Planet Organic Energise Raw 46 Bar - Goji, Pumpkin Seed and Hemp Protein

I love a raw bar so when I saw these Planet Organic bars in my local Boots I had to have them. I've never actually been to a Planet Organic as they are all in London so was eager to give these bars a go. Like most of these healthy bars in the market, these are vegan, raw, gluten free, paleo and organic. What makes this difference? Well firstly the ingredients list is a bit different -unlike Nakd bars which rely on natural flavours, this is made of dates like other bars but also contains cashew butter, almond butter, pumpkin seed paste and hemp protein.

This means the bar is lower in sugars than many of these raw bars at only 9.1g (natural) sugars per bar and it means it has more protein with 4.6g per bar. Flavour then comes through from goji berries and vanilla.

Opening it up, although smaller in weight at 30g vs a 35g Nakd bar, it looks bigger due to a flatter and wider surface. It smells appetising and there's lots of texture in it and pieces in it,

It's maybe not as flavoursome as a Nakd bar as it's not an exciting flavour like carrot cake or bakewell tart but I really enjoyed it. It's fruity but with more texture and little crunchy bits of seed in. The nut butters add a creaminess and thick mouthfeel that feels more substantial. It feels like you're getting more of a bar and with its better nutritionals, it's maybe a good choice for a pre gym bar (which is what I've been using them for) rather than a treat bar.

Nutrition per bar: 126 calories, 6.4g fat, 1g sat, 9.1g sugars, 2.9g fibre, 4.6g protein
Score: 8/10

The Strand Dress Me Beautiful Feta, Sweet Potato, Pomegranate Salad (Boots)

Boots as I've said before is my prime choice for lunch on the high street - they just offer so much more healthy and interesting options and are pretty good at getting the newest and coolest brands in. On my most recent trip there it looks like Boots have launched a whole new range called The Strand. This crosses things from salad to sushi to bircher muesli pots and it all looks quite upmarket with its smart black packaging.

This salad honestly in appearance looks as good as anything from the likes of Eat and Pret and really stood out. It's a huge box of salad in a smart clear tray and looks so much more attractive than the other ready made salads you find in supermarkets.

The base is red salanova leaves with shredded beetroot and then topped with chickpeas, roasted sweet potato, spinach with a sprinkling of feta cubes and pomegranate seeds, a few sultanas and a little bit of red onion. It's a wonderfully colourful and vibrant salad and certainly beats a bit of limp lettuce, cucumber and tomato. Its also coated in a lovely tomato and harissa dressing which blends Middle Eastern spices like chilli, coriander and caraway seeds with a little honey for sweetness.

Its just enough to add flavour without drowning the leaves in gloop. There's plenty of sweet potato and chickpeas and everything works really well together. Spicy, tangy coated chickpeas and sweet potato pare s well with the fresh, crunchy leaves, salty bursts of creamy feta and sweet juiciness and acidity of pomegranate.

Nutritionally it's brilliant for a store salad with lower sugar and salt than most and it boasts 7g fibre and 11g protein as well as being vegetarian. I'm really impressed with this new upmarket range and look forward to trying more The Strand products.

Price: £3.75
Bought at: Boots
Nutrition per pot: 188 calories, 7.5g fat, 3.7g sat fat, 7.3g sugars, 7.1g fibre, 11g protein, 0.7g salt

Score: 7.5/10

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Boots Gluten Free Chicken Salad Sandwich

 I’ve always maintained that Boots does the best meal deals out of the mainstream shops. Typically you’re forced to have a sandwich, crisps or chocolate or a sugary or artificial drink. Boots offers a much wider range, allowing you to have yogurts, cereal bars, birch water, Graze boxes, veg crisps….it’s just so much better. And as well as healthy salad options I found their first gluten free offering – a chicken salad roll.

It looked fairly appetizing although the filling did look a little stingy as it was dwarfed by the roll – but on the positive side you could see actual chunks of chicken in there. It is well packaged with a cardboard tray to minimize travel damage or being squashed.

Opening it up, the roll felt soft and no different to your standard roll and actually the flavour of the roll is quite nice. Definitely one for those that prefer brown rolls and bread as it’s quite dense with a slight nuttiness. There are also lots of seeds in there for added texture. However, it is really quite dry. This wouldn’t be a problem in itself if there was more filling but overall it just felt like a dry eat.

The chicken I had was tender and soft and the mayo was lemony and light but there just wasn’t enough of it to lubricate a quite starchy roll. I’m not sure whether the gluten free roll or the filling was to blame but overall it was quite tiring to eat.

Having said that I really did like the flavour of the roll and nutritionally it’s really quite good for a shop bought sandwich with less than 1g salt. I actually overall enjoyed and would buy it again as it was rasty enough and healthy. It would be just nice to have a bit more flavour or mayo to make it a bit easier to eat. One to have with a glass of water

Price: £3.00
Bought at: Boots

Nutrition per roll: 312 calories, 15g fat, 1.7g sat fat, 1.8g sugar, 0.8 salt

Score: 7/10

Boots Carrot, Parsnip and Mango Juice Review

Fruit and veg blends are increasingly on trend thanks to the Nutribullet. I like to whip up moy own veg and fruit smoothies in my Nutribullet but when you're out and above, it's great to have some ready made options out there as a healthier alternative to soft drinks and for a quick hit of vitamins.

