M&S Hunters chicken and potato wedges

I have to admit, I love an M&S ready meal! My favouritea are their sausage penne or chicken and brocolli pie, but most of them taste great. While perusing the 3 for £10 deal options, I spotted this hunters chicken and - loving bbq sauce as much as I do - I had to give it a go.

The meal costs £3.85, but - as previously stated - is part of their 3 for £10 deal. 

This is oven cook only, but it only takes 25 minutes. As it warmed up, the smell was delicious; I could definitely smell that sauce!

When the 25 minutes were up, the bbq sauce was bubbling nicely and the wedges looked beautifully crisp. I couldn't wait to dig in.

The meal is a nice sized portion, but I wish I'd served it with bit of veg to bulk it up further. The piece of chicken was just right for me and was lovely and juicy and tasted great with the spicy bbq sauce. I am glad M&S removed the skin, as I'm really not a fan of chicken skin!

I really liked the sauce, it had a subtle spice and a slight sweetness from the peppers. It stopped the chicken and wedges being too dry and was just utterly delicious.

The wedges were perfectly cooked, with a crispy skin and fluffy middle; I liked that they were seasoned with paprika, as that's my favourite spice. The paprika tasted really good combined with the bbq sauce.

The only thing I disliked about this meal was the bacon, which tasted fatty and disgusting. Thankfully, the bacon bits were minimal and didn't spoil the meal.

Would I have this again? Definitely! It's not my favourite by any means, but it makes a nice change from pasta and potato topped pies. For a quick and tasty tea, I'd definitely recommend this.

Munchie stuff 

Top 10 new foods of 2017

We're taking a break from the reviews today and instead bringing you a round up of our top 10 new foods of 2017. Sweet fans rejoice, because most of the 10 is chocolate!

10. at number 10 are these Cadbury roundie biscuits.

Now, a lot of people complained that these were bland and uninspired, but - hear me out - they gave me a sense of nostalgia, as they reminded me a little of McVities Riva biscuits, which were popular when I was a kid.

Cadburys chocolate may well have gone down hill, but - when it's used to cover a biscuit or wafer - I still really enjoy it. They just scrape into the top 10, but they deserves their place in the line up.

9. Mars ice cream holds 9th place and was my favourite new ice cream release this year. Not as much chocolate as the bar, but you get lots more ice cream and caramel and it tastes great!

Mars are releasing a Malteaser tub next year, so maybe that will make the top 10 of 2018

8. Muller white chocolate Mmmousse is in at number 8 (and will also be reviewed soon).

Muller released 3 mousses this year and - after trying all three (in the name of reviewing) - the white chocolate definitely reigned supreme. It's a light, fluffy and delicious dessert, made for sharing but best eaten alone!

7. Dominos' pulled pork pizza is our first savoury entry in the top 10.

As the subject of another future review, I don't want to say too much; but this pizza is delicious - slightly spicy, with a perfect amount of toppings and amazing dipped in that famous Dominos garlic and herb dip. Yum!

6. This ultimate salted caramel offering from Krispy Kreme just misses out on the top 5.

This doughnut most definitely earns it's "ultimate" title - full of gooey caramel filling, with that soft Krispy Kreme dough, and a gorgeous chocolate topping - this is one of my favourite KK doughnuts.

5. My favourite new release from Cadbury comes in at number 5...

These gooey, chocolate filled, chocolate topped muffins are absolutely amazing! They taste fresh and are lovely and moist (sorry). They are one of the nicest shop bought muffins I've ever tasted. Proof that, when they try hard enough, Cadburys can get it so right!

4. McVities digestive nibbles have been a favourite of mine since they released the caramel ones, the white version take the 4th spot in the top 10.

Reminding me so much of the sadly discontinued white Malteasers, these white nibbles are super moreish, sweet and very tasty. The digestive biscuit goes so well with the white chocolate, making for a very tasty treat.

3. The second and last savoury entry is at number 3, in the form of this Signature burger from Mcdonalds.

This gourmet style offering from Mcdonalds is meaty and delicious. The brioche bun is soft and fresh and the burger tastes like a real beef burger should. It's tasty and filling and definitely worth paying a bit more for.

2. It was tough deciding which of the last two foods should take top place, as both are equally delicious. After much pondering, I decided that second place would be given to Tesco finest snowflake tiffins.

