Kind Bars: Almond & Coconut/ Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond

A big thankyou to the team at Kind Snacks who recently sent me a couple of their bars to review with updated packaging. The particular varieties are Coconut and Almond and Mocha Almond - two of my faves from the previous lot they sent to me!

Kind Almond & Coconut:

Containing a mixture of almonds, coconut, honey and rice flour, this bar was full of chunky almonds which made it very satisfying to crunch. The coconut gives it that nice mellow tropical flavour, with the honey bringing a light natural sweetness. Overall, a very satisfying and tasty bar! Compared to the previous packaging for this one I do prefer this updated version a lot more - it stands out nicely with the blue colours. 8.5 out of 10.

Kind Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond:

This is one I didn't get around to reviewing from the last batch that Kind sent me, so here it is! With funky updated purple packaging, the colours certainly fit the flavours on offer. This contains 58% almonds, 18% dark chocolate coating, cocoa nibs and 1% coffee, all giving it a rich, nutty mocha like flavour. It was very satisfying and made for a perfect snack along with a mid morning coffee. 8.5 out of 10.

Overall, these bars from Kind get a big thumbs up and it's nice to see them becoming more widely available in the UK. The new packaging makes them stand out a lot more and I'll certainly be purchasing them more often. They're popping up in most shops now so aren't that hard to find at all.

Nutrition Information:
Mocha Almond: 199 Calories, 15g Fat, 16g Carbohydrates, 5.3g Sugars, 7.2g Fibre, 5.4g Protein.
Coconut Almond: 194 Calories, 4.8g Fat, 21g Carbohydrates, 12g Sugars, 2.8g Fibre, 3.3g Protein.

Aldi 21 Day Matured Ribeye Steak Review

Aldi do a fine range of food nowadays, you can find pretty much the same things as most larger supermarkets, and oftentimes better quality. I'm a fan of their fresh fruit and veg in particular. But they also do some quality British meats, and by chance I was sent a voucher to review some of their steaks recently. My Aldi didn't have some of the fancier cuts in stock but they did have these 21 Day Matured steaks in, of which I chose Ribeye. Not something I eat very often so I was pretty excited to try it!

I cooked it under the grill, not bloody, not medium rare, but well done. That's how I like my steak! Despite being well done is was still very juicy and bursting with flavour. I have to say it's one of the best steaks I've had in a while, and beats the quality of stores like Tesco, whom I've tried Ribeye Steak from before and wasn't too impressed. The price point of these is also ideal - less than £4 - so you don't need to break the bank for some great quality meat.

Overall, I would highly recommend not only this steak but all the meat sold at Aldi - I've not had anything bad from there and the prices are very affordable. In fact a friend has told me that even butchers recommend Aldi's meat as it's the best quality. I'll certainly be making more regular purchases from there from now on, I just wish I had an Aldi closer to me!

8.5 out of 10. 

Marks & Spencer Seedless Sable Grapes Review

Another day, another grape review...and slowly but surely I am joining the "let a grape just be a grape!" team, led by Nibbles 'N Scribbles, since most of the "flavoured" varieties have been such a disappointment for me. This time, I'm reviewing a darker variety, one that was recommended to me in the comments of my review of Marks and Spencer Tutti Frutti grapes.

I do love some darker grapes, especially when they are not just any grapes, but "expertly sourced for Marks and Spencer" grapes. At £3 a box these promised to be something rather special indeed.

I have to say, they weren't quite as amazing as I was expecting but they were certainly very tasty. Full of flavour and not as sweet as most varieties, I did enjoy these a lot but I guess I was looking for seomthing "more". Maybe that's my problem - a grape should just be a grape! Albeit good quality grapes. Compared to the Tuttu Frutti ones I would say these are just as nice, but I did prefer those slightly more for the sweeter flavour.

Overall, would I recommend these? Yes, absolutely, and while you're at it try the Tutti Frutti ones too! They're worth paying an extra pound for when compared to grapes from Tesco.

8.5 out of 10. 

Marks & Spencer Orange Candy Melon Review

As well as various varieties of grapes I've been busy trying lots of different melons recently, you could say I've developed a slight obsession with the delicious fruits. Going sugar free does that to you! One intriguing melon I just had to try recently was this Orange Candy variety "expertly sourced for Marks & Spencer", which seems to also be available from Waitrose under a different name.

It's basically a Honeydew melon but with a darker orange colour, and is smaller in size.

The taste is very different from a Honeydew. I do love Honeydew's, they're so sweet and satisfying, but it's nice to have something a bit less sweet now and then. This one has a more muted sweeteness and a slight tartness, more flavour than a Honeydew and less empahsis on its sweetness. It's hard to describe really, but it's a very refreshing and tasty melon!

