I mean, I drink it all year, but it is nice that I can find new flavours now.

Nothing says autumn more than this new drink from Hotel Chocolat, Pumpkin Spice Drinking Chocolate. I love all the autumnal spices too, so I am totally on board with this. It is a milk chocolate-based drink, and I eagerly opened the sachet and made a mug. Marshmallows were on standby.

The drink had a lovely spiced aroma, and the taste was pure, warming, soothing spicy chocolate goodness. These are some of my favourite flavours, so I know that I am a little biassed, but it was just such a nice mix. I could pick up on cinnamon and nutmeg, and they were just set off by the creamy but rich chocolate. I loved this stuff and happily welcome all the autumn spices my way.

Percy Pig Sandwich Biscuits - M&S [@NLi10]

 I don’t physically go in M&S that often these days - I just Ocado their food - so when I spotted the `Percy Pig’ Sandwich biscuits for the first time it was more than a year from Spectre’s original review!

As I wanted to try them anyway I decided to go ahead and leave the jam sandwich creams as for another day.

The original appearance of the Percy sweets predates Peppa `pig, but I’m sure she is a catalyst for the widening of the range. Not that I’m complaining, although describing this as “Percy Pig Flavour” is a little odd if you’ve not seen the original pink mallow sweets.

My pig’s got no ears! It’s snout is a bit odd too -  maybe they should have added a fondant circle to the jam for authenticity? Decently happy little face though - although not porcine.

Full marks for the back though - all it needs is little trotters so it can jump in muddy puddles (hot chocolate probably, although strong tea would work too).

As with M&S other products these are sweet enough for children, but healthy enough for adults to buy them for them (ok - well maybe just grandparents but they aren’t as bad as they could be).

I enjoyed them, nice mix of the raspberry-ish sweet flavour in the shortbread, and the actual raspberry jam and creme part is up to the usual high standards. Would have again - even without children to cheer up!

Jack Links Beef Jerky Sweet & Hot (Morrisons) By @SpectreUK

I honestly don't know why I sometimes buy the odd packet of beef jerky. Maybe it's the hope that I'll like it one day, and I have to test that over time? I usually find beef jerky tough and fairly dry, so I'm hoping beyond hope that this Jack Links Beef Jerky Sweet & Hot is going to change that opinion. Though I have to admit that I've left this beef jerky at the bottom of my pile of things to write about to almost the best before date.

I workout at home a lot to try and rehabilitate from old injuries and operations such as on my knees and especially my shoulder after a bad car accident some years back. One reason I do like to try beef jerky now and then is because it is high in protein, which helps to fix my body after workouts. With 100% marinated, smoked and dried lean beef, Jack Links Beef Jerky Sweet & Hot fits the bill of a "ready to eat snack" worth trying.

On opening the packet there was a smoky barbecue aroma from the red pieces of dried lean beef inside. On first taste I was pleased to find that this Jack Links Beef Jerky Sweet & Hot was not like eating an old leather boot. Succulent and mouthwatering, this beef jerky also had quite a chilli kick to it. There was barbecue sweetness to start with, oodles of smokiness, and a gorgeous hot chilli burn into the aftertaste. Low on calories and high in protein too. Finally, I may have found a favourite.

Information on the packet: The 25g packet contained 68 calories, with 0.8g of fat, 5.3g of sugar, 10g of protein, and 0.63g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.