Nakd Apricot Crunch Review

I’m really back into Nakd bars again now that they launched their three new flavours of peanut power, apricot crunch and carrot cake. I’ve reviewed the carrot cake one previously which was insanely good and today is time for the apricot crunch version. I don’t really buy the crunch variants of the Nakd bars as the flavours are generally quite tame – strawberry, cocoa, banana and when they do cherry bakewell, gingerbread and cashew cookie ones it’s a bit of  no brainer.

However, apricot promises something new and interesting and you don’t see many apricot cereal bars out there. Before even opening the bar I could tell it was going to deliver on the apricot front, the smell is so strong you can even detect it without opening the pack. Once opened it’s even more intense with a lovely, sweet, floral, juicy smell of apricot.

Having not had a protein crunch Nakd for a while, the texture was a nice surprise. It’s a much firmer texture than the others with a crispiness to it that comes from the soya crunchies, which I like. Like all Nakd bars, the ingredients list is short and sweet – dates, soya crunchies, raisins,  cashews, apricot, apple juice concentrate and a bit of natural flavouring and of course it’s gluten free, wheat free, dairy free and vegan.

The taste is really nice with all  the treaty dessert like Nakd bars out there, it’s great to have a really fruity one and this one is really fruity indeed. It’s refreshing, summery and fragrantly sweet and a great addition to the range. Carrot cake still has the edge due to its awesome likeness to the real deal but this is pretty good too.

Nutrition per bar: 105 calories, 2.2g fat, 0.5g sat fat, 14.3 sugars, 5.4g protein, 0.2g salt

Score: 8/10

Nutribrex Coconut and Crispy Rice

After adding Nutribix to my ever increasing cereal repertoire (I just love the stuff and tend to eat it twice a day!), they've added a new coconut and crispy rice variant to the range and also renamed themselves as Nutri-brex. Slightly odd choice of name I must admit and at first I thought it was some kind of temporary PR thing in relation to Brexit but apparently they're actually sticking with this.

Like the regular Nutribrex it's a sorghum based breakfast cereal in biscuit form and is gluten free as sorghum does not contain gluten like wheat so I imagine very nice for coeliacs who miss their Weetabix or Shredded Wheat. What I liked about the original Nutribrex was how simple it was, allowing you to top it and customise each day however you want.

With crispy rice, coconut and cinnamon in this, this has a flavour all of its own. It's not super strongly flavoured so actually still works very well with whatever you choose to throw at it but because of the coconut and cinnamon it's also very nice just as it is. You can definitely get the tropical taste of coconut, which partners surprisingly well with the warmth of cinnamon. It's a cereal that would equally for breakfast in summer or winter.

The crisped rice doesn't add a huge amount and for me gets a bit lost but does add a little bit of crunch and textural interest. Like the regular Nutribrex these need a serious amount of milk and soaking time to soften them but it's worth it in the end.

I think I probably prefer it to the original overall and now I've got another cereal to feed my addiction to the stuff

Bought at: Asda
Nutrition per 3 biscuit serving: 201 calories, 4.2g fat, 2.2 sat fat, 4.1g sugars, 4.9g protein, 3.8g fibre, 0.22g salt

Score: 8/10

Nature's Store Organic Milk Chocolate Rice Cakes Gluten Free Review

I haven't had a rice cake for years. I used to eat them a fair bit about 5 years ago but then more and more interesting healthy snacks kept coming out and they also got a bit of bad press about being one of those diet foods that leave you hungry.

But then I was thinking to myself, 85 calories for one of these is never meant to really fill you up as such and as a replacement for a unhealthier snack it's got to be a better choice. I wouldn't go to these if I was starving or to use after a run to refuel but as a treat, I can't see why this would be a bad choice.

Everything about the product is organic and it's gluten and wheat free. It's wholegrain rice coated in milk chocolate and there's a few sesame seeds dotted in there two. They come in handy individual packs of two for freshness.

They were actually really pretty delicious and give you that chocolate hit but with less fat. I actually found that just the one with a cup of tea was enough to give me that sweet hit as they're quite large in diameter so you feel you get more versus something like a chocolate digestive. And the thing that makes them taste so good is that the milk chocolate is really pretty good quality. It's not overly sweet or sugary but has a proper chocolate taste that is smooth, creamy and melt in the mouth good. The ingredients list of the chocolate is short with 32% cocoa mass and no vegetable or palm oils and this really shines through.

It's also pretty generous with the chocolate accounting for 60% of each rice cake so the taste you get is chocolate rather than the savoury rice. I found it even nicer if just sumberged quickly in my hot coconut drink as it melts the chocolate a little making it even more creamy and meltingly delicious.

