Douwe Egberts Vanilla Coffee

Yet another coffee review from me! I really enjoyed the caramel coffee so I thought why not give the vanilla flavour a chance? 

I absolutely love the smell of coffee anyway so when combined with something as sweet and delicious as vanilla how could I resist? The vanilla flavour was far more subtle than that of the caramel, it sort of added a smoothness to the whole experience and worked well with a bit of sugar to bring out the flavour properly. The granules dissolved quickly and mixed very well with my almond milk so I can't complain there. 

The smell was simply incredible, so good that even my mum who hates coffee was temped to have a cup, my brother who had it in the typical style with regular milk also thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rating - 8/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 2 per cup when served black

Buy Again - Yes!

Sunbites Sweet and Salty Wholegrain Popcorn

Popcorn is probably one of my favourite snacks out there. It is healthy, moreish, filling, versatile, and generally low in calories, so obviously when I saw this new offering in my local Tesco I couldn't help but pick up a bag. 

The packaging is really nice, I quite liked the bag, but if I'm honest, that is where my compliments end. The flavour itself was pretty awful, it was far too salty and the balance of sweetness was totally off, I had several friends and family members to try it and give me their opinion in case it was just me being horribly biased with my sweet tooth, but no, they all replied with the same thing. Too much salt! I even bought another bag in case I had a dodgy bag, but unfortunately I was faced with the exact same issue! I couldn't even finish a bag, which is a very rare thing for me as I normally persevere and suffer through it. I honestly would not recommend this to anyone and would urge you to instead buy a better brand such as Propercorn or Portlebay!

Rating - 2/10

Calories - 127

Vegan - Yes

But Again - Never!

Boots Moroccan Style Roasted Vegetable Salad

Does anyone find that their lunch can quite easily become monotonous? The same thing day in and day out. Same sandwiches, same couscous, same crisps, and same fruit. Well I am fed up of eating exactly the same thing everyday, so today I decided to venture out of my comfort zone and get a salad from Boots. Okay, that doesn't sound too exciting when I put it like that, but this salad is something special.

It is a Moroccan style roasted vegetable salad with couscous and a delicious dressing to go with it. It is vegan as it surprisingly contains no animal products! I thought that there may have been honey in the dressing but no, thankfully not!

The vegetables in this are perfectly roasted, they are soft and smoky in flavour, I particularly enjoyed the butternut squash that was in it because it added a lovely sweetness to it. 

There was a good variety of texture from the different salad vegetables, like the fresh, crispy lettuce and the crunchy steamed green beans. 

The couscous itself was quite mild in flavour with a slight spice to it, this was enhanced by the lovely dressing which came with it. 

Overall I absolutely loved this salad and it is only 145 calories! It is very filling and leaves you feeling very satisfied, plus it is in the meal deal so you can get a yummy snack and refreshing drink to go with it! 

Rating - 9.5/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 145

Buy Again? - Definitely!

Douwe Egberts Caramel Coffee

I absolutely adore coffee, I used to have a really bad addiction and was drinking about three or four large mugs(equivalent of two regular mugs) of the stuff every day, but then I decided that I should really give it up because I was drinking it with about two sugars each time and I no longer slept. So I went about five or six years without a cup of the stuff, until I saw this little jar of Douwe Egberts Caramel Coffee. I was intrigued, it was the same calories as regular black coffee but with a caramel twist, could it really combine two wonderful flavours together to create a taste sensation or was it merely advertising to make you buy the same coffee that you always do for a higher price in a smaller jar?

I was wary of this but decided to treat myself regardless, when I got home I thought that the best way to sample it would be black, but if I'm honest it just tasted like regular black coffee, with perhaps the smallest hint of caramel, but I wouldn't say that it would be worth it to get, so I decided that to be fair I would try it with milk and sugar as I would normally take it. 

So I decided to make it with 200ml of almond milk, and a teaspoon of sweetener. It was actually quite delicious, the smell was so enticing and wonderful, even my mum who hates coffee said that the smell was amazing. It was rich and sweet with the warmth of coffee. The caramel shone through very well when combined with milk, and you could actually appreciate the taste much more. I now have a small cup of this every morning with my breakfast in order to perk me up enough to face the day!

