Review: Rachel's Organic Greek Style Banana & Dulce de Leche and 0% Fat Greek Style Yogurts

Rachel's Organic have recently launched a delicious new Greek Style Banana & Dulce de Leche yogurt. It's an indulgent tasting treat, perfect as an after dinner dessert, and is made with organic ingredients and fruit. There's also a new range of 0% Fat Greek Style Yogurts in three flavours; Blueberry, Peach & Passion Fruit and a Lemon & Ginger. These fruity flavours are all made with 0% fat organic yogurt with no artificial colourings, flavours or preservatives.

Rachel's Organic Greek Style Banana & Dulce de Leche: This yogurt flavour is so appealing to me - it's just a dream combination. I love banana yogurts (and ice icream!) but I've never had it paired with Dulce de Leche - the gorgeously buttery caramelised sauce from South America. As expected, the combination is just divine in a yogurt, with a deliciously fruity banana taste and a sweet and mellow caramel flavour. The consistency of the yogurt is just wonderful too, it's super creamy and thick, with extra texture from the addition of small banana pieces. I've been enjoying this yogurt with some sliced banana and cinnamon and it makes a really delicious, dessert-tasting treat.

I also found two of the new Rachel's Organic 0% Fat Greek Style Yogurts. I'll have a review of the  third flavour, Lemon & Ginger, later this week hopefully. 

Rachel's Organic 0% Fat Greek Style Peach & Passion Fruit: This has a surprisingly creamy texture and flavour for a fat free yogurt. The fruity flavour is very peachy but with a tropical twist from the passion fruit. It's a classic yogurt flavour but it works wonderfully with the creamy organic yogurt base. This flavour is especially delicious and filling in the morning with granola or cereal instead of milk. 

Rachel's Organic 0% Fat Greek Style Blueberry: This yogurt is filled with small blueberry pieces and has the same creamy texture as the Peach & Passion Fruit (although neither is as thick as the Banana & Dulce de Leche!). Blueberry is not a yogurt flavour I usually go for but it's one of Mr. Grocery Gems favourites and he really enjoyed this one. The flavour was spot on for him, very fruity and not overly sweet. 

Overall, I'll definitely be buying these new Greek Style Yogurts from Rachel's Organic again in the future. The whole family enjoyed the different fruity flavours and creamy textures. The Greek Style Banana & Dulce de Leche is my favourite in terms of flavour but I would probably buy the 0% Fat Greek Style yogurts more often as a healthier breakfast alternative. 

Grocery Gems Review: Rachel's Organic Greek Style Yogurts

RATING: 9 out of 10.

Buy them again?: Yes.
Purchased: Waitrose.
Price: £1.49p for 450g (special offer - usually £1.99p).

PR samples. 

New Instore: Asda Ice Creams & Yogurts

Thank you to Lucy W. who spotted some interesting products in Asda this weekend and sent me a few photos.

Ben & Jerry's Greek Style Frozen Yogurt Blueberry Cheesecake: I haven't tried any of the Ben & Jerry's frozen yogurt range before but this Blueberry Cheesecake flavour looks interesting. If you've tried this range then let me know if you would recommend it! £4.45p at Asda.

Asda Ice Creams: A couple of new ice cream flavours in the Chosen By You My Really Creamy ice cream range -  Key Lime Pie and White Chocolate Raspberry. £1.95p each at Asda.

Carte D'Or Gelataria Blueberry: This just looks lovely! I'll definitely be tracking this one down soon. It's described as swirls of vanilla and blueberry flavoured ice creams, with blueberry sauce and white and dark chocolate heart pieces. £3.25p at Asda.

Asda Extra Special Cappuccino Yogurt: There have been a fair few coffee flavoured yogurts recently! This one is a West country yogurt flavoured with Belgian chocolate and a shot of intense Columbian coffee. £0.70p each at Asda.

Alpro Soya Plain with Coconut: This combines two of my favourite things - coconut flavour and soya yogurt. I can't wait to give it a try! There is also a new Alpro Soya Plain with Almond flavour available too. £1.38p at Asda.

A big thank you again to Lucy W. for all the photos! If you've spotted or bought any interesting new products then I'd love to hear from you - grocerygems@gmail.com.

New Danio Minis

I love the Danio range of Super Thick yogurts, their thick and creamy strained Greek style yogurts are absolutely delicious. However, in my review or the original pots I did mention that I found them a bit too large for me. I had already switched to other brands of strained yogurts that offered smaller pots in multipacks, but I've always preferred the fruity layers in the Danio range. It's great news that Danio have now released their own smaller versions. 

Even though they are called Danio Minis, they are still a decent size at 100g each, and come in multipacks of four pots. 

There are three flavours in the range so far; Strawberry, Blueberry and Mango.

