Do you Love Corn? – snack review and giveaway

Disclosure.  This post is a review of products I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I’m feeling very important and special today as I’ve received a large box of LOVE CORN snacks free to review, which the barcode has labelled as a VIP box!

The box contains 12 packets of LOVE CORN savoury snacks, 3 packs of the following 4 flavours along with some promotional merchandise.

Sea Salt
Salt & Vinegar
Smoked BBQ
Habanero Chilli

Once I opened the box and saw them, I recognised the branding and realised I had already tried a packet in a Christmas hamper last December, which had been very moreish. I was immediately really looking forward to trying the other three flavours.

The whole family put them to the test and three of us agreed that all the flavours were very yummy and delicious. We particularly loved that crunch of the kernels, so their hashtag #ThePerfectCrunch is spot on. However my younger son wasn’t convinced but he doesn’t like popcorn, so I had anticipated that it would be a hard sell for him. The rest of us all had different opinions as to which were our favourites but loved them all. Mine was the spicy Habanero Chilli.

These snacks are gluten free, vegan, kosher, sugar-free and non-genetically modified. The packet size is 45g which is enough for a small dish if you’re putting out a selection of snacks or appetisers. Also an ideal lunch box size, but the packets are resealable if you don’t eat them all in one go. We mostly snacked them on their own, but I also tried them sprinkled on a salad which worked perfectly too. They also come in a 20g or 115g size too.

The corn is roasted, then seasoned. All the ingredients are natural, with the Sea Salt flavour containing just corn, sea salt and sunflower oil. And a few extra ingredients for the other flavours. The products are all long dated with at least 6 months until the best before date.

Two of the flavours bear the logo of a one star in the Great Taste Awards. Well done.

The packets also display a recyclable symbol of a 5 in a triangle. I have looked this up and it means they are made of polypropylene which is accepted by a few councils kerbside recycling collections. You’ll need to check for your area. Ideally I would prefer to see all snack brands move to compostable packaging, like a few I have reviewed.

Now I didn’t realise that they were sending promotional merchandise too, otherwise I would have politely requested them not to include those. Regular followers of my blog will know that I am a keen follower of the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle mantra. My opinion of the taste of the products is not going to be impacted by a LOVE CORN hat, bag and stickers, so may I please respectfully request the brand to consider reducing their use of promotional gimmicks.

LOVE CORN is stocked in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Tesco or you may purchase online in boxes of 10 or 24 with free UK shipping. They also operate a loyalty points bonus scheme.

The LOVE CORN 3 year goals are to donate 1 million samples, build 50 school 
learning gardens and support local 
communities.

Please note if you have allergies that the packets do warn that they may contain tree nuts or peanuts as they have been made in a shared facility.

In summary, we loved these crunchy healthy snacks, a great savoury alternative to crisps, nuts or pretzels.

If readers of my blog would like to  receive a free sample pack containing 4 packets of LOVE CORN, 1 of each flavour, just paying £1.99 shipping, then please click here.

Plus I have an offer to pass on to my readers – 20% off your purchase at LOVE CORN with discount code: CRUNCH20

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a LOVE care package which includes 12 bags of LOVE CORN and smokin’ LOVE merchandise to one lucky winner. A yummy prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear your favourite savoury snack?

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Who’s hungry for Awfully Posh Lomo Crisps?

Disclosure.  This post is a review of products I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

With everything going on this year, some businesses are really struggling in these tough times. So with the future still very precarious in the hospitality industry, The British Snack Co. has had to change their focus from the pub to online sales. They produce three brands of snacks which you may have come across previously:- Awfully Posh, The British Crisp Co. and The British Popcorn Co.

I particularly enjoy snacking on something savoury, so I was pleased to receive a box of 5 packs of Awfully Posh Lomo Crisps free to review from The British Snack Co.

If you haven’t heard of Lomo, it is cured Spanish Pork Loin, which is one of my favourite cuts of pork. I’ve previously enjoyed it as Tapas, but haven’t come across it as a crisp before. These Awfully Posh Lomo Crisps have been air dried, not fried and made using 100% Spanish Pork, cured with a blend of paprika and garlic. And I can affirmatively say that yes they taste as delicious as they sound. Very moreish and definitely crisp and crunchy. Much better than your average crisp.

