FOOD REVIEW: Freedom marshmallows

This was my first time trying vegan marshmallows and these sugar coated, flump like ones have a good mallow flavour and are pretty tasty. 

They have a good swish and a sweet sugary after taste. They are a little small but that only means you can eat more without being full! 

Now I don't think that they're actually that easy to purchase off of the Internet other than H&B and maybe other health food places such as whole foods. But obviously there are other brands and although I haven't tried them in sure the ones from Morrison's are ok. The packets are £2.50 a lot more expensive that most, and I'm not going to defend them too much because when you can buy a others such as chamallows for only £1 people are probably going to buy the latter. However holland and Barrett do have pretty constant sales so possibly when on sale they shouldn't be too bad to buy. 

Now as for nutrition, they have a lot of sugar. Although they are marshmallows so that isn't a surprise. But another good thing to note is that they're actually pretty low fat with only 0.5g but 13g carbs. However there isn't anything wrong with this, carbs can be good. Just maybe stick to the serving suggestion (6 marshmallows) and not a whole bag. 

Hope you liked the review; find these marshmallows website here

FOOD REVIEW: Nākd strawberry crunch bar

So I tried the strawberry crunch naked bar today and I actually really enjoyed it. I liked the fruitiness and how it really did taste of strawberries but also how you can get the crunch, I think the nākd crunch bars are my favourite because they have a good texture, much like the cocoa trek actually. But I am glad that you can still taste the you can still taste the dates because I really like the dates, they're the most important part of the nākd bars. 

So I decided to heat it up to it it had been such success with the trek bars I thought why not. It actually made the bar a lot sweeter and that is mainly all you can taste. Not much other than pure sweetness and a bit of strawberry while everything else blends together in a single taste so I'm not as keen as I was with the trek but it was still ok. 

Just like the banana bread these bars are 99p or only £2.75 for a pack of 4 meaning you save over £1 when you buy then like that. There isn't really much I can say really as most things have been already explained when talking about the banana bread nākds. 

Now, the bars are lovely and health but you may see the fat contents and think they must be full of bad stuff because of the fat content at 3.7g but with only 0.5 being sat, the rest is all healthy fat. 

Taste-***3/4

Price and accessibility-****1/4

Health rank-***1/2

Overall rating-***3/4

My usual schedule is posting Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday but I updated today because I didn't yesterday. 

FOOD REVIEW: Trek bars

So from my first bite of the berry brush trek I thought that these bars were a bit unusual, they seems very hard, dense and chewy with a somewhat weak berry flavour. 

Not the nicest. Honestly, I would rather eat a nākd bar or something similar simply because there was no interesting variety in texture to break up the flavour. 

But then... I tried heating it up. I put it in the microwave for 30 seconds and it actually began to smoke up! I thought it would have been burnt, but it wasn't and once it was a little cooler I loved it; crispy on the outside, soft on the inside it tasted like a brownie. I would 100% recommend heating it up. 

Then came the Cocoa chaos. And I like this one a lot better, not because of the chocolate, because there wasn't really much in the actual bar. But because when microwaved it's crunchier with the soya protein 

But still soft and foamy. 

They seem pretty easy to find too, health food places, Amazon, Morrison's, etc. Either singular or in 4 packs (or on the internet full boxes) 

And as for price these guys are a little more expensive at £1.45 so I only really buy them while on offer but if you like them I recommend buying bulk as it's cheaper in the long run. 

Another thing to note is they are a lot bigger and sturdier than little nākd bars meaning they are higher calorie but also stuffed with protein and other healthy ingredients, both the bars are under 200 calories but some are above. 

Taste-***3/4

Price and accessibility-****

Health rank****

Overall score-****

FOOD REVIEW- Alpro 'go on' mango yogurt

At first sight it seems as though this is just a normal yogurt that has just been mango flavoured but it actually has a hidden bottom layer which I thought was pretty cool as a nice bit of texture with some mango chunks and the different moisture level in the purée, this contrasts very well with the thick and creamy soya plain yoghurt. 

