It’s that time of the month again…where my Degustabox arrives! This is my third box from the company and it surprises me every time. It’s one of my favourite times of the month now!

What I love is that some of the products can be used as ingredients to make some amazing food.

1. Alfa One Rice Bran Oil - £2

I loved that I got this purely because it can be used as your standard olive oil, such as for frying or roasting! To make it better it is nutritionally well balance and high in natural antioxidants, some of which has been shown to reduce cholesterol absorption, great huh?

2. Koko Dairy Free Original - £1.39

I’m yet to use this one but it was sent with a great recipe for pancakes seeing as pancake day is coming up! It contains less calories than skimmed milk, 0% cholesterol and is 100% allergen free. Apparently it tastes very similar to cow’s milk and doesn’t curdle in tea or coffee which is great!

3. Kabuto Noodles - £2

This is essentially an instant snack and is a combination of authentic Asian flavours and quality ingredients. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a huge fan of this and found it quite unappetising.

4. Sukrin Bread Mix - £5

When I found this I was certainly intrigued and I noticed you could use the mix to make a whole range of foods such as bread (duh!), tortilla wraps or scones. I opted for bread as I thought I would enjoy this most and I did. This is a gluten-free mix with only 1g of carbs per slice, um hand me some more please?! It is also free from wheat, egg, sugar, yeast and soya. You also only need to use water to bind so you don’t need anything extra.

5. Finn Crisp - £1.20

This is actually something my Mum always has in the cupboard so they must be good. I would probably have mine with feta cheese and some tomatoes and salad. Yum! It is rich in fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and as it is baked with sourdough, it’s low in fat with a distinctive tangy flavour.

6. Magners Light - £1.25

I was also intrigued by this, alcohol with low calories? Send me more! There is only 103 calories per bottle and the Orchard Berries flavour is delicious.

7. Little Miracles - £1.49 each

This is a brand that I was already aware of. These were 2 new flavours I hadn’t tried before so it was good to try them and they were the perfect pick-me-up. They are non-carbonated, refreshingly light and contain only 90 calories per bottle. They also have no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners. Essentially these are a tea based drink with added fruit flavours!

8. Mornflake - £1.50 each

I can’t say that I’m a massive fan of porridge but these were almost enjoyable. The great thing is that they come with either a little pot of golden syrup or nutella. My favourite would have to be the nutella one, who doesn’t love nutella?!

9. Haywards Piccalilli - £1.89

I’m yet to try this but I wouldn’t be so keen on it if it’s on its own. It came with 2 recipe cards which sound better! I’ll keep you all posted.

The last product was a special gift which was Clipper Green Tea with Lemon. Eek, more green tea!

So, all together the products total came to £20.71 so a saving of £8 seeing as I paid £12.99 for the box. 

It was another great box this month and I cannot wait for this months box!

Emily’s Fruit Crisps

I have been so kindly sent some of these fruit crisps by Emily herself and I was so excited to try them! Emily is just one of the co-founders and they are named after her. The crisps are made in a vacuum to preserve all of the good stuff without taking away the crisp. It was her partner that actually named the crisps after her.

They come in 3 flavours, apple, banana and pineapple! There’s nothing added to the fruit, just a lot of good stuff and they are gluten-free as well!

I only got sent the Apple and Banana packets, I really wanted to try the Pineapple ones!

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the two fruits that I did get sent anyway.

They look great don't they?

You can find Emily’s fruit crisps in the Selfridges located in London, Manchester and Birmingham, Whole Foods Markets, various London locations and Odd Farm Park. You can also buy them online.

And there’s a lovely end note from Emily’s partner, Alex…

Ilumi

This is one of the most exciting blog posts I’ve done so far.

Ilumi are based in County Durham and they have produced a wonderful range of nut-, gluten- and milk-free foods.

The meals are so well thought out that they are safe to eat for people with certain allergies.

Taken straight from their website, their mission is: to create delicious, colourful, deeply flavoursome foods that our customers can trust, to make them accessible and convenient, and to spread the word about eating for wellness to the wider community.

I personally think that this is an amazing mission to have. I’m sure that many food companies out there have this, or similar, as their mission when creating food products but it is not always written so obviously on their website.

The products that I have been trying this week are under the 7-day meal plan, in which you get 10 x meals, 5 x sides, 4 x soups and 3 x ilumi-endorsed products. That’s 22 products for £44.99, bargain!

These meal plans are new and there are 4 options – 7-day, 14-day, 28-day and “try me pack”.