They are high protein and low carb comprising 63g protein, 0.5g carbohydrate, 23g fat and 6g salt per 100g. They are also gluten free. The packet size is 25g. They therefore work well with both the KETO diet and Atkins approach to meal plans. It is always a plus point in my opinion to have high protein products like this which do not need refrigerating.

Lomo is a new addition to the Awfully Posh range which also includes Pork Puffs, Pork Scratchings and Pork Crackling in a selection of flavours. However Lomo Crisps do seem significantly pricer than all the other products in the range, probably due to it using a premium cut of pork, namely the loin.

You may purchase them via their online store in boxes of 10 packets and they are also stocked in places like Fuller’s and Waitrose.

One thing I would like to see changed is the packaging. It has the dispose in litter symbol. Hopefully they are investigating alternative compostable or recyclable packaging.

For those of you hoping to try them in a pub after lockdown, here is son1 enjoying them whilst taking mask precautions.

If you don’t mind the price for a premium product, I highly recommend that you give them a try. Otherwise try some of the cheaper items in the range.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a box of Awfully Posh Lomo Crisps courtesy of The British Snack Co. to one lucky winner. A yummy prize. But you’ll have to be quick as this one is open for less than week.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear your favourite savoury snack?

You can find Awfully Posh on social media as follows:-
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Have you heard of Wallaroo?

Disclosure. This post is a review of products I was sent for free. All opinions are my own.

I’m always on the lookout for healthy snacks, particularly as son2 is always ready for a snack on the bus on the way home from school. He would very happily munch on biscuits or crisps, but I do prefer him to have something more healthy. So I was very pleased to be offered the opportunity to review some natural snacks from Wallaroo for free. And I love their unique name. When I googled it, I wondered how I hadn’t spotted the obvious – a wallaroo is a marsupial size in-between the kangaroo and wallaby. I wonder how they came up with that identity for their snacks?

I received one pack of each of the current range as follows:-
Gently dried mango slices
Gently dried pineapple chunks
Toasted organic coconut chips

So firstly the mango. Son2 was very pleased to see this as he already loves mango, whether fresh or dried. And this packet certainly lived upto his expectation. He reluctantly let the rest of us have a small taste. From my point of view, it is great that it is in a portion-controlled size, as son2 has been known to take a 100g pack of dried mango from the store cupboard and quickly scoff the lot.

I’m the only one in our household who loves coconut, so I took this pack as a snack to work with me. It was yummy and very moreish. However I managed to only eat a few at a time, so that it lasted throughout my entire shift. Great result therefore avoiding eating additional snacks. And the coconut is 100% organic.

Similarly, I am the only one in our family who usually eats pineapple, but son1 gave the pineapple flavour a try, seeing as son2 had hogged most of the mango. He was very surprised to find that he did enjoy it, although he said he preferred the mango.

Wallaroo snacks are 100% natural with no added sugar, salt, preservatives or sulphites. They are also vegan, gluten free and non-GM. And the mango and pineapple packs are each equivalent to 1 of your 5 daily portions of fruit and vegetables. However I must warn you that the packets mention that they have been packed in a facility which handles nuts, peanuts and sesame.

One feature that I was especially delighted to see is that the packaging is home compostable with no plastic waste. I’ve not come across such a feature before, so full marks to Wallaroo. We’ve all got to do our bit to beat plastic pollution. I’ve popped the empties in my food waste bin, but I can’t stop to watch them biodegrade before I post my review. That could be ages, as the best before dates range between January to March 2019. I just hope, that unlike my food bin liners which are already biodegrading on the roll and splitting, that the packaging really does last until that date for anyone who can hold out that long before munching these tasty snacks.

Wallaroo snacks are available online with a current RRP of £1.45 per 30g pack and are also sold in boxes of 10 for £12.50. I do not know where you can purchase them in-store, although I understand that they are also sold in-store. And certainly their eye-catching packet designs are very attractive. In summary, a great snack in my opinion and I hope they add some more flavours to the range.

Also as a runner, it was nice to read that Wallaroo had sponsored a running event in their local community. Their snacks would be an ideal energy boost after a long run.

And I have an offer to pass on to my readers – 15% off all purchases at Wallaroo with discount code: AUTUMN15

Plus I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway one pack of each of the three Wallaroo varieties to one lucky winner. That is 3 packs in total.
.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear what other flavours you think should be included in the range? Son2 has suggested apricot.