Beautifully rich chocolate ganache with cranberries and shortcake, covered in chocolate - these tiffins are incredible! They would have made top spot if they weren't limited edition. A little pricey at £4.50, but most definitely worth it. These are pure indulgence; I implore you to grab some while they're still around.

1. Top spot and just beating the snowflake tiffins to the top spot, the winner is these milk chocolate chewy caramel biscuit bites from M&S.

This bag of mini chocolate bites is the stuff of dreams! Gorgeous milky truffle, dotted with crunchy biscuit, topped with caramel and coated in delicious milk chocolate - these are so bloody tasty! Taking the top spot because they aren't a limited edition festive food, these need to be tried asap!

There it is, the Munchie stuff top 10. Have you been lucky enough to try the foods on the list? Do you disagree with the top 10? Let us know. For now, we shall be back with lots more reviews, recipes and food related posts in 2018. Thank you for reading.

Munchie stuff

Jacobs roast lamb, rosemarie and mint cracker crisps

When cracker crisps first hit the shelves, I was obsessed with the salt and vinegar flavour; I ate them until I was sick of them and have pretty much left them alone since. However, when I spotted these limited edition ones, I just had to give them another go - I absolutely love lamb and mint.

This 150g bag was on offer at Tesco, so I only paid £1, but I think £2 is the regular price. They also had a beef, red wine and shallot flavour, which may well feature on the blog in the future.

Now, normally I'd bemoan the fact the bag is half full (or empty, depending on your view point) but these are a substantial snack, so I forgive the manufacturer on this occasion!

On opening the bag I could smell the meat, but it wasn't distinctly lamb, however the taste was beautiful and I could definitely taste the meatiness of the lamb, with a hint of mint and a gorgeous herby background flavour from the rosemarie. The flavours were well balanced and reminded me of a roast dinner.

I love the crunchy biscuit texture of Jacobs cracker crisps, and I think they offer something a little bit different - and, dare I say, superior - to a bog standard crisp.

I thoroughly enjoyed these meaty snacks and didn't waste any time in working my way through the entire bag!

If you're a fan of a lamb roast dinner then these cracker crisps will be right up your street. Perfect for sharing, but even better for eating them all yourself.

Munchie stuff

Tesco chocolate fudge brownie dessert

Happy Friday! Now the Christmas reviews are done and dusted, I can bring you the non-festive foods I have been sampling this last few weeks; one of which is this fudge brownie dessert from Tesco - a treat from my wife, for braving the shops with her.

The 130g single serve pot cost, which is pretty standard for this kind of dessert. This isn't one for you veggies, as it contains gelatine.

"Layers of fudge sauce, chocolate and fudge flavour mousses, chocolate brownie pieces and chocolate coated fudge", in all honesty, it had me interested at "chocolate".

The layers reminded me a little of a trifle, with the brownie pieces, mousse and sauce all layered upon each other. It certainly looked scrummy and the smell of the brownies hit me as soon as I peeled back the film lid. I was pleasantly suprised by the amount of pieces adorning the top of the dessert, as normally this kind of thing tends to be decorated with only a few chocolate flakes.

The dessert is absolutely delicious! The brownie pieces are really chocolatey and rich, as a brownie should be; they manage to retain that moist texture and are perfectly dense. I loved the mousse, it was light and tasted delicious. I couldn't distinguish between the fudge and chocolate flavours as they merged together, but this didn't matter in the slightest.

The sauce layer was more like a dark chocolate and tasted beautiful; it also added a nice gooey element to the pudding, with an almost ganache like texture; think McDonalds' hot fudge sundae (bit of a throw back there) The textures and flavours were just amazing together, making for  very indulgent pud!

For £1, you really can not go wrong with this dessert, it's a chocoholics dream and makes a nice change from the chocolate or strawberry sundae dessert pots. For those of you who prefer toffee, Tesco also have a new sticky toffee pudding dessert too.

Munchie stuff

M&S milk chocolate chewy caramel biscuit bites

What a mouthful that title is, huh?

Well, Christmas is over and the geese have all got fat...at least we all have in my house! If you aren't yet sick of the sight of chocolate then today's review may just interest you. These chewy caramel biscuit bites were new in M&S just before Christmas. The snazzy metallic green bag caught my eye and when I read what was inside, well, I had to try them.

