Pret Protein Packed Superbowl

Expensive as it is, I do like to treat myself to a Pret now and then and like the fact they are first with new trends and offer genuinely healthy lunches on the go. The new protein packed superbowl caught my eye today as I was in need of a less carby lunch following a carb heavy breakfast and this ticked the box nicely.

It's all simple real food. Chargrilled chicken and egg form the protein basis and it's on a bed of lentils and quinoa - both pulses known for being good vegetarian protein as well as low GI. Chuck in some healthy fats from avocado, superfood spinach and then parsley, peas and lemon juice for flavour and a seed mix for crunch and extra protein and you've got a rock solid nutritional lunch right there.

Is it the most exciting taste ever? No, it is as you expect simple wholefoods but they do all taste great and complement each other nicely if not setting your taste buds nicely. What I like about Pret is that it tastes fresh. The avocado is firm but ripe and very creamy rather than mushy, the leaves aren't wilted but perky and crisp and the chicken in particular is very flavoursome and tender rather than the nasty stuff you get in cheap pre-packed salads.

It's just a good tasting healthy lunch and it really kept me going. I also bought a bag of kale crisps from there and this tided me over until dinner time with no need to snack. I can't afford to spend £5 on a salad every day but it was a good fit for me today.

Price: £4.99

Bought at: Pret A Manger

Nutrition per bowl: 411 calories, 16.9g fat, 3.9g sat fat, 3.6g sugars, 32.7g protein, 1.3g salt

Score: 7.3

Moma Super Seeds Porridge

After enjoying the coconut and chia Moma porridge pot and having an early morning where I had no access to a microwave for my usual porridge, I thought I'd give another one a go - this time the superseeds. This one does contain dairy and is your normal porridge but also has no added sugar and actually because of the dairy you get more protein in it as well. As well as being high in protein, it's also a really source of fibre and we all know about oats and their cholesterol lowering function. A nice touch about this one as well is that it's gluten free.

In addition to gluten free oats and skimmed milk powder, it contains pumpkin seeds, linseed and chia seeds. This adds a nice textural contrast to the creamy, soft porridge and adds a little flavour. It's super simple to make, just pour in boiling water to the line, stir and wait five minutes so very convenient if you don't have access to a microwave or hob but still want porridge.

Having dairy in this one, I think makes it an improvement over the coconut milk one as it means the texture is much more rich and creamy. It also feels more filling, I guess because the milk adds necessary and protein. This plus a banana and a latte kept me suitably full until lunch.

Again, I prefer to make my own porridge and this isn't cost effective but it's probably the best and most nutritious porridge pot I've found.

Price: £1.29
Bought at: Ocado
Nutrition per pot: 254 calories, 4.3g fat, 0.8g sat fat, 9.9g sugars, 5.4g fibre, 14.4g protein, 0.4g salt

Bounce Protein Energy Bites Cacao and Orange

I've reviewed plenty of the bounce balls before and I am a big fan of them even if they are expensive. I just find them a really convenient post or pre exercise calorie dense ball and I love their ridiculously chewy, heavy and close texture. They're feel satisfying and a good source of protein. They've now expanded into a range of snacking bags called bounce bites - available in three flavours: coconut and cranberry, sweet and salty almond and these cacao and orange ones.

The principle is sound -take an existing product and make mini bites of it in a sharing bag - it's something that seems to work for Cadbury and chocolate and cakes so why not for healthier snacks too. This 90g sharing bag has a recommended 3 x 30g servings and nutritionally they're pretty good with each serving giving you 6.6g protein, 7.4g sugars and 129 calories and apparently a good mix of fat, protein and carbs. There's no refined sugar and is made up of your usual cashews, whey protein, dried fruit and seeds etc.

I was expecting little mini versions of bounce balls so was surprised by the flat disc shapes of the bites, which were uniform in shape rather than the squashed irregular shape of Bounce Balls. Biting into my first one I have to admit these are a bit of a disappointment and not as good as bounce balls. The taste is right and I get the cacao and orange - although worth noting this is a healthier wholefoods chocolatey orangey taste rather than a treat version. The taste is actually pretty good but the texture is all wrong.