With only one pack of each variety, there wasn’t enough to think about saving any for a recipe. However I would be keen to hear your recipe ideas using any of the flavours.

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Another Chewy Moon snack box review and giveaway

Regular readers of my blog may remember how much we all loved Chewy Moon healthy snacks when we reviewed them last year. Well I’m very pleased to say that we have received another free snack box and this time it is cheaper per snack and bigger. Yes you read that correctly.

By changing deliveries from weekly to fortnightly, reducing packaging and portion sizes slightly, they have reduced prices from £1 per snack to £0.50. So customers get 25% more snacks for every £ spent now.

So 10 snacks now instead of 5 and yet they still fit through the letterbox. Wow what great news and the boys couldn’t wait to dive in. Plus lots of fun with a sticker book, a fungi fact sheet and 2 battle cards. And a nutrition leaflet for the parents.

The 10 snacks we received were:-
Silly Circus (Honey Cookies)
Crack A Beet (Organic beetroot crackers)
Jack N Berries (Flapjack, pure strawberry fruit hearts, cranberries, blueberries)
Silly Vanilly (Vanilla Cookies)
Freaky Fruits (Blackcurrant drops, apricot sticks, cherry cubes, peach cubes, raspberry strips)
Nature’s Cherry Cola (Natural cola flavoured raisins, cherry, cranberry)
Boogie Bites (Popped cheddar cheese, pesto breadsticks)
Safari Snack (Italian herb cashews, garlic mini bread chips, popped cheese)
Strawberry Munch (Strawberry fruit strings, strawberry fruit stars, strawberry fruit hearts)
Beary Friends (Pure strawberry fruit hearts, cranberries, blueberries, raspberry strips)

Son2 chose the Silly Vanilly Chewy Moon snack first based on it being the only one with a pug on the box, his favourite character from last time, but it was a great choice as he loved the vanilla cookies. He read the limerick on the back of the box, telling me they had been learning these at school.

Meanwhile son1 selected the Beary Friends first. He wasn’t overly fond of the raspberry strips but liked the other fruits. They soon discovered that there was a sticker in each snack for the sticker book.

With so many choices, we found on the whole that son2 liked the cookie types best followed by fruits, whilst son1 liked the savouries best followed by cookies. Son2 wasn’t convinced about us being addressed as Moonas though!

These packs are ideal for an after school snack and some of them count as 1 of your 5 a day. They are 100% natural, being free from added sugar, artificial colours, flavours, preservatives and other nasties. But if your children attend a school that has a nut-free policy like my boys’ school, then you wouldn’t be able to send Safari Snack in as a playground snack. However there are “no nuts” and “no dairy” options when ordering.

You get to rate the snacks, to build up a profile of which your child does and doesn’t like for future boxes. Each box of 10 snacks currently costs £4.99 including P&P, but you can get your first box free. Additional sibling boxes are £4.50 and there is also £2.99 option for a 5 snack box. You select between fruit box, variety box or savoury box and you can order for multiple children. The boxes are aimed at children from age 3 upwards. The boxes are delivered fortnightly and you may cancel your subscription at any time. A very competitive price in my opinion.

Also I was very pleased to note that every box sold sponsors a hungry child‘s lunch. You may read the details here.

Plus I have a special offer to share with my readers, where you can get your 1^st, 3^rdand 5^th boxes completely FREE. Just use code AEP4LUV.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a 3 month Chewy Moon subscription worth £30 to one lucky winner. What a tasty prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear about your favourite snack ideas.

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Disclosure. This post is a review of a product I was sent for free. All opinions are my own.

Chimasu Asian Snack box review & giveaway

I always love the surprise of what I may find in a subscription box. And we’re definitely partial to a snack here, so I was looking forward to my free Chimasu box of Asian Snacks arriving. Beyond prawn crackers, I have to admit that I am rather ignorant regarding types of Asian snacks. So I took a sneak peak at the Chimasu website in advance, where a familiar brand with a twist caught my eye, a Wasabi KitKat. I’ve heard of Wasabi but have no idea what it tastes like. Would there be one of those in my box?

When it arrived, I found a huge range of items inside. More than I was expecting for the size of the parcel, but most were quite small, meaning more variety could be included, which I thought was an excellent idea.