The layers don't actually  mix very well together so you get a little bit of plain yogurt and mango in each mouthful instead of a mango flavoured yogurt which could either be a good or bad thing depending on what you're going for. I liked it and would probably recommend a different yogurt if you prefer the latter. 

I found my yogurt by pure luck, just in the fridge section among other yogurts, it wasn't in a 'free from' or 'vegan' section or anything like that so make sure you're keeping an eye out for them but as for where you can buy them they're pretty acceseble, I've seen them at tescos, Morrison, etc and they'll most likely be everywhere on the internet too. 

The price at tesco is £0.85 (the same price as skyr) so if you're going to buy a yogurt anyway.. Why not make it vegan!

The initial yoghurt is actually fairly dense in comparison to most yogurts and actually quite tangy or sour, due to its very natural and low sweetener recipe. 

It's also pretty high in plant proteins while still being low fat and sat fat. Although do read the label as  the biggest initial calorie box is only for 100g 

Taste- ****

Price and accessibility-****
Health rank-****
Overall rating-****

FOOD REVIEW- Perkier cacao and cashew bar

Straight away this bar reminded me a  little of a 9 bar with all its seeds, however it is really sticky and syrupy. I actually liked the part, it wasn't too much to be unenjoyable and even reminded me of a fresh warm flapjack even though it was cold. The raisins are also lovely and soft and cacao was definitely a strong flavour throughout. 

I love how many different flavours are incorporated, 10 different nuts, seeds and other raw ingredients, squished together with brown rice cassava syrup. I think it's a bold step to use something like this as most vegan bars try to steer clear of any such thing but I think adding it was a great idea for the bar.

However I didn't think that the Cashews were all as prominent as I would've liked them to be and personally I could taste more Brazil nut. 

Even though these bars are fairly new they still seem to be sold in a good verity of different places; large UK supermarkets, Health food stores, and online as stated on their website.

The price too is pretty average at £0.99 give or take just like most bars, although i think these have a lot more depth than a nākd bar wich would be the same price 

Nutrition wise they aren't that bad, especially if you treat it as a flapjack. It has less that 3g sat fat per 100g and they're full of protein too. It's not the best for sugar (13% of the bar) but it's still a lot better than a chcolate bar, plus you get all the sweetness For only 144cals too!

Taste-****

Price and accessibility-*****

Health rank-***1/2

Overall rating-****

FOOD REVIEW: Crispy coconut curls

Coconut is one of my favourite things, so when I saw these at the shops I had to buy some. They came in lightly salted (pictured) or peppered, and since I'm not a pepper fan I went for these ones. 

Salted coconut sounded really interesting to me and I thought that would be a good thing to try as it seemed like the weirdest combination  ever. At first It had such an usual taste and texture but I did actually really enjoy it. They were very, very salty and what I thinks nice is that you get the salt coming through first and then after that flavour is the coconut. The flavours contrast each other so much yet somehow they still go together nicely in the crisps. 

I really like the shape of them, also the fact that the coconut is crispy, like a potato chip, because I think if it was soft consistency the salt wouldn't work but with dried coconut the crispiness and salt go great together. 

These 'crisps' are only about £1 depending on where you buy them and pretty easy to find as they even have their own website here. 

Surprisingly these aren't too high in salt from the flavouring but instead pretty high in fat (at 7.2g satfat!!!) but at only 109 calories and vegan I can't stay too mad I suppose. 

Taste-****

Price and accessibility-***1/2

Health rank-**1/2

Overall rating-***1/4

Enjoy your day my vegan friends xxx

FOOD REVIEW: Tesco 3 bean, sweet corn and roasted red pepper burger

I really enjoyed having this burger; the gentle spice, crispy edges and barely any greese. All good qualities for a burger, and this one has them all. 

Another thing I love is how it's so packed full of veggies and beans. There are loads of different tastes and textures throughout the burger, which all go together to make a lovely mixed taste. 

I've never been a fan of spicy things. I even find milder curries usually too spicy, however this burger seems to have just the right amount of spice to give a bit of a kick but not so much as to make me not want to eat it. The strange thing is that other people who have tried it often say that they find it very spicy, this might be because of it being a dry spice rather than a spicy sauce, so as long as your not worse than me with spice, which would be difficult to beat, you should be fine. 

