Marks and Spencer Kentish Baby Baminella Pears

Somehow despite all the new M&S goodies on the shelves, I managed to bypass the sugary treats and ended up with fruit in my basket. Autumn means apples and pears and these little mini baby pears caught my eye. They're tiny little whole pears that look pretty similar to a normal pear but shrunken down to less than the size of an apricot. They're UK sourced and from Kent and whilst they looked a bit gimmicky, I thought I'd give them a go.

I'm not sure if this is just the batch I got (as I appreciate quality varies with fruit, it is natural after all) or because they're so small but these were really fairly solid and didn't feel ripe and lusciously melting like a good ripe pear should.

The other problem is because they are actually whole pears they have a core in the middle and actually by the time you've cut away the good fruit there is very little flesh for you to eat. This might be why mine didn't feel very soft or ripe, there's just not enough room for the mini pears to develop eating flesh.

I wasn't overly impressed with them and it's kind of hard to see why you would buy these over a normal pear other than the gimmick. They're not soft and juicy, there's not a lot of them to eat, a lot of them is core and you can't really just eat it, you need to cut the little flesh there is off. Bar maybe a talking point to decorate a cake or dessert, these just seem gimmicky to me. Give me a decent juicy normal pear any day rather than these rock hard mini golf balls.

Maybe I should have bought all the new M&S cakes instead...

Price: £2
Bought at: Marks and Spencer

Score: 3/10

New Marks and Spencers Goodies

Oh M&S, how you always throw me off balance every time I go in there. With all the best will in the world I'll pop in just for some veg or one specific item and everywhere you turn there are tempting and naughty goodies trying to attack my waistline and my wallet. It looks like Spirit of Summer is being phased out and instead we're getting lots of naughty new sweet treats.

M&S instor bakery is definitely yhe most tempting in my opinion and as always they don't fail with new products such as this chocolate chip brioche - it looks buttery, soft, bursting with chocolate chips and probably lots of fats but you know it would be worth every bite.

And if that wasn't enough there were pastries that looked equally naughty. The cappuccino twist takes the classic flaky, buttery chocolate twist you see everywhere and adds one of my favorite things - coffee. Considering how well pastries and coffee go to together this looks like a match made in heaven.

As does the cinnamon danish.... this on a wet autumn afternoon with a coffee.. you know it makes sense. Just look at the three swirls joined together with a load of cinnamon filling and the crunchy sugary top

There were just as many goodies in the ambient bakery section as well. Gingerbread teacakes sound interesting although considering traditional teacakes are fruity I'm not sure how well this would pair with gingerbread. But I love gingerbread and I love teacakes so who knows. Gingerbread is pretty Christmassy for me so I might have to hang back on this.

Whereas as passion fruit is summery so now might be the time to give the new passion fruit yum yums ago. M&S yum yums are sugary, sticky masterpieces so this might be pretty good. They also had a new raspberry one

And biscuits are an M&S staple - they're actually one of the reasons I will specifically go to an M&S as I think they make better biscuits than anyone else - even branded biscuits. Their extremely chocolatey range are probably my favourite ever biscuits and when they say more chocolate than biscuits they mean it. They've added a new mocha version and again considering how much I love coffee, my favourite dark chocolate and ginger extremely chocolate biscuits might have a new contender

Someyimes you want a lighter, more sophisticated biscuit and that's where Viennese come in - buttery and melt in the mouth, an orange chocolate dipped version certainly sounds appealing

As do these double chocolate sandwich creams Viennese

Whilst I am sad to see Spirit of Summer go if this is the type of new product M&S have for us over the colder months, then we're in for a treat. It's a good job we need more calories in colder months because there's a lot of very naughty stuff here! But if you need something healthy, at least there's a new egg and avocado protein pot - how very on trend.

Quorn Chef's Selection Best of British Sausages Review

I do eat a lot of vegetarian meals but I don’t buy Quorn. I will tend to either go for making something that isn’t trying to replace or be a fake meat like a veg curry or pasta dish or if I do have a veg burger or sausage it’s one that is made only from vegetables rather than a soy based fake product. Quorn are obviously the big brand in vegetarian meals but for me they’ve always felt slightly artificial and I’m not fully convinced by the health credentials. Surely if you want vegetarian it’s better to base your meal around real, natural, wholesome veg rather than a lab type list of ingredients?

However, they are obviously popular and you can’t argue with their lower fat content and high protein messaging and I can see how this might be slightly healthier than eating real susages all the time – not that red meat is out of the question – all things in moderation and all that.