I have a cup of this to someone who generally only drinks plain black coffee and he genuinely couldn't tell the difference, except that it had a slightly richer after taste, he said it didn't particularly make him think that there was anything different, just maybe a different brand to what he usually had.

Rating - 8/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 2 when served black

Buy Again - Now a weekly staple!

Vegan Quorn Pieces

If you are vegetarian, quorn will most likely play a massive part of your life, but unfortunately as a vegan your options quickly dwindle down to absolutely nothing. But thankfully quorn has heard our pleas and answered our prayers! 

They have brought out two items that are vegan friendly, there are these simple and versatile, easily to use in a variety of different meals. The other product is a hot and spicy chicken style burger, perfect for those craving a big of spice and excitement in their meal.

Today I am reviewing the Quorn pieces, these are chicken in style and when incorporated into a sauce or curry type of thing it is quite difficult to tell the different taste wise, the texture is different to chicken but that's not a bad thing, it is firmer and a bit denser but by no means dry because of how it absorbs flavour so well. Personally I couldn't tell a difference between these and the regular non vegan Quorn pieces and these so I see no reason for anyone to have qualms with this progression. 

They are easy to cook and take about ten minutes in the frying pan with a bit of oil, or just cool throw it in with the sauce and put it in the oven if it is like an oven cooked thing.

Rating - 9/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 104 per 100g

Buy Again - Indeed!

Inspiral Raspberry Coconut Pecks

Okay, I have been absolutely rubbish recently as my life has been crazy to say the very least so I have decided to write about twenty review that I can keep on back up and anything new that come out I will make it a priority to write about. So I am sorry for being useless, but this time I am back and committing! 

Today, the first of many review are these Inspiral Raspberry Coconut Pecks, initially I didn't really know what to expect at all if I'm honest, was it just going to be bits of coconut flakes with a few bits of freeze dried raspberries in it, I wasn't particularly excited by that prospect and as a result put off trying them for a while, but when I finally got round to them, oh how I regretted not trying them sooner!

They were such a unique flavour and concept, I have never had anything quite like this, it is like little coconut clusters combined with raspberry pieces and it is quite magical. They were crunchy and just really a delight to eat, now, the most important thing, the flavour is divine, it is sweet with a slight tartness from the raspberries, there was a lovely natural vanilla flavour coming through which I really liked. I let my friend have a try of them and he agreed with me, initially he thought it was a bit weird but after having a second he said they were really nice (or maybe he just wanted a sneaky extra piece haha!)

These are quite expensive for what they are but they are a delicious treat and are fabulously healthy so I can't complain!

Rating - 8.75/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 149

Buy Again - Yes

Good 4 U Super Bites

I am such a massive fan of Nak'd, they provide healthy, sweet, tasty, and nutritional products perfect for vegans and non vegans alike, but I am always open to trying new products who boast to have similar qualities. 

I had seen quite a few reviews on these from my favourite people, and I had seen how negative they had all been, and me being a fool thought, 'sure they can't be that bad'. Oh goodness me how I was wrong. They have to be some of the worst things I have ever eaten, they taste like dirt, there is no real sweetness, just this strange and unpleasant dirt like flavour to it. I understand that it is all natural and healthy but that doesn't mean that it has to taste horrible! 

It is things like this that give vegan food a bad reputation and it is infuriating because these are such a great and simple concept, they do different flavours from Nak'd so there is a gap in the market for these little 'treats' (a term I use loosely because these are anything but a treat to eat...)

Personally I wouldn't even bother buying these, they are only a few pennies less than Nak'd and with Nak'd you know that what you are getting is absolutely delicious and full of yummy goodness! Overall, I didn't enjoy these at all, I was tempted to give them to my vegan friend but I felt that would be cruel because of how awful they were. I am now somewhat regretting buying several packs of these now.

