Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
Snacks with a difference, this time with some protein and grown-up toast crisps, Bodega Snack Boxes are for lunch, snacks or even handy for picnics.
Each pack has under 250 calories and are ready-to-eat with either Smoky Salami or Chorizo plus creamy Cheddar slices and crisp toast pieces fashioned like little pieces of toast! They’re high in protein too and Bodega pride themselves on making all their snacks tasty and varied. The savoury snacks are low in sugar so you won’t get the sugar high, or low, during the afternoon in the office.
Bodega’s Chorizo Snack Pack combines paprika seasoned chorizo with slices of Cheddar cheese and 8 pieces of crisp toast. You can eat them together, building a sandwich or open sandwich or as individual pieces. I stared by eating them as pieces but realised some butter on the crisp toasts or some pesto or tomato purée would add an extra bit of flavour too. There’s texture with the crisp toasts as well as chunk with the meat.
The Bodega Smoky Salami Snack Pack is the same set up but with Salami from the North Rhine Westphalia region. Seasoned with pepper and paprika then beechwood smoked, it’s a softer flavour than the chorizo and blends with the Cheddar slices. This is especially good for children who aren’t used to flavoured meats and might want to be introduced slowly to the smoked flavours.
Either pack can be used as ingredients in larger meals such as sandwiches, a buffet or adding to spaghetti Bolognese or with a jacket potato. Students will love these as an easy way to snack that isn’t sugar, and as they last a few weeks in the fridge, you’ll find a use for them soon enough – if the rest of the family don’t raid them first!
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
What’s better than taking up a new action hobby or sport in 2024? Making a movie of it! Father’s Day has cranked up a notch this year with the high definition SJCam C200 Pro Action Camera.
This camera is absolutely tiny! At less than 7 centimetres tall, it fits inside your pocket, let alone in your hand luggage to go on holiday, or even to take on days out. The 20 MP quality can record in 4K at 30 fps and has an impressive average of 120 minutes battery time. The field of vision is 135 degrees and records in jpeg with features such as time lapse, slow-mo and can even be used as a webcam.
Less of the technical details though and more about what fun you can have with the camera! The small size makes it easy to adapt to different environments and because it’s waterproof and has a touch screen, you can use it for all sorts of activities. On holiday, it can be used at the beach or by the pool, or you can attach it to one of the enclosed mounts and put on a bike or take on a hike with you. Inside the box is a waterproof case, back clip, frame mount, base mount, curved and flat mount and other accessories including a cleaning cloth, adhesive stickers and USB cable. Everything you need. In case you were worries about how much room this takes up as a box, everything packs into a box which is smaller than the size of a brick!
The SJCam C200 Pro has a built-in stabiliser, giving you anti-shake video thanks to gyro technology and it has automatic face recognition so that you can focus on the action, and not just randomly filmed footage. This makes sense when you realise this is a camera that you don’t look through the view finder, it’s very much a ‘stick it up and go’ type camera where you rely on the settings and view the content later. The controls are all from the 1.3” touch screen which is easy to use, but it’s not obvious by looking at the camera that it’s also waterproof to 30 metres (98 foot). It’s excellent for all adventures, but imagine taking it on a high-speed boat ride? Or even surfing or sailing?
You can share all the footage via Wifi too, so anyone with a phone or device can see a copy of what you’ve captured. I prefer to remove the SD card from the device though and put the card in a computer to transfer the data faster. I wish I could say I was an expert at editing film, but with the right software, you can have some expert level editing going on with really high quality movies from the SJCam C200 Pro.
There are more features to the SJCam C200 Pro but they’re all a bit high tech for a beginner like me. What I will say though, is that taking this camera out and playing with it has really encouraged me to try out some different sports that I wouldn’t normally, just to see how good it can look on camera. It’s also made me explore my video editing software on my Mac so that I can start to use the video I do have and learn how to use the more advanced features of SJCam S200 Pro. So if you’re looking for a project this summer, or want motivation to get into a new sport and keep your hand in photography, this is an excellent way of discovering a world I hadn’t even thought of.
Even better, if you want to get your teenager off their phone and outside more, you could do worse than buy them an SJCam C200 Pro and tell them to go out and explore, just to get the camera working for them. For less than £130, you never know what Kelly Slater or Bode Miller it might inspire.
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
The St Michel Muffin, Waffle, Burger and Donut Choco snacks have recently been launched in the UK and we were sent a sample of each to try for this summer.
Made completely free from palm oil with no preservatives, interestingly they are made with cage-free eggs, giving a better life to the hens. St Michel is France’s premiere cake and biscuit brand, in business since 1905 and very proud of how they select the best quality ingredients.
St Michel Choco DonutSt Michel Choco Burger
Each box has 6 individually wrapped cakes, each one weighing around 30 grams each. Each variety has a different shape and use of the chocolate, so you’ll soon have a preference as to whether you like your chocolate in the middle (Choco Burger) or a Choco Donut, dipped in chocolate instead. The Choco Muffins are just as tasty and probably more suited to adults wanting a snack in the office or on the go and the Choco Waffles make a fun treat for anyone.
They’re made in France with French ingredients including French wheat with each sponge cake in a different shape or formation and topped or filled with smooth chocolate. They certainly have that chocolate-y taste which gives you the sweet hit when you need it. The sponges are feather light and contain sunflower oil instead of palm oil to not only save the palm oil forests but the sunflower gives a different hit to the texture of the sponge. The chocolate, which is made of hazelnut paste, is deliciously decadent and just what you would imagine from French patisseries. Just keep them less than 25 degrees centigrade otherwise you’ll end up with a sticky mess this summer!
St Michel Choco snacks are a fabulous snack idea for anyone who loves cake, needs a snack or wants something with a bit more goodness than sweets during the day. Perfect for chocolate lovers too.
Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.
It’s a good job our mini reviewers enjoy crafts, as the weather at the moment is absolutely dreadful and we’re having to spend more time indoors than we normally do in the school holidays. With a couple of family birthdays coming up, a card making session with the Galt Toys Card Craft set kept our mini reviewers occupied and they have made some lovely cards, some of which currently have pride of place on their grandparents mantlepiece!