The 120g bag comes in at £2, which is pretty standard for M&S and I actually feel their chocolate is worth that, as it never fails to satisfy my sweet tooth.

With caramel, biscuit pieces, crisp rice cereal and milk chocolate, these certainly sounded pretty delicious and I couldn't wait to tuck in.

There was a lovely aroma of cocoa when I tore the bag open, and I was impressed with the sizable chunks of chocolate.

There were 10 chunks in the bag, which may not seem like a lot, but they were each about half the size of a Milky Way, so certainly not small cubes. They felt very weighty as well, so I didn't feel at all ripped off.

I have to admit, I was suprised when I bit into the chocolate as I had been expected something resembling a Twix. What I actually got was a biscuit flavoured truffle, with biscuit pieces and a layer of caramel on top...it was incredible! The truffle layer was sweet and milky and the added crunch from the biscuit pieces just worked so well. I didn't get any taste from the crispy rice cereal, but I assume that they added some of the crunch.

As I have come to expect from M&S, the chocolate had a lovely cocoa taste, with a hint of sweetness. It's a great quality chocolate, but it stayed very much in the background in this case, allowing the caramel and truffle to shine through. The caramel was smooth and delicious, with a nice hint of salt, creating a lovely balance of salt and sweet. Gorgeous.

I have to admit, I polished of the entire bag! They are a great addition to the M&S chocolate bags, and one I shall absolutely be having again. I'd go as far as saying that they are even better than the cookie dough bites from the M&S range. Go and grab a bag for yourself...go, go, go.

Munchie stuff

Sainsburys truffle reindeer

Well, tonight Santa will be doing his rounds, led by his trusty reindeer; with that in mind, today seemed like the right time to review this little truffle reindeer from Sainsburys bakery.

The little treat costs 75p, and I think that's very reasonable, given that Sainsburys bakery is epic!

Personally, I don't think this little fella looks quite like the animal it's meant to be, but with all of that delicious looking chocolate, I wasn't going to complain.

I am never a fan of the icing decorations on this kind of biscuit and the same applies here. It just doesn't work with the chocolate. That said, it's easy to pick off and makes the biscuit look rather cute. The chocolate was delicious! It was milky and sweet with a good cocoa hit; much better quality than a standard packet biscuit.

Now, I keep calling this a biscuit and I think that's where it all went wrong for me. I expected crunch and a creamy filling. I thought this would be a little like a bourbon; just bigger, better and covered in chocolate. What I actually got was a softer, more cake like affair and I didn't really like it. I know it wasn't stale, but the texture reminded me of biscuits that are on the turn and have that damp texture and peculiar after taste. I really didn't like it.

Now, I find it tough to give this a yay or nay, simply because I think the reason I wasn't keen is simply down to the fact I had assumed this was a biscuit. The chocolate coating and creamy filling were both superb, in fact the cake/biscuit (I'm still confused) tasted really nice, I just didn't like the texture and found the aftertaste a bit odd.

For 75p this is worth a go, you may like it - so long as you don't bite into it, expecting some crunch.

well, that's a wrap, folks! It's been 24 days of festive food reviews; I've eaten my way through a colossal amount of turkey sarnies and cranberry filled pastries and I hope you've enjoyed reading about it. I'll be back after Christmas with plenty more reviews and maybe even a few recipes to take you through the next year.

Have a very merry Christmas - eat, drink...and then eat some more!

Munchie stuff.

Co op boxing day sandwich

A few weeks back I did a mass review of some of the festive sandwiches I'd been eating since M&S brought turkey feasts back into my life (you can read that review here ). Since then I have continued my mission to taste all of the festive sarnies the shops have to offer. Today's review is about one of delights I've sampled - Coop's boxing day lunch.

The white bread sandwich contained smoked turkey, smoked ham, winter slaw and a spiced chutney. It costs £2.75 on it's own, but I bought mine as part of their meal deal (shimmering billionaire's shortbread and a can of Coke Zero completed my meal deal) for £3.50.

 

I took a big bite and was seriously impressed with how soft the bread was! I normally buy wholemeal or 50/50, but the white bread was perfect with this sandwich and it tasted very fresh. The spiced chutney was tasty, but subtle! It added a sort of sweet, orange spice zing to sandwich and was a nice change from the cranberry sauce that tends to be whacked in all things festive.

