Stuff I’m Loving – Autumn 2014

The market for tasty, healthy snacks and dairy-free alternatives seems to have exploded this year! Honestly, every time I visit the supermarket the ‘free from’ aisle seems to grow bigger and bigger! I love checking out new products and sharing my favourites with you in these posts. I also love to hear about your new discoveries so please do share them in the comments section below. I’m always on the look out for new things to try!

Here are five yummy goodies that me and the family have been loving lately…

Ombar Organic Coco Mylk Chocolate Bar
Dairy free / Gluten free / Vegan
Individual bars (35g) £1.99
Ombars are no ordinary chocolate bar. They’re made with raw organic cacao which not only gives them rich flavour, but also means that each little bar is packed with antioxidants and minerals. The bars are gently sweetened with organic coconut sugar (perfect for me as my body tolerates cane sugar less and less well these days) and some of the bars, like the Coco Mylk and Strawberries & Cream, also include probiotics (‘friendly bacteria’).

Ombar Coco Mylk

I’ve loved all the flavours I’ve tried so far but my absolute favourite has to be Coco Mylk. With its creamy flavour and melt in your mouth texture, it’s like a high quality milk chocolate, yet its 100% vegan. While the bars might seem pricey for their size, the chocolate is incredibly satiating, so I find that a little goes a long way. Since Coco Mylk is my favourite flavour, you can imagine how delighted I was to find a bar in my latest TVK Box!

TVK11

Ombars are currently available in the UK in independent health food stores and online.

Propercorn Sweet & Salty
Dairy free / Gluten free / Vegan
Individual bags (30g) – 75p, Family bags (90g) – £1.59
Lil’ L and I had never tried sweet and salty popcorn before, so when a packet arrived in our August TVK box, we couldn’t wait to tuck in! We were amazed at how well the flavour combo works, and loved how the brown sugar coating gave the popcorn a light ‘crunch’ as you bit into it.

Propercorn Sweet and Salty 400

Since Lil’ L discovered that Waitrose sells Propercorn, a family size bag seems to magically appear in my shopping basket every week. It’s his favourite treat for movie nights and, since it’s so light, he also likes to stash a bag in his backpack for school trips and biking adventures.

Lil L's Propercorn Snack Stop

Propercorn individual and family bags are currently available in Waitrose; individual bags are available in Tesco.

Nakd Bars
Dairy free / Gluten free / Vegan
Individual bars (35g) 75p; Multipacks (4 x 35g) £2.70
My family are big fans of Nakd bars and I like to keep a stash in backpacks and handbags for snacking on the go. I love how they’re made of 100% natural ingredients (basically raw fruits and nuts squashed together) with no added sugars, syrups or oils. They come in nine flavours and there are three in particular that I absolutely adore – Cocoa Orange, Cocoa Mint and Caffe Mocha. The packaging’s really cool too!

Nakd bars

In the shops, you can buy individual bars and four bar multipacks. Selection boxes are also available from the Nakd website. I love the ‘Find Your Favourite’ box which has one of each bar in the range. It makes a yummy treat for health conscious friends. I recently sent one to a friend that was going travelling as a ‘bon voyage’ gift.

You can get great deals on Nakd bars in the UK supermarkets, so I stock up whenever I spot them on offer. This month, Waitrose are offering two bars for £1 and two multipacks for £4.

Lil' L Nakd Bar Snack Stop

Oatly
Dairy free / Vegan
Oat drink (1 litre) £1.39-1.49; Organic Creamy Oat (250ml) 75p
I’ve only recently discovered the Swedish company Oatly, but they’ve been making oat drinks since the early 90s. In Sweden, Oatly is the number one milk substitute, and they’re rapidly growing in popularity here too. There are currently five Oatly products available in the UK. The Organic ‘milk’ only has three ingredients – oats, water and a little salt. For those that prefer fortified ‘milks’, the one in blue packaging comes fortified with calcium and vitamins D2, riboflavin and B12. There’s also a dairy-free alternative to single cream called ‘Organic Creamy Oat’, which is perfect for drizzling on desserts and can also be used for cooking.

