Guilt Free Goodies – delicious treats! – a review

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Dr Nancy P

It’s been nearly 18 months since I first reviewed the lovely treats from Guilt Free Goodies. Since then it’s been such a pleasure to see Natasha’s business thrive and grow. I still regularly buy treats from her and have given them as gifts too. I thought I would repost my review just in case any of you haven’t yet had a chance to check out her goodies.

The best bit is that Natasha has very kindly set up a discount code for all of you lovely lot so if you place an order you will get 5% off! Just enter this code at checkout 🙂 NANCYGFG5%OFF

Since my review her product range has really expanded with some truly delicious new treats – including delicious cookies, raw chocolates and chocolate truffles (as well as more flavours of her other treats like bites and bars). I’ve tried quite a few and they are all delicious – I particularly like the peanutter white chocolate truffles and raw raspberry ruffle truffle! Oooh and the salted caramel almond slice! Divine!

There are also hampers available at the moment for christmas – you’ll have to get in wuick though if you want to pre-order them! check them out here.

And most exciting of all, Natasha has released her first ebook! So you can have a go at creating some treats at home! Order yours here. It’s beautifully put together and has a really lovely range of treats. It’s well written and set out and easy to follow so I’d definitely recommend it 🙂

Here’s my review from last year:

I had the great pleasure this week of being sent a beautiful box of treats from Guilt Free Goodies.

This UK, home-based business is run by Natasha and her partner, who produce homemade, all natural, healthy goodies – from granolas, nut butters to delicious treats and cakes. They’re perfect for anyone looking for dairy-free treats, diabetics and those wanting refined sugar-free treats (only natural sweeteners are used) or following the “paleo” diet. They’re also great for anyone who’s just health conscious and wants to watch what they eat. They can also make most of their products (granola, bites, energy balls and butters) suitable for vegans (some products do contain egg or honey).

I was sent this delightful selection of:

Peanut butter surprise muffin

Cashew butter, coconut and blueberry energy balls

Honey and peanut granola

Salted caramel almond bites

The first thing I noticed is how lovely the packaging was – all the items are beautifully packaged with lovely little touches like the handwritten notes. They’re also really securely packaged so nothing was damaged in transit.

As instructed I popped the almond bites in the freezer (top tip – highly recommended!) and the first item I tucked in to was the cashew, coconut and blueberry energy balls. After a busy morning teaching spin and bodypump I was famished and needed something quick to munch on. These really hit the spot – full of goodness and flavour. Really satisfying and tasty too – not too sweet but sweet enough to satisfy 🙂

Later that afternoon I was in dire need of a boost so thought I’d try the granola next – I served it with some homemade compote from my friend Colette and a big dollop of soya yoghurt.

It was absolutely divine – crunchy and crisp with a great mix of nut and fruit. The sweetness wasn’t overpowering either which was great. I had to eek it out as otherwise I’d have eaten it all in one go! As it’s full of good fats (from the nuts) it really sustained me for my evening classes which is exactly what I needed. This would be just as good served with a little almond milk or yoghurt for brekkie, or as a decadent treat you could serve it with some coconut yoghurt or ice cream for dessert! Yum!

I saved the muffin for a mid-morning snack with a cuppa. This was a really nice treat. Now it’s not like a traditional muffin so don’t be surprised. It’s a lot smaller but it’s also much denser. I really like this about it – it’s moist and squishy (in a good way!) and although small it’s exactly the right amount for a snack. I loved the peanut butter in the middle of this one. The nice thing about these muffins is that they really fill you up in a way traditional muffins just don’t.

I saved the best until last – the almond bites. I was most excited about these – they looked delicious and I’m such a sucker for anything almond-based so I had high hopes.

I was not disappointed in the slightest. These were so good! They’re definitely best out the freezer – the base goes all crispy and the caramel stays soft. The combination of the caramel, a whole almond in the middle (!), and lovely chocolate on the top is just fab!

So all in all I was really impressed with all these products. They certainly live up to their reputation and satisfy your cravings without ruining any of your hard work!