The set contains 10 cards and envelopes and a variety of patterned and plain papers and stickers, you can either follow the enclosed guide and use their designs or come up with your own creations. Wavy scissors, a heart punch and a couple of stamps allow you to personalise your cards and our mini reviewers especially loved using the heart punch to make lots of mini hearts to put inside the cards which fell like confetti when the envelope was opened, much to the girl’s delight!
The set is aimed at children aged 8+ and our mini reviewers aged 7 and 10 were able to make the cards with minimal assistance. With 10 different cards to make it kept them busy all afternoon and they both really enjoyed making them.
This set is a great introduction to card making and now we have the scissors, heart punch and stamps I’m sure all my family will be getting homemade cards for all future celebrations!
Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.
We’re half way through the school holidays and it’s never stopped raining! Luckily our mini reviewers love colouring so have spent a good half hour or so each day quietly colouring in the vehicles on the Toot Toot Honk Hey Doodle MiniMat.
The reuseable silicone mat comes with three coloured pens and unlike paper it doesn’t move about when you’re colouring it. The pens are lovely to use, they glide smoothly on the silicone and don’t bleed into one another when the colours are used next to each other. All the colours are nice and bright and when the mat is coloured in it looks quite impressive. If they do make a mistake it doesn’t matter as they are easily erased by wiping them away with a damp cloth.
There are 5 different Minimats available – Toot Toot Honk, Dinoroar, Aussie Animals, Sugar & Spice and Into the Wild and each one is printed with illustrations that fit the theme along with either letters from the alphabet or numbers that can be traced over.
Once the mat has been coloured in the ink is easily removed with a damp cloth and you’re ready to start again. I did find you do need to apply a little pressure when removing the ink, especially if it has been left for a couple of days, so you may need to help younger children do this.
As well as being great fun, Hey Doodle colouring mats are better for the environment as they remove the need for endless sheets of paper that get thrown away afterwards.
Aimed at children aged 2- 7 these are a great way to keep the children (and adults) entertained during the school holidays. They also make great birthday gifts too!
If you are looking for a gift for baby’s first Easter then the Mimi Bunny Musical Stars Projector from Pabobo is the perfect choice. As well as being super cute, Mimi Bunny is a great addition to nap or bedtime as she not only plays a gentle lullaby but lie her on her back and she projects a pretty starry sky onto the ceiling which babies and toddlers love to watch, it certainly had the desired effect with our mini reviewer who nodded off in no time at all!
Mimi Bunny can either be set to a single colour of star or can cycle through the 3 colours (green, blue and orange). The light display is quite impressive and certainly captured our mini reviewer’s attention. As well as the light display there is a lullaby button with two different volumes to choose from. The stars and lullaby don’t have to be played together, you can choose projections or lullaby or both together. The lights and sound turn off automatically after 22 minutes which is really handy when settling a baby or toddler as you don’t want to go back in the room and risk waking them!
Mimi Bunny is lovely and soft and perfect for cuddling, close up the lights are more of a soothing glow than a bright light which allows a child to still fall asleep whilst cuddling the bunny. Don’t worry about it getting grubby you can easily remove the projector part and the plush toy can be put in the washing machine on a gentle cycle at 30°.
As Mimi Bunny is the size of a standard cuddly toy she can easily be taken on holiday or when visiting family or friends this Easter, enabling you to keep your bedtime routine even when away from home.
The projector does require 3 x AA batteries which aren’t included.
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
I wish I could tell you that I tried out the Hay-Band in some tropical climate, in the middle of summer when all the pollen is in the air and the humidity is a scorcher, but alas, it’s only March here in England and the pollen is only just getting started! However, I am a hay fever sufferer and it does start around this time of year for me, probably with tree pollen from the blossoms.
I am not good with medications; antihistamines make me drowsy even if they’re the non-drowsy type, so I have to reply on lots of other methods to keep the pollen out, including air purifiers indoors and washing my hair daily to keep levels low. Hay-Band works on non-medical principals – the acupressure points from Chinese Medicine. The pressure point is called LI-11 and is on either arm, and works to alleviate allergy symptoms.
The Hay-Band is an elastic double band with a plastic pressure button in the middle. The acupressure point is at the end of the elbow crease when you bend your arm, so it’s at this point you need to slide the band onto your arm and position the button in the right place. There’s a really clear video on the Hay-Band website here: https://hay-band.co.uk
You can wear the band discreetly at all times, and it can be preventative or used when symptoms start. There are no side effects, so you can use it all times, even in bed at night but it is not advised to be used when pregnant. If the symptoms aren’t waning, then you can make little adjustments to where the button lays on your arm to hopefully help. The Hay-Band can be re-worn over and over and is washable too – it won’t affect the button position if you put it through the washing machine!
I found that putting the band on was a bit tight as I have quiet muscly arms and the band is only available in one colour and one size so far (15cm – 40cm circumference). Once it sits on your arm, you hardly notice it’s there but I think once the button hits the right place when your allergies are flaring, you suddenly feel it. It would be perfect for children or people who have to work without having to take drowsy medication and of course, as soon as you take it off the effect will stop working so if you don’t get on with it, there’s no harm done.
I can’t wait to use it when summer is finally here, and in conjunction with other non-medical methods it should work perfectly especially when out and about or needing to work. Just pay attention to the tan lines it may create if you wear it on holiday…
Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own
If you are looking for a non-chocolate Easter gift for an older child or even an adult that enjoys making dolls house accessories, then these MGA’s Mini Verse sets are a great choice.
The range of pocket-sized miniatures are packaged in plastic balls that are cracked open just like an Easter egg. Once opened you discover a selection of miniature ingredients and accessories along with a step by step guide of how to make them. The sets use a resin which makes the items look more realistic and this needs to be set under UV light – if you have a nail lamp you can use this otherwise just leave it in a sunny spot until the resin has hardened. Once finished you can display the items on a shelf or Iike us, you can put them in a dolls house.