So the contents were as follows…

Pu Erh Tea
Jasmine Tea (2)
Sesame Pastry (2)
Roasted Rolled Crispy Seaweed (2)
Shrimp Flavour Yummy Flakes
HiChew Green Apple
HiChew Strawberry
Wasabi Peas
Rice Cracker (2)
Kabaya Milk Chocolate Biscuit (4 panda)
Lotte Rakuten bear cake (9 Koala biscuits)
Korean Shin Ramyun Noodle Soup
Nissan Demae Ramen
Orion Seaweed Flavour Korepab Snack
Banana Kick Snack

Pu Erh Tea
This is not a type of tea that I had heard of so I looked it up on Wikipedia. Just one tea bag, so I served it in traditional Chinese tea cups, so that two of us could try it. A pleasant flavour.

Jasmine Tea
I always order Jasmine Tea whenever I go to a Chinese restaurant and this Ten Ren brand tasted just as good as any other Jasmine Tea.

Sesame Pastry
This was also labelled as Silang Crispy Pastries with Nutlet. Allergy warning, it contains peanut. There were two of these, individually wrapped, each containing a 13g biscuit. Son1 and I loved these. First time I’ve come across black sesame seeds.

Kabaya Milk Chocolate Biscuit
Son2 immediately grabbed this 17g packet when he saw it. Inside were 4 tiny chocolate filled panda biscuits. He did reluctantly let son1 and myself share one of them. We all loved these.

Lotte Rakuten bear cake
Again this appealed to the boys. Inside were 9 milk flavoured tiny koala biscuits, each with a different design koala. One was even wearing glasses. I did have one, whilst the boys quickly ate four each. Good but the pandas were better. According to the website, this 19.5g packet also comes in a mango flavour.

Wasabi Peas
A small 10g packet but any more would have been too much as we found them rather spicy. I had never tried anything wasabi flavour previously and didn’t particularly like this, but son1 enjoyed a few at a time.

Shrimp Flavour Yummy Flakes
A small 5g packet which son1 and I both loved. It had the texture of a Pom Bear snack. We would have liked this in a bigger size.

HiChew Green Apple / HiChew Strawberry
Just two individually wrapped sweets which son2 had his eye on. He did let me cut a sliver off the end of each to test. They are similar to Starburst.

Kameda Seika Soy Sauce Flavoured Rice Crackers
These 16.8g individually wrapped Rice Crackers had the shortest shelf life, with less than 6 weeks. Everything else was dated 2018. Both son1 and I loved these.

Roasted Rolled Crispy Seaweed – Select Rolling Bite spicy flavour
These were labelled as no MSG, low fat and gluten free. We are all seaweed fans but son2 refused to try these as the packaging said they were spicy. Son1 and I both found them reasonably pleasant.

Banana Kick Snack
This was a family size bag and they looked rather like Wotsits and with a similar texture and crunch. But the banana taste was very different. It didn’t particularly appeal to the adults, but the boys loved it.

Orion Seaweed Flavour Korepab Snack
Another pleasant savoury snack all in the shapes of various sea creatures. Tiny and hollow. Plenty in the pack.

Nissan Demae Ramen
This made a tasty sesame flavour noodle soup which son1 and I enjoyed. Just add 500ml boiling water, cook for 3 minutes. Then stir in contents of the flavouring sachet and oil sachet.

Korean Shin Ramyun Noodle Soup
Another simple soup to make. This time add 550ml boiling water, stir in contents of the flavouring sachet and flakes sachet, then cook for 4.5 minutes. However the big difference was that this soup was very spicy indeed. We still liked the noodles but the liquid was too spicy for any of us. The packet is labelled as Gourmet Spicy.

A great varied selection of snacks in my opinion.

You may choose between a month to month subscription at £18 per box or prepaying for 3, 6 or 12 boxes or buying a single box for £20. Prepaying for 3 equates to £17 per box and prepaying for 6 equates to £16.50 per box and prepaying for 12 equates to £16 per box. Very good value in my opinion and it also includes free shipping within the UK. You pay extra for shipping to other countries.

