Friday Foody Roundup #10

Have I got a Foody Roundup for you today! Wow. I've been sent quite a few things to try recently so without further ado, I'm just going to get straight into it!

Mr Kipling

I love this time of year, when Mr Kipling bring out a delicious Easter range of cakes. This year the range includes Lemon Bakewells, Lemon Fancies and my own personal favourite, St Clements Slices.  We love to have little afternoon tea parties here and these cakes always work so well on the cake-stand  plus the children love them! The Mr Kipling cakes are available in all major supermarkets with a RRP of £1.00.

New Covent Garden Soup Co

Since I've been on a diet I've eaten a lot of soup, I mean A LOT. So when a new soup comes out I'm very much inclined to try it. Each month New Covent Garden Soup Co bring out a "Soup of the Month". For March the Soup of the Month is Baked Potato with Cheese and Beans. Yes, I know what you are thinking - you're probably halfway between thinking YUM or BLEURGH. Let me tell you, I'm on the yum side, I found it very tasty whilst Mr M also enjoyed it but wouldn't say it was his favourite. Made with chunky seasonal potato, mature cheddar and baked beans, it's definitely worth a try. It's available in Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Asda, Morrisons and Co-op throughout March with a RRP of £2.20.

Tetley Tea

I recently received a surprise package from Tetley Tea enclosing some of their new product - Blend of Both. It was a double surprise as the package didn't just have tea bags but also had some lovely cake and biscuits to enjoy with my tea and a rather fetching china cup and saucer to drink it out of!  Blend of Both is a combination of the original Tetley we know and love with the added healthy goodness of green tea. You can drink it with or without milk and sugar. Have you ever tried drinking green tea? I did once when I read about all the benefits however the taste made me feel a bit ill so Tetley Blend of Both is a good compromise I feel and they're challenging you to Simply Switch - just swap three cups of your standard tea a day for Blend of Both and you'll be drinking the equivalent of one cup of pure green tea. Can't be bad!  Blend of Both is available in packs of 80 exclusively from various supermarkets with an RRP of £2.55.

Ferrero Rocher

I'm sure I've waxed lyrical about my love for Ferrero Rocher in the past however some surprise post arrived a couple of weeks ago and we all love surprise chocolate don't we? I was sent a Ferrero Rocher Heart as a Mothers Day treat (RRP £4.49) which features the gorgeous original Ferrero Rocher with their layers of creamy filling, crispy wafer and crunchy whole hazelnut centre. I always think a Ferrero Rocher is a real treat and I've given them to my own mum as presents all my life - I remember my dad making me little rings out of the foil paper and using the tiny sticker on top as a "diamond"! The Ferrero range is available at all key retailers nationwide.

Cross & Blackwell "Best of British" Soup

Again on the hunt for tasty diet-friendly soups, I stumbled across these Cross & Blackwell  "Best of British" soups as they were on offer in the Co-op (two for £2, I'm never one to pass up a bargain...).  The range has five delicious flavours - Roast Chicken & Vegetable, Broccoli & Stilton, Leek & Potato, Pea & Ham and Beef Root Vegetable & Ale.  I enjoyed them so much that when I was asked if I'd like some free samples, I was hardly going to say no was I?! My favourite one is the Broccoli & Stilton flavour, I just love it and always have some in the cupboard now. The best thing is that the whole can comes in at around 170 calories which is a great low-cal lunch!  The soups are available at Morrisons and Co-op stores.

Belvita Breakfast

I received a very lovely parcel from Belvita Breakfast, just in time for Mothers Day. The parcel included a mug, a family organiser (SO useful!) and a travel mug which has been put to good use already by Mr M. Of course the parcel also included some of the yummy Belvita Breakfast biscuits in their new cranberry variety. Belvita is a range of biscuits that have been specially designed for breakfast-time.  They are made with wholegrain, are rich in cereals and are a great source of fibre. They've also been scientifically proven to slowly release carbs over 4 hours, giving you energy for the whole morning. They are also rather tasty - which always helps!  Each box of Belvita Breakfast biscuits contains 6 individually wrapped portion packs of 4 biscuits each. Check out the Belvita Facebook page for more information about the range.

Ask Olive Oil

The popular high street restaurant chain, ASK Italian introduced it's new season Extra Virgin Olive Oil back at the end of January and they sent me a bottle to try out.  The oil is produced using olives that are pressed and bottled within 24 hours of harvesting making it fresher and greener than ever before.  I'm a big fan of good quality extra virgin olive oil as I like to drizzle it on salads and also dip big chunks of bread in it - so healthy right? I know, but you really can't beat a good quality oil with some balsamic vinegar! I thought that the ASK Italian olive oil had a great flavour and I certainly won't be wasting it in cooking - it will be saved for summer salads and picnics! The 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil is available to buy in all ASK Italian restaurants and has an RRP of £8 for a 500ml bottle.

Sainsburys Savoury Popcorn

Along with a copy of the wonderfully funny Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Sainsburys sent me some of their recently launched new range of savoury popcorn.  The popcorn comes in three flavours - Salt & Vinegar, Cheese & Chive and Smoked Paprika, as well as a sweet variety, Sweet Apple and Cinnamon.  I've never been a huge fan of savoury popcorn but I thought I'd give it a try.  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised and whilst I am probably not going to be completely converted from my sweet or buttery popcorn tastes, it made a nice change and the children certainly enjoyed the Cheese & Chive flavour!  The popcorn is available at Sainsbury's stores now.

Chicago Town

Chicago Town recently added some new pizzas to their takeaway range and kindly sent me some vouchers to try them out. I'm a real pizza fiend and whilst I know my daily calorie intake whilst on a diet allows me like one slice, I cannot resist a pizza - I could eat pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner and not get bored!  The new range includes a limited edition pizza: Sloppy Joe as well as two new classic thin options in Cheese & Tomato and Chicken & Bacon and the good news is that one of the previous limited edition pizzas, the New Yorker, has been added as a permanent member of the range.  I was immediately taken by the Sloppy Joe and had to try it. It's loaded with mozzarella, spicy beef, red onions, green pepper and has spicy seasoning and a tasty tomato stuffed crust - it was delicious! I'm not normally a fan of a stuffed crust however this being tomato rather than cheese made the difference. Mr M opted for the Classic Thin Chicken & Bacon melt and similarly was not disappointed. These make the perfect weekend treat in front of a film I reckon! The pizzas had an RRP of £3.79 and can be found in the freezer aisle of most supermarkets. 

Branston Beans

Branston has brought out a new range of bean meals including Baked Beans with Hot & Spicy Chilli, Baked Beans with Large Lincolnshire Sausages and Baked Beans with Spicy Spanish Chorizo. I'm not a huge bean eater myself but recently I tried the Branston beans and was rather taken by the slightly tangy and thicker sauce they had compared to other beans. Mr M loves a can of beans with a sausage in so couldn't wait to try these, he enjoyed the Lincolnshire Sausage variety but found the others tasty too. We tend to buy products like this to take camping - I really think they come into their own when you need a quick dinner in a tent or campervan so no doubt we'll be stocking up on some of these for the summer! The new Branstons bean meals are available in Sainsbury's stores nationwide in 390g cans with an RRP of £1.29 for the Lincolnshire Sausage meal and £1.09 for the others. 

Phew, what a lot of eating! And to think I've been on a diet recently too! Have you been trying out any new foody products recently? If you've sampled any of the above and have any thoughts on the products, do let me know!