The meats were plentiful and had a delicious smokiness, but I couldn't really distinguish between the ham and the turkey, which was a little disappointing. The meat was nice enough, but I'm always a bit annoyed when festive sarnies contain reconstituted turkey, instead of the real thing. Still, I can't deny the meat in this did taste good - even if both additions did taste the same. I was very impressed by the amount of filling the sandwich contained, with no bulk-out-the-filling spinach in sight!

I was dubious about the winter slaw, but actually is was a nice addition to the sandwich, bringing a crunchy texture to contrast with the meat. It didn't add much to the flavour, but I got a faint hint of peppery freshness from the vegetables, which was very pleasant.

Now, I'm not sure this is really an innovative festive sandwich, in fact - without that spiced chutney - it's basically a club sandwich, however it was definitely really tasty. I enjoyed having the white bread for a change and the filling was delicious. Maybe I should grab another one and eat it on boxing day, just to honour the sandwich's name sake!

Munchie stuff

Asda mint ice cream bites

You know that moment on Christmas day, when you're sat on the sofa, watching t.v and thinking about how you're so full that you don't think you will ever eat again? Well, why is it that - seconds after you contemplate living on salad leaves for the foreseeable - someone will offer you an After 8 and you just can't say no! Everyone loves a thin mint or 4, don't they? This year Asda jumped on our love for all things minty, with these mint ice cream bites.

The pack of 10 minty treats cost me a very reasonable £1. I'll be honest, I wasn't really expecting great things, just because they were so cheap!

As you can see, these are really bite sized, in fact I think I'd need 2 or 3 to equal my own bite.

The chocolate coating was thin and crisp, a little like the chocolate you get on a choc ice. It wasn't the best quality, but it was satisfyingly sweet and tasted nice enough. The ice cream had a pleasant minty taste - it was fresh, without taking on that awful toothpaste taste. It reminded me a little of the ice cream in a mint Cornetto.

The little pool of chocolate sauce was a nice touch, and helped to balance out the mint flavour. Again, it wasn't the best quality, but it had a stronger cocoa taste than the chocolate coating and tasted really quite pleasant. I have to say, I was very much suprised by the overall quality of these ice cream bites. The ice cream was creamy and tasty and for £1 you really can't go wrong.

These would make a great after dinner treat for anyone who doesn't have room for Christmas pudding; and they'd be a perfect party dessert. If you're looking for a minty treat and are bored of After 8s and Matchmakers then these may be what you're looking for. A tasty little bargain.

Munchie stuff

Boots 'Delicious' turkey, bacon and cranberry sandwich

In four days time we will all be tucking into Christmas dinners, but if you can't wait that long then most shops have a festive offering, in the form of sandwiches. I already reviewed a fair old few here but today's review is yet another crimbo sarnie; this time from Boots.

Boots' festive offering costs £2.75, but I got mine (as always) as part of a meal deal. Boots' meal deal costs £3.29, and I grabbed a carrot cake and a Starbucks iced latte to go with mine. Yum! I don't often get meal deals from Boots and I don't know why, because they have so much more variety and choice than anywhere else.

The meat in this sandwich looked incredible and there looked like there was plenty of bacon too; I couldn't wait to get stuck in.

 SO MUCH BACON!

The bread was lovely and soft, which is always a bonus as shop bought sarnies have the tendency to be a little bit dry. There was a good amount of filling - the meat was tender and flavoursome. It tasted like real meat, as opposed to the reconstituted rubbish some shops use. The bacon added a bit of salinity to the sandwich and gave it that smoky flavour that only bacon can give.

I have said it before, but cranberry is not my bag, but this year I have began to warm to the fruity little sauce - probably due to the amount of festive sandwiches I have devoured. The cranberry in this sandwich added a nice sweetness, which was the perfect contrast to the salty bacon. It also added a bit of moisture, which helped the sandwich avoid being too dry.

My only gripe about this sandwich is that the stuffing was almost undetectable and, as someone who loves a stuffing ball or 6 with his Christmas dinner, I found the lack of stuffing very disappointing. Still, the sandwich was a very tasty little number, even without the sage and onion kick.

I actually really enjoyed this turkey sandwich from Boots, and - dare I say it - this was one of my favourite festive sarnies this year. I'd certainly pick this over the offerings from Morrisons and even M&S, as there was plenty of meat and not a spinach leaf in sight.

