Kev's Snack Reviews

Chocolate and Love are a new Fairtrade organic brand that have recently been rolled out in Sainsbury's stores. Currently, they're on offer for £2 a bar, so I thought I'd see what they're all about. Being a lover of all things coffee I naturally went for the Coffee 55% cocoa dark chocolate, although their other varieties are very enticing too (they do Mint, Orange, Creamy Dark, Caramel Sea Salt). This bar is not only fairtrade and organic, but dairy free and Vegan society approved. There's 4% organic coffee incorporated into the chocolate, which is a pretty decent amount compared to some coffee flavoured chocolates on the market. The chocolate certainly smelled very rich and coffee-like, especially for a 55% cocoa bar. And it tasted just as rich as its aroma; there were some complex cocoa bean flavours, backed up with the the stronger coffee flavour. It was very tasty indeed! More of an espresso than a latte in coffee terms - this is definitely one for c

I teased it in my review of Aldi's Foodie Market Macadamia & Coconut Paleo Bars , and here it is finally; my review of the Brazil Nut & Cherry variety. Allow yourselves to get very excited! Like the Coconut variety, these come in packs of five and cost £1.99 - a bargain when compared to similar bars on the market! They're gluten free, dairy free and suitable for vegans as well as paleos, containing natural cold-pressed ingredients like brazil nuts, dates, cherries, and almond oil. These are somewhat similar to The Primal Pantry's Brazil Nut & Cherry bars , but actually a lot nicer. The bars are firmer, with a delicious and slightly tart cherry flavour, and a nice fresh earthy nuttiness from the brazils. They felt like a real treat indeed, without being too sugary or sickly sweet. They were also very satisfying and filling. Overall, out of the two varieties of Foodie Market Paleo Bars Aldi are doing these are a clear winner! Now I just need to try

Whilst in Waitrose recently and in need of an energy boost, I noticed this new Rebel Kitchen Dairy Free Coffee Mylk was reduced to £1.20. I thought I would give it a try, since I've been experimenting so much with dairy free options recently. This is made with organic coconut milk, spring water, organic date nectar and organic coffee. It's suitable for vegans, and everyone else too! For a drink made with all clean ingredients, this was pretty tasty indeed...I will even let them off with describing it as "ridiculously tasty" - because it is! I found this a lot more refreshing than a regular dairy coffee milk drink, and not as sickly. The balance of flavours is just right...it's creamy, mildly sweet and with just the right hint of strong coffee flavour. I felt both energized and refreshed after drinking it - double win! Overall, whether or not you're vegan, dairy free or eating only clean, organic foods...this is a tasty coffee drink that will give you

Continuing the theme of healthier products at bargain prices, today's review is for Oko Bay Mango Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert, which usually costs £4.99 in Holland & Barrett for the original and chocolate varieties, but for which I found for a mere 49p in Heron Foods recently! Naturally I snapped up several tubs. This ice cream or "iced dessert" is special in that it is made predominantly with coconut milk, making it vegan, dairy free and lactose free. It's also GMO free. Opening the lid which said "Taste the Island Life" (very exotic!) it had an orange, sorbet-like appearance. It was rather firm so I allowed it to thaw at room temperature for a while, before spooning into a bowl. It was still pretty firm so I decided to just dig right in. The texture is different from ice cream, it's more akin to a firm sorbet, but that's not a bad thing because it melts in the mouth as you eat it. It's very tasty and creamy, with the mango brin

The Paleo Diet has increased in popularity in recent years and with it the range of new Paleo-friendly snacks too. You can now get Protein bars (like The Primal Pantry Paleo Protein Bars ), brownies, cookies, nibbles and more. They're usually a bit pricey, but recently I was lucky enough to find these "Caveman Cookies" made by The Caveman Bakery, for only 20p on a market stall. Bargain! As well as being paleo-friendly they are also gluten and dairy free, and contain no refined sugar. The ingredients consist of "maple syrup, honey, almond meal, pecan meal, dried cranberries, apple juice concentrate, sunflower oil, pumpkin seeds and spices". These aren't any regular cookies...each one comes individually wrapped and is soft and chewy rather than crunchy. I must admit this disappointed me a bit. Luckily they tasted delicious...the moist chewiness is actually nice. The maple syrup is very prominent, as are the spices, cranberries and seeds. It'

