Aldi Greek Style Rhubarb and Fiery Ginger Yogurt

As you've probably seen I've been reviewing a lot of Aldi yogurts recently. I'm pretty hooked on the Domio yogurts and was pretty impressed with their Greek yogurt. In my recent trip I also picked up this new range of Greek style yogurts they've launched. They had an apple and cinnamon one which looked nice too but I love rhubarb and I love ginger so I couldn't not get this.

Opening up the tub, I could detect a faint sweet rhubarb scent and it looked a pretty pink colour. Giving it a swirl and dolloping some out, it had a nice thick texture. It's not as thick as actual Greek yogurt but certainly at least comparable to any branded Greek style yogurt and some people will prefer this texture as it's not solid but instead still slightly runny albeit with a very rich, creamy, thick texture. It's certainly a good deal thicker than something like an Activia yogurt.

It's defnitely not a health yogurt by any means with 21g sugar per 150g serving (third of a pot) or 14g per sugar but it does taste very good. It's a sweet rhubarb flavour that works well with the creamy, indulgent texture with a good hit of ginger, which add a nice spicy afterhint that perfectly works with rhubarb.

There's also lots of nice chunk of rhubarb dotted throughout which add extra bursts of juicy sweetness. It's not something I would serve for breakfast due to the sugar content and I would like to see it lowered but it's a delicious, sweet treat and one I would buy again.

Bought at: Aldi
Nutrition per 150g/ third of a pot: 208 calories, 11g fat, 21g sugars

Score: 7.5/10

Ritz Bakefuls Sour Cream and Onion

After launching their first crisp style product last year, I found these new Ritz Bakefuls in Tesco along with lots of new other crisps and snacks. These crisp style crackers are all the rage right now and marketed as a lighter option to crisps with these bakefuls promoting themselves as 30% less fat.

The individual bags within the pack feels very light and not substantial at a meagre 23g but at 109 calories, this is kind of what you expect when a brand tries to go down the light route. Having said that when I opened the bag there's actually quite a lot of individual bakes in there.

I can't help but draw attention to Mondelez's cost cutting and cheapness. Not only have they steadily been cost cutting and ruining Cadburys but they seem to be unable to fork out for even a full pack design on the bag. Instead it's printed on the front with a blank back of packet. I can't help say but this looks really cheap.

On to the snacks themselves, they have a quite strong cheese and onion flavour both in smell and taste. They're certainly not bland but I almost find a bit too coated in flavour and it is slightly artificial. The coating is noticeable is as well with a thick, creamy, salty powder. The texture is quite nice - light and crisp but at the same time it makes them feel quite airy and not very filling.

These aren't a bad snack by any means but not super exciting. Great, if you want a low cal snack that provides a lot of flavour but if you were going for taste alone, there's so much more out there.

Price: £1.65
Bought at: Tesco
Nutrition per bag: 109 calories, 4.8g fat, 0.5g sat fat, 1.7g sugars, 0.3g salt

Score: 6.5/10

Aldi Greek Yogurt Review

After being really impressed the Aldi Domio Yogurts, I decided to give their Greek yogurt a go. The first key thing for me was that this is authentic, actual Greek yogurt not those 'Greek Style yogurts'. At £1.29 for a 500g tub vs the £2.39 I would normally pay for Fage Greek yogurt, I thought I had nothing to lose.

Opening the tub I was met with the thickest, most dense, creamy yogurt - proper hold a spoon upright yogurt. It scoops out beautifully and feel substantial and rich and creamy. I tried a little on its own and both the flavour and mouthfeel were perfect. Smooth, super thick, rich and creamy , it's really indulgent in texture with a smooth flavour that isn't too sharp. You can tell it's proper Greek yogurt.

I had mine with some fruit for breakfast along with nuts and chia seeds (all very healthy and worthy!) and it's super substantial and filling. Because this is real Greek yogurt and the full fat stuff it's very satisfying. Taste wise, I would say it's actually as good as Fage Total and actually slightly creamier and a bit less claggy.

However, whilst I enjoyed it, I think Fage still has a slight edge for me just based on nutritionals. Sugar wise the Aldi Greek yogurt is brilliant at just 3.2% sugar (all of which is natural from lactose) making it lower than Fage and the lowest sugar yogurt I've ever seen. However, Fage also do a fat free version and I would prefer a fat free version where a serving isn't 9.5g of saturated fat. I know natural fat from dairy isn't seen as bad any more but I do prefer my yogurt to be not so high in fat. Even the full fat Fage yogurt only has 3.6g sat fat in 100g whereas this has 7.6g.

The other selling point of Fage is its protein - 9% protein vs the 6.4% protein per 100g in this. It's a tough one really as overall I would definitely recommend this yogurt - it tastes delicious, is natural, authentically Greek and a great price but would prefer to see a lower fat, higher protein version.

Price: £1.29
Bought at: Aldi
Nutrition per 125g serving: 165 calories, 13g fat, 9.5g sat fat, 4g sugars, 0.25g salt

Score: 7.5/10

Marks and Spencer Keta Salmon Steaks with gravadlax sauce

Whilst in a last minute dash to grab something quick for tea, I stumbled upon these new keta salmon steaks with a gradvalax sauce. Scandinavian cooking is very much in vogue and M&S as always capture where the food trends are. I love fish and salmon so this seemed an obvious choice.

The keta salmon steaks are prime cuts - great, big, chunky, juicy pieces that look attractive. They only needed cooking in the oven for 14 minutes and dinner was served (along with some homemade sweet potato fries and some peas). Then it was just a case of pouring the gravadlax sauce over; gravadlax being a mustard and dill sauce.