What's nice about it is that's also a nice light eat and the fact they're not filling is also a plus point as you don't feel weighed down. Overall I really enjoyed these and the gluten free etc is just a bonus because they are tasty in their own right.

Nutrition per rice cake: 83 calories, 4.1g fat, 2.5g sat fat, 4.9g sugars, 0.04g salt
Score: 7.5/10

Tesco Freefrom Coconut Rice with Senga Senegana Strawberry

Tesco do tend to do some interesting own label products and whilst browsing the dairy free aisles, found these own label coconut rice with senga sengana strawberry pots. I love rice pudding (I have a bit of a weird love of all things old fashioned like custard, digestive biscuits and malt loaf) so was intrigued to try this modern and on trend variant to rice pudding. It's wheat, dairy and gluten free.

First thing I was really impressed with was how clean the ingredients were. It is literally just the following:

Coconut Milk (Coconut, Water) (62%), Senga Sengana Strawberry (20%), Caster Sugar, Rice (8%), Gelling Agent (Pectin)

All things I recognise, which is a really good sign. Sugar content is also ridiculously good – how many desserts contains under 5g a serving?! Although big watch out is that a pot contains 44% of your saturated fat for the day. Now I know there is a lot of hype around coconut fat being good fat and apparently saturated fat being okay now but I think it is best to advise caution with these fats. A bit of fat and a bit of sugar now and then seems more sensible than going all out on any one nutrient.

It actually feels like a slightly more premium product that the packaging suggests. The little desserts come in smart little pots that I initially mistook for glass but actually seem to be a good, thick high quality plastic. They feel nice to eat out of and I actually ended up washing the pots out and keeping them. Any dairy avoiding guest would be happy to be presented with one of these at a dinner party as they have that Gu like feel to them.

Pulling the lid I instantly got a nice sweet exotic smell of coconut. Digging the spoon I realised it was thick, very thick due to the high fat content. I tried  bit of the top half first and it tastes extremely decadent, very creamy and rich too. Coconut comes through nicely and it’s not too sweet. However, it is a fairly rich dessert and would be sickly if you had to consume it by itself.

Stirring in the fruit compote at the bottom really helps ligten it up. The strawberry isn’t jammy or sickly sweet but fresh and uplifting and when mixed with the coconut rice makes a really creamy, delicious pudding. 

The only negative aspect of the dessert for me was the rice – at just 8% it gets totally lost in the thick fatness of the coconut milk and bar the odd little bit of bite now and then isn’t noticeable. As a rice pudding I’d rather have a looser, less fatty texture with more rice in.

Overall it’s a very nice dessert and at £2 for the two pots seems quite well priced for what I  thought was a pretty premium dessert.

Price: £2

Bought at: Tesco

Nutrition per pot: 155 calories, 9.4g fat, 8.8g sat fat, 4.9g sugars, 0.1g salt

Score: 8/10

9 Bar Super Seeded Hazelnut Cocoa Kick Review

Always on the look out for a new healthy snack bars from smaller companies, I decided to give this 9 Bar  a go. It’s part of a supersedes range (and you can see why with half the ingredients beings seeds) with a hazelnut and cocoa twist for a bit of healthier indulgent.

It also happens to be gluten free although this wasn’t the main reason I bought it. Sugar content is reasonable at just under 11g per bar and around 27 per 100g but it’s also a decent hit of protein (6g a bar) and fibre and obviously you get a great nutrient hit from all the sunflower, hemp, pumpkin and sesame seeds.

Opening it up, it actually smelt pretty chocolatey, although it doesn’t contain chocolate but rather just cocoa powder and then bounded with golden syrup and some sugar to sweeten.  I liked it looked a fairly substantial bar with a good thick texture and bigger eat – I love Nakd bars but often find they’re gone in seconds because they’re quite small and have such a squidgy texture.

You can certainly see the large quantity of seeds and there’s a really nice ‘chocolate’ style topping too. Whilst sugar content was perhaps a little high for me, this was an extremely tasty bar. It’s softer than you would imagine considering all the seeds with an almost fudgey texture. It’s also really rather chocolatey and indulgent with a delicious melting quality. It actually felt pretty decadent but at the same time it was significantly lighter than normal chocolate. All the seeds to balance out the rich chocolatiness also makes it a lot more interesting to eat and less one dimensional.

