Kev's Snack Reviews

Recently, I spotted a totally new vegetable/fruit (not sure which it actually is!) in Asda called Banana Blossom in a tin. It was next to the tins of Jackfruit which is a well known vegan meat alternative. I assumed it was a similar thing so happily bought some to try - it’s £1.50 a tin. The image on the wrapper looked innocent enough - battered fish pieces, only vegan! Surely this stuff must be good? Turns out that packaging was very misleading because nothing could prepare me for the horror that was lurking inside...when I opened the tin it was like opening something from a horror film, discovering the mouldy body of an ancient alien creature or other such evil. It looked hideous!! “Surely this is not meant for human consumption?!”, I thought. Heck it’s not even suitable for bird consumption....I think flies would even turn their nose up at this thing, which looked like rotten infested seaweed. When I posted this on my  Instagram  page the responses were pr...

As annoying as the Unicorn trend is becoming (let it rest, it’s had it’s day!) I did get quite excited when I found out Asda have a new raspberry flavour “Unicorn” spread out. Simply because it’s such a novelty, and contains popping candy! I had totally forgotten however that I reviewed a product like this back in 2015 which was Winsenia Raspberry Spread that was available in Aldi at the time. Costing £1.50, and simply described as “raspberry flavour Unicorn spread with popping candy pieces” this is indeed very similar to the spread I tried from Aldi back in 2015. It doesn’t contain white chocolate, and only the popping candy contains cocoa butter in the ingredients. It consists of a mixture of sugar, oil, milk powder, buttermilk powder etc.     It’s nice and gloopy with the popping candy pieces just visible in the pink mixture. Just the right texture to spread...which I did on rice cakes (I know, boring, but I like them ok!) The spread has a strong raspbe...

I recently spotted a new Winter Blend coffee from Asda's Extra Special range, and the description sounded rather intriguing indeed: "Capture the magic of Christmas with a delightful collection of the finest beans sourced from East Africa and Latin America. Subtle Winter Spices sparkle against a deep, velvety dark roast, crackling with hints of toasted nuts and dark chocolate". Sounds pretty special right? This costs £2.75 for a 227g pack. I made it as directed in my cafetiere and of course drank it from my special piggy mug - no coffee would be complete for me without a pigs behind staring back at me, haha! I wasn't expecting this to taste of festive spice or anything too fancy, because these "special" coffees never really do, but to my surprise it was rather good! Definitely not just an average coffee and there were some fruity and spicy notes in there. It's not christmas spice flavour but they've clearly used a different blend of coffee beans...

I wasn't going to review these Unicorn Edition Smarties initially, after all they are just regular Smarties in pink and blue shells, plus they contain gluten. However the allure of fancy colours drew me in and it's always nice to have another limited edition candy wrapper for the collection! I have to say, as daft as this "Unicorn trend" is, the colours do look pretty. Perfect for topping cakes, cupcakes and maybe even cookies with! How do they taste? Well, I couldn't eat them but I gave them to a friend after taking these photos who commented "just like regular Smarties. Very sweet and good for a quick snack but not the best quality chocolate. A shame there's no orange flavours". So there you have it! Tastes just like regular Smarties (why couldn't they make them raspberry flavoured or something?) but without the orange ones that make regular Smarties so interesting. (Although you can now get Orange Smarties as a Limited Edition too, s...

Another heads up today for anyone who is a fan of Pretzel Flipz, the tasty chocolate coated Pretzels that were originally launched by Nestle - they're officially back! Available in both Dark Chocolate... And milk chocolate varieties, sadly there is no sign of the much-loved white fudge coated variety. Boo! Available from Asda stores now for £1, this time made by McVitie's. Are you a fan of Pretzel Flipz? Would you like to see the white version brought back too? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Asda are outdoing everyone this week with new icy desserts, so once again it's time for another Spotted In Shops focused on some new things there!  Firstly - Haagen Dazs Peanut Butter Crunch has arrived in tub format, hurrah! Featuring peanut butter ice cream, swirls of peanut butter and caramel this is most definitely a peanut butter lovers dream come true! One for fans of fruitier iced treats, there's also these new Rowntrees Watermelon Lollies : Another addition to the Rowntrees range are these Fruit Pastilles Push Up Lollies : Robinsons, the famous fruit squash makers are now doing Fruit & Barley Ice Lollies . These sound refreshing! Even Swizzels are getting in on the act, with these Love Hearts Fruit Flavour Ice Lollies : Asda are taking on Magnum and have launched a new  Raspberry & White Chocolate Moments variety: Plus Asda Moments Mint : Also out at Asda are these Freshly Baked Daim Cookies , containing real Daim pieces and toffee piec...

Another quick Spotted In Shops, and it seems that it's not just the weather that's getting colder this week - so are the new snacks! There's been a lot of ice cream releases lately, from the Ben and Jerrys Birthday Cake and Topped Pretzel Palooza , to some new Haagen Dazs Peanut Butter Crunch sticks, as well as a Peanut Butter Crunch Tub. Both are available in Asda but unfortunately mine has none of the tubs in yet - boo! They feature peanut butter ice cream, swirls of peanut butter sauce, crunchy caramel and milk chocolate. Magnum White Chocolate Honeycomb & Almond: Featuring Honeycomb flavour Ice Cream with White Chocolate and Almonds, these new sticks from Magnum sound potentially dangerous! Available at Asda in boxes of 4. Rowntree's Fruit Blaster Lollies: Also new at Asda are these Rowntree's Fruit Blaster ice lollies - a variation on Rowntree's traditional fruit lollies. Asda Hand Cooked Thai Green Curry Crisps: An interesting new limited ...

I reviewed Asda's Free From Mince Pies last year, but this year they have only gone and bloomin' improved them (again), so here I am reviewing the new and improved versions. The things I do for food research haha! It's always nice to have more gluten free varieties, and thankfully all the supermarkets are expanding their options all the time - with even Aldi currently doing Gluten Free Mince Pies and Christmas Puddings. It's a step in the right direction for us gluten free folk for sure. I do enjoy Asda's offering, in fact I'd say they're the best budget gluten free mince pies around. Free from Dairy and Gluten, but sadly not egg these aren't suitable for vegans. And despite the lack of butter, the pastry on these still tastes lovely and buttery, melt in the mouth and has just the right thickness. The filling is moist and gooey, with the right balance of fruits and spice, never tasting too syrupy or sugary. In fact it's rather authent...

The supermarkets have really upped their game in recent years for own-brand festive products, with some impressive and weird new treats out for the Christmas Season. Below are some I've seen whilst out and about...although there's lots more! For updates of the most recent do check out my Instagram Page.  Tesco Chocolate Truffle Carrots:  These don't actually contain carrot, do not fear! Instead they are coloured white chocolates with praline fillings. Tesco White Chocolate Polar Bear: Another white chocolate treat from Tesco are these cute chocolate polar bears. Tesco Black Forest Dome Gateau: Making a return for the festive season are these yummy Black Forest Dome Gateaus. Tesco Christmas Tree Ice Creams: Also making a return are these Christmas Tree shaped ice creams. Tesco Chocolate Orange Muffins: Chocolate and orange is always a welcome festive flavour and now you can get them in muffin form thanks to Tesco! Tesco Finest Gingerbread Nuts...