I just love that this is a home-run business, run by someone who clearly puts their heart and soul in to their products. I’d definitely recommend them so do go and try them. You can also buy hampers or sample boxes and they’d make great gifts for the health foodlovers in your life. I’m really looking forward to ordering some of Natasha’s other products now – especially the loaf cakes and nut butters! 🙂

You can find out more about the products and place orders from their facebook page – here: Guilt Free Goodies or their new online shop here: Guilt Free Goodies Eshop.

Do check them out! and if you do let me know what you think 🙂

Vegan Tuck Box – a review

Posted on April 19, 2015 by Dr Nancy P

I’ve had the pleasure of trying another fab little vegan subscription box – this time from The Vegan Tuck Box.

This is a great little box of vegan treats that you can subscribe to and be sent monthly, or buy as a one off box for yourself or as a gift. This is very much a treat box and full of exciting snacks from around the world. They specialise in sourcing the more unusual, hard to find treats. They also offer a gluten-free version of the box so there’s something for everyone. You don’t need to be vegan to enjoy the treat – they’re delicious regardless.

The selection is a surprise but is a range of snacks, chocolates, crisps and even drinks. What I also love about them, is not only do the products not harm animals, they actually donate 20p from each box to Hillside Animal Sanctuary so are actively helping animals too!

There are various options of box – classic boxes, mini boxes, vegan starter boxes, chocolate lovers box etc (more info here)! I was sent a mini-box to try.

In that months box I got:

– NoNos – Peanut Butter

– Chia Charge – Protein Bar

– Freedom Mallows – Mallow Choc Dip

– TreeHugger – Gumballs

– Soypresso – Medium

The box arrived safely and well packed and I was excited to try these treats. A treat is so much better shared with a friend so I shared these with my friend Colette from The Pure Form Fitness Kitchen.

NoNos

These were like mini smarties I guess, but with a peanut butter filling. I love peanut butter and was excited to try these. There were smaller than I expected which meant we wolfed them down! They were very more-ish and very sweet but not that peanut-buttery really. In fact they reminded me more of a white chocolate/caramel flavour. They were still nice though so don’t be put off if you’re not a huge peanut butter fan as they don’t taste that peanutty! They would make an excellent alternative chocolate treat for kids too – they’re colourful, fun, sweet and creamy.

Chia Charge – Protein Bar

I’m a big fan of healthy, natural sources of protein to eat on the go so this was always going to be a winner for me. Love the combo of flavours – cacao and cranberry – choclately, tart but tasty. It’s sweet but not too sweet and packed with fab ingredients. It feels like a treat, but is nice and filling. Both Colette and I loved this but we did spend a fair amount of time picking chia seeds out of our teeth! Worth it though as it’s so good for you 🙂

Freedom Mallows – Mallow Choc Dip

How fab to have some vegan marshmallows, and gluten free too! 🙂 These were fun – I really enjoyed sharing them with Colette – they were yummy and definitely felt like a naughty treat! They’re super sweet so definitely best shared with a friend or loved one, but are delish. They’d be even better dunked in toasted coconut afterwards (in fact I may try that next time!).

TreeHugger – Gumballs

Gosh we had such fun with these! They were a great little treat to have in our box. I hadn’t had bubble gum since I was a teenager so we had a laugh trying these. They are vegan but despite not having any gelatine in them they last just as long as “normal” bubble gum. . The flavours are natural but tasty and juicy. The bubbles weren’t a huge success but I think that may be more to do with the bubble blowers than the gum itself 😉

Soypresso – Medium

This reminded me of being in Indonesia where cans of coffee drinks are all the rage (you can read more about my Indonesian monkey exploits over on my other blog – here). The cans over there are all dairy based so I was excited to try a Soya version. It’s creamy and has a strong coffee flavour which is fab. It’s rather sweet but in the summer, over ice, this would be a fab treat and if you usually sweeten your coffee you will love this! We were feeling generous so shared this with Colette’s husband Rod too. We all enjoyed it 🙂

So all in all I would really recommend these boxes – they’re a fab way to explore and try new vegan treats that you won’t find in the shops. Do check them out (http://www.vegantuckbox.co.uk/) and you can even get 10% off subscriptions by using the code “blog10” – so no excuses now! 🙂

Enjoy!