As part of their meal deal, this is a good value lunch and I'd recommend it to anyone who's a fan of a festive sandwich. Go and grab one before it's too late.

Munchie stuff

Co op foods Sour cream and chive Christmas trees

If there is one thing you can guarantee in my house it's that my wife goes overboard when it comes to Christmas snack shopping. She is obsessed. If it is shaped like a Christmas tree or covered in edible glitter then it will make it's way to my kitchen cupboards.

The other night I fancied a savoury snack and these looked like just the thing for the job - sour cream and chive Christmas trees. Crunchy potato 3D snacks, with a sour cream and chive seasoning.This 100g bag cost £1, which seems pretty reasonable to me.

(As you can see, my wife is also a fan of festive bed covers too)

My first thought when I opened the bag was that - as is typical with crisps these days - the bag was only half full! They smelt good though, and I definitely caught a whiff of both the sour cream and chives. The Christmas trees were actually a good size and there seemed to be a nice amount, in spite of the fact half the bag was full of air.

These are a great tasting snack. I actually shouted at my wife that they were amazing. The flavour was spot on, enough to please your taste buds, without any overpowering tang. I loved the texture, which reminded me of the Bugles crisps by walker. The trees had a great crunch and they were flavourful, without being too salty.

The sour cream and chive flavour reminded me a little of the Pringles in the same flavour and I really enjoyed the (entire) bag of Christmas snacks.

I think these would be great at a Christmas party, as they certainly look the part. Kids and grown ups will both enjoy them and for £1 you can't really go wrong. I'll be heading back to Co op to stock up, that's for sure.

Munchie stuff

Mr Kipling Frosty Fancies

I am partial to a Mr Kipling French Fancy, yet I have never tried the Christmas edition; mainly because a lemon fancy is my go to. It wasn't until my mother in law brought a box over for my kids that I finally got round to trying one of these Frosty Fancies.

The box of 8 mini cakes costs £1, which is a great price, considering the regular French Fancies sometimes cost more than £2.

Vanilla sponge with buttercream and icing - aside from the name I can't see what is so festive about these iced delights, but cake is cake so I was eating it.

The icing is so sweet! I mean, I know icing is basically just sugar and water, but this made my teeth ache. It was nice enough, but nothing special. I won't lie, after I tried the icing, I shoved the rest of the cake in my mouth whole. It was decent. The sponge had a nice light texture and buttercream is always good, but it had no wow factor. My wife described it as being like birthday cake, but missing something, and that is exactly what it is.

I can't help but feel that Mr Kipling could have been so much more creative with these, after all, they have TWO Christmas varieties of their Viennese Whirls. A cinnamon or spiced orange sponge would have been great, or even vanilla sponge with a cranberry buttercream and orange icing.

These are nice, that's it. For £1 they're good enough, but personally I'd rather spend a bit more for a better product. Sorry Mr Kipling, I think you can do better than this.

Munchie Stuff

Sainsburys turkey dinner ready meal

Taking a break from Festive snacks, today's review features a Christmas ready meal! A turkey dinner ready meal, in fact. Perfect for those of us who fancy a Christmas dinner, without any of the hassle, before the big day.

The turkey dinner from Sainsburys, costs £3.75 and consists of slices of turkey breast, roast potatoes, a lone pig in blanket, carrots and sprouts, with a turkey gravy. Definitely sounds yummy, doesn't it? So, was it any good?

I followed the instructions (10 minutes in the oven for the potatoes, before the rest of the meal joins them) and I found the pig in blanket cooked a little while before everything else. Aside from that, the meal cooked perfectly. I plated it up as attractively as possible and was pleasantly suprised by the amount of meat and vegetables in the meal.

The potatoes tasted lovely, but they lacked the crispy skin you get from home made roasties. The middle of the roast potatoes was lovely and fluffy and had a great flavour, which kind of made up for the lack of crunch.

The gravy was lovely and rich, with a gorgeous meaty flavour and a nice level of saltiness. It was a slightly thicker-than-average gravy, but was still runny enough to spill over my plate. The texture was gorgeously smooth, and it was a great accompaniment to the dinner.

As I've already said, there was a good amount of meat and it had remained moist and juice, with a really good flavour. As someone who doesn't normally eat turkey (we have beef on out Christmas dinner) I was pleasantly suprised by how much I enjoyed this. It wasn't as good as home cooked meat, but it was great for a ready meal.

