Kev's Snack Reviews

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, c...

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...

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 jus...

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 ...

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...

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 to...

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...

Being on a low sugar diet it's hard to find many interesting chocolates, yes there's the lovely Montezuma's Absolute Black but sometimes you want some added crunch or flavour. Luckily Montezuma's have come to the rescue with not one, but two new Absolute Black varieties - the first 100% cacao bars on the market with added flavours. These are not available in major supermarkets just yet, but you can get them online from www.montezumas.co.uk . Luckily Montezuma's kindly sent me boith to review. Absolute Black 100% Cocoa Solids with Almonds: This bar is sugar free, vegan, and contains 80% chocolate and 20% almonds. Opening the wrapper the bar has the standard Montezuma's design - blocks make up half of it, with a thicker piece on one end with the Montezuma's logo. I've said it before but I do love the block design, it's nice to have the smaller pieces as well as a nice thicker piece to munch on! The almonds are clearly visible when you sn...

I was recently contacted by Holy Moly, makers of a new range of Guacamole dips to do a review, and being on a reduced sugar diet lately these certainly fit the bill. They are all made with natural ingredients, vegan, dairy free, gluten free and sugar free. They're made using avocados grown on a family-owned avocado orchard in Mexico; the avocados are hand-picked, hand-scooped and combined with freshly sourced local ingredients. Saintly Original: The Saintly Original variety contains a mixture of garlic, jalapeno chilli, onion, avocado and spices. I dug right in and ate it straight from the spoon. It's super creamy, with a lovely kick from the chillis, perfectly balanced with the onion and garlic. I really enjoyed it, but I do wish I'd had some gluten free crackers to dip in it. Very tasty. 8.5 out of 10. Devilishly Hot: Containing Jalapeno chilli, red onion, red bell pepper and other spices, this was the fiery one of the bunch. And I loved it! The...

It's August already...what happened to this year, seriously?! It's the time of year when many new products get launched for Winter - no Christmas stuff yet, but do keep your eyes peeled on my Instagram for the first Christmas sightings. I'm sure it won't be long now! In the meantime, lets' take a look at some of the latest new products to grace the supermarket shelves... Coca Cola Zero Sugar Cherry: They've already done a  Vanilla Coca Cola Zero Sugar  and now it's the turn of Cherry! Spotted in Sainsbury's. Cadbury Dairy Milk Tiffin Large Size: The recent return of the smaller Dairy Milk Tiffin bar in the UK was such a success that there was demand for a larger bar. I was sent some for a review recently...stay tuned for that! Galaxy, Bounty and M&M's Trail Mix: I reviewed these last year but now they're getting a larger bag version. If you see these in shops do let me know! Quaker Overnight Oats: Award for most pointl...