I picked up this carrot, mango and parsnip blend from Boots. It's a nice small 250ml bottle, which is perfect for me as this is enough to get a hit of veg and fruit without consuming a huge amount (albeit natural) sugar in one go. This drink is made from carrot, parsnip, appl juice, mango, orange juice and some lemon juice and has a very reasonable sugar content of 4.8g per 100ml - about the same as milk. It also counts as one portion of fruit and veg.

Savse is my go to out and about fruit and veg smoothie of choice for its crisp, clean and refreshing taste. This wasn't as good. It certainly wasn't disgusting or unpalatable but not as well matched as a Savse smoothie. The parsnip in particular leant a slight earthiness, which meant it wasn't as refreshing. The texture was also more watery and juice like compared to Savse.

I liked this drink to a certain extent and would probably buy again if I wanted a fruit and veg hit on the go but it's not delicious by any means and the flavour combo just doesn't quite work.

Price: £1.95
Bought at: Boots
Nutrition per bottle: 81 calories, 0.4g fat, 0.2g sat fat, 12g sugars

Score: 6.5/10

Boots Roasted Beetroot, Cauliflower and Quinoa Salad Review

I’m a pretty big fan of Boots for their meal deal and options. Whilst Sainsbueys and Tesco seem to force you into buying crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks, Boots offers genuinely healthy and more interesting and fresh options. I picked up this cauliflower,  beetroot and quinoa salad as part of their meal deal and reading the ingredients list I was pleased to see how clean it was. There was nothing I didn’t recognize and there was no added sugar or weird ingredients.

Cauliflower, quinoa and beetroot are all pretty on trend ingredients and all worked with the goat’s cheese dressing that came with it. Containing crème fraiche it had a nice tangy punch which livens up the cauliflower and particularly works well the sweetness of the beetroot. Goat’s cheese and beetroot always make perfect bedfellows. If I had one criticism I think there is too much garlic in the dressing – it’s quite overwhelming and is so strong it overtakes the goat’s cheese which is pushed into the background.

It would also be nice if there was a bit more substance to the salad. With just quinoa and veg, it’s not hugely substantial and at 104 calories isn’t a lunch by itself. A few nuts, houmous or something like some cauliflower falafel would bulk it up a bit.

However, it’s great to see genuinely clean and healthy on the go options on the market especially as vegetarians are usually so undercatered for. Containing 2 of your 5 a day, it left me feeling uplifted and not weighed down.

Bought at: Boots

Score: 7.5/10

Boots Meal Deal: Santa Fe Salad, Metcalfe's Skinny Cinnamon Popcorn and Apple & Elderflower Vitamin Still Water

This rather brief review is a 3 in 1. Whilst travelling and on the hunt for something for lunch, I decided to give the Boot's meal deal a go. I'm a pretty big fan of its range because it offers so much more variety and some really cool and quirky brands in its selection unlike places like Tesco and Sainsbury's, which force you to choose from a more limited selection.

I also love how most of the Boot's options are slightly more healthy and, in my opinion, this coupled with the breadth of choice more than justifies the additional 29p it costs compared to other meal deals. It was a tough choice (especially when choosing from the wide variety of snacks) but I eventually settled on the Santa Fe salad, a bag of Metcalfe's Skinny Cinnamon popcorn and the apple and elderflower vitamin water.

Intially the salad looks slightly underwhelming and not that appetizing with a lot of lettuce. However, hidden beneath this is actually quite a generous layer of deliciously sweet mixed bean salad with a little bit of a kick to it.

There's a good helping of tomatoes and sweetcorn too and lots of lovely shreds of creamy cheese that is slightly salted and works well with the crisp freshness of the leaves. The cheese is in quite thin strips that help keep this under 200 calories yet still packs a subtle punch. My only criticism was the scant supply of Mexican spiced chicken, which was full of flavour and I would have liked more of.

Score: 7/10

The cinnamon popcorn was nice but didn't exactly blow me away. I do like Metcalfe's but felt this didn't live up to what I was expecting. I love anything cinnamony so was sure I'd love this but felt the coating wasn't strong enough.

Every now and then you'd get a piece fully smothered in the sweet spice, which was really delicious with a lovely warming sensation but, on a lot of the pieces, the scent and taste was too underwhelming. It still made a healthy snack though at only 117 calories and isn't as sugary as most treats.

Score: 6.5/10

The apple and elderflower vitamin water I chose more for taste than health as I'm pretty sceptical about these type of claims and realise plain water is probably the best thing you can drink. It's a lovely vivid green colour and has a really nice smooth apple flavour that has a subtle tang but is mostly refreshingly sweet. Elderflower, which can be quite a tricky flavour to get right, was distinct and provided an interesting, sharp aftertaste. The whole drink was also pretty thirst quenching.

Score: 7/10

Overall, I really liked the Book's meal deal. It offered value, a great choice with some hard to find brands and was a healthier alternative to a lot of lunch deals out there.

Price: £3.29
Available: Boots