Rating - 2/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 160

Buy Again - NEVER

Fabulous FreeFrom Factory Vegan Chocolate Raisins

Does anyone else get cravings for things that they used to love as children? Recently I have been desperate for chocolate covered raisins but as a vegan it is near impossible to find any alternative what so ever, but whilst wandering about in Holland & Barratt's I came across these tasty looking treats! They are made by the Fabulous FreeFrom Factory, I was a bit concerned that the chocolate wouldn't be of a very good quality, but I was very wrong! I honestly couldn't tell the difference between these and regular chocolate raisins, even my mum and dad agreed that they couldn't tell that they were vegan. They aren't quite like eating milk chocolate, they are a bit darker but personally I think that worked even better, it countered the sweetness of the raisins nicely without making it bitter or an unpleasant experience. 

Basically I loved these. They were such good quality and so incredibly moreish and I only regret not trying them sooner!

Rating - 9/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 324 per pack

Buy Again - Already bought five more...

Tesco Banana Bliss Bars

I am a massive fan of Nakd bars but I do think that they can be quite expensive averaging in at about 75p a bar, and whilst I don't mind paying this much for such a delicious and high quality nutritional snack, it just isn't feasible to do all the time, especially because I eat several a day... 

Anyway, when I became aware of these tasty bars (courtesy of the incredible Amy) I couldn't wait to try them! I went straight to Tesco and bought a pack so that I could have one with my evening snack. I liked the packaging on the box how it clearly labelled that the bars were dairy free, because it is an absolute nuisance sometimes checking the ingredients to absolutely everything you buy, and even then you can still easily miss something! I am rambling so I shall get onto the important stuff, what it tastes like.

The flavour of the bar is absolutely lovely, it tastes very natural like a perfectly ripened banana with a nice nuttiness that rounds the bar off well. This is complimented by the texture of the bar, it was soft and squidgy with little crunchy bits scattered throughout which was particularly nice. Overall I can't actually fault this bar, it was delicious, filling, healthy, and an all round great snack! I would strongly recommend it to vegans and non vegans!

Rating - 9.25/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 87

Buy Again - Already Have!

Fabulous FreeFrom Factory Crunchee Bites

I used to love having a Cadbury Crunchie bar, they were easily one of my favourite bars going, with their mix of smooth and creamy chocolate with a crunchy chewy honeycomb! But obviously this is not quite vegan and I have never been able to find something to replace my long lost love!

That is, until now! My mum managed to find whilst out on her travels this wonderful little shop in Liverpool called Matta'sfood so I strongly recommend it to anyone in Liverpool! The serving size is really good and makes a delicious treat that can be enjoyed in one sitting or had a few handfuls at a time if you have some semblance of restraint (something which I have none of...). These were tiny clusters of vegan honeycomb enrobed in vegan milk chocolate. The chocolate was of a really good quality and had just enough flavour to be there but not overwhelm the delicate flavour of the honeycomb.

The honeycomb itself was simply divine, it was sweet, crunchy, and chewy. I can't believe that this is a vegan treat because it doesn't taste that way! I really enjoyed this and can't wait to have another bag!

Rating - 9/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 483 per 100g

Buy Again - Yes!!!

M&S The Dark One Bar

So I took a little break from blogging this week because I have been overwhelmed with coursework and knew that it was important that I focus on my studies for a little bit. I hope that you all have had a wonderful Christmas and got everything that you wanted and so much more! Now, time for the good bit, the review.

My mum was desperate to get me some chocolate for a stocking filler and she managed to get me a few delicious bits and pieces, the first that I am going to review is this little bar from Marks & Spencer's. It is a simple bar, just plain dark chocolate, but I know that when dome well this can be an indulgent treat that can have you counting down the hours until your next fix of the stuff, and this bar is surprisingly really good.

It is really creamy with a good melt, the cocoa content isn't particularly high so you don't have much of a bitterness. The bar is nice and smooth and a perfect serving size with enough sweetness to be delicious. Overall I thought this was a tasty treat and I am sort of craving another bar if I'm honest!

Rating - 8.75/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 184

Buy Again - Definitely