Whilst the contents are mini the attention to detail is amazing, from the working appliances to the detailing on the food and even mini wicks to add to the candles.
Whilst we’ve enjoyed making the food and lifestyle items the Mini Appliances range is our favourite as you actually use the plastic appliances to make the mini drinks. Each machine has working features enabling you to dispense coffee from the coffee machine into the mini cups or dispense mini ice cubes from the Soda and Juice mini machines prior to setting the resin under UV light.
Each package is a surprise, so you won’t know which set you have until you open it but with 60+ Make It Mini Lifestyle sets, 70+ Make It Mini Food Sets and 8 Make It Mini Appliances available it’s unlikely you’re going to end up with duplicates any time soon but if you do you can always swap with friends.
The recommended age is 8+ which is about right as some of the sets can be a little fiddly.
Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review but all thoughts and opinions are our own.
These days there is so much choice when it comes to Easter Eggs and no matter what your taste there is an egg for you. Some of my friends and family are vegan and there’s also a couple with dairy intolerances so it’s fantastic to see such a good selection of plant based chocolate this year, meaning they don’t need to miss out on this chocolately tradition.
Love Raw make the most delicious plant based chocolate and they have just launched a limited edition Easter box, although you’ll need to be quick as it’s only available from the 22nd to 24th March!
Nutty Choc Balls are a crunchy hazelnut coated in a delicious vegan cream and then covered in a crisp wafer shell and finished with Low Raw’s iconic m:lk choc and hazelnut pieces. They are absolutely scrummy and it’s probably a good job there’s only 9 in the box!!
3 x White Choc Cream Wafer Bar Each bar contains a deliciously crispy wafer, oozing with Love Raw’s signature cre&m® filling and generously smothered with vegan white chocolate. Whether you’re vegan or not you need to try these!
3 x Milk & 3 x White Choc Peanut Buttercups Each cup oozes smooth, creamy peanut butter and is covered in Love Raw’s iconic m:lk® and white choc. In my opinion peanuts and chocolate are a winning combination and Love Raw are definitely on to a winner with these.
Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.
Whatever type of chocolate you love – be it dark, milk or white you can always rely on Thorntons to have an egg with your name on it! This year they have a fantastic selection of eggs to choose from which are bound to delight both young and old this Easter.
The white chocolate Bunny Easter Egg and Milk Chocolate Unicorn Easter Eggs will go down a treat with the little (and not so little) this year. The hollow 151g eggs are beautifully decorated with a moulded chocolate image, the white chocolate has a super cute bunny on the front whilst the milk chocolate egg has a fantastic pink and white chocolate unicorn. The chocolate tastes delicious, it’s lovely and thick and creamy and simply melts in your mouth.
RRP £4.25 at selected supermarkets and Thorntons.com.
The Happy Bunny (90g) is a great choice for smaller children and is available in both a white chocolate and milk chocolate version. The cute little bunny with white and green chocolate decorations was a big hit with our mini reviewers who despite loving the sweet faces soon demolished them!
RRP £2.74 at selected supermarkets and Thorntons.com.
Adults may prefer the Thorntons Classic Easter Egg (150g) which comes with 5 chocolates from the Classic collection – Gooey Caramel, Triple Chocolate, Strawberries & Cream, Crunchy Praline and Fudge Brownie. There’s a nice assortment of chocolates so everyone should get their favourite. The chocolate is smooth and creamy and this egg was a real winner with the Review Studio team.
RRP £5.48 at selected supermarkets.
If your budget stretches to double figures, then the premium Continental Easter Egg (257g) is the one to go for. Decorated with swirling loops of white and dark chocolate this large egg comes with 8 Continental chocolates – there are two of the Seville Caramel and Viennese Deluxe chocolates (to share or not is the question???) and one each of the Sicilian Mousse, Alpini Praline and Salted Caramel. The egg not only looks impressive, it tastes lovely too and with a mix of white, milk and dark chocolates they have all tastes covered.
RRP £11.77 at selected supermarkets.
Thorntons Easter Egg are a lovely indulgent treat for chocolate lovers young and old and with an egg to suit all budgets they are the perfect choice this Easter – and whilst you’re buying them as gifts treat yourself too – it is Easter after all!
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
The TOZO Tonal Dots T12 Wireless Earbuds are some nifty headphones which for the price, do everything you expect them to do and more. We were sent a pair to review this week, which are perfect for the summer and those sports activities that are starting again soon.
The TOZO Tonal Dots T12 are wireless stereo earbuds which come in their own carry case which acts as a charger case too. The charge case has a digital display to show you how much charge the headphones have, so that you know to charge them or that you have up to 15 hours of full charge left- which is pretty much a whole plane journey or 2 weeks plus of running, gym or walking. I haven’t needed to recharge them yet, but judging by other TOZO earbuds, it shouldn’t take long with a USB cable fast connection.
The Tonal Dots are easy to connect with Bluetooth 5.3. Yes, you need a phone or appliance with Bluetooth 5.3 but most of us do nowadays, then connecting is easy because my phone (and laptop) could ‘see’ the TOZO headphones when they were in the charge case and kept the connection. There’s a great range to them too; I could walk all over the house and still be connected and the connection didn’t drop at all. Even going outside was no problem. These TOZO Tonal Dots T12 are great for sports because of the distance they connect over, but also because they are waterproof and sweatproof! You can wear these swimming, although I haven’t tested them yet, but with a long connection range it means you can be at the gym and still connected to your phone nearby, or at the pool and your phone be on a lounger somewhere.
There are 16 preset EQs with the Tonal Dots so that you get the sound you need with whatever music or even audio files you listen to, but you can personalise it too. I liked the quality of the sound with these TOZO earbuds, and how easy it is to change the presets. The Smart Touch control is a must on earbuds, and they work perfectly on these headphones, plus are quickly responsive.
The carry case and compact design make them perfect for travelling and for sports. The wireless charging also makes them easy to charge on the go, so that hotels and planes can charge for you whilst you are travelling or getting unpacked. The waterproof quality makes them doubly useful and at such a low price (and currently on offer at some places) means you can keep them for work or children are going to love them for their ease and quality but without such a high price. Perfect birthday presents too!
Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.
Easter is just around the corner and our mini reviewers are going to love going on Easter Egg Hunts with their own Easter Bunny – this adorable plush Thumper the rabbit, from the popular Disney film Bambi.
Measuring 25 cm tall, the soft toy looks just like the animated film character, with those huge eyes and floppy ears and is so soft and tactile that you can’t help but stroke and cuddle him. He is the perfect size for little hands to hold and will make a great companion for little ones this Easter.
The toy is suitable from birth and when I examined the stitching it’s faultless so there’s no need to worry about curious little fingers playing with this toy.
Easter is the perfect time to buy a cuddly bunny as bunnies and Easter go hand in hand and is a nice alternative to chocolate eggs.
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
NOMO want to ensure that Easter this year is available to everyone, so with their mantra, “No Missing Out” they are ready for anything! The NOMO range this year incudes chocolate which is dairy-free, gluten-free and egg-free plus plant based so there’s no excuses to buy something for everyone. We were sent a yummy selection to test before the big Easter Weekend… did we find something we all liked?
The NOMO Creamy Choc Egg and Mini Bars is a conventional Easter Egg with four mini bars of NOMO chocolates in flavours Choco Orange Crunch, Caramel, Mint and Caramel Sea Salt. All of them are usual flavours of NOMO chocolate and found in shops, but together they make a package of chocolate and eggs for Easter. The mini bars are just like the creamy chocolate (which is comparable to milk chocolate just without the dairy!) in that they all taste like you expect chocolate to taste, but without the dairy, gluten, nuts or egg and are plant-powered. They’re also all vegan too!
Next we tried the NOMO Choco Fudge Egg & Bunny. This is probably for older children or even dairy-free adults as the chocolate is much richer, more fudge filled and has tiny fudge pieces in it. The accompanying bunny is also a treat and filled of fudge too! Like the Creamy Choc egg, this too is dairy, gluten, nut and egg free with no palm oil and yes, it’s also vegan. Can you see where the theme, “No Missing Out” comes into play? No matter what you might be intolerable to or what you can’t eat, there’s a flavour of NOMO chocolate waiting for you.
Finally, the snack of grown-ups is the individually wrapped Choc Fudge Bunny. It’s part of the aforementioned Easter Egg combination but for 90 pence you can buy these on their own and enjoy a creamy chocolate hit. The outside chocolate is creamy choc with a filling of a rich fudge flavoured centre. At only 30 grams they are a sweet afternoon treat, or something to add to lunch to give you the chocolate hit but without the environmental guilt or having to think about what it might contain. Also great for friends if you want to get them something for Easter but not something they might be allergic to, or if you’re unsure if they are vegan or vegetarian!
The Choc Fudge Easter Egg and the Bunny are probably my favourite because I love richer chocolate and the fudge makes a nice change. You really can’t tell if they’re conventional chocolate or free-from chocolate because they’re so well made and have all the flavour and sweetness of High Street chocolate.
No matter who you’re buying Easter Eggs for, this year you have a lovely choice from NOMO and no matter what someone’s need, or taste in chocolate, there is no reason for anyone to miss out.
NOMO Creamy Choc Eggs and Mini Bars (154 grams) MRRP £6.50:
NOMO Choc Fudge Bunny (30 grams) MRRP 90p:
NOMO Choc Fudge Egg & Bunny (160 grams) MRRP £6.50:
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
Get ready for summer! Yes, I know it’s raining today but spring is the time of year when you either have your holiday booked, or are booking in and getting essentials together for the big trip away. Judging by the rain out there today, I think most of us are planning on some sun overseas this year so Delph Sun Lotions are definitely going to be needed.
The range we were sent included two sun lotions, one at SPF30 and one at SPF50+ and an after sun lotion, all in handy 150ml tubes. Delph pride themselves on being of the highest quality, so much so that their products are available on prescription on the NHS for those with sensitive skin and other skin issues thanks to their 4-star rating from Diffy & Robson. Delph is also used by the Ministry of Defence, so you can imagine the types of scenarios Delph sun lotion comes in handy! Additionally, each of the sun lotions (SPF30 and SPF50) are “very water resistant” so you can swim in both the sea and swimming pools whilst still getting a high level of protection.
Each of the SPF30 and SPF50 sun lotions can be applied directly to the face, in generous amounts (approximately ½ a teaspoon amount just for the face alone) and then a teaspoon to each arm, more for each leg and 2 teaspoons amount to the back and chest. The lotion must dry before going into water and be reapplied every 1-2 hours especially after swimming or towelling. Remember, using the recommended dosage gives the highest possible protection from the sun.
The Delph After Sun is designed to provide deep moisturisation and contains Aloe Vera and Vitamin E for their anti-inflammatory properties. The Vitamin E helps prevent peeling and prolongs the life of your tan too.
We were also sent the Lotil Lip Care stick with SPF30. This is a great addition to the range to protect your lips along with your face. It also moisturises your face whilst you’re out in the sun, keeping them soft especially against beach weather.
Each of the Delph Sun Lotions are Dermatologically Tested, and have a very light fragrance to them. There are elements of the scent that remind me of ‘holiday’, presumably because of the sun protection ingredients and there is a very light citrus smell too. The lotions blended into my skin very easily though, so it’s easy to apply to wriggling children who don’t want to have to wait before they get into the pool or the sea! The After Sun is also almost fragrance free and very light, making it easy to absorb.
I can’t wait for the summer and the holidays to begin so that I can finally test the Delph range on some proper sun!
Hot Cross Bun Gourmet Popcorn, Chocolate Popcorn Mini Eggs and Hot Cross Bun Caramel Spread
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
Joe & Seph’s are known for their gourmet popcorn, but as these Easter treats show, they are branching out into more yummy treats year round. We were sent some Joe &Seph’s Gourmet Popcorn in Hot Cross Bun flavour to try, and the team added the delicious Chocolate Popcorn Mini Eggs and Joe & Seph’s Hot Cross Bun Caramel Spread. Can you tell it was an arduous week of testing this bunch?!