I would actually consider this as tasty as something like a Snickers but with an added boost of benefits as well. The hazelnuts although 9% aren’t really discernable but this really does taste gooey and a bit naughty. It’s not the healthiest bar on the market and at over 200 calories is more filling than others but there’s plenty of benefits too and it is really delicious.

Bought at : Health Food Shop

Nutrition per bar: 229 calories, 16.1g fat, 4.4g sat fat, 10.9 sugars, 5.8g protein

Score: 8/10

Marks and Spencer Gluten Free Chicken and Mushroom Crispbakes Review (Made without wheat)

As I mentioned when I tried the new M&S soya yogurts, M&S has recently focused a lot more on free from and in my store had a whole chilled area just for free from products with everything from the dairy free yogurts I tried to crumbles and ready meals without meat. At the same I also bought these wheat free and gluten free crispbakes.

I've always preferred M&S crispbakes to other supermarkets as you get a lot more high quality filling in them and less cheaper stuff to bulk it out. Chicken and mushroom is always a classic combo so this sounded promising.

The pack was easy to open and after simply baking in an oven for 20 minutes out came a rather delicious looking bake with an inviting golden crust. Certainly from appearance you wouldn't know it was wheat and gluten free. This was also true when cutting it, it was nice and crunchy without being brittle and the whole thing didn't disintegrate or fall apart. I simply served it with couscous and (rather a lot) of veg.

Trying just a bit of the crunchy outside area, I can resolutely say no one would be able to tell it was wheat and gluten free. It was savoury, moreish and satisfying in both texture and taste. However, the real star of this is the filling. There were huge chunks or chicken in here! Not just little bits dotted here and then but great big pieces that were moist and utterly delicious. Seriously there's more chicken in this than any other ready meal I've tried. It was so generous with the filling and the mushrooms complemented it perfectly for a really delicious dinner. The filling isn't wet as there is no sauce but it is tender and by no means dry.

I would 100% buy these again. They were quick, easy and delicious dinner. And whilst it's it doesn't taste like a free from product, the biggest selling point is the sheer quality and quantity of the filling. Everyone can enjoy this.

Price: £1.70
Bought at: Marks and Spencer
Nutrition per crispbake: 213 calories, 10.4g fat, 1.2g sat fat, 0.9g sugar, 1.2g salt

Score: 8/10

Nutribix Gluten Free Wholegrain Sorghum Cereal

Cereal is probably one of my favourite foods and a staple of my diet although I do prefer to keep to the simple options - Weetabix, Shredded Wheat, Porridge etc that I can then customise and top myself for added nutrition. Sadly the majority of cereals that hit the shelves are overly sweetened,  overly processed sugar bombs so I don't often get to try new ones. Weetabix Protein I tried recently and absolutely loved (review here) but browsing the freefrom page on Ocado, I found a kind of Weetabix esque product... but without the wheat - making it a gluten free cereal.

Instead Nutribix is made from wholegrain sorghum, which is a type of genus of plants according to wikipedia whatever the means. Essentially it's a type of anicent grain and mostly found in Australia, which is where this product comes from.What this translates into though is a cereal that looks very similar to Weetabix, 96% wholegrain, low in sugar and a source of fibre.

The ingredients are nice and minimal with only a touch of golden syrup for sweetness, some salt and some added vitamins apart from the sorghum. The box probably isn't the most exciting one ever but I have to say practically speaking it's pretty good. Unlike Weetabix which are wrapped up and need yo be lifted out of the box, these are wrapped in a kind of paper tissue making them nice and accessible without getting cereal all over the worktop.

They're slightly smaller than a Weetabix and feel lighter - probably due to being made of sorghum. I had mine with almond milk, fresh fruit and some chia seeds and spelt flakes scattered on top.

For all it's likeness to Weetabix, it tastes nothing like it so those hoping for a wheat and gluten free like-for-like swap might be disappointed. However, that's not to say I didn't like because I thought this had a really unusual, natural and nutty taste.

The texture is different to Weetabix too - less firm and disintegrates more leaving a feathery kind of texture in the mouth, which I enjoyed as well. It tastes natural and isn't sweet allowing you to customise it however you want. The flavour isn't too pronounced but it is deep and of wholegrain which is something I particularly enjoy.

Despite being gluten and wheat free, anyone who likes plain cereals or things like Shredded Wheat would appreciate these. I will definitely buy them again and it's great to have another choice to add to my regular cereal repertoire that is also good for you.

Price: £3.79
Bought at: Ocado
Nutrition per 3 biscuit serving: 174 calories, 1.7g fat, 0.3g sat fat, 1.0g sugar, 0.27g salt

Score: 9/10