Food Review: Kind Dark Chocolate, Nuts and Sea Salt

My local Tesco Express has a really small 'free from' section with a small choice of foods, I was looking for something to try when I spotted the Kind dark chocolate nuts and sea salt bar, which, sounded delicious.

It's Gluten free, Dairy free, 60% nuts, high fibre, no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives and it states 'ingredients you can see and pronounce'. It's made up of almonds, peanuts, walnuts, sea salt, honey and chocolate.


Sadly I was disappointed when I tried it, there seemed to be no salt apart from one part which was super salty and slightly off putting, the nuts were really difficult to get through and the chocolate was pretty much non existent. I found it really difficult to finish it (which is surprising for me haha).

I think it cost me around £2 which honestly I wouldn't pay again, in fact I don't think I'd buy one of these on offer. I'm sorry to those of you that absolutely love them, honestly it's the first free from thing I've tried that I don't like- I'll go back to the shop soon and find something else new to try. I'm really enjoying trying things I never even considered before!

#FreeFromSwag Mini Haul

Looks like we have both been busy buying foodie goodies today! Hehe!

I dropped by Sainsbury's on the way home today, because they have the biggest and best range of free from products in my area. I wasn't disappointed!



Beloved Date Nectar

I have no idea why it's called date nectar, but this is 100% pure date syrup. I've been using Biona brand date syrup as a honey substitute and was excited to see a different brand available.



Choc Shot Orange and Choc Shot Coconut

I've had the original Choc Shot for a while - I like it because it's a really versatile product. You can make milkshakes, hot chocolate, use it as a topping, in baking and cooking, all kinds! They are vegan too, and gluten-free, and now you can get them in orange flavour and coconut flavour! They just need to bring a mint one out and my life is complete.



Nature's Store Hazelnut and Cocoa Spread

Fake vegan Nutella?? Yes please! I'll definitely try it, anyway! Still waiting for the right one...



Deliciously Free From Choc n' Orange Bar

They had these in regular "milk" choc and crispy varieties, just like the Tesco ones, so I thought I'd just get the chocolate orange one and see if that was any good. I don't recognise this packaging, so I'm guessing they are quite new, or recently revamped.



Deliciously Free From 4 Chocolate Brownies

I had one of these as a snack earlier at work. I swear blind, if I gave you one you would have no idea it was free from! Sooooo chocolatey, fudgey and delicious, with a slightly crispy top. Exactly what a brownie should be! It's going to be hard work to not eat all of these in one go....

Mini Drink Haul

Whilst I was out today I popped into Jack Fulton's- a Farmfood's-esque shop that often has good deals on random food products!

One for the fridges had a selection of different things that I decided to try. Provamel Rice-Coconut Milk (60p a carton), Aplro Fusion Soya with Apple and Kiwi (2 for £1) and Foco 110% Coconut Water with Pink Guava (2 for £1).

Alpro Fusion- strange but delicious! It tasted a bit like some obscure candy you would buy abroad but it's definitely something I'd buy again. The first taste as a bit off-putting but it tasted nice in the end.

Having tried and hated Rice milk a long time ago I thought the Provamel would be gross, but I was mistaken. It was ok, I wouldn't rush out to buy it but it's drinkable.

The Foco Coconut water with Pink Guava though is the winner here! It smells a little bit like bathwater but it tastes delicious AND it's super refreshing!

Pure Soya Spread is also delicious- totally gluten and dairy free. The Flora ProActiv Semi Skimmed Milk is for my Mum who suffers with a heart condition and as it's supposed to actively fight high cholesterol, thought she'd give it a go. 

Lunch Time - Crumpets

When I was eating gluten, I really loved big, squidgy crumpets with oodles of butter and usually Nutella, sometimes Marmite of Philidelphia though. My diet is somewhat different now, and all of the free from crumpets that I have ever tried have been Nasty! Yes, Nasty with a capital N!

When shopping, we came across Genius crumpets which looked somewhat different to any of the ones we had seen before. They were actually a bit squidgy instead of foamy or rubbery. Into the trolley they went, and I scoffed them the next day. Yum! They're not quite a crumpet, but by Joe they're as close as you'll get in free from foods!

Today I had two Genius crumpets with Creamy Sheese in original flavour, and oodles of Pure Sunflower Spread. Absolutely delectable, with no horrible after effects, and super satisfying! Creamy Sheese spread is a wonderful alternative to cream cheese (Philidelphia). You can even cook with it, and use it to make creamy sauces! Worth keeping in the house for sure!


This with a side of my favourite daily shake (I skipped breakfast because I didn't feel well) and I'm good for my afternoon of teaching. I visited Sainsbury's on the way home today, and picked up a whole bunch of #FreeFromSwag. Watch out for the post later!

Food Review - Alpro Hazelnut Milk

I'm a bit of a nut freak, and I also happen to be dairy-free. Can you imagine how excited I was when commercially made nut milk started hitting the supermarket shelves?! SUPER DUPER EXCITE! That's how much. My favourite nuts are peanuts, hazelnuts, and cashews.