Starting with the Chocolate Popcorn Mini Eggs, we broke into the pretty egg-shaped packaging to find the treats inside. The packaging is in the form of an Easter egg which can be used as a decoration with a ribbon look at the top. They would make great grand prizes for Easter egg hunts on Easter Sunday! Inside there’s a packet of popcorn bites weighing 42 grams. Each Bite is half an Easter egg of chocolate with two pieces of salted caramel popcorn sitting inside. They make great bite-sized treats especially as the popcorn is part of the Joe &Seph’s gourmet range and one of their most popular flavours. Each popcorn piece is air popped and coated in salted caramel sauce and then placed in the milk chocolate cup to set, giving these delicious treats.
Next, we have their famous gourmet popcorn in Hot Cross Bun flavour. The popcorn is their usual air-popped (not fried) variety, which if you’ve ever tasted it before you’ll know it’s made in their London kitchens to the highest standard with no un-popped kernels or inedible pieces at the bottom! The flavouring on this variety is caramel with added sweet fruit and mixed spices flavours to replicate the hot cross bun which is so closely associated with Easter. The flavours really develop and give that tangy citrus aroma which you find in the best hot cross buns. It’s not too sweet though so you’ll find it easy to get carried away with this flavour! It’s also suitable for vegetarians, gluten free and has no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives.
Lastly, we tried the Hot Cross Bun Caramel Spread. This caramel spread is flavoured like a hot cross bun but it doesn’t mean that you have to spread it on one! This works perfectly on toast, or as part of a cake or even on scones if you’re not partial to the Easter treat. It’s made of natural ingredients but is very sweet, so probably something that you will want at weekends and not during the day. This would work perfectly on porridge though and the more you think about it, the more the possibilities of how you use it are endless. The sauce contains sultanas, zest peel and lots of spring spices to give a real Easter feel to it. It is very rich though, so I would test it out before giving it to small children!
Just when you think you have seen all the popcorn you possibly could from Joe & Seph’s, they bring out this delicious Easter range, complete with ingredients which will last long into the summer! We can’t wait to see what the coming months will bring…
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
If you’ve never heard of Just Spices (and if you ever go to the supermarket and look at the spice and herbs section, they’re everywhere!) then let me tell you a little secret. You no longer have to blend a whole heap of expensive spices together to make savoury meals or even desserts because Just Spices has an enormous range ready-to-use which does all the work for you.
This Just Spices Discover Spice Box contains 8 ready spices including; Sandwich Seasoning, Potato Allrounder, Pizza Topping, Chicken Seasoning, Pasta Allrounder, Vegetable Allrounder, Avocado Topping and Egg Topping. Each of the sachets contain a mix of herbs, dried vegetables and spices which can be added to food especially the ones recommended on the packet.
For example, the Sandwich Seasoning contains salt, onion, leek, black pepper, cumin and lemon myrtle among other ingredients. It doesn’t matter what sandwich filling you’re using, you can add the Just Spices Sandwich Seasoning sachet to it and enhance the flavours. Alternatively, you could make the same sandwich every day and use different sachets to create different flavours. Your cheese sandwich will taste completely different with the Pasta Allrounder seasoning with the added paprika, chilli and rosemary.
If you usually cook pasta once a week, or have avocado on toast anytime, then the seasoning sachets make a pleasant departure from your usual cuisine. Without Just Spices, you’d have a cupboard full of tons of opened spices and herbs, all past their sell by date and all in different quantities that you’re never going to use anyway! I’m not sure I’d even think of adding a different herb to my egg on toast let along a whole host of the Just Spices ones…
The Just Spices Discovery Spice Box is not only for popping in the post to your Mum or Grandma, but it could introduce your household to the range of Just Spices available in the supermarket without the cost of having to buy a whole jar. The Discovery Box is also easy to post to a student who is just starting out cooking or doesn’t have a lot of room to store anything in a kitchen. It’s the perfect gift for a teenager learning to cook as well as something homely for Mother’s Day.
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
I know Ant & Dec are on our screens more often than not, but for a fan like me, their humour makes game shows and talent shows all the more entertaining. Their latest show, Limitless Win on ITV is already making the news for the amount of money they give away each week. The premise of the game is to answer number based questions as accurately as possible. If you are under the correct answer, you lose lives up to the correct answer and climb the ladder of money. If you are over the correct answer, you lose!
For example, using one of the questions from the game, can you answer:
How many countries have a land border with Germany?
Answer: 36 (surprisingly!)
If you guessed 10 then you would still be in the game but would lose 16 lives (36-10) but if you guessed 37 your game would be over. If you guessed 36 correctly though, you would climb the ladder of money and be able to walk away with the sum of money on the board (because you had a correct answer) or you could go on and win more money if you had enough lives – and you can win a limitless amount of money at that!
The board game works in a similar way. There are two teams, each team has a score dial and a score tracker. Place them opposite the money ladder at the gold starting space. There is also a gold cash out button which is placed between the two teams.
You can play with or without the internet – with the internet uses the QR code included with the game otherwise the lifeline question cards are included. The Limitless Win question cards are divided into 3 piles depending on the number of rounds – it is suggested that you play in 3 rounds using all three colours of cards. As each card is played, the teams race up the money ladder until a team runs out of lives or gives an answer that is more than the exact answer. There is more to the rules which are explained really well with the board game but you get the idea.
The game can take as little as 25-30 minutes if all is running smoothly and you can just two people playing (one on each team) or even up to 3 people on a team is manageable. There’s over 600 questions and an extra QR code on the box to access more lifeline questions and soundtracks. It is for ages 8+ years but adults will find this really entertaining and easy to play especially if you’ve seen the show. We really enjoyed having a go at the questions and trying to get the exact answers but with a time limit, it’s just as nerve wrecking as it looks on TV!