Whilst I wouldn’t pay the full £2.50 for these at a £1 I was willing to give the pack of 4 ‘sausages’ a go. Now usually I would have 2 sausages but as they contain a whopping 1.1g salt each, I didn’t fancy having over a third of my salt for the day from 2 sausages so only had the one. It felt slightly strange to pick up, a lot heavier and  more brick like than a real sausage. As per instructions I brushed it with oil and grilled for 12 minutes. 

It smelt fairly meaty I suppose and I think it could kind of pass for a real sausage but not a high quality, high meat content, less processed sausage. It actually tasted a bit like those cheap smoked frankfurter type things you get and also scarily similar to the canned sausages you get with beans. So whilst authentic, it tastes of a cheap sausage rather than a pure, real meaty one. That’s not to say it wasn’t quite nice, it had the comforting slightly fake taste of frankfurters and felt a bit dirty in a guilty pleasure kind of way. It's soft and meatyish inside with a slight crisp outer coating.

I enjoyed it and would maybe pick these up again in the future but still need convincing that these are actually healthy. If I was going to swap a real sausage for something, I’d rather have something like the M&S butternut sausages or something made purely from vegetables

Bought at: Sainsburys on a £1 promo 

Nutrition per sausage: 111 calories, 5.7g fat, 1.2g sat fat, 0.6g sugars, 1.1g salt

Score: 6.5/10

Sainsburys Deliciously Freefrom Coconut Vanilla Iced Dessert

Dairy free is all the rage nowadays and whilst I am not dairy intolerant and still love my milk and yogurts, I am very much into my almond and coconut alternatives as well. Dairy free milks and yogurts are pretty mainstream and easy enough to find now and it seems ice cream is the next area that’s set to boom. Sainsburys did a big freefrom push earlier this year with loads of new own label options across every sector from pasta sauces to bread and cakes to cereals. One thing that grabbed a lot of attention was there new freefrom ice creams made of coconut and available in vanilla, strawberry and chocolate versions.

This ice cream is made from - Water, Coconut Milk (30%) (Water, Coconut Extract), Sugar, Inulin, Dextrose, Coconut Oil (4%), Vanilla Extract, Thickener: Carob Gum, Cellulose; Colour: Beta-carotene  - so suitable for vegans and those avoiding dairy. It's also gluten free and wheat free.

Because of the coconut milk base this is actually really quite high in saturated fat. And whilst health bloggers claim it’s good for you, I’m still not convinced and think too much sat fat is bad and that the best fats are those in things like nuts, avocado and seeds which are monosaturated. It’s also just as sugary as normal ice cream at 22% - for context that’s the same as salted caramel haagen daaz and not much further behind than Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough at 25% .

What I was impressed with was just how scoopable this was after leaving out for a few minutes. Nice and soft, it felt creamy and looks quite attractive with a simple yellow colour (albeit one derived from added colour beta-carotene).  

This translates into a nice creamy, thick texture – it certainly didn’t feel like a sorbet and isn’t icy, watery or thin tasting. It’s not quite ice cream as it’s maybe a little oily and maybe a bit more girtty but this is really minor and for all extents and purposes it’s pretty indulgent in mouthfeel.

The flavour is okay…. To be honest coconut is the main taste you get and I would describe it as a coconut with hints of vanilla taste rather than a vanilla taste that just so happens to be made of coconut. It’s sweet and pleasant tasting but it’s not overly exciting. Considering the sugar and sat fat is comparable to normal ice cream, I think I’d rather just have a scoop of Ben and Jerry’s instead as this isn’t exactly a clean and pure product either. Vegans and those who can’t eat lactose will love this but it’s just as unhealthy as regular ice cream and the taste although nice just isn’t enough to make me choose this instead of my favourite brands.

Price: £3.00

Bought at: Sainsburys

Nutrition per serving: 193 calories, 8.4g fat, 7.5g sat fat, 20.7g sugars, 0.03g salt

Score: 7/10

Bounce Cacao Mint Protein Ball Review

I'm well and truly obsessed with bounce balls these days despite their extortionate price. It's not even because they're convenient or because they pack a good hit of nutrition and protein in an energy packet that's great post gym, I just love the texture of them. It is definitely polarising and either you love they're chewy, extremely dense and almost solid fudginess or it's completely unpalatable for you. I'm definitely in the former - I love it's just as much an exercise for your jaw to eat as it is to fuel your actual exercise.

Almond is probably still my favourite one at the moment as it's marzipan-esque tastes just complements the density so well but I decided to branch out and give the cacao and mint one a whirl. Again, it's a nutritious snack with 10g of protein coming from whey and pea proteins and rice bran and it's also high in unsaturated fats, fibre and vitamin E with a good whack of sunflower seeds blended in too. At 9g sugar per ball, it's definitely a lot less sugary than most snacks and you are getting a good dose of other nutrients as well.