Hazelnut milk was first shown to me by my sister because both of us grew up loving Nutella. She drinks coffee, and assures me that it is a delicious alternative creamer for coffee - think hazelnut latte. I tried it in tea and didn't really like it much. It didn't seem to add much to the drink at all.

I tried drinking it on its own - pretty plain, to be honest. I had about half a carton left and wondered what to do with it, so I stuck it in my daily shake (see here for recipe). That was a success! Added a delicious nutty quality to my chocolatey healthy shake!

I tend not to buy the Alpro Hazelnut as much as I buy other milk (I'm particularly fond of Coconut Dream and Rude Health Coconut) but I do buy the odd one here and there to add a bit of variety to my morning smoothies!

Food Review - Alpro Cashew Milk

Two words sum this drink up for me:

CREAMY DELICIOUSNESS

It's thick, creamy, luxurious and just wonderful. I think I'm in love. It is fabulous in tea, on cereal, in smoothies, milkshakes, and hot chocolate, and it is actually pretty amazing ice cold in a glass. A 1 litre carton cost £1.80, which is the same as their other fresh nut milks cost. This is a little expensive, but boy is it worth it!

I have long loved cashews, and I've waited for so long for cashew milk to be on the market over here (it's been available in the US for ages). The Provamel was quite disappointing, but fortunately this one smashed it out of the park and made up for it!

Recipe - My Favourite Smoothie

It's more of a milkshake than a smoothie, and really more of a guide than a recipe, but this is what I reach for when I need some sustenance of some description. It's light but filling, and extremely nutritious. Dairy and gluten free, but the best part is how flexible it is!



Ingredients:

1 Super ripe banana
1 tbsp Cocoa
1 tbsp Smooth peanut butter
1 tbsp Date syrup
Nut milk
Spinach

How to:

1) Chuck everything in the blender.
2) Blend.
3) Drink.
4) Thank me for enlightening you.

I tend to put the banana, cocoa, and peanut butter in first, then you can see how much room there is for fresh spinach and put that in next. Then you add the milk to top it up, which is why I don't put an exact quantity. I tend to add the sweetener last because bananas are different shades of sweet.

• For a super cool and creamy twist, try using a frozen banana instead of fresh.
• For a nutrient boost, use raw cacao powder. It is less processed and contains way more good stuff.
• Try chucking in some chia seeds for added filling power, hydration, and a whopping omega oil hit.
• If you don't have any date syrup (you should immediately find some and buy it. It's totally awesome) then you could easily use honey as a sweetener. Manuka honey would add another bunch of goodness.
• Experiment with different types of milk. I like cashew, coconut, rice, hazelnut, and my all time favourite, coconut rice milk (Coconut Dream or Rude Health for the win). Of course, if you aren't dairy free you could use regular dairy milk or any of the many other milk alternatives available!
• Nut butters also come in many varieties. My all time favourite is peanut butter (Meridian smooth!!!), but you can get coconut butter, hazelnut butter, cashew butter, and probably a whole bunch more. Smooth ones blend better, but chunky is fine if you don't mind tiddly bits of nut in your shake (personally, I don't!).
• No, you cannot taste the spinach whatsoever. Yes, you can use a different green if you want, but I like spinach because you can't tell it's there. Sneaky veg level-up! Give it a really good blend to make sure there are no "bits".
• A little dash of vanilla extract is a luxurious but totally delicious addition, and so is peppermint or orange extract!

Food Review - Alpro On

A super duper thick, super duper creamy, protein-packed soya yoghurt with a fruit compote at the bottom. What's not to like?!

What I really like about these is that they don't have that strange aftertaste that you get from other soya yoghurts, they are just the right amount of sweet without being over the top, and they are really filling. I got these in Tesco, and they were £0.85 each. A little on the expensive side, but perfect for when I'm not feeling so well but need to get something down me.

This one is mango flavour, my absolute favourite fruit of all time, and of course my favourite of the three available flavours. I wasn't so keen on the seeds found in the passionfruit flavour, but would still buy them!

Food Review - Vego Bars

This is the mother of all chocolate bars. No, really! It may be vegan, but it certainly doesn't taste like it. In fact, it tastes like you are eating a solid bar of Nutella (aka the food of life) with whole hazelnuts inside. The bar in the picture is the MINI size bar. Look at my hand for scale, my hands are XL in gloves btw, and just check out the generosity of this mega treat.

Dairy free, gluten free, veggie, vegan, I don't care who or what you are - you simply must try a Vego bar!

Mine are purchased at the best farm shop on the planet. Smiths Farm Shop, and as you can see, these bars are £2.05 each. Expensive, but worth every penny!

Smiths Farm Shop

Food Review - Tesco Free From Choc Bars

These might not be the nicest safe chocolate in the world, but they do hit the spot and are only 40p each. I love the Choc 'n' Crispie bar the most, it's just like a Nestle Crunch, but without any gluten, wheat, or milk!

They are available at most Tesco's, and come in choc (like milk chocolate), choc 'n' crispie, or white. I am not too keen on white chocolate, so haven't tried that one, but the other two definitely get the thumbs up for a cheap and easy chocolate injection!