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
As spring is here, I was thinking about what I might need to stock up on now for the summer. Face wipes and antibacterial wipes are essential for my office which has no air conditioning and at our busiest times during the months of May, June and July, we need to keep cool somehow.
Freshwipes are 100% biodegradable wipes and completely plastic free. I abhor plastic in anything so I have always stayed away from any kind of wipes but Freshwipes are in a different league. As a small company, they are s till able to produce disposable wipes that don’t live forever and block up drains and damage wildlife which is why they are still in production even after a ban on all wipes comes into effect.
Freshwipes actually produce a whole range of wipes that are available on the market now. We were sent some of them to test; Antibacterial Mini Wipes, pH Balanced Intimate Wipes and Antibacterial Body Wipes in Coconut, Grapefruit and Unscented versions. All of the wipes are made of viscose, a biodegradable plant-based fabric and are made antibacterial with Chlorohexidine. This means you can have the power of washing with soap (and therefore being antibacterial) but without having to rinse afterwards.
Starting with the Antibacterial Wipes and Intimate Wipes, they measure 20 x 15 centimetres per wipe and come in tamper proof sealed packets of 10. These are great handbag sized packets which can be taken with you anywhere. The packets seal up again after you use one for either cleaning your hands, cleaning children or even cleaning surfaces if needed. The Intimate Wipes are scent free whilst the Antibacterial Wipes have a slight coconut fragrance to them which in itself is very refreshing.
The Body Wipes are bigger at 20 x 30 centimetres each but also come in tamper proof sealed packets which are resealable. These body wipes are for when you might not be able to get to a shower or bath, like whilst camping, at a festival or if like me you work long hours during the summer. They also refresh your hands and face whilst on a long flight or car journey and the soft texture of the viscose fibre isn’t harsh like a flannel so can be used for taking off suncream after a day at the beach, or excess make up.
Freshwipes are available in Superdrug, Montain Warehouse and online at Amazon among other places but also have their own store online which includes a starter pack for Freshwipes.
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
Easter is now synonymous with chocolate, or at least it is in our house! It’s also the end of Lent, which often is a time for giving up chocolate in most households. This Easter, you can indulge in chocolate as well as keep the children happy during the holidays with this alternative to an Easter Egg – the Just Spices DIY Chocolate Kit.
The kit contains two chocolate silicone moulds, clear wrappers and cardboard packaging, a booklet on how to make chocolate bars and 11 spice sachets. The spice sachets, which Just Spices are famous for, include Peppermint, Pink Pepper, Ceylon Cinnamon and more unusual flavours like carrot and Anise. If you’re into gourmet chocolate, you’ll know that all the big chocolate houses are now doing flavoured chocolate bars as well as boxes of your favourite flavours, so these spices will go down a treat with the whole family!
The handy booklet that’s contained in the kit talks you through everything that’s needed and how to make the chocolate. It’s worth noting at this point though, that the kit doesn’t have the chocolate included – you have to purchase that yourself. You also need a saucepan and heat-proof bowl, kitchen scales, a spatula and a kitchen thermometer. The booklet calls it ‘The Ultimate Guide’ to getting started making chocolate and takes you on easy to follow steps through the process. The first step is to heat the chocolate you’ve bought and make sure that it doesn’t overheat otherwise it spoils! Taking the chocolate to the right temperature is crucial and make sure that that the chocolate doesn’t come in contact with the water.
Once you read up about getting the temperature right (I had no idea that was an art in itself!) then you can add the spices. There is an art to this as well, making sure that the spices are added before the chocolate gets too cold and placing it in the silicone mould. It needs to harden at room temperature before it goes into the fridge to set completely. The chocolate is best eaten at room temperature but you can keep it in the fridge or a pantry cupboard.
The whole process takes an hour or so if you’re following the instructions and can be completed by children, especially young teenagers who are supervised around the hot saucepan. Smaller children will need to be brought in at a later stage when the heating is done, but they will enjoy mixing in the spices and smoothing off with a spatula. It will depend on your children’s patience as to how long they are willing to wait for the chocolate to set, but you can guarantee they will love licking the chocolate off of their fingers when they’re finished!
The silicone mould can be used again and again and the spices are available on the Just Spices website if you need more. The packaging is a nice edition but you don’t need it for every time you make the chocolate, only if you’re giving the bars as a gift.
This is a nice way to spend an afternoon with the family or as a give to a family at Easter. Those who are particularly good at crafting will enjoy this starter kit and how the chocolate process works, especially if you go on to make more varieties of flavoured chocolates in the future using the Just Spices ingredients!
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
It’s that time of year again, where Christmas is far behind us, Easter isn’t here yet but we are on the slow road to the Easter Eggs when Shrove Tuesday comes around! Or should that be Pancake Day?
Just Spices create lots of lovely toppings for food including Avocado Toppings, Egg Toppings and sweet seasoning like this Pancake Spice. The 75 gram pot, which is sealed for freshness and longevity, contains sugar, ground cinnamon, ground lemon zest, Cardamom and vanilla. The combination of flavours give pancakes a different twist, adding some sweetness as well as the sharpness of the lemons to pancakes. The Pancake Spice can be used in 2 ways; firstly by adding it to the mix before you put it in the frying pan, or you can add it as a topper to pancakes after they’re cooked and ready to eat.
If you’re not familiar with pancake recipes, let me share with you my favourite one!
Pancake Recipe (makes approximately 4)
You will need…
100 grams of flour (sifted)
2-3 large eggs
250ml milk
2 heaped teaspoons of Just Spices Pancake Spice
Oil or butter for heating the pan
Method
I like to heat the frying pan slightly before adding butter, as butter gives a crispier finish but you can use olive oil too.
Add the flour to the milk, sifting as you fold it in. It’s much easier to pour and cooks more evenly if you take out all the lumps first. Add the eggs.
Add the heaped teaspoons of Just Spices Pancake Spice. You can add more or less according to taste.
Pour the mixture into the frying pan and wait until the edges start to firm. One the top is slightly cooked, wiggle the pan and flip to cook the other side!