After my disastrous experience with the abominable Spoon It Out eggs from Poundland recently, why would I subject myself to more chocolatey misery from them I hear you ask? Good question...I don't know what to say other than: curiosity! When I saw these new "Smooth" White Chocolate bars in Poundland, along with Milk and Dark chocolate varieties, my interest perked: I wonder how smooth they really are? £1 is a bargain for good white chocolate! I didn't notice that the ingredients contain vegetable fats, which is presumably how they can call these "smooth" in the first place since they're not smooth in the sense of being melt in the mouth at all. Maybe they should have labelled them "Greasy"? You can have that idea on me Poundland... The blocks looked nice and it's a fairly chunky bar, but that's where the positives end. The chocolate tastes very faintly of "real" white chocolate (whatever that is, since many don'

Does this look familiar, anyone? Did you almost mistake it for a Cadbury Dairy Milk Egg N Spoon box? I nearly did when I passed by it in Poundland recently... Since Cadbury replaced the original Vanilla Egg N' Spoons with Oreo Egg N' Spoon, there's been a gap in the market for plain vanilla filled eggs, and it seems Poundland are the ones to fill it, quite literally. But are these as good as the Cadbury equivalent? That's the burning question you're all asking I'm sure... Sadly they're not, in fact they are simply AWFUL! I don't know how they managed to go through a new product development trial to be honest... Starting off, they at least looked the part - in fact I'd say they look better than Cadbury's version. They come with one little spoon for 4 eggs, so you better eat all these yourself otherwise hygiene may be an issue! (Not that you'll want to...more on that later). The spoon looks like the ones you get with tiny pots of ice

The day of luuurve is upon us tomorrow, and for a change I'm shunning the more conventional sugar and truffle filled chocolates in favour of this; an organic, raw, dairy free and vegan white chocolate. I found this bar, or rather "heart" in a local health food store for £1.75. It's made with virgin cacao butter, coconut nectar, raw cashew nuts, coconut and pink lake salt. I do love the heart shape of it, it felt uber special when I unwrapped it and was rather unexpected. The colour reminded me somewhat of Caramac, and it had a strong cacao butter caramel aroma. The first thing I noticed after biting into it was the texture; it's almost fudge-like, very melt-in-the-mouth and sort of greasy. It felt a bit unusual to eat something so soft! The taste is lovely; it has a strong natural salted caramel flavour, with the cacao butter coming through very prominently. Being honest though I can't say I loved this chocolate, the main thing that lets it do

I do love anything with coconut added to it, so when I spied these Kallo Milk Chocolate & Coconut Rice Cakes for only 39p in Heron Foods I bought them immediately. They're currently on a 3 packs for £1 deal so it seems like they have a lot they need to get rid of. They're simply just plain rice cakes with a thin layer of milk chocolate and some dessicated coconut sprinkled over the top. They tasted nice enough, they're a great snack and the coconut definitely makes them less boring than a regular chocolate rice cake. But they could've been better...they really needed more coconut! Overall, not a bad snack at all and they definitely make a nice change from regular chocolate rice cakes, but hopefully they'll add more coconut to the recipe in future! 7.5 out of 10.

The day of luuuurve is just around the corner, so let's take a look at some of the Valentines goodies from Cupid gracing the shops right now. If you need any last minute sweet ideas then this post is for you! Maltesers Teasers Gifting Pack: The Maltesers Teasers chocolates from Celebrations have finally been given their own box, currently available from Tesco stores for £3! Celebrations For You Gift Box: Or if your other half likes a bit more variety there's always the original pack! Emoji Be My Valentine Cake: If your other half is a Social Media addict maybe they'll love this emoji cake. Rumour has it there's also a poo edition...Available in Tesco. Morrions Be My Valentine Freshly Baked Giant Cookie: If your other half prefers cookies, what better treat than this giant cookie from Morrisons bakery. Reese's Giant Peanut Butter Hearts: Not forgetting the peanut butter Kings and Queens , there's these huuuuge Reese's Peanut B

I've been trying a lot of dairy free chocolates lately, it's always nice to find more vegan and dairy free options in shops. One brand I've been buying quite a bit of is Seed and Bean, who make a variety of Organic Vegan chocolates in many different flavours. This particular variety contains 70% cocoa solids, and smoked cornish sea salt. It costs around £2.49 in various health food stores as well as some WH Smiths stores, where I bought this one. I do like the blocks on Seed and Bean bars, they're a lot more interesting than your average bar and the cocoa pods are a nice touch. The chocolate is very rich and flavoursome, with a nice melt in the mouth texture. The smoked sea salt gave it a tasty edge, lifting it from average dark chocolate to something a bit more special. I was skeptical initially that the combination would work, but it's actually really nice! I soon demolished a hefty portion of the bar. Overall, if you're vegan, dairy free or jus