Rather than the dense fudginess and chewiness of Bounce balls these are dry and kind of dusty tasting and a little tough. I'm also a little confused by the size of the bag, 90g is too much but then the serving sizes are quite small and 129 calories and 6.6g protein is less than a standard bounce  balls so not as good after exercise. A sharing bag also seems odd for a food I associate with after the gym. I think I'd just rather have a bounce ball.

Price: £2.99
Bought at: Holland and Barrett
Nutrition per 30g: 129 calories, 6.3g fat, 2g sat fat, 7.4g sugars, 6.6g protein

Marks and Spencer Cajun Spiced Plantain Crisps

So summer is definitely off the cards now and M&S is fully gearing up for winter treats but that means discounted M&S summer goodies! I found a couple of bits and bobs from the Spirit of Summer range discounted in my local M&S so I'm afraid there are still more summer related M&S products for me to try and review. It's a good chance for me to try things that I liked the look of but that just didn't excite me as much as some of the other products and so got overlooked.

I managed to get a bag of these cajun spiced plantain crisps for just £1 - bargain. Well bargainish as it's only a 100g and you could quite easily eat this pack in a single sitting because they are just delicious. I was slightly wary that these are crisps made of plantain, which is a member of the banana family so was a bit worried they might be a) sweet or b) more akin in texture to the banana chips you get in health food shops.

However, I needn't have worried because these are deliciously savoury. Emptying a few out, all my pieces were nice and large and intact with no broken crumbs like you sometimes get in badly transported crisps. The pieces were a mix of long strips and coins, which do resemble banana. However, texture wise, plantain is similar to a sweet potato crisp but less sweet with a nice crunch. Texture wise they are slightly different to potato crisps with a a nice thin crisp that isn't greasy but that feels satisfying  and light.

They are unbelievably moreish and addictive. As soon as I ate my first one I knew I'd have trouble stopping. Plantain crisps actually work really well but its the cajun spicing that is addictive. A heady mix of garlic, cumin, fennel, cayenne pepper, tomato and onion - it's smoky, deep, slightly sweet, tangy and really rather powerful. It's not spicy but the taste is impactful and it lingers in your mouth long after you've eaten it.

These were utterly wonderful and I'm a bit annoyed I only bought the one bag as had I known how delicious they are, I would have stocked up. On a final note, they are also suitable for vegans as well as vegetarians and the ingredients list is simply plantain, sunflower oil and then salt  flavourings and spices with a coating of rice flour. Too good just for summer, I hope these may make an appearance again next year!

Price: £1 (reduced)
Bought at: Marks and Spencer
Nutrition per 25g serving: 130 calories, 8g fat, 0.9g sat fat, 1.4g sugars, 0.13g salt

Score: 8/5/10

Aldi Domio Blueberry Yogurt

After being really rather impressed by the passion fruit Danio yogurt copycat by Aldi, I decided to give the blueberryone a whirl as well. I've made no secret that when it comes to yogurt I like high protein ones that super thick and the Aldi Domio yogurts do just this with a high protein content and a thickness that stands up to my 'hold a spoon upright unsupported' test.

Blueberry is also my favourite fruit and a favourite yogurt flavour of mine. Something about tart, plain yogurt and its creaminess just complements the sweetness of berries.  Now this is more of a jammy compote at the bottom so does have some added sugar and it is quite sweet and sticky but I fully expected this as that is what you get with Danio yogurts.

Once again this fully delivers and in my opinion is probably just as good the brand. The top is wonderfully creamy and also a dense but mousse like airiness that makes it feel indulgent and more a dessert than a yogurt. The blueberry compote is sweet but not overly so and when eating with the creamy yogurt almost tastes like a cheesecake without the base. There were also lots of whole bits of blueberry in there as well, which held their shape rather than disintegrating.

At 39p a pot and with a high protein content and fat free, I am fully sold on these yogurts. They taste great and whilst the sugar is a little high, you can always choose to leave some of the compote rather than mix it all in. These are likely to become a regular evening snack for me

Price: £0.39
Bought at: Aldi
Nutrition per pot: <0.5g fat, <0.1g sat fat, 16 sugars, 0.12g salt

Score: 8/10

Marks and Spencer Moroccan Spiced Butternut Salad with a roasted carrot dip

This was an easy choice for lunch as soon as I clocked eyes on it. Just look how attractive it is – the bright colours, the mix of textures, lots of big chunks of vegetables and lots of Middle Eastern flavours and spices for a big punch of flavours. This is exactly the type of healthy, convenient product I love – based on lots of vegetables (with this containing 2 of your five a day) and lots of interesting tastes rather than just salad leaves.