Once the pancake is on the plate, you can add more Just Spices Pancake Spice to give more flavour, or if you’re adding ice cream, Pancake Spice added a little more sweetness to the dish overall.
After Pancake Day, if you still have some left over, Pancake Spice can be used on other desserts too. Why not try it as a topping to Tiramisu? Or to add to the apple of an apple pie? The sugar, cardamom and cinnamon make it versatile for any pudding!
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
The Protein Ball Co do what they say they do, except have you ever thought about what they really are? 50% baked cookies, 50% sweets, they’re 100% natural, gluten free, high fibre and no added sugar so it’s as if you’ve made them yourself in the kitchen this morning! The treats come in handy packs of 6 balls which are easily transported around – they don’t need refrigerating.
We were sent a selection pack of 12 different flavours, from Lemon & Pistachio to Cacao & Orange as well as favourites such as Raspberry Brownie. See what I mean about half cake, half sweets? Their newest flavours out this month are Salted Caramel and Choc Chip Muffin which of course, were also in the variety pack.
The base of each of the protein ball recipes is dates along with peanut or nut butter, cashews and different juices for flavourings. The Salted Caramel Protein Balls (as seen in the photo) also contain Pink Himalaya Salt and almond nibs for that crunchy texture. They contain 8 grams of plant protein per pack to satisfy your enough to fill you up, but also to give you a sweet treat as a pick-me-up. When I tried these as an afternoon snack, they are indeed filling and you can taste the caramel in them but I also got a distinct peanut butter flavour. The added almond nibs are lovely too, for adding texture.
The second of the new flavours is Choc Chip Muffin flavour. This flavour contains 9 grams of plant protein and boasts added cacao nibs and gluten-free oats to add fibre and texture too. This is one of the cake-style alternatives which give you a sweet treat as well as providing health benefits such as B12, C and D3. These are just the right size and amount to give you a lift in the afternoon without the sugar hit, and they’re great for children’s lunchboxes too.
My favourite flavour? Probably the Choc Chip Muffin for the delicious chocolate cake-like texture and because I can fool my taste buds into thinking I’ve had a whole piece of cake instead!
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
I had never heard of Barebells before, but as someone who is (meant to) eat low carb, these indulgent looking snack bars were tempting! We were sent a variety pack of 4 flavours; Caramel Choc Soft Protein Bar, Banana Dream Soft Protein Bar, Cookies & Cream Protein Bar and White Salty Peanut Protein Bar. Barebelles also have a larger range of protein bars on their website, suitable for all tastes and a lot of them would appeal to children too.
Barebell’s Protein Bars contain between 15 grams and 20 grams of protein per bar and have no added sugar. Most of the bars are covered in chocolate and aren’t identical to chocolate bars you find on the supermarket shelves, so there’s something different about them. The vegan bars also contain 15 grams of protein and are topped with cocoa for that delicious chocolate taste.
The first bar I tasted was the White Salty Peanut bar. With 20 grams of protein, it’s at the upper end of the range of protein per bar, which probably has a lot to do with the peanut content. It’s dense but not heavy – there’s no air involved so you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth with this bar. You can taste the peanuts in it and although I don’t like white chocolate very much, this was a nice bar. I think it’s more for adults though as it’s not a taste children would enjoy. The next bar was the Caramel Choco. This has 16 grams of protein and is one for the chocolate lovers! Children will enjoy this too but it’s a thick, caramel and chocolate covered bar which is really filling. There’s a lot of chocolate on this bar, and a lot of caramel for the 55 gram sized bar!
The Cookies & Cream protein bar is another massive 20 grams of protein. This bar is more creamy with the familiar cookies & cream flavour we are used to in ice cream. Again, it’s not like anything I’m already familiar with on the market, but that doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable! It’s a taste which anyone, including children would enjoy because it’s the right mix of sweet and tasty. The Banana Dream has a banana base and a caramel topping, finished off with an all-over layer of chocolate. I again couldn’t find anything similar on the market to compare it with, but there’s a really lovely banana flavour, and anyone who loves bananas will enjoy this.
Each of the bars are 55 grams which I found to be a bit too much. They’re quite sweet and with their density I found I could only eat half of one at a time. Maybe I’m used to shrinkflation and the size of chocolate bars getting smaller, but if I needed a snack to fill me up that was also high in protein, I now know that Barebells fulfil both criteria, and any of the flavours would satisfy me!
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
Probably not your first thought for the typical Valentines present, but let me explain She Grows Veg to you and it will start to make sense!
She Grows Veg is an online seed company with a very modern, yet traditional twist. They sell seeds online, but they are heirloom seeds. That means the seeds are cultivated from rare varieties of vegetables, fruits, flowers and trees and are typically not found in your usual garden centres. This means that the varieties often have different looks, taste different and grow differently to what you might be used to. It’s an expanding industry where so many people are now getting into gardening especially growing their own food since lockdown.
She Grows Veg sell singular packets of seeds, but they also sell gift bags, like the two that were sent to us; Chilli Trio and Tomato Lover’s Bundle (£22.50). If you or your other half are gardeners, you’ll know that this is an excellent selection of seeds for someone who loves growing, especially growing and eating!
The Chilli Trio contains 3 different chilli seeds; Biquinho Red, Chocolate Habanero and Machu Pichu. On the back of each pack are the growing instructions and key facts, along with a QR code to find out more on a You Tube video. You can see from the photos on the packets what you’re getting, and helpfully, the instructions on the back tell you what kind of flavour each chilli is and how to use it. The Biquinho Red chillis are from Brazil and take a little longer to geminate but are worth it. I’ve never grown chillis before but the instructions say to start sowing in January or February indoors, so these are perfect as Valentines gifts.
The Tomato Lover’s Bundle contain 5 packets of tomatoes, none of which I’ve ever seen before. There are three hanging varieties; Crazy Cherry (a sweet green tomato), Red Currant (small, early ripening and very sweet) and Hanging Prince (plum shaped and unusually last for months if stored correctly). The other two tomatoes are Black Beauty and Green Doctors, but of which are favourites of Lucy and Kate at She Grows Veg. Each of the gift bundles comes with a gift bag to keep your seeds safe but can also be used to store larger seeds later in the year.
