Tesco Chocolate Stars Biscuits Review

These Tesco Chocolate Stars Biscuits have been lurking at the back of my cupboard for a few months now. I was of course easily lured in by the word "New" but truth be told I'm also a sucker for novelty star shaped food (is it just me?). Despite the stellar shape, it's still difficult to get too excited about what is basically a chocolate digestive.

But if there is ever a time to enjoy a star shaped biscuit it has to be Christmas.

They are much smaller than a traditional digestive biscuit which makes them extremely cute. There were not many in the pack so they didn't hang around for very long. Luckily there are only 35 calories in each biscuit, making them quite a guilt free snack even if you eat more than one... or two.

With supermarket own label biscuits it's easy to be wary about the quality of the chocolate. In this case the chocolate is fairly decent. It is not as rich as that found on a McVities chocolate digestive but it still has a good overall flavour and is not too sweet.

The digestive biscuit itself, with it's added wheat bran, is quite crumbly and soft but thankfully the chocolate helps to hold the whole thing together. It has a pleasant wheat taste but it's not as dense or flavourful as a regular digestive biscuit. Even though they are not marketed as a Christmas product I think they are a sweet festive treat for children (and big kids!).

Grocery Gems Verdict: Tesco Chocolate Stars Biscuits

RATING: 6.5 out of 10
Buy them again?: If I ever need star shaped digestives I know where to go.
Nutrition per biscuit: 35 calories, 0.5g protein, 4.3g carbohydrate (2.0g sugars), 1.6g fat
Purchased: Tesco
Price: £0.79p

Cheetos Robalos Review

Cheetos used to be one of those brands that was not readily available in the UK, I'd only ever bought them on holiday or from US import stores. They are now much easier to find, especially in small local stores, but these are usually Polish origin Cheetos, like these Cheetos Robalos.

Going by the small picture of two kebabs skewers on the packaging I was pretty certain what kind of flavour the words "Szasztyki Z Papryki" described. To be on the safe side I checked with Google Translate, obviously not expecting any help whatsoever, and was given the surprisingly coherent translation as "Kebabs with Peppers". Possibly the most helpful Google Translate has ever been. I have never come across a pepper kebab flavoured snack before, it's a unique concept but one that is not too crazy. Which brings me to the shape of these crisps.

Call me mad but I'm used to Cheetos having the standard appearance of classic cheese puff snacks. Obviously a boring shape was not good enough for a whacky "Kebabs with Peppers" flavour, quite clearly such a concoction was calling out to be shaped in the form of various insects.

It's funny because when I saw the shape of the Cheetos Robalos on the front of the pack I thought they looked a little strange but kind of cute. I was wrong. When I opened the packet, man are these things hideous looking! On top of that I have learnt that insect shapes and crunchy textures do not mix, my brain was almost tricked into thinking I was munching on real insects, somewhat detracting from my enjoyment. I hate insects.

To be fair to the Cheetos Robalos, they are not all shaped like insects. Oh no, there are also what appears to be snakes and lizards... great. But back to the actual flavour "Kebabs with Peppers". I was slightly worried that Google Translate was wrong and that the correct translation should read "Insect Kebabs"; for all I know these are some strange TV tie in with the Polish version of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. But no fear, these taste very similar to a regular pizza flavoured crisp. They have the same tomato, onion, cheese and herb flavour combination, and yes a hint of peppers too, which is very moreish. Well, they would be moreish if only they weren't shaped like insects.

I couldn't help browsing the official Cheetos website for Poland, (well who wouldn't want to do that?) and I stumbled upon these Limited Edition (or as I like to say in my new favourite Polish words Edycja Limitowana) Rap Cheetos, with the flavours "Hip Hop Hot Dog" and "Gangsta Paprika". Awesome!

Grocery Gems Verdict: Cheetos Robalos

RATING*: 6 out of 10 (purely for taste not looks)
Buy them again?: Only if I'm holding some kind of bug themed party, so no.
Nutrition: 485 calories per 100g
Purchased: Local corner shop
Price: £1

* I'm just playing around with ratings at the moment, I haven't decided if I will keep this or not!

Kingsmill Fruit & Fibre Bagels Review

When I reviewed the new Kingsmill Fruit & Fibre bread a few months ago I was also keen to try the other products in the range, especially the bagels. They have proved extremely hard to find, but I finally spotted them in my local Iceland for £1 a pack (4 bagels).

These bagels are described as "bagels with delicious mixed fruit -they're a source of fibre and each bagel provides you with 50% of your daily wholegrain". The mixed fruit in this case is a combination of cranberries and raisins.The high fibre content comes from the mixture of wholemeal wheat and white flour used.

I kept it simple with these bagels and tried one lightly toasted with some butter (or rather some soya spread!). There was no fruity smell coming from these bagels, which I found surprising. There is also none of the usual fruity bread spices such as cinnamon added to these bagels, which makes them much more similar to a regular bagel.

The taste was akin to a wholemeal bagel but with added sweetness from the fruit. However, all the fruit pieces were quite small and I could almost forget I was eating a fruity bread, apart from the occasional sweet hit. I did enjoy these bagels and I would definitely buy more from this range but I would have preferred a bit more flavour to the fruit, especially the cranberries. The Kingsmill Fruit & Fibre Bagels are a good option for anyone who wants to try a sweet bagel but doesn't like the usual non savoury bagel option of cinnamon and raisin.

