Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.
Pom-Bear crisps have always been a favourite in our house, so our mini reviewers were thrilled to try the two new flavours—Pom-Bear Cheese and Pom-Bear BBQ. The crunchy, flavourful crisps were an instant hit, especially with their adorable teddy bear shapes.
With just 65 calories per bag, these snacks are also vegan, gluten-free, and free from artificial colours and flavours, making them the perfect treat for children. With September approaching and lunchbox planning in full swing, Pom-Bear snacks are the ideal choice as they are a great lunchtime snack, offering just the right mix of taste and portion size.
Whether at home, at school, or on the go, Pom-Bear crisps are a convenient and tasty treat that kids will love.
The Cheese flavour will be available in Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose and Co-op, and the BBQ flavour available from Asda
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
Snacking is not just for picnics anymore, the working from home culture means that more of us are not only eating from home but treating ourselves when we grab a bite between meetings or for the school run. Higgidy have an increasing range of snacking foods which appeal to all tastes and ages thanks to their variety of vegetarian baked goods, as well as sausage rolls, quiches and muffins. We were gifted a lovely range (available in all big stores) to sample whilst watching the tennis, football and of course, sheltering from the rain this summer.
Starting with the Higgidy Beechwood Smoked Bacon & Mature Cheddar Quiche, this is a great lunch, snack or even dinner for the family thanks to the protein from the bacon and cheese! The combination of the thick-cut bacon with the rich, mature cheddar lends it perfectly to a more substantial snack or as part of a bigger meal. It’s great for picnics, or for taking as a gift to a summer gathering where you can choose your portion size. The quiche is yummy too with béchamel sauce in the mixture.
If a large quiche is too much to handle then the Higgidy Smoked Salmon & Spinach Quiche (also with béchamel sauce) might hit the spot. At 155 grams it’s more of a single serving for either lunch or a snack and can be warmed up or eaten cold. I had this for lunch one day with some deli favourites, which work beautifully with the poppy seeds in the pastry of the quiche crust. There are other quiches in the Higgidy range but I think the Smoked Salmon & Spinach Quiche is probably my favourite.
Onto the sharing snacks, and Higgidy do a lovely range of mini muffins, like these Mature Cheddar & Spinach with a pinch of cayenne. These muffins are slightly lighter than quiches but have the same dough-like consistency of muffins, just more protein heavy. The Mature Cheddar & Spinach Mini Muffins are bite-sized and can be heated or eaten straight from the sharing box but with the spinach included, and the cayenne for extra taste, these are healthier than their flour-made sweeter counterparts. They’re great to add to lunchboxes or to have as a sharing snack when watching a movie too!
The Higgidy range of rolls includes these Great British Pork Sausage Rolls and vegetarian Porcini Mushroom & Spinach Rolls. These packs of 6 mini rolls each have tasty fillings fit for any picnic and add something different that you can’t normally buy in the shops. The Great British Pork Rolls have the meaty centres where the Porcini Mushroom & Spinach have the mixture of mushroom and greens to give a slightly different edge to a British classic and which everyone can enjoy as they’re plant based.
Speaking of plant based, Higgidy also have a range of other vegan snacks which are widely available. These are the Higgidy Cheddar Cheese & Caramelized Onion Rolls and Higgidy Sweet Potato Katsu Curry Little Lattices. If you haven’t tried the Little Lattice sharing range, these are filled pastry treats especially for sharing and have a pretty lattice pastry design on top so your picnics will look great too. I like these as after school savoury treats or to add to a salad or soup at lunchtime. The katsu curry taste is very different to other snacks on the market and the sweet potato makes a change as it’s not as dry as other fillings and has that sweeter taste too. The Cheddar Cheese & Caramelized Onion Rolls are similar to their counterparts but the cheese is on top too, giving a crunch coating to add a little texture. The sweet onion filling makes a great accompaniment to any meal or picnic.
There are more items in the extensive range at Higgidy but I think you get the idea of what yummy things they have out there for you to try. It doesn’t matter that the weather isn’t great, you can still enjoy good company and snack on the go with Higgidy’s fabulous range!
Available in most big supermarkets, smaller supermarkets may have a limited range. See online for details of ingredients: https://www.higgidy.co.uk/our-food/
Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own
We love going on picnics as they’re a great way to spend quality time with friends and family away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. When the sun is shining, we’ll pack up a bag with treats and head off to find a picturesque spot to sit and relax and whether we’re on the beach, by a stream or up a hill the food always seems to taste a lot nicer outdoors!