To list every ingredient and component of this would take a while because there is so much in it but it essentially breaks down into a couscous with a Moroccan style dressing, a generous helping of soft and creamy tasting carrot dip and large chunks of roasted and spiced butternut squash. That’s not to say there isn’t a whole load more going on as there’s onion, peppers, chickpeas, pomegranate seeds, quinoa, spinach and dried apricot as well.

What works so well about this is that individually each component is delicious but also they also work together so you can eat the bits separately or mix them together. It’s really hard to pick what my favourite part is – maybe the roasted butternut squash –it’s soft but firm with a lovely earthy smokiness from cumin and paprika that complements its sweetness. But then the roasted carrot dip is delicious – I would buy a pot of this just by itself as a houmous replacement, its sweet and savoury and has a really thick luscious texture.

And that’s not to say I wouldn’t eat the couscous by itself either – with garlic, chilli and more lightly spiced Moroccan flavours, it’s fragrant and packs a real flavour punch with is accentuated by the mish mash of different textures, bites and flavours studded throughout.

The portion size is exactly right and made a great healthy lunch. Suitable for vegetarians, it’s certainly more interesting than a tuna nicoise or Caesar salad!

Bought at: Marks and Spencer

Nutrition per pack:

Score: 8/10

Moma Coconut and Chia Porridge - Dairy Free

I don’t really do premade porridge pots – generally they’re too sweet, too processed and frankly it takes no time to make from scratch and the you can add whatever flavourings you like. However, I’m quite partial to the moma bircher mueslis and as the pot a) has no added sugar b) came in a more unusual coconut and chia version, I was happy to pay the extra price to give it a go. It’s also a diary free instant porridge pot, which is quite unusual. Instead it relies on coconut milk – albeit coconut milk powder. 

The premise is the same as the usual porridge pots. Add hot water, stir , leave for a bit and dig in. I followed the instructions and came out quite nicely and it certainly smelt very coconutty. Despite the lack of sugar, it still tastes sweet and pleasant despite only containing 1.7g per pot. However, the texture isn’t as good as my regular porridge with a slightly more watery taste and texture. To an extent this isn’t Moma’s fault as it’s dairy free so is never going to be as thick and creamy as porridge made with milk.

However, I also make my porridge with proper almond milk or coconut milk and it’s still richer than this. I think this must be because it’s only coconut milk powder, which  you add boiling water to. Generally porridge pots texture is more watery because you’re adding water to them and I guess that’s the price you pay for convenience.

However, it’s a genuinely healthy breakfast on the go and it’s nice to see a porridge pot that isn’t pumped full of sugar and artificial ingredients. It’s also pretty high in protein with 6.6g per pot and although I still prefer making my own porridge so I can get a better portion size, this is fairly substantial. The chia seeds don;’t add a lot at 2.5% and when cooked in it don’t produve much bar the speckled appearance. Again when I make my own porridge I like to add chia at the end as a topping so I get the crunch.

Essentially homemade still triumphs but this probably the healthiest on the go porridge I’ve seen and would definitely be my go to choice if I needed a convenient option

Price: £1.49

Bought at: Ocado

Nutrition per pot: 247 calories, 8.4g fat, 5.1g sat fat, 1.7g sugars, 6.6g protein, 0.01g salt

Score: 7/10

New Tesco Cereals

As I've said before I'm a compplete cereal addict and it usually ends my day as an evening snack as well beginning a day. No matter how many boxes and kinds I have at home, I can't help but always wander down the cereal aisle just to see what's new. There's a fair few new ones appearing including some interesting Tesco own label ones

I love bitesize shredded wheat and these two new versions with mutli grains initially caught my eye. Until I saw they 15% sugar. Considering normal bitesize shredded wheat has no sugar, I don't see why I'd swap to these. Either be healthy or be treaty like a good granola. There's a rye and quinoa one and a barley and spelt one

Similarly on the naughty cereal partners theme, there's the new Shreddies Max Protein granola tapping into the trend for all things protein. But again, it's pretty sugary and there are far healthier granola out there that also come in bigger boxes and are better value.