Since these burgers are a tescos own brand they can only be found there but a tesco supermarket isn't hard to find in the UK and I'm sure you could find a similar one somewhere else or even make your own version. As for the price they're pretty good too, you get 2 burgers for £1.50 in a pack or currently 2 for £2.50. 

Health wise these burgers are pretty good too with low satfat and sugar as well as decently low kcal mark at 197. And the only possible dietery problem is that wheat is labeled as one of the allergens. 

Taste-****1/2

Price and accesebility-***1/2

Health rank-****1/2

Overall rank-****

FOOD REVIEW: Linda McCartney red onion and rosemary sausages

So I some of these sausages for the first time and I was absolutely taken aback by how much they taste like real sausages, I could probably feed these to any non veg(ateri)an and they might not even realise. 

I've got to say it did make me a bit uncomfortable as it felt so much like real meat (to someone who hasn't had any in months) however obviously they aren't as you can clearly tell by the sausages look: e.g- no skin, greese, etc

From the first bite you could straight away taste the Rosemary, it was quite strong, in a good way, I believe the herbs really added to the flavour. They also have a lovely crispy texture, not too soft, a little bittty but very enjoyable and juicy. 

I found these at my local tesco, so I'm sure that they can be found in most shops like that, along with the Linda McCartney website Here and my beloved H&B as always. 

They're also pretty cheap, at only £2.00 for 6 sausages; 50p cheaper than the piggy versions. 

Health wise the sausages are pretty good too:

So eat your greens and your sausages too!!

Taste-****

Price and accesebility- ****1/2

Health rank-****

Overall-****

Hope you like the new layout, overall I find it more fun to write with this layout, feel free to make any comments down below 

FOOD REVIEW: Rude health, the beetroot

After trying this bar for the first time today, I have have to say I am very presently surprised. Honestly I was a bit worried of the bar being too venerable-y, which I wouldn't have been a fan of. Hoeever I found it to be really nice and am looking forward to trying the other flavours too.

Taste

I'll be first to say that I absolutely love the vibrant pink colour of the bar. I also loved the texture, at first it kind of reminded my of a nākd bar, just squishier and with a bit extra crunch making the rude health bar, in texture, actually better than nākd in my opinion!

For the taste itself I think it's quite nice; very strong, but also sweet. The bar actually has a sort of tang-like after taste which isn't a problem, it just took me by surprise. The nuts in this bar (cashews) add that little extra crunch and flavour. 

Rating-*****

Price and accesebility 

The price is pretty comparable to any other similar bars. Being between 90-99p on average. (H&B-99p morrisons (where I bought mine) only 95p 

As for accesebility they are also much like anything else, health food stores and supermarket ate the most likely places you will find them. 

Rating- ****

Health rank

The first thing that stood out when reading the nutrition online was that there is vertically no sodium! (Less than 0.1g)
They're also very healthy ingredient wise, the bars including no GM, refined sugars or dairy, which to me definitely increase my personal rating of the bar. They're a good fibre source and are only 130kcals to so an excellent snack, I suppose they could be less but when all the ingredients are healthy there should never really be any worry.

Rating- ****

Overall rating- ****1/2

"You're in Rude Health when... you tie dye your t-shirt with beetroot juice" 
Click here  to take you right to the rude health website.

FOOD REVIEW: m&s fruity tropical fish sweets

I love how M&S always has a good range of vegetarian and vegan foods, although I'd never tried them until today when given them as a present from one of my friends, so obviously, I had to give one a try!

Taste

I actually enjoyed these sweets a lot more than I thought I would, most gummies like wine gums or jelly babies had never really appealed to me that much due to the flavour being a bit too strong for me, however, these sweets have a foamy yet firm texture which balances out the flavour. 

I love the flavours: pink- tropical and green-citrus as well as the soft but chewy texture they have managed a whole packet of the jucy fishes!! 