LOVE CORN recently sent us a selection of their tasty snacks to try which went down a treat on our last picnic. Made by roasting corn kernels and by adding a little oil and spices LOVE CORN is incredibly crunchy and full of flavour and very moreish! With no synthetic flavouring the plant based snack is vegan, gluten free, Kosher and Non GMO and with 50% less fat than crisps is a much healthier choice.
Sea Salt is probably my favourite, it is a great alternative to popcorn or crisps and the saltiness works really well with the corn. My sons both love something with a bit more of a kick to it so the habsnero chilli really hit the spot for them.
Eating outdoors has a certain charm, so whether it’s a family day out, catch up with friends or a romantic picnic you won’t go wrong if you include a selection of Love Corn snacks in your picnic basket. Available in 7 different flavours – Sea Salt, Salt & Vinegar, Smoked bbq, Habanero Chilli, Cheese & Onion, Sour Cream & Chive and Milk Chocolate & Sea Salt which one will you try first?
LOVE CORN is also a great addition to salads and grazing boards. Try serving some of the habanero chilli LOVE CORN on a charcuterie board or sprinkle some sea salt LOVE CORN on a green salad to liven it up a little.
Sea Salt Multipacks are available from Sainsburys and Ocado for £3.25 and the Grab & Go Boxes containing 24 x 20g bags are available from Amazon at the current price of £18.99
Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
We are in full swing of summer now, and I’ve lost count of the amount of places I’m meant to be, want to be or end up finding myself thanks to the beautiful weather. With friends coming round too, there’s always a need for endless snacks to go with the wine, Prosecco or chats with the girls.
The Artisan Olive Oil Company sent us these crisps and vegetable chips to try, as part of their artisan Italian snack range, all of which are found on their website. This was one of those times when I opened a box and kept delving to find more and more yummy treats; my mind whirling with how I was going to try all of them in such a short space of time… but don’t worry, the girls with the wine, Prosecco and chatter helped me out!
Included in the bundle was;
Vintage Truffle Potato Chips (120g)
Vintage Potatoes with Sweet Chilli (120g)
Vegan [vegetable] Crisps (150g)
Lightly Salted Tortilla (125g)
Blue Corn Tortilla (125g)
For anyone looking for summer snacks, this is only a small selection of what the Artisan Olive Oil Company offer, and you can see that there’s more than just your run of the mill crisps just in this selection. The flavours are varied as well, which helps when you don’t know what everyone will be drinking.
It is surprisingly fast how quickly so many packets of crisps disappear when you open them! We did study them first though, noting how each of the crisps were of high quality. The potato crisps were sharp, fresh and there were no burnt edges or green crisps in the packet, and none of those monster crisps you used to find as a child! All of the vegetables were of high quality and were cooked in high quality oil. The Vintage Potatoes with Sweet Chilli are not as hot (in taste) as some of the other brands on the market, but have more of a sweeter taste to them. The crisps are still precise though, and make for a lovely texture.
The same goes for the Vintage Truffle Potato Chips, which have a subtle taste but are great with the flavour of the oil coming through and the quality of the potatoes. I really liked the Vegan Crisps which were vegetable chips of carrot, beetroot and parsnip. Not only are they some of my favourite vegetables but they have a taste all of their own once they’re cooked, and the added seasoning makes them irresistible.
Finally, the Lightly Salted Tortilla and Blue Corn Tortilla are more gritty, but flavoursome corn chips, with a tiny bit of flavouring to them but just as delicious. These went really well with white wine and their slightly sour tastes of Pinot Grigio and I think would be even better eaten with a dip or salsa, all of which are found on the Artisan Olive Oil Company’s website where you’ll find even more summer treats!
Crisps and snacks available online from £4.25 per 120g bag at:
Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own
Whenever I am invited to a picnic I to take something a little different and these Purely plantain chips were a real hit this week. Founded by Stefania Pellegrino and Mark O’Sullivan Purely’s aim is to save the world from boring snacks and spread the love for the awesome power of the plantain!
A staple food for many in South America, plantains are members of the banana family, but whilst they look like large bananas, they are starchier and lower in sugar and aren’t usually eaten raw.
The chips are available in three different flavours, Sea Salt, Nice & Spicy and Wild Garlic and they all taste delicious. My favourite is the Sea Salt, it has just the right amount of crunch and saltiness, making it the perfect snack for picnics or sat watching a film.
So what do plantain chips taste like – well they are thicker than normal crips, have a satisfying crunch and are incredibly moreish. As they have 30% less fat than potato crisps, they are a much healthier choice too.
The chips are available in a 75g sharing bag (although they are so moreish you may not want to share!!) as well as 28g bags which are perfect for lunchboxes.
Purely Plantain Chips are available to buy directly from Purely and you can also find them in Selfridges, Holland and Barrett and Ocado.
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