Almond Dream: Ice Cream (Min Chocolate Chip, Salted Caramel, Praline Crunch)

Recently Waitrose started selling this non-dairy ice cream by Almond Dream, and so, as good vegan ice cream is still hard to come by in variety and in amount in store, I had to try it! One flavour I've missed out is Vanilla, I've tried quite a few vanilla flavours from different brands, and I will get round to buying the almond dream one, but with these three more interesting choices and limited freezer space it will have to wait!
So I'll begin with a brief overview of them all, as they share the same base ingredients. I have to say it's a good base and considering it's price point it's a good quality worth the money. It's rich, creamy and consistent. It also refreezes well. The flavours:
Salted Caramel: This is a winner, one of my favourites. It's smooth, and if you're wondering no it doesn't taste like salt. This one has little aftertaste, in a good way. Out of the three it might be the most moreish! It's one of those foods you could eat until you feel really sick! The balance of flavours is spot on, I really like it and will definitely be buying it again. One improvement could be better with more caramel, as its like a sauce and would hit it with more flavour and sweetness. Be warned its very sticky too! 5/5
Praline Crunch: This one is similar to the salted caramel, and if you like to eat ice cream with two scoops of flavours I think the salted caramel would be the one to pair it with. The one thing this has over the salted caramel is two-textures, even if it's just small soft nut pieces it's nice to have them. I initially thought it had a little caramel in it but it's not on the ingredients list, so some other sweetness it must be. The amount of praline in it is just right as well, it's hard to fault this one, I again found it very moreish and delicious. Perhaps it can be improved some how but I can't what, so I'll give it 5/5 also.
Mint Chocolate Chip: I was probably most excited about trying this as it was one of my favourites as a child. Unlike typical ones marketed at children there is no green dye in it, but that's probably for the best. The chocolate chips are dark chocolate, which is fine, but... the mint flavouring in the ice cream I did feel was a little strong. The flavour is similar to an after dinner mint, which don't get me wrong, I like and enjoy, but for a whole tub of ice cream makes it very rich. So 1/3 in I felt much more need to stop eating than I did with the other two which I ate just over 1/2 (although could easily have eaten the whole tub on a fat day). I still like this ice cream, and I might buy it again, but I wasn't as impressed in comparison to the other flavours, as I didn't think the balance of flavours was as good. I'm sure other people will disagree! So the mint only gets 3/5.

Amy's: Chinese Noodles & Veggies

Tonight, I took a break from making fresh food to try this ready meal from Amy's. I had heard this was vegan and it said so on the ingredients list...which I should have read as it contains mushrooms which I'm really not a fan of. That being said, I barely noticed them. That's partly because there are quite a few different veggies in this, carrots, beans, broccoli, and onions, plus cashews, sesame seeds and tofu! One thing this got right is the balance of wet/dry, and I was surprised it that it tasted slightly fresher and richer than I had expected. The sauce has a good balance of flavours, it's worth stirring it up as much of my sauce seemed to be at the base so initially I thought it was quite plain. One thing though that might stop me from buying it again was that experience you sometimes get with a meal, where it starts off really nice and enjoyable, but then for no apparent reason you don't want anymore. That was how I felt after I had finished, and it wasn't a big portion. Again, I'm not sure why this was, I did enjoy it and there was nothing wrong with it. Perhaps it was the mushrooms, they really do gross me out, which sucks because I wish I liked all vegetables (yes they're fungi). So...I'd say given it's a frozen ready meal, maybe a 3/5, it would definitely be a solid 4 if it weren't for those mushrooms, but that's just me!