Once again the consistency of the strained yogurt really is Super Thick. It's even thicker than a Greek Style yogurt but still has the same type of rich and creamy flavour. The density of the yogurt makes it even more suitable to this smaller size as I find this type of yogurt very filling. The fruity layers on the bottom are all extremely tasty too, not too runny or too sweet like some other brands of strained yogurts. The Mango has a lovely tropical sweetness with lots of flavourful chunks of mango to give texture. The Blueberry is my husband's favourite, it's not as sweet but has a perfect fruity flavour. I was quite surprised by just how much I liked the Strawberry variety. I don't tend to buy strawberry flavoured yogurts, but these are absolutely gorgeous, so fruity and fresh. I'll definitely be buying all the varieties again and I'd even like to see multipack that has a few different varieties included in the range.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Danio Minis

RATING: 9 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition: 80 calories per pot.
Vegetarian: Suitable for vegetarians.
Purchased: Available at most supermarkets.
Price: £2.49p per multipack of four pots.

PR Samples

Review: Fox's Biscuits Tastes of America

Fox's have been bringing out some fantastic new biscuits recently, including this appealing Vinnie's Tastes of America range. There are four varieties in this range, which give an American twist to classic Fox's biscuits; Blueberry Muffin Party Rings, Key Lime Pie Crunch Creams, Mississippi Mud Pie Melts, and Cherry Cheesecake Jam n' Cream biscuits. I think the American dessert theme is a brilliant concept, and I couldn't wait to try out the first two on the list (I haven't seen the other two varieties instore yet).

The kids classic iced ring biscuit, Party Rings, have been given a fun American makeover with this new Blueberry Muffin flavour.

As soon as I opened the packet I could tell these were blueberry flavoured, the fruity aroma was immediately apparent. The biscuits are very crunchy in texture, with a vanilla cookie base, and an equally crunchy layer of purple icing on top. The flavour here is just delicious, it's a very sweet and enjoyable blueberry flavour, and tastes so good combined with the buttery biscuit base. I felt like a big kid eating these - and of course my actual kids loved them too! They're also a fab treat for only 28 calories each.

My husband really enjoys lime as a flavour so he was most looking forward to these Key Lime Pie Crunch Creams.

Once again the fruity flavour here did not disappoint. It's a gorgeously full on sweet and zesty lime taste which combines brilliantly with the creamy flavour of the inner filling, successfully reproducing the Key Lime Pie theme. The outer biscuit itself is very crunchy, as you would expect from the name, but also golden and oaty at the same time. Perfect biscuits for dunking :)

We all thorougly enjoyed both of these American themed biscuits, and I can't wait to try the rest of the biscuits in this range, especially the Mississippi Mud Pie Melts which are based on my favourite Fox's biscuits - Viennese Melts! 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Fox's Biscuits Key Lime Pie Crunch Creams & Blueberry Muffin Party Rings

RATING:  8.5 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition (per biscuit): Crunch Creams - 78 calories, Party Rings - 28 calories.
Vegetarian: Crunch Creams - Suitable for Vegetarians, Party Rings - NOT Suitable.
Purchased: Co-Op. 
Price: £1.39 each.

Review: Brain Blasterz - Super Sour Sweets!

Recently I received an awesome parcel of super sour goodies from the lovely people at Brain Blasterz. The whole range features fantastic packaging with it's bold warning colours and gnarly skull. It's all superb fun but don't worry if you're not a fan of sour sweets, many of these are actually very sweet. Since there are so many different products I'm going to start with the sweetest and end with the devilishly sour!

Apple Sour Straps & Strawberry Sour Straws

The Sour Straps and Sour Straws are definitely the sweetest of the bunch. The Sour Straps have a lovely apple flavour with a zingy aftertaste. The Sour Straws have a sweet strawberry flavour and even though I was expecting the coating to be a sour sherbert, it turned out to be quite sugary. I loved these!

Candy Brain Bitz

The Candy Brain Bitz (great name!) are very similar to Nerds candy, except with fruitier flavours and without the garish artificial colours. Each box feature two flavours which are partitioned down the middle. Either Apple and Strawberry, or Lemon and Raspberry.

The sweets are small, chewy and very addictive. The Apple is very fruity, with a predominantly sweet flavour. The Strawberry was surprisingly the most sour of all, with a really tart fruitiness. I loved the Raspberry ones, they're very sweet with a zingy sherbet type flavour to finish. The Lemon sweets have a zesty sour flavour whilst still retaining plenty of sweetness.

Oozing Brain Gum

Now we're getting on the the really sour stuff. The ones that you'll want to buy just to watch the expression on your unsuspecting victims face.

The little tub of Oozing Brain Gum (another brilliant name) opens up to reveal lots of individually sealed chewing gums. They're quite sticky because each gum is oozing liquid from the moment it's opened. The flavour is instantly very sour from the liquid within, but the sweeter outer gum helps to counterbalance the sourness somewhat.

Candy Spray

The Candy Sprays are really fun. They squirt a super sour shot. The apple has an instant sourness gives way slightly to a fruity apple flavour. The Raspberry is even more sour if that is possible.