You also get the option to indicate which categories you love (always include), like (sometimes include) or don’t want from the following list of categories. A very useful feature in my opinion.
Biscuits and Cakes
Crisps
Candy
Nuts, Peas and Seeds
Noodles and Soups
Teas
Fruits
Seafood

Plus I have a special offer to share with my readers. £6 off your first Asian Snack Box and a free Japanese Kit Kat when you use coupon code TOKYO444 at checkout.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway an Asian Snack box from Chimasu to one lucky winner. This may contain a different selection of products to those featured here, as my review is of what was in the October selection.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear what is your favourite Asian Snack?

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Disclosure.  This post is a review of a product I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

Chewy Moon snack box review and giveaway

I have received a free sample Chewy Moon healthy snack box via Talk To Mums. The box size is designed to fit through your letterbox.

These boxes are aimed at children from age 3 upwards and son2 was really excited when he saw the pug on the outside of the box. Even though he is fairly dog-phobic, he has recently started asking if we can get a pug. Whilst son1 who is equally wary round dogs wants a labrador. But no need for them to argue over breeds, as a puppy is not on the agenda since I work full-time.

These boxes contain 5 individual snack portions along with some fun activities and a page of nutrition facts. Our activitites were a pop-out frog, a short comic story and facts about ants.

The 5 snacks we received were:-
Snacko Italiano (Tuscany cashews and baked cheese)
Happy BBQ (smokey almonds and coconut chips)
Crazy Crunch (smoothie bites)
Cherry Cola (cola raisins, cherry, cranberry)
Freaky Fruits (blackcurrant drops, apricot sticks, cherry cubes, peach cubes, raspberry strips)

Son1 chose the Snacko Italiano first whilst son2 opted for the Cherry Cola. He did insist that son1 give him the empty Snacko Italiano pug box afterwards though. Son1 loved the pieces of toasted cheese, but only liked the Italian herby cashews. He let me try a couple of the cashews and I thought they were delicious. Meanwhile son2 quickly scoffed the Cherry Cola.

The next time son2 selected Freaky Fruits whilst son1 went for Crazy Crunch. Once again son2’s snack vanished very quickly and he gave both a resounding thumbs up. Although son1 is a huge smoothie fan, he wasn’t convinced by the Crazy Crunch flavour, so offered them to the rest of us. We all enjoyed them but none of us guessed the flavour correctly which was blueberry and red beet.

And to avoid arguments, I got the fifth pack, the Happy BBQ, which was right up my street, as I love almonds and coconut. Very yummy indeed.

These packs are ideal for an after school snack. But if your children attend a school that has a nut-free policy like my boys’ school, then you wouldn’t be able to send either Snacko Italiano or Happy BBQ in as a playground snack. However there is a “no nuts” option when ordering.

You get to rate the snacks, to build up a profile of which your child does and doesn’t like for future boxes. Each box currently costs £4.93 including 98p P&P, but you can get your first box free. You select between fruit box, variety box or savoury box and you can order for multiple children. The boxes are delivered weekly and you may cancel your subscription at any time. A competitive price in my opinion.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a month’s Chewy Moon subscription of 4 boxes to one lucky winner. What a tasty prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear about your favourite snack ideas.

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Disclosure. This post is a review of a product I was sent for free. All opinions are my own.

Top Herd High Protein Snacks review

My other half announced a few months ago that he wanted to eat less carbs. I’m now finding it quite challenging to come up with meal ideas for the whole family as the boys’ favourite meals are pizza and pasta, so carb loaded. And since they tend to turn their nose up at a large piece of meat or fish, I usually stick to cooking what they enjoy. So my poor other half ends up more often than not with a plate of carbs. And if he chooses not to eat it, there is unlikely to be an alternative prepared.

So I was pleased to receive a box of high protein snack packs, free to review from Top Herd Snacks.

I received 1 each of the following varieties.
Tangy Tomato Beef Jerky
Smoky BBQ Beef Jerky
Sweet Pickle Beef Jerky
Honey Mustard Pork Jerky
Zesty Lemon Turkey Jerky
Chilli & Lime Turkey Jerky
Tomato & Paprika Skinny Salami
Chilli Pepper Skinny Salami

Son2 as usual was very skeptical and refused to taste them, but the rest of us tried every variety and gave them a thumbs up all round. I liked all of them, but my favourite is the Honey Mustard Pork Jerky. I did find that the salamis are very chewy, but there is a warning on the packet stating that the snack is only suitable for strong teeth. Meanwhile son1 liked both the salamis best, whilst my other half opted for the same as me – the Honey Mustard Pork Jerky.

