Robinsons Squash Kids Drinks

Robinsons has added a new line of squash especially designed with children in mind.

There are three new flavours; Tropical Twister, Apple Berry Blitzer and Toffee Apple Tangle. All three are 'No Added Sugar'.

Tropical Twister is a blend of apple, orange and pineapple juice, with a hint of passion fruit, banana, apricot, blackcurrant and mango. I'm not quite sure how the apple and blackcurrant managed to find their way in!

Apple Berry Blitzer is apple, blackberry and red grape juice.

Toffee Apple Tange is a mix of apple juice and caramel flavour.

Somersby Fruit Cider and Shloer Share Packs

Three new flavours of Somersby Cider have been launched in Asda, and word is that they're due to come to Tesco any time soon.
 

The new flavours are...
Apple Burst (described as sweeter than the Somersby Original)
Cranberry
Blackberry (described as mild-yet-tangy)

Each flavour is available in 4 x 330ml and 500ml bottle serves.




Also, newly available in 'share packs' are smaller bottles (275ml) of sophisticated non-alcoholic drink Shloer. Currently only the White Grape and Red Grape varieties are available from Tesco at £4.29 for a pack of 4.

Jammie Dodgers.... but not quite.

Those who have a soft-spot for the Jammie Dodger will soon be able to enjoy a new version of the favourite children's biscuit; the Jammie Bake!



The new version is described as a “crispy, golden biscuit with a soft, jammie centre”, but interestingly, it has also been described by a company spokesman as having a "more adult appeal". This statement surely implies the inferiority of the 'childlike' Jammie Dodgers, but I know plenty of adults who would unashamedly eat them. Anyway, the new biscuit/cake will come in two flavours – raspberry and apricot – and cost £1.49 for a packet.

Also, new to the Jammie Dodger's family is a celebration cake. It's available at Tesco and Asda at £7 (rsp). As expected, it is a golden sponge with raspberry jam (so far, so Victoria Sponge!), but it decorated with soft icing, caramelised sugar syrup, and of course, finished with a heart of raspberry jam.

Sausage casserole Pot Noodle

I think I spoke too soon in yesterday's post about the sun shining. Today it was cold, miserable and it rained almost all day. I think the ice cream can wait! Instead, here's a new winter warmer from Pot Noodle.... Sausage Casserole.... surely one of the ultimate comfort foods? 

New chocolate bars

For those of you who haven't given up chocolate for lent, here are some new chocolate treats:

Cadbury Dairy Milk Oat Crunch:

Similar to the Dairy Milk Lu and  Ritz bars, this is a 30g bar of chocolate sandwiched between two oat-topped biscuits. At 150 cal per bar, this could be a well deserved mid-morning nibble!

Nestlé has created a limited edition Toffee Crisp Honeycomb that retails at 59p. 197 cal per bar.

 

 

It would seem like Galaxy may well be one of the last to jump on the Salted Caramel bandwagon, but they've leapt on in spectacular style.....

Apparently this latest bar from Galaxy is here to stay... it's a permanent addition to their range. It will be sold both as a single bar and as a tablet. Although with something as delectable as this, surely a tablet serves as a single bar!!??

Here comes the sun.... and new ice creams!!!

The sun has been shining a lot in my corner of the world this week. My crocus bulbs are out, and I've seen my first lambs of the year. Spring is well and truly on it's way. So what better way to herald the arrival of a new season of, than with a brief introduction to some of the ice creams that will s

While I'm still wearing my thick winter jacket, my woolly hat and the central heating is still being turned on before tea time, it's hard to imagine needing too cool off. Yet, my crocus bulbs are out and I've seen my first lambs of the year. Spring is well and truly on it's way. So what better way to herald the arrival of a new season than with a brief introduction to some of the ice creams that will (hopefully) soon be cooling us down...

Rowntree's Randoms Mini Ice creams:

The box of 12 will include three flavours of the new ice lollies: lemon and lime, orange, and strawberry. They consist of a fruit-flavoured shell, marshmallow ice cream and blackcurrant jelly centre. They will become available in major UK retailers from this month.

Almond Dream: These dairy alternatives are already available from Waitrose.

  Nestle Fab Tropical: A limited edition version of the popular ice lolly. It is pineapple, orange and passion-fruit flavoured, and will be released next month.
ew pineapple, orange and passionfruit-flavoured lolly would be released next month.

The Yoo Moo frozen yogurt tubs have been on our shelves for a few years now, but they have now ventured into lollies. Each lolly consists of swirled fruit and natural frozen yogurt, and each box of 6 will include Mixed Berry, Tropical and Strawberry flavours. It is due to retail at around £2.50.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvelous Ice Cream: Available in Fairground Candy Crunch, Jelly Popping Candy, Salted Caramel & Sour Cherry (interesting combo!) and Zingy Raspberry Choc Brownie. Yum yum... Who needs Ben and Jerry's?

 Wait..... ! Determined to retain their place in the hearts of comfort eaters world wide, Ben and Jerry's have released 3 new Core flavours... all biscuit varieties.

Peanut Buttuh cookie: Peanut Butter ice cream with crunch peanut butter sugar bits, peanut butter cookies and a peanut butter cookie core.

Boom Chocolatta cookie: Creamy mocha and caramel ice cream with chocolate cookies fudge flakes and a chocolate cookie core.

Spectacular Speculoos cookie: Dark Caramel and Vanilla ice creams with crushed, cinamony-spiced Speculoos cookies and a core of Speculoos cookie butter.

Which one to try first????