Nutritional Information (per bagel) :  225 calories, 8.3g protein, 43.2g carbohydrates (of which sugars 10.4g), 1.2g fat, 4.4g fibre, 0.29g sodium

You may also be interested in:

Warburtons Winter Loaf Review
Mission Breakfast Bread Review

Liebster Blog Award!

The lovely Elanor at Elanor's Nails nominated me for the Liebster Award last month. It feels fantastic to be acknowledged by a fellow blogger and I'm really excited to take part in my first Blog Award. Thank you Elanor!

The Liebster Award is given to bloggers who have less than 200 followers, so it's for all the little guys out there! I also love the fact that "Liebster" means "Dearest" in German.

There are some rules to go along with acceptance of the Liebster Award, which are in brief: post 11 random facts about yourself, then answer the 11 questions that the person who nominated you has set, then set 11 of your own questions for the bloggers you are nominating for this award (up to 11 blogs with less than 200 followers).

Got that? It's kind of like a chain letter but with love instead of malice :-)

11 random facts about me:

1. I spend too much money on chocolate.
2. I love Scandinavian crime dramas which feature woolly jumpered detectives, English subtitles and coalition politics.
3. I have too many nail polishes to count, they are slowly taking over my house.
4. I was in the local newspaper for winning a "cutest smile" competition... when I was 5.
5. I studied History at University.
6. I can't walk past a discount store without having a "quick look".
7. I can't walk past a library without having a "quick browse".
8. I spend hours in discount stores and libraries.
9. I hated anything coconut flavoured as a child and now I love it!
10. I have an on-off obsession with the Eurovision Song Contest.
11. As a child I was a super fussy eater and drove my Mum crazy... how times have changed!

Elanor's questions for me:

1. Favourite book? Chocolat by Joanne Harris (yes really!).
2. Favourite cheese? I think it would be better to ask which cheese don't I like? To which the answer is none!
3. Favourite non alcoholic drink? Coffee!
   
4. Favourite alcoholic drink? I don't drink alcohol.
5. Red or blue? Blue.
6. Sea or river? I love the sea air, rivers can be stinky.
7. City or countryside? City girl without a doubt.
8. Mountains or beach? Beach.
9. Cats or dogs? Cats but I don't have any pets.
10. Elephants or tigers? I love elephants - although I'm past my elephant ornament phase.
11. Do you mind spiders? I hate spiders.

My Hard-Hitting Newsnight-esque Questions are:

1. Favourite breakfast cereal?
2. Favourite chocolate bar?
3. Favourite TV show at the moment?
4. All-time favourite TV show?
5. Favourite author?
6. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?
7. Favourite comedy film?
8. Favourite supermarket?
9. What's your plan of action for a zombie apocalypse?
10. Pizza or pasta?
11. Tea or coffee?

Finally these are the bloggers I'm tagging for the Liebster Award:

1. Hannah at The Review Addict
2. Dave at The Snack Review
3. Kev at Kev's Snack Reviews
4. Adrian at Crunchynutta
5. Baobao at A Simply Geeky Life
6. Emmie at A Female Reviews

Please feel free to ignore this nomination, I totally understand that this kind of post is not for everyone. If you want to play along then here's a recap of the rules:

The Liebster Award Rules

1. Each person must list 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the 11 questions that I have set for you and create 11 questions of your own for the people you will nominate with this award.
3. Choose up to 11 bloggers linking them to your post.
4. Remember to only tag bloggers with less than 200 followers

Aldi Swiss Chocolate Bar Review

It's not new and it's not limited edition but this Aldi Choceur Swiss Chocolate Bar caught my eye on a recent visit to the discount supermarket. In the past I've overlooked this bar as being the same as a Toblerone. I'm sure most of us in the UK would associate a Swiss mountain bar with the famous pyramid shaped chocolate.  However since reading The Snack Review's Frey Chocobloc reviews, I could see that this Aldi Swiss Chocolate Bar is much more similar to the Frey Chocobloc.

Rather than having a peaked shape, the Aldi Choceur Swiss Chocolate Bar is flat and rectangular from the top with triangle shaped pieces. It looks just like the Frey Chocobloc and I just love this appearance and shape.

The Aldi Choceur Swiss Chocolate Bar is described as "Premium Swiss Milk Chocolate with Honey & Almond Nougat". The milk chocolate is made with 34% minimum cocoa solids. It certainly has a lovely rich chocolate smell with honey undertones as soon as I unwrapped it. I wasn't sure what to expect from Aldi chocolate but I'm glad to say this was just as good as any Swiss chocolate I have tried, it has a rich nutty flavour and creamy texture which is delicious but quite sweet.

There are lots of nougat pieces, especially along the bottom of the bar. They have a lovely chewy but melt in the mouth texture. It doesn't stick to your teeth or give your jaw a workout. It adds an instant honey flavour and a sweet chewiness but then melts away, leaving the smooth chocolate notes to linger in your mouth.

The Choceur Swiss Chocolate Bar weighs in at 100g which is larger than most single bars of chocolate but smaller than a traditional Toblerone bar. It only costs 89p which I think is an absolute bargain. If you're a fan of Swiss chocolate then you have to give it a try. Seeing as the Frey Chocobloc is not available in the UK yet then this is a great alternative.

A few comparative photos of the Aldi Choceur Swiss Chocolate Bar next to the Frey Chocobloc Air (which is much smaller than the standard Chocobloc's and has extra holes!):

Aldi                                       Frey

As an aside, this is part of the Choceur range from Aldi. They also have a more "upmarket" range called Moser Roth and a kids range called Dairy Fine. What do you think of the chocolate ranges from Aldi? Let me know if you have any recommendations!