Rating-*****

Price and accessibility

They seems to be on a couple of website as well as the obvious, M&S, in 70 bags which is a good singular amount compared to the usual large amounts (although for some reason I can't seem to find them on the M&S website) So these sweets decently accessible in the uk at least and on websites like these https://www.britishonlinesupermarket.com/british-store/marks-and-spencer-fruity-tropical-fish-70g.html#bmb=1 selling them for only £1 which for a bag with 20+ sweets I think is quite good. 

Rating: ***1/2

Health rank

So these sweets are pretty low cal, being only 14kcal each, meaning even a whole bag is less than 250kcals. Fat wise their pretty good too being almost as little as 1/100th of you're daily sat-fat. Plus because they're using fruit gelatine there are no animal products making it instantly healthier too! However I cannot give it a 5star as they are still sweets, with quite a lot of sugar, which is good for you. Just don't eat too much. 

Rating: ****1/2

Overall rating: ****1/2

I absolutely look he design on these sweets too, the attention to detail with lips and scales really makes there's things stand out and look kid friendly, but hey, they also made me smile so it's a win win!!

FOOD REVIEW: Lots of this- bunny

I came across this little bunny in Holland and Barrett and since there was a sale on I had to go in and stock up on tofurkey, raw food bars and lots of fruit and nuts, but this bunny also caught my eye and for 60p half price I couldn't say no. 

Taste

Initially when I bit into it the chocolate I thought it was dark, however once I it more of a taste my mouth finally detected that this bunny seems to be a mix of both plain and dark chocolate (even though it's advertised as just milk) giving it a distinctive taste that would have you guessing it was vegan, just a bit different because it was a blend. 

The chocolate it very thick leading to at first the chocolate being pretty hard to bite into, however it didn't remain that way and was decently easy to chew, becoming a creamy smooth texture with a bold but not too bold raw cocoa flavour. 

Rating- ****

Price and accessible

As I mentioned before the price is not too expensive for branded vegan chcolate and as for accesability, this catogry really brought the rating down. It seems to be sold in a few different places online as well as selected stores but mainly Holland and Barrett. Maybe not the best but anytime it's on offer I'd definitely be willing to pay.

Rating- ***

Health rank

As the product is chocolate there's not really much to say health wise, chcolate it's the healthiest, and again in moderation it's fine. In the interest of not sounding too redundant in not going to go into the exact fat amounts and kcals too much, but the bunny is gluten free as well as reduced sugar so not too bad, and obviously being under 200kcals is always good for chcolate.

Rating-****

Overall rating- ***1/2

The bunnies are a nice bar, maybe others are nicer but it's bunny shaped, and I love bunnies so that makes it amazing by default. Next time you're in Holland and Barrett of looking for some chocolate online, grab yourself one of these. 

FOOD REVIEW: Nākd banana bread

I love nākd bars, and by far one of my favourites has to be the banana bread. I only tried this flavour for the first time about a week ago but it's defiantly one of the best in my opinion. 

Taste:

I always have respect for food that is itself and doesn't try to be another food, like these bars are literally what they say they are, simple raw ingredients. One of the reasons I enjoy the banana bread bars is, like apple pie flavour, the bar includes some small 'chunks' of banana. Also due to the lack of cashew nuts, therefore many other ingredients; including bananas, oats and walnuts as some of the main ingredients gives a interesting new taste and texture while still being somewhat similar to the others. However still I know nākd bars are not for everyone and some people do find them particularly bland, for those people I would probably recommend a 'crush' bar however as a long time lover of the bars I can solidly give banana bread an excellent rating!

Rating-*****

Accessibility and price 
I'm not sure on the certain accessibility of the banana bread nākds singled out but nākd bars themselves seem common enough, I often see them at even the smaller of super markets, along with at boot and most health food stores such as Holland and Barrett and real foods.
Nākd bar price is often on the more expensive side, being on average £1 a bar. However at H&B the banana breads are only 95p (bargain!) and are often part of their penny sale deals (buy 1 get 1 for a penny) the website also stocks some bars, but they can actually sometimes be more expensive.

Rating-***

Health rank
Nākd bars are a fantastic source of good food; they include no added sugars and are even included as one of your 5 a day which is always good, they have next to no sat fat or salt yet still include good amounts of fibre and protein. They do contain a slightly higher than other things about of sugar but it's a common myth is that too much sugar is bad IF the sugar you're eating is natural, fruit and other natural sugars are good for your body and can help to keep you going.
The bars are also only 94 kcals yet still satisfying which is a rarity with any 'diet' foods you can buy, obviously the nākd bars win that battle.