This is definitely a product for the kids. For some reason they are able to keep keep a straight face while they spray this - whilst I look like a baby who's just been given a lemon. I don't know how they do it! Suffice to say they enjoyed these immensely.

Brain Blasterz Mega Sour

The sourest of all, these remind me of Toxic Waste sweets. They're more of a novelty candy that only really exists in order to watch the reaction of those that are brave enough to try one. These are perfect for trying out the Brain Blasterz Straight Face Challenge - try to keep a calm reaction on your face whilst eating one. It's impossible!

Inside the funky packaging there are lots of individually wrapped sweets in four flavours; watermelon, blueberry, lemon and apple.

The sweets are coated with an aggressively sour coating that is so sour it almost hurts (not literally but then I'm obviously a wimp). Hold out for long enough and you are quickly rewarded with the sugary fruity flavour of the sweet within. But just to make sure you haven't forgotten that first sour experience they hold an extra surprise too - a powdery sour centre!

I love the tagline on all the products - Warning! Not for Babies Wimps Adults. Suffice to say these are for firmly for kids - and and they will absolutely love them. My two certainly did and to be honest I'm quite happy to take the Sour Straws and leave them to the rest!

I received these products in order to write an honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Double Fruit Oreos - Raspberry & Blueberry and Orange & Mango (China)

When it comes to handing out exciting Oreo flavours, it would seem that the UK is at the bottom of the list. If you want anything more interesting than vanilla or chocolate cream fillings then you're going to have to look further afield. These Double Fruit Oreos for example are from China. When I spotted them in a shop in London's Chinatown, their dual coloured centres instantly reminded me of all the fantastic varieties I've only ever seen on American blogs such as The Impulsive Buy (Watermelon Oreos anyone?).

The outer packaging for these Double Fruit Oreos is certainly bright and inviting, but the inside of the box simply consists of 9 Oreos sitting in a plastic tray.

Raspberry & Blueberry Oreos

The filling looks fantastic, at least to my only-ever-had-plain-Oreos-before-eyes. The scent is immediately extremely strong and fruity but intensely artificial at the same time - verging on a fruity bubblegum scent. The actual taste continues in the same vein with quite an artificial undertone to the generic berry flavour. The difference in taste between the raspberry and blueberry creams was not as strong as I hoped, as they both have a very similar fruity flavour. However the blueberry side does have an extra sour edge to it that is thankfully missing in the raspberry cream.

Orange & Mango Oreos

Again the filling looks very colourful. Happily, the scent here is slightly less artificial than before, with a sweet citrus fruitiness. The flavour works quite successfully with the outer biscuit, creating a classic chocolate & orange combination. The mango component is not particularly strong in itself, but it does add an undertone of tropical flavour to the dominant citrus notes. The result is an extremely sweet cookie, but it was ultimately my favourite out of the two Double Fruit Oreos.

Overall, I'm not disappointed in these Oreos. They're one of those products that I'm just pleased to have found and had the opportunity to try!

Grocery Gems Verdict: Double Fruit Oreos

RATING: Raspberry & Blueberry - 5.5 out of 10. Orange & Mango - 7 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Probably not.
Nutrition: Unable to read the information.
Purchased: Sweetshop in London Chinatown.
Price: £1.99p each pack.

Danio Super Thick Yogurts Review

I've been meaning to give these new Danone Danio yogurts a try ever since I heard they were being launched in the UK. The Polish version of the Danio brand has already been available in my local Polish shops, and I'm glad to see them getting a wider release.

Danio Super Thick yogurts are available in six varieties; Strawberry, Passion Fruit, Blueberry, Peach, Cherry, and Raspberry. All those flavours looked good to me but I plumped for the Blueberry and Peach varieties to try first.

I know these yogurts are called Super Thick but I was still surprised by just how thick the consistency was. They're not like a thick Greek style yogurt, the texture is more like a mascarpone cheese consistency, whilst still being incredibly smooth and creamy. The yogurt has a very mild taste to it, without any real tanginess that you can sometimes get in yogurt.

The fruit layer at the bottom is quite generous with a syrupy sauce and small chunks of fruit. It compliments the thick plain yogurt perfectly and I loved the fresh fruity flavours in both the peach and blueberry varieties.

I really did enjoy these yogurts, especially the thickness of the yogurt itself. Both yogurts are very high in protein and low in fat, which is excellent, however, they're also quite high in sugar with 18g per pot. I would really love to see these available in smaller pots as I found the 160g size quite large. I usually eat yogurts as a post lunch treat but these are almost too filling for that. 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Danio Super Thick Yogurt

RATING: 7.5 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes, I'd like to try all the flavours.
Nutrition: Blueberry - 154 calories Peach - 157 calories
Vegetarian: Suitable for vegetarians.
Purchased: Tesco.
Price: £0.85p per 160g pot.