These snacks are all high in protein ranging from about 38g – 50g per 100g depending on the variety. They are also gluten free and made from 100% natural ingredients. Another big plus point is that they are long-life products which do not need to be refrigerated.

At present, these snacks are only available to purchase via the Top Herd website, but they plan to be in supermarkets later this year. They are sold in packs of 8, either 8 of the same type or a mixed flavour bundle, currently retailing at £15.92 which equates to £1.99 for each individual 35g packet of jerky or 40g packet of salami. I highly recommend that you give them a try. I’ve already placed my first order and can say that checkout was simple.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a mixed flavour bundle of 8 high protein snack packs courtesy of Top Herd to one lucky winner. A yummy prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear your favourite savoury snack?

And finally I have a new discount code FS0250 to share with my readers which will give you 50% off one mixed flavour bundle pack of Top Herd Snacks. Valid until 21st February.

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Disclosure.  This post is a review of products I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

Tommy Tucker Popcorn review

I have received some free popcorn from Tommy Tucker to review. The boys love popcorn as their grandad sometimes treats them to a bag and I occasionally make my own from popping corn.

Tommy Tucker is not a brand I had previously heard of but apparently they are the UK’s leading supplier of popcorn and confectionery to the cinema industry, producing 45+ million servings per year. And they have 100+ flavours in their range. Yes you read that correctly. I can’t even imagine that many flavours but their brochure goes from chilli & lemon to caramel summer fruits.

I’ve always thought popcorn to be a more healthy snack than crisps. And their brochure backs that up stating that Tommy Tucker only use the very best A grade corn, with natural flavourings and colourings and no GMO.

The four flavours I received are salted, sweet, sweet & salt and toffee. We got a thumbs up from all the family for all the flavours and you can see from the photos that we enjoyed snacking on the popcorn in a variety of situations. If I had to pick a favourite, I would say sweet & salt, but I liked them all.

Tommy Tucker Popcorn great for an after school snack

Tommy Tucker Popcorn great for a snack in the car whilst waiting for your brother

Enjoying Tommy Tucker popcorn whilst watching a dvd

Enjoying Tommy Tucker popcorn in the garden

Tommy Tucker are shortly launching their online shop, so you’ll soon be able to purchase their tasty popcorn to enjoy at home as well as at the cinema.

And watch this space for details of a popcorn giveaway soon.

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Disclosure.  This post is a review of products I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

Snacks for Santa and the Reindeer

I’ve drawn the short straw as working 12 hour shifts all this week including Christmas Day. This meant I missed one of my favourite parts of Christmas today – the crib service at church. The rest of the family went without me. However I did get home in time to help the boys make some magic reindeer food. We mixed together oats and star shaped cake decorations. The boys then sprinkled this on the lawn for the reindeer.

Son2 had made some mince pies at school a couple of weeks ago and had specially frozen one to save for Santa, so we got that out to defrost. The boys put it ready on the table by the fireplace along with a drink of milk and a carrot for Rudolph.

So we’re all ready for the big arrival tonight. Just need to wait for son1 to go to sleep. I’d love to hear your Christmas Eve traditions.

And as for tomorow. I don’t want to miss out too much on the boys’ fun. So I’ve just learnt how to use FaceTime and if it is not too busy at work, I hope to remotely watch them open some of their presents.

Vegan Tuck Box review & giveaway

I was quite excited to find out what goodies were contained in the latest free parcel that I have received. It is a vegan tuck box. No I’m not vegan, but you don’t have to be vegan to enjoy vegan treats. I used to be vegetarian for about 20 years, but reintroduced meat back into my diet last year when everyone was so generously cooking us homemade meals after son1’s leukaemia diagnosis. I have very fond memories of a holiday about 10 years ago at Yuva in Turkey where all the meals were vegetarian or vegan. And now although I do eat meat sometimes, I usually will opt for a vegetarian or vegan alternative.

When I opened it, I found the contents were as follows…

Bali Nutra Coconut Syrup
Braw blackcurrant oat bar
Go Max Go Foods Cleo’s peanut butter cups
Howdah Snacks Bombay Puri
Meridian Almond Bar
Moo Free Mini Moo Mint
Nothing But pineapple and grape
Premium Chocolatiers No No’s
Provamel coconut and rice drink
Rawlicious pizza crackers
Seed stacked Thai sprinkles

Howdah Snacks Bombay Puri
On reading the pack I thought that this would really appeal to son1, but on tasting it we found it was quite spicy, even though the packaging said it was subtly spiced. I loved it but son1 found it too spicy. This product is NOT gluten free, but the accompanying leaflet indicated that some of the other products in the Howdah range are gluten free.