Cadbury Fingers: Salted Caramel Crunch and Salted Peanut Crunch

It would seem that Cadbury don't do things by halves. Certainly, with regards to the sweet-salty revolution, they haven't. Hot on the heels of their Dairy Milk Ritz bar, they have brought out Salted Caramel and Salted Peanut versions of our favourite chocolate Fingers. 

I couldn't resist, and bought a box of the Salted Peanut. The verdict? Brilliant! For such a small little biscuit, they pack a big punch. The peanut flavour is strong and is present in the most tiniest nibble off the end of one of these. There is plenty of crunch, and they haven't skimped on the chocolate coating either. 

From the outside, and even from being broken in half, they appear to be standard chocolate Fingers.

I can't wait to try the Salted Caramel. 

Cost: £1.50 per box from Sainsbury's

Calories: About 25 per finger

Rating: 9 

Be my Valentine's

Breakfast for your loved-one this Valentine's day is sorted....

(Tesco)

And for a sweet-toothed sweetheart who has had enough chocolate... 

(Sainsburys) 

Muller Rice: Salted Caramel

It's good to see that Muller have jumped on the sweet-salty bandwagon with this Salted Caramel Limited Edition rice pot. The rice pudding itself is thick and creamy. The caramel flavour is strong and delicious, and complements rice pudding perfectly. However, the saltiness was missing somewhat... I just didn't detect it at all. Perhaps it is used simply to take the edge off a potentially sickly-sweet caramel flavour, in which case it has been a good addition because this certainly isn't a sickly-sweet product. I still enjoyed eating this, and will buy it again. 

Cost: 70p from Sainsbury's
Calories: About 210 per pot
Rating: 7

American chewing gum flavours from Trident

I found these two fantastic flavours when on my hols in America. They're among dozens of exciting chewing gum flavours that you can't get here in the UK.

 

Splashing Fruit is not particularly sweet, but is refreshing and citrusy.

I chose this one because the combination of grape and lemonade really intrigued me.... 

I couldn't imagine how grape and lemonade worked together, and thought that Trident must be going barmy. But I was wrong! Trident have come up trumps again with another great tasting chewing gum. If I were to do a blind taste test, it wouldn't be obvious that this was grape and lemonade flavour - the taste it subtle, but more sweet than the Splashing Fruit. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it, and I hope it's only a matter of time before it appears on the shelves in the UK!

Muller Light: Pina Colada

This is one of the latest 'Limited Edition' Muller light yogurts. It is described as a 'rum and coconut flavour yogurt with pineapple'. At first, it was distinctly pineapple-y. Then I got the coconut, before tasting the undertones of rum. Delicious! Nevertheless, it is much like the Shape 'special edition' Coconut and Pineapple yogurts that have been around for a while now. The main differences are that the Muller has the rum, whilst the Shape version has chunks of pineapple. They are equally as thick and flavoursome. 

Cost: 70 p from Sainsbury's
Calories: 99 per pot
Rating: 8

Tilda Brown Basmati Rice Garden Vegetable & Quinoa Wholegrain

This packet of rice is described as 'delicious and nutty', and is 'with delicious vegetables and subtle herbs for a nutritious treat'. Ok, the only vegetables that I could see were carrots, which were sparse and mushy. And I'm not sure the flavour could be described as 'nutty', but it was delicious nevertheless. Plus, the quinoa was an interesting and nutritious addition, and was pretty plentiful. I shall be buying it again. 

Cost: £1.50 from Sainsburys (2 portions per pack)
Calories: 162 per portion
Rating: 6

Velvet Crunch Gourmet Bites

Oh dear. From the picture on the packet I was expecting these to be very similar to Snack a Jacks, which I love, and therefore I was looking forward to eating them. Well... my first disappointment was when I opened the packet - I doubt the packet was even half full (which probably explains why there are so few calories per pack). My second disappointment was seeing that hardly any of the crisps (can they be called crisps?) were entire. Many of them had broken, although this could be due to their journey home from the supermarket. Thirdly, the taste was not what I expected. They were not nearly as Salt-and-Vinegar-y as many of the other Salt and Vinegar crisps on the shelves, including Snack a Jacks. They were not so salty, but rather slightly sweeter. This could be due to the 'balsamic vinegar', which I believe has a sweeter taste anyway. The lower salt content is undoubtedly healthier, and the taste could become acquired if you get used to it, because it's not unpleasant, just unexpected! 

In almost every other way, they resemble Snack a Jacks. Although, significantly, they are not a rice cake; they are made from cassava and tapioca flour. They're also available in 'Thai Sweet Chilli' and 'Cheese and Onion'. If anyone has experience of these other flavours, please let me know.

Cost: £1.80 for pack of 6 at Sainsburys
Calories: 86 per pack
Rating: 3

Two-finger Toffee KitKat

Apparently this is different from the four-finger version, in that the fingers have chocolate on the bottom, rather than being toffee all the way around. I don't think I'd like the four-finger version, because I found this little bar sweet enough (and I have a sweet-tooth!). In fact, the toffee is a little bit sickly but the chocolate made the overall eating experience alright. This little bar could be paired nicely with a coffee!

Cost: £1.59 for 8 bars at Tesco

Calories: 108 per bar

Overall rating: 4

Hazlenut Aero Mousse

 I am a huge fan of the hazelnut and chocolate combination, and this limited edition Aero mousse did not disappoint. They are very hazelnutty, without compromising the delicious Aero chocolate flavour. As with all Aero mousses, it is light and bubbly. Despite being 'limited edition', I do hope that it stays around for a fair while! 
Cost: £1.39 for four pots, from Tesco 
Calories: 85 per pot 
Rating out of 10: 8