Organica: Vegan Dark Chocolate Bars

The golden coconut bar is really good. I found the dark chocolate but doesn't taste that dark; it's quite thin layer of chocolate and the coconut centre is quite sweet inside. The texture is nice as well. I think it could do with more chocolate around the outside,  maybe use a vegan milk chocolate and for the bar to be bigger. 4/5

In the hazelnut nougat bar the dark chocolate is more noticeable. There are no solid nut pieces  just two layers inside. One is like the nut layer kind of similar to a nut butter and the other is a pale yellow nougat layer. I would be more of a fan of it if it had nuts because it would make the texture a bit more diverse. It's still nice, but like the coconut bar its bit small and i would prefer the chocolate to be less dark. 3/5

Redwood Vegideli: Bio Curry Style Sausages

I don't have much to say about these really. I wasn't sure what to have them with (well curry...obviously) so I had a couple with a korma, and they were ok. I also had the other two on their own to see what the flavour was like. Don't get me wrong they taste quite nice, the texture is good and they're kinda meaty. But I'm just not sure how they would be the best ingredient. So, having them with a curry was ok, but the curry taste in them is a little odd. I could just think of much better things to go with a curry than these sausages, and I can't really think of anything else that these would make better than something else. Maybe it's a personal preference. They were nice, but just not really fitting in. 3/5

Everfresh: Stem Ginger Cake

This is quite a good cake to have with something else. On its own its a little firm and dry, which is to be expected, but with something like a granovita pot of soyage the two go together really nice - better than on their own. The ginger flavour is quite nice, it's got small pieces in, so if you like ginger its pretty good. Nothing much more to say really, 3/5 on its own but with something else pretty good 4/5. Sorry this review is quite short - it's just a simple cake ;)

Biona Organic: Spelt Tortellini

As  fresh pasta is usually egg pasta there isn't a great deal of choice for vegans, almost no choice. And here is that choice. Green spelt and vegetable tortellini from Biona. Out the packet, smells like bread crusts, but I'm not complaining. It's a difficult to review to make, because there isn't much to compare it to, I'm not sure I've eaten much spelt pasta before and so I'm not sure how good this is in terms of how good it could be. It is nice, I had it with quite a rich sauce because on their own, while nice, they aren't oozing with flavour. Texture of the parcel is little rough and harder than you might expect but it tastes healthy, inside some veg which make it more dynamic and interesting than just eating dry pasta. So I will be eating it again, as it's nice to have filled pasta and I'm not the master chef. Taste wise for a fresh pasta, I'd say around 3 because it could taste nicer; I think 1 mark is for the filling and the other for the parcel. Maybe a low 4 though because changing the pasta part probably wouldn't make it green spelt (I hope that's right). 4/5

Fry's Vegetarian: Hearty Vegetarian Cottage Pie

I need to write some more Fry's reviews, so here's another. Tonight I'm having this ready meal, their cottage pie, as I try to save time for an essay I'm writing. So yes, ready meals aren't bad, it's nice to have the option to not cook your dinner at home. But how good is this one? Well first thing I have to say is that it's quite small, if I was serving myself up a portion of homemade cottage pie this would be about half that size so bear that in mind - get some garlic bread or something. But you have the choice of oven or microwave which is cool, and this time microwaving it still tastes fine. The mash is ok, there isn't really any praise for the mash it alone doesn't have much flavour or taste creamy or anything. The flavour all comes underneath in the mince layer, which is just thinner than the mash (the mash being about 1cm high - so its pretty flat). The mince has a strong peppery taste, and includes carrots and peas etc, with their mince which if you haven't tried tastes much the same as their burgers. The texture is good too, and really helps that the vegetables are there with the veggie mince. So rating wise, in terms of how it tastes against how good I think it could taste its probably about 3.5/5, but the small size (like a kids meal) means there is another element for improvement. The mash should be a bit creamier to counter the pepper taste (the pepper taste is nice btw). So it's 3/5 (but I would still recommend this for when you just want an easy hot meal that isn't soup)

Forest Foods: Smokey Vegetable Burrito

This burrito has some good points, I decided to heat mine in the oven for a crispy tortilla which was nice as it tasted quite fresh and homemade. But the filling was quite what I expected, though I'm probably just being very fussy. I liked the cooked beans and occasional BBQ taste, but there was a lot of coriander in it, and some of the vegetables were a bit hard (and crunchy which you might like). It was also a bit too hot for me, the main overriding flavour was hot/coriander, like a vegetable curry and I was kind of hoping for BBQ beans. Which makes me think that some people will really like this because it is well made, flavoured etc. Maybe a change of description would suit it. I finished it, but I think this ones not for me so 2.5 - 3/5

Mrs Crimble's: Dutch Apple Cake

Ok, I have to state at the start of this that I don't really like fruit cake. Sometimes carrot.... but. Anyway, as there isn't much on the market for shop bought vegan cakes I thought I'd give it a try. And it's not too bad, nicer than I expected. It's sponge is quite firm, it topped with a fruity goo that has crispies and raisins stuck to it. There is also a good cineman flavour running through it too, which is maybe why I like it. The apple taste is quite... faint, and it tastes quite cooked down like a less sweet apple sweetened with sugar. If you're a fan a fuit/apple cake you might give it a 4/5, but for me its 3/5.

