Meridian: Korma Cooking Sauce

Not seen any other vegan korma sauces yet, but I have had this Meridian one a few times so should be able to make a good review. The jar is enough for 2 if you've got some other bits to eat, and slightly more than a normal portion if it's just you. If you make this with just some rice and mock chicken then it's not too bad, tastes like a shop ready meal. Taste is quite nice, its got some flavour, with a range of different mild spices and a slight sweet taste to it. It's also got a few small pieces of blitzed veg in there like onion I think. It's quite thick too which is nice until the end of the meal. What I mean is that it doesn't taste as good cold/luke warm. And it seems to taste the same cooked in a pan or microwaved, though I'd pan it if you cooking mock chicken etc that way. It's also less good at the end because it's one of those foods that taste's nice at the start but after you've eaten a lot of it kind of tastes less appealing, a bit sweet sicky (though this one isn't that bad). That's why I'd recommend having just half a portion and making some other bits like samosa's. One of the main problems is that it does taste shop bought and not fresh at all. So mixed feelings really, it's not something I want to have every week, but I'll buy again at some point. High 3, low 4? 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)

Swedish Glace: Pearl

I was both very exciting about trying these and disappointed. Swedish Glace, as far as I'm concerned at this moment, probably make the best vegan ice cream (at least the raspberry tub anyway). And last time I was ordering these were out of stock so I bought the Peak cones instead. Finally I got hold of a box today! And you get 5 in the box. BUT... they are tiny lollies and that makes me sad. Going purely on taste these are great. The ice cream inside isn't like the tub variety, it's smooth without any sauce (which is a bit of a shame) but its very tasty and creamy still and this one is strawberry too. And then it's covered in a thin layer of chocolate like a posh choc-ice with some fruity little pieces on the outside (just like hundreds and thousands but a bit nicer). Together it's great, a really tasty sweet lolly that nobody would suspect is vegan. But it's not enough - it's like one scoop worth and it needs to be at least 2! As you can see below it makes my hand look some giants hand. 4/5

Lovemore: Jammy Wheels

These dodger type biscuits are a great deal more fun that most of the other shop biscuits you can buy which are vegan friendly, usually the plainest ones. I never ate too many jammy biscuits before I went vegan, but tbh they taste... really good. They are sweet, have a nice smooth texture which is crisp but melts in the mouth. So the biscuit part alone is good, then the rich jam flavour just makes them even more moreish. You get 8 in a pack, and can get them at Waitrose and some online stores so far as I know there are probably others. So get some. 4/5

Tesco: Free From Coconut & Chocolate Milk

It's worth me pointing out that not all Tesco free from range makes me want to vom, and I'm not trying to bash them. Their coconut & chocolate milk for example is pretty good. But I will make this review short because there is a but, and that is this. If you see my review of kara chocolate milk, which is also made from coconut, it's basically just like that. This has the same nice flavour - it just tastes a bit more watered down or less creamy. And if you're in a big Tesco, you might find that Kara one is a bit cheaper (it's not in the cold aisle). Still nice though 4/5

Tesco: Free From Creamy Original Spread

So, reviewing another free from cheese from Tesco. Maybe this one will be my last. Tesco have a few varieties of this cream cheese creation, there's a garlic and herb one, something else and plain. I went for the plain this time. Now texture wise, quite good, compared to some kind of non-vegan cheese the colour is more matte. I'm not sure that's relevant though, flavour is. It's not for me, I had one bite on some nice baguette and I wished I hadn't. I didn't spit it out like that medium cheddar, like it wasn't making me wretch, but still not nice for me. Cream cheese is probably hard to make vegan, although Le Sojami's seemed quite alright, perhaps I need to try their plain there version. To me, I don't like it partly because it doesn't taste like cream cheese, but mainly the flavour is too strong, and it's the wrong flavour to begin with. I couldn't eat it on it's own, and with bread I'd rather just eat bread. 2/5

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).

Tesco: Free From Soya Medium Cheese

I tried this cheese melted into a nice pasta bake. Unfortunately it ruined the bake and I couldn't finish it. The problem I have with this cheese is the taste and the smell. It's awful. The smell alone makes me feel physically sick. I should say that before I was a vegan, I was quite fussy with cheese anyway, but so far I've not found many vegan cheese brands that taste... right. The taste wasn't quite as bad as the smell, and I'm sure some cheese lovers might enjoy or not mind the taste. Alas for me it even tasted a bit sicky.

I'm giving it 1/5, it gets 1 mark for texture, which was like cheddar and it did melt.

Tesco Free From: Almond Milk

A mini-review of the almond milk I had on my cereal. This milk is ok, I can't really compare it to other almond milks as I haven't had any. But as an alternative to say soy milk it's quite good. I'm not a massive fan of the taste of soy milk so I'm currently trying a lot of other brands to see what kind of milk I like the taste of. This almond is ok, you can certainly taste the almond, but its quite a mild taste. I'm going to try the hazlenut milk next time as I think it will be more enjoyable, but still it's nice to have a dairy free alternative to soy milk in a chain store like Tesco.

3/5