Rating- *****

Overall rating-****1/2

I ador nākd products and will whole heartedly pressure you into buying them anytime

https://www.naturalbalancefoods.co.uk

Link to the bars ^^^

FOOD REVIEW: Tesco free-from choc 'n' crispie bar

Sticking with the sweet theme (as well as  tesco free-from items) I desired to also review their crispie chocolate bar, which is one of my favourites. 

Taste:
From the first bite it's pretty obvious that it isn't an ordinary chocolate bar; the taste is a bit different and the texture more film than chocolate such as dairy milk, which isn't neseserily a bad thing, I am yet to try other brands of dairy free chocolate so I can't currentl give any opinions on whether it's better or not than any of those.
I think the thing that really makes these bars is the crisped rice in the centre, giving the bar a different texture which I am surprised no other chocolate bars really use.

Rating-****

Accessibility and price:
These exact bars are only really found at tescos, and usually only the larger ones meaning they're not as accessible as I would like them to be, however when reader hung I found that both morrisons and sainsburries make their own version but I like near a descent sized shop of each and have yet to see a bar on the shelves. Price on the other hand is a different story, with the bars being only 40p!!! Far cheaper than the cadburys bar of the same size at half the price! Sometimes there are also buy 3 for £1.

Rating-***1/2

Health rank:
These bars are pretty low calorie for chocolate, weighing in at only 162kcals, against the above mentioned cadburys bar at 240kcals. Other than calories however the bar doesn't do very well for itself against cadburys being higher in both saturates and fat by several grams, it's kind of a disappointment especially since being worth 32% of your suggested average daily sat-fat intake.

Rating- **

Overall rating- ***

Like anything these bars are apsolutly fine in moderation and a great snack on the go or to feed your chocolate cravings.

http://m.tesco.com/h5/groceries/r/www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=267279176

Above link to the bar at tesco ^^^

FOOD REVIEW: Tesco's free from strawberry and vanilla cones

When I went to the supermarket this morning with my dad I noticed that the local tesco had started selling these dairy free strawberry 'cornettos'. I desired to buy them as I haven't had a cornetto in years and was very exited to try them. 

The ice creams, as specified on the packaging are dairy, gluten and wheat free. They also don't include eggs so are vegan friendly. 

Taste

The ice cream cone was very nice and I thoroughly enjoyed it, the strawberry parts in the come were ice lolly-like rather than sause-y which I wasn't a fan of but personal preference so I can't complain. 

The chocolate on the come tasted much more like regular milk than most vegan chocolate which could be seen as good or bad (personally I liked the chocolate a lot) there was also a strawberry sauce layer at the bottom which was a lovely surprise- just don't get caught off guard. 

rating- ****

Price and accessibility

When researching whether or not you could find anything similar elsewhere and while lots of resipies showed up, there were no store bought ones. 

But they do seem to appear in lots of tesco stores across the country meaning it's not too hard to find them. 

The ice creams are also reasonably priced costing £2.00 for the four pack (the same as regular cornettos) however another thing to note is that the tesco free from cones are actually bigger, being 120ml each compared to the regular 9ml meaning they are better value for money. 

Rating- ****

Health rank

ovbiously ice cream isn't the healthiest of foods to eat and while theses ice creams have more calories and fat than regular strawberry cornettos they still do there bit in being dairy free. An extra 20kcals one day doesn't make much of a difference while going dairy free can and will make you healthier in the long run. 

Like any sweet food, the strawberry comes aren't a staple, just a good extra of those with a sweet tooth (like me!) 

Rating- ***

Overall rating- ****

I definitely recommend these ice creams, especially for vegans as they taste lovely and are also cheaper than many other vegan icecreams, or any ice creams for that matter *cough* ben and Jerrys *cough*  

http://m.tesco.com/h5/groceries/r/www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=287168546

Above ^^^ link to these icecreams on the tesco website