The vegetables were my only minor fault, as both the carrots and sprouts were al dente, and I prefer my vegetables cooked until they're soft. The carrots were also a little tasteless, but the sprouts had a great flavour. I'm a sprout lover, so was pleased that there were three on this dinner.

For £3.75 I think this is a good meal! You definitely get a reasonable sized portion and it tastes great. I mean, it doesn't beat a home cooked meal, but - for quickness and minimal washing up -  this is a decent meal.

I have to say, though, I'd have liked at least one more pig in blanket, as my single sausage looked a little sad on it's own.

Munchie stuff

Thorntons seasonal selection

Well, we are less than a week away from the big day and my Christmas indulging has already started! Something about December makes it perfectly acceptable to eat my body weight in chocolate, and the other evening - whilst watching cheesy Christmas films - I cracked open this seasonal edition box of Thorntons chocolate.

This 161g box was £3 from my local co op, and - with Thorntons being a supposedly high end chocolate - I thought this was a pretty acceptable price.

Some of the chocolates in the box are available in the box of Classic chocolate, and I was slightly disappointed that the only chocolates that were remotely festive were the Spiced fudge and the Honeycomb star. Ah well, it was still chocolate and I certainly wasn't going to complain.

Immediately, on lifting the lid, I could smell the spices in the fudge. It certainly smelt like Christmas, and I was pleased that there were three honeycomb stars, as I had these in a different box last year and really enjoyed them.

I tried the spice fudge first and it was so sweet! Sure, I could taste spice but it was completely overpowered by the sugar. Sure, sugar is one of the main ingredients for fudge, but when Thorntons used to make stuff that was creamy and delicious, this was highly disappointing. The spice element made for an odd aftertaste and I don't think it really worked. Unfortunately, there are two of these in the box!

The gooey caramel, nutty praline and toffee baton chocolates all had that same overpowering sweetness. It was hard to taste the cocoa, or any of the other flavours because that sweetness just took over. What happened to the fantastic quality, fab tasting chocolates I remember Thorntons producing?

The saving grace for this box were the orange crisp, the coffee truffle and those honeycomb stars, at least with these you could actually taste the flavours promised in the titles. The more solid, crumbly truffle seems to be something that Thorntons can execute reasonably well, and I am glad I finished the box on a high note.

Would I get it again? I don't think I would. In my opinion, the quality of Thorntons chocolate has gone down hill and just isn't as enjoyable as I remember.  The box of chocolates was disappointing and not very festive at all. Not one I would recommend, unless you like your chocolate to taste like anything but cocoa.

Munchie stuff

Starbucks Gingerbread latte

Another cold Saturday Christmas shop called for another trip to Starbucks. This time I tried their gingerbread latte (to go) and that just happens to be the subject of today's review.

I had to steal a photo from the Starbucks website, as my 'to go' coffee didn't show my drink in all it's glory!

As I have stated many times already, ordinarily I am not a fan of sweet drinks, but there's something about a festive coffee that sets off my sweet tooth. I've never had a ginger bread latte before and was pleasantly suprised by the heat from the spice in my drink. I could definitely taste the gingerbread, with some cinnamon notes in the back ground.

The latte had a pleasant amount of sweetness that helped enhance the spices from the gingerbread syrup and I still managed to taste the espresso, which is obviously the main reason anyone really buys a coffee beverage.

I wouldn't say this is better than the toffee nut latte, but that's down to personal preference. It is, however, another drink that is far superior to Costa's offerings and one I shall definitely have again before the festive season is over.

Munchie stuff

Marks and Spencer triple chocolate cheesecake

I love cheesecake, it's my go to dessert. My favourite is the chocolate one from Rhokett, but anything will do. Last year M&S brought out a Milk Chocolate and caramel cheesecake. I had it once and then never found it again, but ever since I have pined for it. Last week, I thought I had struck gold as I spotted a cheesecake that looked very similar, but turned out to be this triple chocolate one.

"Baked white chocolate cheesecake, with pockets of dark chocolate sauce, bourbon biscuit base, milk and dark chocolate mousse and lustred decorations". It wasn't the caramel one, but it certainly sounded yummy. The cheesecake was part of the M&S Dine in deal, but I only bought the cheesecake and it set me back £3.50. I hoped it was money well spent.

 This little cheesecake is meant to serve 2...are these 2 people mice? Sorry M&S, but I rejected your serving suggestion and did not share it!