Oatly has recently had a re-brand and the new packaging is really cool!

Oatly range

The Oatly ‘milks’ are available in most major UK supermarkets, and the cream alternative is currently available in Tesco and Waitrose. Since they have such a long shelf life, I like to stock up on the UHT ‘milks’ when they’re on offer. Both Waitrose and Sainsbury’s are currently offering multibuy deals (3 for £3; 2 for £2).

Hoots Snacks
Dairy free / Vegan
Individual bag (38g) £0.60
We first discovered Hoots through the September TVK box, and were delighted to meet the team behind this delicious snack at London VegFest last weekend Hoots sell a range of oven baked snacks made of wholegrains and mixed seeds (all free from added colours, flavours, preservatives and MSG). The pickled onion flavour is lush! For me, it tastes like a healthy version of my favourite childhood junk food – Pickled Onion Monster Munch! Lil’ L loves them too, and has enjoyed taking them to school and on trips as a ‘treat snack’.

Hoots Pickled Onion Snack

They’ve only recently launched in the UK and aren’t widely available, so I’ll update this post once they launch nationwide (Fingers crossed that will be soon!)

Over to you, lovely readers Have you discovered any new yummy plant-based products lately?

 

18 thoughts on “Stuff I’m Loving – Autumn 2014

  1. I LOVED the Ombar and the Propercorn from my TVK boxes too. We too discovered the big packets at Waitrose but I’d just bought a few packs from Boots, Sweet and Salty is soooo good!

    The Oatly drinks look delicious but I don’t think they’re GF are they? I love the fact that they do a single cream alternative.

    I had to give my Hoots pack away but apparently they do taste good! I’m actually not that keen on nakd bars and now they have traces of Soya in them they’re no longer suitable for the SCD which is a huge shame 🙁 But that’s just me, my daughter likes them, especially the gingerbread bar.

    Great reviews Sharon!

    1. I’m so glad TVK introduced us to Propercorn. It’s gorgeous isn’t it? I think it’s probably the best popcorn I’ve ever tasted. We tried the Tyrrells Sweet n Salty the other day but its texture seemed much softer with no ‘crunch’.

      I didn’t realise Nakd bars had traces of soya in them. Is this a very recent thing? I’ve just checked my latest wrapper and it doesn’t mention soya.

      1. Yes, Propercorn is definitely the best! We bought a pack of 3 Nakd bars and it’s mentioned on the box but the wrappers from the bars inside don’t state soy. think I need to check this out with them directly.

  2. I was in Waitrose the other day and didn’t notice the Nak’d bar special! How annoying – I too like to buy them on special, as find it hard to justify at full price given I could, in theory, make them at home. I do love them though 🙂

    1. I make raw energy bars at home but, I must admit, I do prefer the taste & texture of Nakd bars. I always try and stock up when they’re on offer. 50p doesn’t seem too bad for a bar. I doubt I could make & package one at home for much less 😉

    1. What’s your favourite Ombar? I’m slowly working my way through the flavours. Lemon & Green Tea was interesting… Me & Lil’ L really liked it but M started pulling faces & practically spat it out. It was pretty funny to watch. At least me & Lil’ L got to eat the rest 😉

  3. Lil’ L is becoming quite the model… he’s probably clocked up enough hours to be eligable for an equity card 🙂 (Not so Lil now, me thinks)

    1. I know! I can’t believe he’s going to be 11 next month! We’ll have to find a new name for him soon.

      Hope you’re having a gorgeous weekend! xxx

  4. I would love to go back to the UK and check out these supermarkets…I was in the UK in 2008 for awhile, that’s a long time ago and I remember it was pretty vegan-friendly back then! I imagine the aisle is growing bigger and bigger! What a lovely review! Yum, these snacks are pretty yummy, I want to try the oat milk and pickled onion snack, I haven’t seen that before!

    1. Wow it has been a long time since you last visited the UK. Next time you come, make sure you squeeze in a trip to Bath. It would be so lovely to meet up with you ♥

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