They are all portion controlled and so yummy plus you get to choose which meals you receive which is so much better than other companies who choose for you. I’m quite a fussy eater so I’d like to choose my food!!

The best part about their meal plans is that they can help you to:

• Lose weight
• Increase your energy
• Sleep better
• The meal plans are better value as you save over 30% than if you buy the products individually.

Not only do they send you your meal plan for your selected amount of days, on their website there are some helpful hints and tips that you can print off for yourself. On this page they give you a small shopping list that shouldn’t cost you too much, but it does help to ensure that you get all of your 5 a day. They also suggest to only have alcohol in moderation, as you should be anyway!

First up, the Spanish rice and vegetables. It comes in a tray and similar with your typical ready meal, you remove the sleeve, pierce the film lid and heat in the microwave for 2 ½ minutes.

In this pack there are 277 calories, I don’t think you can get a meal better than that!

It’s packed full of vegetables like butternut squash, yellow and red pepper, onion and tomatoes. Plus it’s made with brown rice instead of white rice.

Before I even sit down to eat it, I’m sold!

And once I’d eaten it, it turns out I got my hopes up a bit. I prefer my vegetables a bit al dente but these were really soft. The rice was perfect but it felt like there was just a bit too much seasoning for my liking!

It comes in a microwavable tray so it’s easy to cook!

Packed full of goodness!

The second product I want to share with you is the tomato and red pepper soup. At the time of deciding what to eat, I’d just done a long shift and wanted something I knew I would enjoy.

And it was so delicious! The balance of flavours was just right, and there were little pieces of tomato and red pepper, which gave it some texture. It wasn’t watered down at all and it wasn’t too thick like some soups can be, for me it really was the perfect soup!

Can you tell I enjoyed it?!

On the back of all their packets is a bout themselves with a line “irresistible taste you can trust”.

They claim to have their flavours locked in and 100% natural ingredients.

Nice and easy to understand!

*This post was sponsored by Ilumi and all views and opinions are 100% my own.

The Protein Drinks Co.

The company has a wide range of drinks with all kinds of health benefits. They have breakfast drinks, weight loss drinks, protein shakes, drinks with added muscle and many more.

My lovely selection!

Their mission is to change the way that people eat on-the-go and help them to face each day with the strength needed to succeed and do more.

They share all the benefits of protein on their website to make sure that the customer fully understands it.

All of their little bottles are handy to take wherever you go. Whether you’re on the move, at work or even at the gym, you need to have your daily dose of protein so you keep your strength and energy levels up and repair the muscles you’ve been working on. That is why they created these drinks!

Their aim is to make it simple, convenient and delicious to fuel your body so that you can focus on the other needs in your life.

There is a section on the importance of all different nutrients but I don’t want to go into detail about that right now and I will post something on it in a couple of days.

They tell you all about how they produce their drinks, and in a nutshell – they start with milk, add all of the ingredients to make each individual drink with its different benefits and then they package it up for you to enjoy.

They even have a whole section on their website called “The Protein Kitchen” with ideas to pack protein into your dinner, definitely worth checking out!

From the lovely people at The Protein Drinks Co I received a whole range of their products. I received two of their breakfast drinks – B-Fast and UFIT Breakfast, UFIT in Strawberry and Chocolate flavours, USLIM, Collagen+ Beauty Milk and GoHealth – Balance and Joint Protection. 12 drinks in all flavours, I couldn’t wait to get stuck in and try them!

The first drink that I tried was UFIT Breakfast Drink in Smooth Chocolate Flavour, and oh my, it was delicious! Just like a chocolate milkshake but not as thick, I could definitely get used to drinking it everyday. The bottles for these breakfast drinks are very colourful so they definitely catch your eye and stand out on the supermarket shelves. On the bottle it says exactly what it has – rich in calcium, high in protein, vitamins + fibre, longlasting wholegrain energy and to keep hunger at bay 15g protein. There are 217 calories in the bottle, and for my breakfast I’m pretty happy with that! I checked out the prices and they are normally £2 in Tesco but are currently on offer at £1. Even if you only get a couple, it will be well worth it! I also got sent the Strawberry and Banana flavours, not to my personal taste but they were still really yummy!

To be honest with you, they all tasted the same but had their different properties which made them significantly different. I would happily have their breakfast drinks everyday! I don't have a favourite based on flavour, but I really liked the idea of GoHealth drinks so I will definitely go out to get some more of those!

What do you think of health drinks? Have you tried any of these?