Opening it up, like all other bounce ballsm it's squat, small and dense and you intially think this won't be fillling. How wrong you are to think that. With a super high density and chewiness not only do they take a good while to munch your way, they feel filling too. Chocolate and mint is obviously a classic combination so I was interested to see how this would translate into a healthy snack especially with the attractive cacao nibs studded around the ball.

It's definitely delicious but more on the minty side. Not overpoweringly or tooth paste minty but because of the reduced sweetness it's not as chocolatey as say an after eight. It also uses cocoa for the chocolate hit which is much more understated and earthy than actual chocolate. It still tastes delicious and whilst almond is still my favourite bounce ball, I would happily eat this again.

Price: £1.99
Bought at: Holland and Barrett
Nutrition per ball: 176 calories, 7g fat, 2.1g sat fat, 9g sugars, 2.7g fibre, 10g protein, 0.43g salt

Score: 8/10

Aldi Specially Selected Coconut and Vanilla Yogurt Drink

So as you may have gathered by my recent reviews, I went to Aldi recently hence the sudden rush of a lot of Aldi products and it's another one of my random fines I found there. This was a complete impulse purchase from the yogurt section simply because it contained coconut.

It says it's lassi inspired but it's more of a coconut and vanilla smoothie and is made with Irish milk from Donegal that is crafted in small batches with velvety coconut and fragrant vanilla for a lassi inspired drinking yogurt. It sounded pretty good and whilst it's pretty sugary at 11%, the ingredients list is pretty natural although there is added sugar in it and in the coconut and vanilla compote. However it is 82% low fat yogurt and does contain vanilla extract.

It's definitely a high quality smoothie and really delicious. It's not refreshing as such because it's not fruity and the texture is very thick because it's predominantly yogurt. Even though it's a drinking yogurt, it's still pretty and thick and what I would term 'gluggy' but this is how I love my smoothies to be. It has the most amazing thick and rich mouthfeel that you properrly chug back rather than sip and is all the better for it.

Taste is on point too with a fairly subtle exotic coconut taste and an authentic vanilla fragrance that's sweet and creamy without being sickly in anyway. Every now and then you get a bit of dessicated coconut solid in a sip but this isn't a problem and adds to the thickness. Whilst it's not something I would buy too often due to the sugar content, it's a delicious smoothie and I recommend it if you see it.

Price: £0.65 for a 250ml bottle
Bought at: Aldi
Nutrition per 100ml: 81 calories, 2g fat, 1.4g sat fat, 11g sugars, 3.2g protein, 0.09g salt

Score: 8/10

Aldi Specially Selected Fresh Pasta - Sweet Aubergine and Heirloom Roasted Tomato Cappellacci

So impressed was I with Aldi's Danio copycat yogurt, I went back for some more of them and also decided to be brave and give something else a go. I love fresh pasta especially the filled kinds and if they're done well I don't even serve a sauce with them because in theory they should be stuffed with flavour from the filling. Waitrose do some particularly good ones - if you've never tried their pumpkin and pinenut one you must.

These cappellacci promise 'little bites of sweet unctuous aubergine and tangy tomato all wrapped up in fresh egg pasta'. It is also produced in Italy and from the ingredients list it looked pretty good quality. 70% of the contents is filling s 30% pasta and the ingredients list was all natural ingredients and there is no added sugar.

Like most fresh pasta, it's an absolute doddle to cook ; 3-5 minutes in boiling water and dinner is basically done. I also served it with roasted sweet pointed peppers, mushrooms and courgettes (of which there is quite a lot - I love my veg!)

After cooking the pasta remained intact with none of the filling leaking out. I cut in half and there certainly was plenty of filling in there. I took a bite and I have to say I'm very impressed. The flavour here is spot on. A really good blend of aubergine, creamy mozarella, tangy tomato, garlic and fragrant basil. It's Italy in a bite. The filling is soft and fairly rich and it just oozes and coats your tongue with a good powerful punch of well balanced salt and savoury. It's utterly moreish and passed my fresh pasta test. I would be happy to eat this by itself with nothing else.

My one criticism is the pack serves two but only has 9 pieces of pasta in which seems a bit unfair especially as it's just so tasty. Aldi, you might just be winning me over...

Bought at: Aldi
Nutrition  per half pack: 249 calories, 7.9g fat, 3.6g sat fat, 3.9g sugars, 0.97g salt

Score: 9/10