Honestly this is just delicious - M&S food is usually good but I genuinely thought this could have passed as a dish in a good restaurant. The salmon was beautiful - moist, succulent and quite meaty in texture with a lovely mild, fresh taste. I could have happily eaten this by itself. But it's the gravadlax sauce that brings this alive and makes it extra special. It's not a hot mustard but a subtle mild creamy taste with a hint of dill that you can taste but that isn't overpowering. It's slightly sweet and really flavoursome. It [aired beautifully with the fish and as I said I could have been served this a restaurant and I would have been impressed. A totally delicious way to get some omega 3 into your diet.

Bought: Marks and Spencer
Score: 9/10

Marks and Spencer Spirit of Summer Brazil Nut, Chilli,Cocont and Chocolate Florentines

I'm still working my way through a few last Spirit of Summer goodies from M&S even though it's October and we're fast approaching Halloween! I'd wanted to try these since I first saw them but even I can't justify £4 for a box of 8 florentines. But as they were half price, I couldn't resist. Everything about this sounded right up my street - Brazilian dark chocolate, coconut and brazil nuts with a twist of chilli sounded a simply delightful and really interesting combination.

The first thing you can't fail to notice as soon as you get the florentines out is they are super generous with the chocolate - it's so thick it's basically a solid coin of chocolate with a florentine under coating and seems to be more chocolate than anything else! It smelt wonderfully rich and dark and I could already get the hint of chilli.

And to be fair all the ingredients are pretty generous - the biggest amount is the dark chocolate at 32% but actually Brazil nuts make up 22% and the under side is lovely mish mash of coconut, chewy caramel and the nuts. However, it's the bottom side that lets the florentine down.

The flavour is fantastic, rich, dark chocolate that is of the highest quality with a nice little kick of chilli and hints of exotic coconut. The problem is the texture  it's just a little too soft, sticky and chewy. It just needs a bit of firmness and crunch to make it feel more biscuity as I found it so chewy and sticky, I just wanted to gulp it down to stop it sticking to my teeth.

The top half is great and I would happily eat a biscuit covered in this fantastic flavour but the bottom just needs to be made with less caramel and syrup and needs a bit more firmness. I'm glad I didn't pay £4 for these as although I did enjoy them they certainly weren't worth that.

Price: £4
Bought at: Marks and Spencer
Nutrition per florentine: 111 calories, 8g fat, 3.9g sat fat, 6.1g sugars, 0.05g salt

Hippeas In Herbs We Trust

I've seen a lot of praise for these chickpea based snacks and as I know I love homous and chickpea crisps I decided this would be a safe bet. What makes Hippeas different is that they act like a mainstream crisp and come in individual bags and also do a range of flavors rather than being plain. The fajita sounded tempting but fajita/spicy crisps and snacks are fairly common place whereas this herb variant sounded a bit different.

In the same way they act like normal crisps, they look like a normal crisp and resemble wotsit without the scary luminous glow and that horrible coating that sticks to your fingers. Texture wise, they're maybe a firmer than normal crisps, certainly moreso than wotsit, with a harder texture, which gives a good crunch, which I like. Although hollow, they really don't taste airy.

The flavour is also good. It's a nice mix of subtle onion, tomato, garlic, basil, oregano and thyme which you can taste but that doesn't dominate or overwhelm the crisps and with no one ingredient taking over.

At 91 calories a bag, a source of protein and high in fibre, it's a pretty healthy savoury snack choice and actually this isn't a compromise vs normal crisps because they don't taste like a diet option like Walkers sunbites and you get a good serving in a bag. They're also gluten and dairy free but they just taste good and happen to be better for you. I'll definitely be checking out more of the flavours but it would be great if they did multipacks of these as they're pretty expensive for a single bag.

Bought at: Boots
Price: £1
Nutrition per bag: 91 calories, 4g fat, 0.4g sat fat, 0.6 sugars, 1.7g fibre, 2.7g protein, 0.3g salt

Score: 7.5/10

New York Bakery Cheese Bagels Review

I absolutely bagels but it is so hard to find good ones. As a rule of thumb, pretty much any prepackaged bagel is a let down - just breadrolls with a bland taste and a hole in the middle. Generally in store bakery bagels are better with that chewy, sweet and slightly sour taste with scratch made ones ruling the roost.

New York Bakery is the best known brand of bagels and to be fair they are probably the best of the prepackaged bagels but the texture still isn't as good as in store bakery bagels as they lack that firm, dense crust. But I do enjoy their bagels so was pleased to see they've launched a new cheese bagel. It seems a pretty standard flavour but one I think would work well with bagel.

Taking it out the packet, it looked the part with a nice golden cheesy topping. I decided to toast it and fill it with more cheese (why not?) and marmite. I have to say it was nice but I was disappointed. Something about a cheese bagel sounded so delightfully savoury and satisfying. The reality is that it tastes good but the cheese just isn't pronounced enough. At only 4% cheese, it's actually pretty low in the list of ingredients and this comes through in the taste. My bagel was delicious but the flavour was lost to the filling and it could have been any bagel I was eating or even a panini roll for the difference in taste.

I decided in the interest of fairness to also have one for breakfast, simply toasted with butter. This time I could taste the cheese as there was nothing else to distract but it is still very faint. Having said that, the bagel toasts beautifully with a lovely crisp and chewy texture and I very much enjoyed this.

The thing is I've bought in store bakery cheese rolls which have little pockets of cheese studded throughout and the flavour is so much more pronounced here. They use more cheese and it shows. I would actually buy these bagels again but they do taste good and even though the cheese taste is lost to fillings, the overall flavour is good. But if you're looking for a really cheesy bagel, you're likely to be disappointed.

Bought at: Morrisons
Price: £1 (on offer)
Nutrition per bagel: 248 calories, 3.1g fat, 1.4g sat fat, 4.7g sugars, 0.61g salt

Score: 7/10