Disclosure. This post is a review of products I was sent for free. All opinions are my own.
I do enjoy cooking, so I was very pleased to receive the following selection of products from Buy Whole Foods Online free to review.
Organic Carob Powder 500g
Ceylon Cinnamon Powder (True) 250g
Organic Amla Powder 125g
Raw Wild Flower Bulgarian Honey 900g
Macadamia Nut Halves, Raw 250g
I had already formulated a tentative recipe idea in my head when I chose this selection which was to make some healthy raw energy snacks.
I do like this brand and have previously blogged some TVP meal recipes and my healthy yummy chocolate puds, made using their products. However this was back near the start of this year, so I was keen to see whether they would have taken on board my packaging suggestions, as I hadn’t had any feedback.
I was also pleased to see that everything was long-dated, with best before dates of October 2020 and beyond. Even the nuts, which was quite a pleasant surprise to me.
Now let me tell you a little about these products, especially if like me, you get confused between cocoa, cacao and carob. Carob powder is produced by grinding the dried carob pods into a powder. I have now discovered that unlike cacao and cocoa, carob is naturally caffeine-free and much lower in fat than other forms of chocolate, plus it has a naturally sweet flavour. And 2 tablespoons contains almost 20% of your fibre RDA. It is also a form of calcium, which is great news for the bones as well as the taste buds!
Amla powder is something I hadn’t heard of previously. I have now discovered that it is made from drying Indian gooseberries and grinding them down to make a powder. It is rich in vitamins and minerals and has had Ayurvedic uses for centuries.
Raw honey, unlike your average honey, is unfiltered and unpasteurised, so it retains all the precious nutrients which are normally lost through heating and filtering. Plus raw honey is a natural sweetener free from additives that other conventional honeys may have. And raw honey contains a considerable amount of bee pollen, which is a complete source of protein.
Cinnamon is a spice which I often add to the likes of cookies and buns, but it also works well in savoury dishes too. However I didn’t realise there are variations in the grade of cinnamon. Apparently this Ceylon cinnamon is the purest form of cinnamon you can buy. Packed with nutrition, there are a number of health benefits associated with consuming Ceylon cinnamon on a daily basis including anti-inflammatory properties and easing digestion issues.
Macadamia nuts are something that I buy on an adhoc basis for snacks. Ideal as they are high in protein, fibre and healthy fats. But I’ve also now discovered that they are great for creating your own macadamia nut butter. That is something I’ve never tried yet.
So let me share my Macadamia Energy Bites recipe with you.
Macadamia Energy Bites
Ingredients (makes 10 – 12)
125g macadamia nuts
2 tbsp carob powder
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp amla powder
Method
Grind the nuts in a blender.
Tip ground nuts into a mixing bowl.
Mix in the carob, cinnamon and amla powder.
Mix in the honey.
Break off walnut-size amounts of mixture and roll into small balls.
Serve and enjoy.
These may be stored for upto a week in the fridge.
These were absolutely delicious and didn’t last long. I used half the macadamia nuts in the recipe, so there is only enough left to make one more batch. After that, I need to come up with some more recipe ideas for the other products, particularly the cinnamon, which is a huge packet. I’ve got about a year to use 250g, when a small spice jar usually lasts me about that length of time. I’ll have to see if the boys like cinnamon toast. I used to eat that quite regularly, but haven’t had it in years. So please hit me with your recipe suggestions.
The honey is one standard size extra large jar, but all the dry products come in a wide range of sizes from 50g to the bulk 25kg.
Unfortunately no change in the packaging as yet. Apart from the honey, the products are all in plastic, even if it is labelled as BPA free plastic. I’m still hoping Buy Whole Foods Online will review their product packaging and switch to a paper-based solution. Or the fact that some of them can be purchased in sizes upto 25kg, maybe they could start selling those via bulk stores, so we could take our own containers to fill.
I do recommend that you take a look at the Buy Whole Foods Online store. There is a huge amount to choose from.
And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway the same selection of products as I received from Buy Whole Foods Online to one lucky winner. You’ll certainly be able to make some tasty treats with these.
a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.
And you may see my other giveaways here.
I’d love to hear your recipe suggestions using any of these products.