The layers and the lustred decorations certainly look attractive, don't they? But did it taste any good? Well, the mousse top was lovely, but definitely didn't taste like dark chocolate, which suited me as I am not really a fan of the dark stuff. It reminded me of a milky hot chocolate in mousse form. Something about it was very comforting and I did enjoy it a lot.

The white chocolate cheesecake wasn't as advertised, as in it wasn't chocolate and just tasted like a vanilla cheesecake. It was tasty, don't get me wrong, but I expected white chocolate and that wasn't what I got. And what happened to the chocolate sauce? I didn't come across any in my dessert.

The base of the cheesecake was fine and had a perfect crispy texture, but I didn't get much in the way of flavour. I wanted so much more from the bourbon biscuit base and it just left me disappointed. Same goes for the chocolate decorations, which had a strange alcoholic taste and felt a bit stale when I chewed them.

Sorry M&S, but this was a fail! Maybe my expectations were to high, thanks to the incredible chocolate caramel cheesecake of yesteryear, but this simply did not work for me. The mousse topping was the best thing about it, but the cheesecake it's self was a let down.

M&S, if you are reading this, please bring that caramel cheesecake back. That one was far superior to this. What a waste of £3.50!

Munchie stuff

Sainburys turkey and stuffing pasties

I don't know about you, but one of my favourite things about Christmas is the fact that the shops start selling a whole range of party food. There's nothing better than chowing down on a plate of mini brie and cranberry tarts, is there?

Today's review is something you may have spotted on our Instagram page - these mini turkey and stuffing pasties from Sainsburys.

The pack of 10 pasties cost £1.75, which isn't bad at all. The pasties are quite a good size and, when I peeled back the lid, the smell of sage and onion tickled my nostrils. They smelt like Christmas dinner!

They are ready to eat, but I chose to heat mine in the over - 200 degrees for 8 minutes - as I definitely prefer my pastry snacks nice and hot.

As they warmed up, the smell in my kitchen was amazing! I couldn't wait for the 8 minutes to be up.

I was pleasantly suprised by the amount of filling hidden within the pastry. I find mini pasties can sometimes be half full, meaning you get a mouth full of pure pastry, but these were spot on. There was no scrimping on the stuffing here!

The filling is absolutely delicious! There is plenty of flavour from the sage and onion, but you still get that meatiness from the turkey. Everything is beautifully seasoned and, though the pastry is softer and more doughy in texture, it works wonderfully with the filling.

Sainsburys have executed this fantastically|! The mini pasties taste and smell exactly like a Christmas dinner. I don't know why I waste my time on turkey feast sandwiches, when I could be devouring these.

These are a great little party food...that's if you can manage to share. I certainly don't think I will be offering them out, as they are far too delicious!

Munchie stuff

Tesco Christmas tree ice creams

Ice cream isn't something I associate with Christmas, mainly because the festive period occurs in December, when the weather tends to be bitterly cold. None the less, Ben & Jerry's always wheel out Minter Wonderland around this time of year, and most of the supermarkets bring out a mince pie flavoured ice cream.

While I was looking for the new Haagen Daz rum and raisin flavour, I spotted these Christmas tree shaped ice creams, akin to a magnum, but Christmas tree shaped and probably rubbish quality frozen treats. The choice between milk chocolate with vanilla ice cream and white chocolate with chocolate ice cream was easy, because I love chocolate ice cream.

Costing £1.40 for 4 ice creams, my thinking was - even if they were awful - they weren't too costly.

The ice creams are around the size of a Magnum and, as I bit off some of the chocolate shell, I was pleasantly suprised at how nice the chocolate was. It wasn't up to the standard of Milky bar, but as chocolate goes, this was creamy, sweet and a very pleasant chocolate.

The chocolate ice cream was much as I expected, with a mild cocoa taste but you can tell this isn't great quality ice cream as it has that tell tale gritty texture. It was fine, but it wasn't something I'd rave about. I think I'd actually have preferred the milk chocolate with vanilla ice cream, because I imagine that would be like a choc ice, and who doesn't like a retro pud?

I can't really complain about these, because they are nice and they were a reasonable price for a box of four. My kids loved them and I think that's their target market, plus I'd prefer these to that awful M&S chocolate orange ice cream, reviewed here

Munchie stuff