These are lovely gifts for Valentines and if you harvest the fruit right, they produce can go on for weeks in the summer. The fact that these seeds are heirloom and not easy to find anywhere else if at all, makes them all the more special as a gift.
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
Britain is known for many things but did you know the flavours of our crisps is one of the things tourists go mad for? Walkers are probably the grand masters of this trend, with not only a huge array of flavours available on the market already but with limited edition flavours coming out all the time.
Walkers have released three new flavours, all of which are vegan AND limited edition, to enjoy in 2024; Vegan BBQ Pork Ribs, Vegan Grilled Cheese Toastie and Vegan Flame Grilled Steak. How can meat flavours be vegan? Well it all has to do with the salts they use, which aren’t necessarily from the animal products any longer. Whether you’re doing Veganary or just like me, like different flavours to try, these new Walkers Crisps are worth a try.
We were sent a lovely selection of all the crisps, so I was able to pick which flavour took my mood! I started with the Vegan BBQ Pork Ribs crisp flavour, which is in the familiar 24 gram packet. The crisps are usual Walkers quality, sharp and cracking when you bite into them but it’s the flavour that stands them apart from supermarket offerings. The BBQ Pork Ribs crisps hit you with the BBQ flavouring first when you open the packet. The crisps have the BBQ flavour too, then as it dissolves in your mouth, the hearty pork flavour comes through.
Next up were the Walkers Flame Grilled Steak crisps. These are again strong, meat flavoured crisps and I really enjoyed the steak flavour coming through. These were probably my favourites out of all the crisps I chose because it’s not a taste you usually get with crisps, nor is it easy to get the taste with anything other than a flam grilled steak which you probably won’t be able to eat every day! As part of a lunch box or a snack in the afternoon, I thought these were a great way of making you feel full from the flavour, but not overindulging with the whole meal. They also work great with sandwiches because of the strength of these flavours.
Last were the Grilled Cheese Toastie flavoured crisps. If you’re a fan of cheese, then these are delicious! I like cheese toasties so I can see the flavour in these crisps because it’s not only the cheese but the slight toast taste comes through too. They’re very cheesy though, with more of a mature cheddar taste to them. I liked them too, and I realise that a lot of vegans won’t be able to compare the taste of the meat flavours with the real thing, so this is probably more appropriate to start with as a flavour if you’re a vegan or vegetarian. If you’ve converted from meat eating to vegetarian or vegan, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the range of flavour to the crisps as well as the depth of flavour.
I really enjoyed all the flavours of crisps but my favourite was the Flame Grilled Steak. Can’t beat a bit of flame grilled when you’re famished and Walkers Crisps in Flame Grilled Steak make the ultimate snack!
Available is varying sized packs from lots of retailers. See details here: https://www.walkers.co.uk
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
We’ve never really done a proper Blind Test before. That is, officially comparing one brand of a product against another, without knowing which brand is which and not being able to tell them apart. So when LoveRaw Chocolate asked us to test and review their product against other brands, it was quite the coup! Naturally, we love anything that’s a challenge but when it involves chocolate too, we’re all ears…
LoveRaw are a chocolate brand with a difference. They produce chocolate products which are largely vegan (allergens are listed so you can check easily) and they have a whole host of products available which seem to be ever growing and includes white, dark and milk chocolate alternatives.
We were sent a Blind Tasting Pack which had three different LoveRaw products; Nutty Choc Balls, Cream Wafer Bar (milk chocolate) and Cream Wafer Bar (white chocolate. Each of the LoveRaw products was teamed up with the High Street equivalent and all the items were in clear packaging, just marked with their numbers for easy identification. The LoveRaw products are all plant based, contain no palm oil and have no artificials. The High Street versions are not any of those (ie not plant based, contain palm oil and have artificial ingredients.) A sealed black envelope was also included so that after the tasting you can find out which were the real LoveRaw items. How exciting!
First up was the Nutty Choc Balls. Looking at them, I couldn’t tell the difference. They look incredibly similar and when I bit into them, the chocolate didn’t give me any clues as to which one was plant based. I guessed that A1 was the High Street variety only because it tasted slightly more processed. A2 had a smoother texture which led me to think it was made with more love. We shall find out the answers at the end of the testing (even I haven’t opened the envelope yet!)
Second was the Cream Wafer Bar in Milk Chocolate. These bars looked different. B1 looks like it’s intricately made by a machine in a factory and the bar is slightly longer. B2 is smoother, and the chocolate looks darker so I suspect that this is the LoveRaw one to look at. Tasting them, B2 has a lighter texture to it and has more layers but the chocolate between the two tastes the same. B1 has more additives, you can tell that from opening the packet and the smell of the chocolate is artificial. In this testing, I think B2 is the LoveRaw product.
Finally, it’s the Cream Wafer Bar with White Chocolate. I’m not a huge fan of white chocolate so this is going to a different type of test. C1 looks like it’s made in a factory because it’s got intricate designs on it whereas C2 looks like it could be handmade and dusted with chocolate flavouring. As for the taste, I started with what I thought was the High Street version (C1). It’s light and wafer-like and I like the texture of it. C2 is densely packed and doesn’t melt as easily but both taste of white chocolate and have some fun sweet flavours going on. I think C2 is the LoveRaw version.
So to recap, before we go to the big finale, this is what I think the products are:
Nutty Choc Balls: A1 is the High Street Competitor; A2 is LoveRaw
Cream Wafer Bar (milk chocolate): B1 is the High Street Competitor; B2 is LoveRaw
Cream Wafer Bar (white chocolate): C1 is the High Street Competitor, C2 is LoveRaw
Let’s scroll down to see the results in the black envelope…
So I was right for the Milk Chocolate Cream Wafer Bar but wrong for the Nutty Choc Balls and White Chocolate Cream Wafer Bar! Goes to prove that you really can’t tell the difference between LoveRaw and the High Street Competitors!