I’ve subsequently seen the most beautiful recipe for Rose and Almond Nougat on the Marvellous Mrs P blog, which I’m wondering how well it would adapt to using macadamia nuts. I’ve got a rose bush in the garden and had been considering the possibility of using the rose hips to make a cordial, but had never considered the potential of the rose petals.
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I’m trying to win this fir my girlfriend and I think she’d love it all..she loves dark chocolate, eats loads of porridge & nuts & seeds.
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Dark Chocolate Coated Brazil Nuts, love them
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Mixed Fruit For Cakes, use it in my Christmas cake recipe and for fruitloaf
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I use their cashew nuts to make a vegan cheesecake
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I would like to try the dark chocolate coated cherries x
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I really love Whole Foods. The White Chocolate & Cranberry Fudge is my favourite recipe and my favourite ingredient are the Cashew Nut Pieces.
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I love carob. My son was hyperactive so I used to make treats with this and you can replace cocoa in oat bar snd cake recipes
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Each morning I eat porridge made from 1 tbsp oats, 1tbsp ground help seeds, 1 tbsp ground flax seeds (linseed), soy milk and a banana. The help and flax both contain protein, so they make the porridge even more nutricious.
If you’re looking for a way to use the cinnamon, you can use it to make chai-spiced tea, which tastes much better when you make it yourself using freshly ground spices (cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg & allspice). My husband boils the milk and the spices, then pours the spiced milk into a cup with a tea bag and lets it infuse for a minute or so. Alternatively, if you’re using loose leaf tea, you can put that in the pan with the milk and spices, bring to the boil and then strain into a cup.
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I eat a lot of porridge and had been considering whether I could reduce dairy, so may give your variant a try. And the chai sounds good. I did blog about the turmeric latte I made in my sustainable Xmas post
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Dark chocolate products I love it
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love their manuka honey x
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I would buy some nuts and seeds.
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I’m a big fan of Seed and Bean chocolates. All their flavours are amazing but especially the Organic Extra Dark Chocolate – Coconut & Raspberry
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We really enjoy porridge in the morning and almonds are a favourite snack
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I love their dried fruit selection which make easy, healthy snacks.
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I love the organic Sicilian whole almonds and use them for so many things, including energy balls, snacks and granola.
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I like the Crushed Chilli
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The Organic Dark Chocolate Coated Brazil Nuts look really delicious, I love nuts
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The Organic Dark Chocolate Coated Almonds
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I love vinegars and make my own, using the crab apples, I forage. So, I would love the Organic Vintage Balsamic Vinegar of Modena x
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My favourite product is the Organic Chocolate Making Kit – always wanted to have a go at making my own chocolate
(I love cinnamon in porridge, if you’re porridge eaters!)
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Usually have banana or pear or apple and blackberry in my porridge but yes will give cinnamon a try
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Can do both – apple and cinnamon is delicious 🙂
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Love cocoa
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I love the dried mango – absolutely delicious and so fruity too.
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The Organic Vintage Balsamic Vinegar of Modena would be my choice.
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I have a great biscuit recipe for cacao powder.
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Would love to hear what it is
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We have porridge every week day, so I love the look (and price!) of their jumbo oats
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This lots looks yummy, lots of healthy things to cook with that haul
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Its got to be the cashew nuts, can’t get enough of them
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I love the mulled wine spice kit. There’s nothing nicer than cuddling up before a warm fire, drinking a glass of warm mulled wine.
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I love their selection of dried fruit, especially banana chips – easy to use and eat anytime
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I use jumbo oats to make overnight slow cooker porridge – perfectly ready to eat when I get up and delicious with fresh Berries and a little honey.
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Stevia powder
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goji berrys i love making soups with them
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Interesting I would never have thought of trying them in soup
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I love the Organic Raw Cacao Powder and I’d use this in my baking or on my porridge.
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Pine nuts!
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The coconut energy balls xx
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Crushed Chiili would be great for our cooking as the guys love it spicy!
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I’d love to try the coconut energy balls, they’d be a great way to start my workouts x
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Organic Extra Virgin Raw Coconut Oil
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I love the Organic Vintage Balsamic Vinegar of Modena (Clearspring)
Jane Willis
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I like the Hemp Protein Powder
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I love their Manuka Honey!
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