New Foods!

I have been enjoying some new larabar flavours that received in my lovely Valentine's Day package. I have tried the coconut cream pie so far and the cocoa mole flavour- both are really scrummy! The cocoa mole flavour was lovely and chocolate-y but had a little spicy kick to it- yummo! The coconut cream pie was really tasty too. It had a nice texture because of the coconut and tasted really nice and sweet.

I will definitely be stocking up on these flavours when I next go to Wholefoods! Sadly, I don't think I can get these flavours in any shops nearer me : (

On the savory front, I have been loving these:

I am a huge fan of regular baked beans (I eat them cold straight out of the can!!) but these are even better! They are soya beans instead of haricot (the usual beans in baked beans) so have a totally different texture and are in a rich tomato sauce. Now, I have eaten these both hot and cold and they are scrummy either way! I have actually just eaten them on their own as a snack (I know I am strange!) but I bet they would be great to cook with too.

Branston also do soya beans in a sweet chilli sauce, which I did think about trying but I wasn't sure if I'd like it. Maybe I will try them next time!

I also found these cutie and threw them into a stir-fry recently:

The finished product;

I really loved this gnocchi. They held their shape really nicely and absorbed all the flavours of the stir-fry really nicely. I will definitely be buying some more soon!


I have also picked up these, which I have yet to try:



These are Grassington's 'chicken style nuggets'. I have never eaten vegan chicken nuggets before so I was really excited when I saw these in the supermarket where I was shopping. I have like the other Grassington's products that I have tried so I am hoping that these will not disappoint!

I also bought these noodles, which will be making an appearance in a stir-fry very soon methinks:

They are fresh ramen noodles and come with a little bottle of 'Wakame dressing'. I assume that because it is called a 'dressing' rather than a 'sauce' that they are meant to be eaten cold but I am not sure I fancy cold noodles! I will let you know what I think of them anyway!

Valentine's Day Package!

I was soooooo excited yesterday to receive my Valentine's Day package as part of the blogger V-day exchange (arranged by Lee of For The Love Of Peanut Butter- http://philabundanceoflife.wordpress.com/). I was lucky enough to receive an absolutely amazing package from the lovely Katie of http://lilveggiepatch.wordpress.com/.

Here are the fabulous treats:

They are: 'Fudgy Wudgy Brownies' (from Veganomicon), Candy Bar Bites (gluten-free), Hazelnut Caramel Clusters (also gluten-free) as well as 4 larabars!!

Close-up of the home-made treats: I cannot express how impressed I am that Katie made these herself- all look and taste amazing!)

Close-up of the larabars:

The flavours I received were coconut cream pie, cocoa mole, pistachio and chocolate coconut chew. I had only tried the pistachio flavour before so I was really excited to have the chance to try the other flavours!

I ate the cocoa mole bar today and it was absolutely delicious (my new fave larabar flavour methinks!) I bet Wholefoods in London stocks these so I will have a look next time I go and stock up if they do sell them!

Katie also sent me a lovely letter along with the yummy goodies:

Along with the choccie treats, I have been getting my veggies in. Here is my dinner this evening, which featured a yummy mix of stir-fried veggies from Tesco (cut up and everything so very little prep needed!)

It also featured this sauce:

It is a sample-sized packet of a Peri-peri sauce, which is served in the UK restaurant chain Nando's (which I have blogged about before). They were giving away free samples and vouchers to buy their sauces in the supermarkets!

I actually was not particularly keen on the sauce in my stir-fry. I don't know whether that is because I needed more or whether it just goes best in dishes similar to those served in the restaurant (ie burgers etc). I have not bought a full bottle with my voucher yet but when I do i think I will have to experiment a little to see which dishes it works well with.

The finished dish (served with wholewheat pasta twists and soya chunks)

Anyway enough babbling for now, I am going to relax and watch a good film methinks!

x

Snow!!!! (and some food pics!)

It has been snowing loads here recently, which has meant that I have been treated to 2 days off work (Monday and Today- wohoo!)

I thought I would show some pictures of the views around my house:

This is what my drive looked like:

This is what my mum's car was like:

This is the view outside in my backgarden:

Of course I have some food piccies as well:

The usual stir-fries:

The dish above was made with edamame (soya beans). You can buy these frozen now in my local supermarket which is cool!

This dish also involved edamame and some wholewheat pasta shells (I love trying new pasta shapes!)

This dish feature lots of green veggies, soya mince, wholewheat penne and adzuki beans (one of my fave beans I think- great both raw and cooked)

For snacks recently I have been eating lots of my fave bars by Naturalbalancefoods- the nice people who sent me the freebie package!

I love these babies:

This is a trek bar, mixed berry flavour (sorry I don't have my own picture!) Trek bars are protein bars made with 'unsweetened fruit, rolled oats, nuts, soya, spices, and herbal extracts' so no junk in them. They are really yummy!

You can also buy these bars in cocoa and peanut and oat flavours but the mixed berry is my fave.

I have also been eating Nakd bars, made by the same company. I like the apple pie and 'cocoa loco' flavours of these best:

Like all Nakd bars, it is made using just raw fruit and nuts. They do taste just like a brownie but are not sickly at all! I have yet to try these warm but I reckon they would taste amazing warmed up in the microwave!