Primal Snack Box – A wonderful box of delicious goodies! A review

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Dr Nancy P

I am lucky enough to get some pretty awesome things to review and this is definitely right up there with my favourites.

If you haven’t heard of them Primal Snack Box are the UK’s first monthly paleo snack box delivery service. You can sign up for a regular delivery or you can just buy a one off box and they have two types – Forest or Savannah (Savannah contains meat products). Now although I’m not “paleo” the Forest box is vegan so totally ticks the boxes for me and they were lovely enough to send me one to try. They were even lovelier and also gave me a special code for you guys to get 10% off your first box! Just use the special code PUREANDSIMPLEBAKES on check out – just click through and place your order! (after you’ve read my review of course 😉 )

Now first off – the presentation is fab! It arrives in a lovely sturdy box, well packaged and really feels like you’re opening up a little gift – it’s so beautifully put together and there’s even a little menu! I think I’m in love already!

This box arrived at a time when I was about to dog-sit for my friend for 2 weeks so I was constantly on the go and often needed something to grab and eat as I took the dogs out – this box was perfect. That also explains why most of the photos are in the woods!

Primal snack work with small producers which is another thing I really love and it’s a great way of introducing you to products you may not otherwise have come across.The box contained all these wonderful things!

Fit bites – these were really good – little balls of fruit and nut – like little power houses of energy. You get two in a pack, they’re generously sized and they tasted delish – great shot of energy for the walk.

Lifebar – Berry, Maca and Baobab – now this was a surprise – never tried one before and wasn’t sure what to expect but it was lovely! Tangy yet creamy, chewy and really filling. Will definitely get these again!

SAF Raw sweet potato crackers – I had these for my lunch, spread with wasabi hummus and tofu and they were fab! They’re a nice thick cracker, not super crunchy but with some crack and not soggy at all. They held up under the hummus too and didn’t go soft. Loved the flavour and they are super filling. Another one I will definitely get again.

Roo’bar – inca berry – another delicious tangy bar – a good size for a snack and really tasty. Look how happy I am with it! 🙂

MadeGood – almond apricot – now to be honest I was expecting an overly sweet, bog standard cereal-type bar here… but no – not at all. This is all nuts and fruit (naturally as it’s Paleo) and was really tasty. Sweet but not overly so and full of good stuff – tasted great!

Wyldsson Italian Promix – This was probably the most unusual thing in there for me – I’m not used to savoury snacks like this. It was good – I downed half of it – it’s not too tomato-ey or salty but it is tasty. I sprinkled the rest over my salad :). Really nice and I wouldn’t have tried if it hadn’t been in the box as it’s not the sort of thing I’d go for in a store.

Nothing But – Beetroot and Parsnip – these are exactly that – nothing but.. dehydrated beetroot and parsnip crisps. They’re really yummy – no added salt or flavour and make a perfect vessel to dip in to hummus! As a savoury snack on their own I think I’d want a bit of salt however, but that’s easily done. No nasties in them at all and the beetroot ones weren’t overpowering in flavour.

Two bags of mixes from Primal themselves – the mulberry mix (almonds, mulberries and pumpkin seeds) and the good fats mix (cashew, macadmia and coconut) – perfect snack sized bags of 40g and both delicious. A great way to control your portion size too. Lovely combinations of flavours.

Finally – Ombar – cranberry and mandarin. Now anyone who follows this blog knows I have a penchant for orange chocolate so this was bound to be a winner. This raw choc is lovely – and even nicer dunked (quickly!) in a cup of tea! Creamy smooth chocolate, but not too melty to the touch and a lovely hint of flavour – definitely the thumbs up from me!

So all in all a pretty amazing box of goodies! What I really love is the way you get a great range and selection of snacks for your money – and things you may not otherwise have tried. There’s a good balance of sweet and savoury, slightly naughtier and also healthier treats and all packaged so beautifully. A box would make a fantastic gift for someone, or a great way to introduce someone to healthier snacking. I’m going to order myself another box right now!

Thanks again Primal Snack Box for keeping me going on those dog walks and vastly improving my snacking over the past few weeks!