Luckily Tesco realise we want less sugary cereals with their new reduced sugar cranberry and almond granola. This is something I definitely want to try once i run down my existing granola stock.

As is this super grains and seeds granola with Oat and spelt flakes with puffed quinoa sweetened with honey, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and linseed. Yum.

Quaker are also getting in on the healthier eating with a new range of oat muesis with no added sugar including a nuts and seeds and a strawberry version. Quaker are synonymous with porridge and oats so I would be interested in trying their take on muesli

Whereas the Kelloggs Ancient Legends is making the move the other way. From their granolas and mueslis there is new Kelloggs Ancient Legends porridge - there's a plain one with no added sugar in and also a coconut one that is slightly sweetened although the sugar content is a lower than other porridges. Both are a mix of oats, barley, chia and spelt for a mix of grains. I do quite want to try these but there is no way I'm paying £1.99 for 6 tiny portions when a box of oats is £1 with enough breakfasts for weeks.

And finally if you want breakfast a little sweeter Tesco have launched golden syrup malt wheats  - a golden syrup take on Shreddies.

So many cereals, so little space in my cereal cupboard....there's just so much here I want to try.

Charbrew Pineapple and Vanilla Tea

Since I received a Holland and Barrett gift card and they currently have one of their buy one get one half price on everything events, I decided to splash out on a few pricier items that I wouldn't usually get - one of which is the pineapple and vanilla tea. I don't really drink your standard builder's brew but have a vast collection of green teas, coconut teas, herbal teas and fruit teas with lots of different brands. I love having the variety of flavours depending on my mood and the time of day.

Usually I wouldn't really pay about £2.50 for tea and at £3.49 for just 15 bags, I did initially think they were pricey. However, the promise of the 'perfect balance of fresh zingy pineapple and smooth vanilla, fresh and fruity without being too sweet' sounded really intriguing and I hadn't ever seen a tea like this before. Plus Charbrew's tea pyramids are made from a fine biodegradable mesh, delivering a superior infusion and the ingredients list is really high quality ingredients rather than flavouring. 

Apple, rosehip shells, Pinapple cubes, orange peel, vanilla flavouring , vanilla pieces 

So there's actual pineapple cubes in the bag and real vanilla pieces! As soon as I opened the box, the smell completely blew me away. It is so appetising - geninely tropical, really vanilla and actually reminds of me of pineapple flavoured fudge or pineapple sweets!

I could also see the pieces in the bag were great big chunks of real ingredients rather than dust and as I let it brew, the smell was just incredible. I let it steep for a full five minutes and left the bag in as I drank from it and I can say this is one of those fruit teas where the taste actually delivers in relation to the smell.

Super creamy and sweet from the vanilla but also fresh and fruity from the pineapple, it's a delicious combination that genuinely feels a bit treaty. I've been using these to curb sweet cravings and these do the job really nicely. I'm a big fan of these now and actually would pay the £3.49 for them. They also have a chocolate and orange one, which I'm interested in trying

Price: £3.49
Bought at: Holland and Barrett

Score: 8/10

Tesco Smoked Ham Egg Omlette Wrap

So if you follow any diet trends, bread and carbs are very much out and protein is in. Everyone seems to be adding more protein to their products from cereals to yogurts but Tesco have comepletely written the rules on sandwiches and wraps by ditching all the bread completely and instead making an omlette wrap. It's certainly different and caught my eye when looking for something that would fill me up and sustain me.

Inside of a standard wrap, the filling is held together by an egg crepe.Eggs obviously mean protein and to up it even a more the filling is protein based with smoked ham and yet more egg! There's also a bit of carrot, spinach and tomato chucked in there to try and add some veg into quite an egg and animal based product and then some full fat cream cheese to add some much needed moistness and again to make it even more filling. What this adds up to is a product that is 13% protein and only 3.8% carbs. Per pack that works out at as a total of 6.3g carbs and a whopping 21g protein for 226 calories.

I wasn't sure what to expect. The first doubt I had is whether an omlette wrap would even hold together and keep the filling inside. Actually it works pretty well, it didn't rip at all, the filling stayed in and it holds together nicely although it is slightly strange holding an omelette as the vehicle to get it to your mouth.