Nothing But Pineapple and Grape Snack
Although I like pineapple it is not usually one of my favourite fruits. However this freeze-dried pack of pineapple and grape was so flavoursome. I could easily have munched twice the amount. This is gluten free.

Braw blackcurrant oat bar
I cut this into 4 pieces so we could all have a taste. 2 of us thought it was okay, son2 thought it was excellent but son1 wasn’t too keen on it. This is a gluten and nut free product.

Go Max Go Foods Cleo’s peanut butter cups
There were 2 of these in the packet, so I cut them in halves so we could all try. I really loved them but the other 3 weren’t keen at all. This is gluten free. Once I removed the sticker detailing ingredients in German, I was able to read the allergy information underneath and since it is clearly labelled as a vegan product I was surprised to read that it is not suitable for persons with an allergy to milk. Umm vegans don’t eat dairy so I can only assume this refers to the next sentence which mentions that it is manufactured in a facility that also produces products containing dairy, eggs and wheat.

Meridian Almond Bar
I took this as a snack to work. I do like almond flavoured products a lot and I found this quite pleasant. This is gluten free.

Premium Chocolatiers No No’s
Another item that we all really enjoyed although son2 only wanted the blue ones. Son1 and hubby were surprised when I told them that these contained marshmallow, as they usually express a dislike of marshmallow. Again gluten free.

Rawlicious pizza crackers
3 of us weren’t particularly keen on these although we did say they were better when eaten with a dip. But son2 hated them. These don’t list the ingredients, only nutritional facts. Very odd as I do think it is important for ingredients to be listed on a product. So I have looked them up online. I still didn’t find an ingredient list but it did say that they are free from wheat, gluten, buckwheat, refined salt and sugar.

Seed stacked Thai sprinkles
I took these to work for a snack, as I do enjoy snacking on seeds. These were no exception and I liked the Thai flavouring. These are gluten free. They are quite short-dated with a best before date of 21/11/14, but this could be because I am reviewing what would have been the September selection.

Moo Free Mini Moo Mint
Another item which I cut into 4 pieces so we could all try. We all loved this and son1 said it was just like the chocolates that they serve at our local Indian restaurant. This is gluten free.

Provamel coconut and rice drink
This was an individual size 200ml carton. I offered it to the boys to taste but neither of them was particularly keen. I however found it quite refreshing. It is an organic product. The info is just under the glue for the straw but I think it says it is lactose, gluten and wheat free and is unsweetened. A blend of water, rice and coconut-milk.

Bali Nutra Coconut Syrup
This can be used as a substitute for sugar. The bottle suggests using it in tea or coffee. Or over pancakes, waffles, cereal and oatmeal. And it mentions a link to recipe suggestions on their website. The glass bottle was carefully wrapped in bubble wrap. So I decided to try it out on a bowl of porridge. I added a teaspoon of the coconut syrup instead of my usual brown sugar. Yes very nice.

So apart from the Bombay Puri, all these products were gluten free. I like to look out for gluten free products for when my brother-in-law visits us, since he has to follow a gluten-free and oat-free diet for health reasons. So he wouldn’t be able to have the Braw blackcurrant oat bar.

The box I received was the classic selection which contains between 10-12 different sweet and savoury vegan snacks each month. You may choose between an ongoing monthly subscription at £17 per box or prepaying for 3 or 6 boxes or buying a single box for £19. Prepaying for 3 equates to £19 per box and prepaying for 6 equates to £18 per box. Very good value in my opinion. But please note these prices do not include shipping.

There are also options for mini boxes with 5-6 items or gluten free boxes. And you may purchase products individually. Browsing their website, I can also see some tasty Christmas treats.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a classic vegan tuck box to one lucky winner. This will contain a different selection of products to those featured here, as my review is of what would have been in the September selection.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

And finally I have a special offer to share with my readers. 10% off your first Vegan Tuck Box when you subscribe with code veganbox at check out.

Disclosure.  This post is a review of a product I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.