Tofutti: Rock 'n' Roll Cones

These cones might say Tofutti or Triano, I think they're the same, but the ones I'm reviewing didn't have a chocolate sauce I think it was toffee or caramel. The tops have sprinkled nuts too, and they're a bit bigger and better than the ones on Peak cones. However, overall the cone isn't quite as good as the Peak ones; the vanilla ice cream, like the tub, tastes a bit cheaper and the cones too they're a bit more soggy. Flavour isn't bad though and I still enjoy them. So it's 3/5 (maybe plus a half).

EcoMil: Hazelnut Milk

I've tried this milk on it's own, with cereal and in coffee. On it's own it's a bit strange, the hazelnut taste is nice, but it's one of those drinks where you're left more thirsty after you've drank some. There's also a mild flavour in there that reminds me of tcp. But don't let that put you off. It's quite nice with cereal, as long as the cereal is a flavoursome one and preferably sweet. In coffee it was ok, I certainly prefer this milk to soya milk, it's just that I'd rather have something else; something sweeter; something creamy. 3/5

Orgran: Mini Outback Animals (Vanilla Cookies)

This little cardboard lunchbox comes with 2 packets of vanilla cookies, that are pressed into animal shapes. They taste kind of like cookies, kind of like biscuits. With a strong cereal flavour. They're free from a lot things so quite good I guess if you have an allergy. Texture is quite soft, and like cereal too. The flavour of vanilla isn't too strong, well actually I couldn't really taste it, tasted like a plain biscuit. They look quite fun though and they're healthy(er). Not sure I would buy them again, for me, but they would be nice is a kids lunchbox or something like that. 3/5

Tofutti: Vanilla Ice Cream (Frozen Dessert)

Tofutti vanilla is a fairly basic ice cream. It's quite cheap in comparison to other brands and as such it has a more synthesised taste and texture. That said it isn't bad for the money. It's just quite one-dimensional, the texture isn't so much creamy as marshmallowy. But that does make it nice and soft. As for the flavour, it's quite mild and like I said before it tastes quite synthesised too.

I'd give it 3/5, quite nice, but not the best vegan vanilla out there.

Suma: Nutty Crunch

Nutty crunch is a basic cereal from Suma, which mainly consists of oats and despite it's name isn't particulily crunchy. But it is ok, I think the reason I like it is because it's quite versitile. The flavour is, well, mild. There are some raisons in it, but overall you can add things to it and use it as a base. Which makes sense as this cereal is a little cheaper than some of its competitors.

I like to eat with banana's, chocolate spread and Rice Dream's hazelnut almond milk - that's the picture below. On it's own it's ok, maybe 3/5 tops, but mixed up with the other goodies its 5/5. Quite sweet and rich breakfast but it will give you loads of energy to start off a busy day.

Essential: Apple & Cinnamon Muesli

Today's review is for Essential's Apple & Cinnamon Muesli. I've eaten this with Tesco's almond milk which I'll put a mini review up afterwards. I've pretty much finished this packet of muesli now, which is about 5+ bowls worth. It's quite a nice cereal, if you like the apple/cinnamon combination, you can certainly taste both flavours. The strength of the flavours is kind of lacking, I wouldn't say weak but just above weak. By that I mean it needs something else if you really want a flavour sensation. So it might be worth chopping some fresh apple into it or putting some hot apple and cinnamon drink in it with the milk of your choice (if you have milk). Maybe some apple puree would do it. The texture is ok, it gets soggy fairly quickly and to me it tastes better when its still crunchy so I tend to eat it quite fast.

I might buy it again in the future, but for now I'm still trying new brands, and I have a suspition that there is another apple and cinnamon cereal I prefer. 3/5