Comapred to a Honeydew, this certainly makes for a lovely change, and if you can get them at the reduced price of £2 I would highly recommend trying one! I probably wouldn't pay the full price of £3 but if they stay at this price I'll certainly go for one over a Honeydew.

8.5 out of 10. 

Tesco Candy Floss Seedless Grapes Review

Following on from my review of Marks and Spencer's Tutti Frutti Grapes last week, I thought I'd try out some more "candy inspired" grape varieties, one of them being Tesco's Candy Floss Seedless Grapes. These cost £2 a box for 400g and are widely available from most Tesco stores. There's also a Strawberry flavoured grape variety.

After the disappointing fact that the Tutti Frutti ones didn't taste of tutti frutti whatsoever, I wasn't really expecting much from these except sweeter than average grapes. And that's exactly what I got! Most white grapes are usually pretty sweet anyway - they're practically nature's candy - but these babies are even sweeter than regular. So if you're trying to curb your sweet tooth with natural foods, they might be delightful for you, but I personally found them too much and the sweetness detracted from them being enjoyable. I would much rather a good box of black grapes with some actual flavour in them as these had very little. They were just very sweet.

Overall, these aren't bad or anything they're just not much different to regular grapes. I've heard other brands such as M&S and Waitrose do better ones so I may check those out, but I won't be holding my breath.

6 out of 10. 

Plenish Organic Dairy Free Coconut Milk Review

Today's review is for Plenish, a new Dairy Free Nut Milk brand stocked in the likes of Sainsbury's and Waitrose, whose milks are made with clean ingredients and zero fillers. Which is impressive since almost every brand has some kind of stabiliser added! I picked their Organic Coconut M*lk to try when I saw it on offer in Sainsbury's, since I'm avoiding nuts at the moment. I don't know why the word "milk" has an asterisk in place of the "i"...it makes me think it's a swear word or something!

This variety is unsweetened and made from a mixture of filtered water, organic coconut milk, rice and sea salt. Pretty simple ingredients right? Apparently this is the only coconut milk on the market made without additives. I shook the bottle well as advised on the carton, and poured some into a glass.

The milk looked very creamy, but there were some worrying lumps floating about in it, seemingly from the coconut. This didn't bother me too much since I've experienced the same with other coconut milks before.

The milk tasted very nice, and it might sound gross, but the coconut lumps were actually rather pleasant to chew on! The milk itself is creamy and slightly sweet from the rice, and would be perfect in drinks or smoothies. It's kind of light in texture, but creamier than regular rice milk. I'm not sure if I prefer it to Rude Health's Coconut Milk as it's pretty similar...maybe I should do a head to head taste test of them both.

Overall, for a coconut milk made with organic, clean ingredients this is excellent. Whilst not perfect due to the lumps, I would still buy it again over any other coconut milk with stabilisers in! If you're vegan or dairy intolerant I would recommend giving this a try.

As a side-note...did anyone else mistake the name as "Penis" rather than Plenish? Now there's a scary thought! 

Nutrition Information (per 100ml): 46 Calories, 1.6g Fat, 7.9g Carbohydrates, 4.6g Sugars, 0.2g Protein.

Ingredients: Filtered water, Coconut milk 9%, Rice, Sea Salt.

8 out of  10.

M&S Tutti Frutti Seedless Grapes Review

Today's review is another departure, for once I'm reviewing actual food - grapes to be precise! I've been eating a lot more fruit recently since cutting down on refined sugar, so when I saw these Tutti Frutti grapes in Marks and Spencer I couldn't resist giving them a try. "Grapes that taste of sweets?", I thought. I was rather excited indeed.

They're expertly sourced for Marks & Spencer from vineyards around the world, and the grapes are ripened longer on the vine than regular grapes. Yes, these are not just any grapes...

I was disappointed to find that they weren't in fact tutti frutti flavoured (whatever that is) they were simply a sweeter, juicier variety of grapes. Which isn't to say these didn't taste good - they tasted DELICIOUS. Seriously some of the best grapes I've ever had. But they weren't tutti frutti flavoured.

After trying a few varieties of "flavoured" grapes now from Candyfloss to Strawberry, I've come to the realization that they're just descriptions for various sweeter variations of grapes. I suppose it's similar to how wines have different descriptions for their flavours ("woody", "tobacco" etc) that have nothing to do with the actual wine.

Overall, should you buy these grapes? If you fancy a treat in grape form, yes absolutely! They're excellent quality and very tasty. Just don't go expecting the flavours promised from them.

What's your experience of flavoured grapes? Have you discovered one that tastes of what it's supposed to? Let me know in the comments!