On a taste perspective, it's not bad. I wouldn't go as far as to say delicious and if you're after something tasty, you'd be better off with a normal sandwich but if you pick this you're probably after protein and nutrition not taste. It's maybe a little dry. When you get a good blob of cream cheese it really helps so a bit more of this wouldn't go amiss. However, it tastes nice enough and I guess the best way of putting it is that it tastes of a cold omlette - make of that what you will. I certainly think it's quite original and it's great Tesco are responding to what people are looking for.

Price: £2.35
Bought at:Tesco
Nutrition per pack: 226 calories, 12.4g fat, 5.3g sat fat, 6.3g carbs, 2.5g sugar, 21.6g protein, 1.1g salt

Score: 7/10

Marks and Spencer Spirit of Summer Milk Chocolate Smothered Crunchy Jumbo Salted Corn

Although Spirit of Summer at M&S is on its way out now, I managed to grab a couple bits from the range before they disappear including these chocolate coated pieces of salted corn. Sweet and savoury is something that really works for me with chocolate coated pretzels being one of my favourite treats. I’ve seen pretty favourable reviews of these including at Kev’s Snack Reviews so felt they were a pretty safe bet.

I was surprised by how big the actual pieces are. It says jumbo on the pack but from the image they show on pack, I was expecting chocolate raisin sized pieces – they are a lot bigger than that, almost the size of malteasers. They smelt really chocolatey as soon as I opened the bag and I imagined the chocolate would be pretty good as M&S do a decent milk chocolate that is not overly sweet and nice and creamy. It uses their exclusive British milk chocolate recipe and considering only 19% of the product is the salted corn, they are very generously coated in thick chocolate.

Initially when I bit I was a little disappointed as the salted corn is quite small and actually fairly hard and crunchy rather than a more softer popcorn texture I was expecting. However, they become curiously moreish and addictive and once you’ve had a couple, it’s very hard to stop eating them.

It’s not really that salty but it does work against the creamy, sweet chocolate very well and because the corn is so crispy and crunchy against the melt in the mouth chocolate you also get a good mix of texture as well flavour. The chocolate is really gorgeous and pairs nicely against a salted snack but the salted corn isn’t the best vehicle for a savoury/sweet mish mash as I still prefer chocolate pretzels or even chocolate crisps. Like I said these are seriously addictive and very enjoyable and I’m glad I got a chance to try them but I’ve tasted nicer chocolate coated savoury items.

Bought at: Marks and Spencer
Nutrition per 1/3 bag: 259 calories

Score: 7/10

Marks and Spencer Gingerbread Teacakes

Well my self control at not buying these until at least November lasted barely a couple of days. After seeing all the delicious new cakes and treats in M&S last time I was there, it was these gingerbread teacakes that really played on my mind. Gingerbread is one of my favourite things whether in the form of a spicy biscuit, sticky loaf cake or as a flavoured latte. It is a rich, warming, spicy scent, which is tied to Christmas and the cold for me so it seems a little odd M&S have launched this as an autumn treat as I'm sure they'll be even more treats coming out in a few months time for Christmas as well.

Like I said, these played on my mind ever since I saw them as I just love all those cinnamon, treacle, and ginger notes and I also love traditional stodgy, rainy afteroon, teatime British treats and so teacakes are another of my great loves. A wet day, snuggled up inside with a good book or film, a cup of tea and a teacake is a glorious thing.

 This teacake shuns the traditional currants and fruits instead opting for 14% toffee pieces as the only inclusion along with the cinnamonm,ginger and spices. Opening the pack, the lack of ginerbread scent conerned me. Yes, you can kind of get a faint glimmer of spice if you really sniff it but it's weak at best. The teacakes looked very attractive though with a glossy dome and they cut nicely in two with a good teacake texture.

As I toasted them, the gingerbread smell I wanted increased a little but it's certainly not strong. Cinnamon bagels have more warming scent to them than these. However, they toasted beautifully with a slightly crisp top with a soft, luscious bread underneath.

The texture of these is great but that is the best I can say as the gingerbread flavour is so weak it's barely there at all. You barely can detect any spice at all yet alone getting any hint of the sticky, gingery treat I wanted. The toffee is completely lost and I wouldn't notice it was there at all unless I was told. No cinnamon or ginger is identifiable. It's not sweet, which is what I want and expect from a teacake and as a teacake it's okay...except it's missing the fruit. In the end I had to put some banana peanut butter on it just to give it some flavour.