Now don’t forget – you can get 10% off your first box by using the special discount code PUREANDSIMPLEBAKES – just click through and place your order!

You can order your own here: http://primalsnackbox.co.uk/

And find them on facebook, twitter and instagram!

The Primal Kitchen Energy Bars – a review

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Dr Nancy P

Any company founded by one woman, some nuts and a blender is always going to be good and The Primal Kitchen is no exception if these bars are anything to go by!

I spotted one of these bars in a local health food shop some time ago and quickly realised that not only did they sound delicious but the company was based locally in Surrey. I’m always keen to promote and support local enterprises, and review potential snack options for you all and I was lucky enough to be sent some of these bars to try.

There are currently three flavours available (though there’s a delicious sounding Hazelnut & Cocoa fourth on the way!) – Coconut & Macadamia, Almond & Cashew and Brazil Nut & Cherry. They’re made with no more than 5 ingredients and are full of whole foods and free from gluten, dairy, refined sugars and grains.

I train a lot and am always on the look out for healthy, portable snacks to refuel with. and these tick the boxes on that score. Although in an ideal world we’d all be making our own protein-packed healthy snack bars, in reality it’s just not possible all the time. These are a great source of protein and good fats, bursting with energy for when you need to grab something on the go. They’d be great for children too.

So on to the bars – the Coconut &Macadamia bar was my first to try. This was really good – I love the combination of coconut with macadamia. It was chewy but with lovely big chunks of nut and had loads of flavour. It also looked great too.

The Almond & Cashew Bar was very tasty. Not too sweet, and not too bland with a really good balance between the nuts. It looks great and again has lovely chunky bits of nuts. I also like the fact that it’s not too oily (as some other similar bars can be).

I saved the Brazil Nut and Cherry one until last – both with trepidation and excitement. I’m not a big fan of Brazil nuts, but I LOVE cherries… so I was really keen to taste this one. Would the cherry beat those Brazil nuts and win me over? Well indeed it did! This is probably my favourite (though it’s so hard to pick one!).The sweet tartness of the cherries balances the Brazil nuts perfectly and I actually loved the combination. I often find Brazil nuts too rich for me but combined with the cherries they were great!

They all looked homemade – which I love, and they were all really filling which is great. I also love the packaging and design of the products. They’re designed for people following a Paleo diet, but would suit anyone avoiding gluten, dairy or refined sugars in their diet and are great for anyone Paleo, or not, who wants a grain-free, healthy snack bar. The bars have been created by Suzie Walker, a Nutritionist, and you can really taste the love and thought that’s gone in to these and it’s brilliant to see snack bars which aren’t just full of sugar and other rubbish actually competing with the big boys. These bars are now available in Ocado and other online shops (see list here) and will soon be in Tescos too.

So go try them! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Guilt Free Goodies – a review

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Dr Nancy P

I had the great pleasure this week of being sent a beautiful box of treats from Guilt Free Goodies.

I was sent this delightful selection of:

Peanut butter surprise muffin

Cashew butter, coconut and blueberry energy balls

Honey and peanut granola

Salted caramel almond bites

Later that afternoon I was in dire need of a boost so thought I’d try the granola next – I served it with some homemade compote from my friend Colette and a big dollop of soya yoghurt.

I saved the best until last – the almond bites. I was most excited about these – they looked delicious and I’m such a sucker for anything almond-based so I had high hopes.

So all in all I was really impressed with all these products. They certainly live up to their reputation and satisfy your cravings without ruining any of your hard work!

You can find out more about the products and place orders from their facebook page – here: Guilt Free Goodies or their new online shop here: Guilt Free Goodies Eshop.

Do check them out! and if you do let me know what you think 🙂

Pure and Simple Bakes

delicious, healthy, vegan friendly, low gluten bakes – have your cake and eat it!

Tag Archives: products

Guilt Free Goodies – delicious treats! – a review

Vegan Tuck Box – a review

Primal Snack Box – A wonderful box of delicious goodies! A review

The Primal Kitchen Energy Bars – a review

Guilt Free Goodies – a review

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