Leon The Ruby Red Porridge Review

Pret is always my go to when grabbing a breakfast on the go but on my latest venture through Birmingham New St, I decided to give Leon a while purely on the base of this new ruby red porridge they've introduced. It's dairy free and made with cashew milk instead along with organic oats. Cashew milk is one of my favourite nut milk and I've made porridge with it myself and it's delicious so thought this was onto a winner.

In addition it comes a strawberry, blackcurrant and raspberry compote and a splodge of almond butter for even more nutty goodness. Mine didn't come out anywhere near as pretty as the store photo but it smelt yummy and looked good. I also bought an americano and was pleased to see Leon offer cute glass bottles of almond milk you can add to it for a dairy free option.

My goodness, this porridge is amazing! Something about the thick, stickiness of almond butter in conjunction with a sweet compote that is so fruity works amazingly. It feels so naughty and indulgent yet it's all wholefoods. The porridge itself is creamy and warming and just all comes together for a really filling and nourishing breakfast.

This coupled with a lovely lady who served me means this will be something I will definitely be going back for,

Price: £4.25 for a breakfast deal of porridge and a hot drink
Bought at: Leoon
Nutrition per serving: 294 calories, 8g protein, 9g sugars, 11g fat, 2g sat fat, 0.6g salt

Meridian Coconut and Almond Butter Review

Anyone into their nut butters know that Meridian is king. These are nut butters made purely from buts with no added salt or sugar and 100% almond/ peanut/ hazelnut etc depending on the flavour you pick. Free from palm oil, you can't knock their quality and I'm a die hard fan of their almond, peanut, hazelnut and cashew butters all of which I've enjoyed on toast, bagels, oatcakes and in smoothies.

Capitalising on the love of all things coconut, they've introduced a coconut and peanut butter and coconut and almond butter mash up to the range Like the rest of the range, the ingredients list is stunnigly simple - 67% almonds, 29% coconut and 4% honey for sweetening. I had high hopes for this and couldn't wait to get stuck in.

Because of its natural ingredients, this, like all the other Meridian products, needs a vigorous good stir to blend when you first open it as the natural almond oil seperates and rises to the top but this isn't a problem for me. I got the scent of coconut and with the high almond content, it looked deliciously creamy and thick

Spreading some onto some oatcakes for a little energy boost, the texture is fairly thick with a slight runniness - maybe a little looser than their peanut butter but thicker than the hazelnut butter. It's rich and creamy in the mouth and whilst the coconut is obvious and fragrant, you do still get the almond richness as well so you get the best of both blends.

I'll admit I expected these to be the most luxurious nut butter I've ever had but whilst very nice it's no better than the rest of the range (not that that's a bad thing). It's not as sweet as I would have maybe liked so doesn't feel super indulgent or naughty but then again it's really a healthy product - albeit one that tastes divine.

Definitely one worth seeking out but perhaps not as treaty as some of the nut butters that contain maple syrup or cinnamon or blended with chocolate.

Price: £3.99
Bought at: Holland and Barrett
Nutrition per 100g: 647 calories, 56.1g fat, 19.9g sat fat, 7.6 sugars, 11.6g fibre, 19.1g protein, 0g salt

Score: 7.5/10