I am so disappointed with these - the base is right but this is no gingerbread teacake. I appreciate as a teacake it's not supposed to be sticky or sugary but there isn't even spice. I guess I'll have to wait until November for the proper gingerbread to come around. I've seen other people like Nibbles N Scribbles have really enjoyed this so maybe it's just me?

Price: £1.00
Bought at: Marks and Spencer
Nutrition per teacake: 175 calories, 3.8g fat, 1.2g sat fat, 8.2g sugars, 0.33g salt

Score: 5/10

Nakd Peanut Delight Review

The new apricot crunch and the carrot cake Nakd bars have both been winners with me (although I don't think any Nakd bar I've ever tried hasn't been delicious) and now it's time for the third and last of the new trio - peanut delight.

Peanut butter is a great flavour for snack bars anywhere but I was interested to see Nakd's take on peanut. This is actually only peanut delight rather than peanut butter and it has probably the simplest ingredients of any Nakd bar - dates, peanuts and a pinch of sea salt. And that is literally it so totally plant based, vegetarian, vegan, dairy free, gluten free, wheat free and with no added sugar. All in all a pretty healthy, wholesome snack in my opinion.

I've seen mixed reviews of these with some enjoying it and others who feel let down. I have to say I'm a really big fan of this bar. It is the one I put off until I finished all my other ones simply because the ingredients list is so short, it just didn't seem very exciting. But actually it's simplicity really works.

One big thing is just how chunky the peanuts are - these aren't your normal nuts smooshed down and dotted throughout the other Nakd bars. They are a lot more noticeable here with a chunkier texture, which I quite like as I prefer my snack bars to feel a bit more substantial. Taste wise it's not really peanut butter or even peanutty in taste as such. It's more of a peanut and date mish mash. This sounds a pretty obvious point but with no natural flavouring in this bar, the date taste is stronger than others where it is is masked to taste like coffee/ bakewell tart/ carrot cake. This is another reason for some of the negative reviews but I liked the simplicity.

The touch of sea salt adds a very, very, very faint savouriness which complements the natural date sweetness and just brings out the peanut taste a little more. It felt satisfying to eat and I think this could be a regular Nakd bar for me. It's not so much a treat as the carrot cake one which really is like eating carrot cake but what this offers is a much more crunchy, nuttier Nakd than any of the others.

It's another success by Nakd and whilst carrot cake is maybe the best of the three new flavours (such a shame it's limited edition) apricot crunch and peanut delight are both absolutely delicious as well. Get all three of them, variety is always a good thing!

Nutrition per bar: 149 calories, 7.5g fat, 1.4g sat fat, 13.6g sugars, 4.8g protein

Score: 8/10

Marks and Spencer Taste Japan Mushroom Onigiri

Along with all kinds of new goodies, M&S are going big on their Taste range - an exotic collection of tastes from the East with a focus on Japan and Thailand. It's all 20% off at the moment so a good time to try some new things. Some of it is a return of products from last year but there's lots of new things as well. I went for these Mushroom Onigiri from Japan.

Onigiri are filled rice balls with a crispy panko crumb - in this case filled with shiitake and oyster mushroom (along with some straw and black cup mushroms). The product looks pretty authentic with sake, soy sauce, spring onions, ginger and yellow miso part of the Japanese inspired ingredients.

It's a well designed tray that protects each ball and keeps them seperate They cook in 12 mins in the oven and smelt good as they came out. The first nice surprise was that the outing was actually crispy. It was crumbly with a thick panko crunch and you could feel its fried texture even by cutting in.

Inside is a nice creamy, soft mushroom filling that is slightly gooey and pairs well with the soft rice and there's a nice crunch from chesnuts for a contrast in textures.

It's a pretty nice little nibble and would be good as part of a sharing table along with some other nibbles and some sauces to dip into. It has a nice rich umami flavour that isn't overly salty and the contrast between crisp crumb and gooeyish filling makes for a pleasant eat.

Price: £2.00 (£1.60 with current 20% off offer)
Bought at: Marks and Spencer
Nutrition per 100g: 199 calories, 6.4g fat, 1.1g sat fat, 2g sugars, 0.88g salt

Score: 7/10