Alice and Oscar's Quniola-

  Quinoa. What a peculiar thing it is. Looks like sand. Has a somewhat un-pronounceable name and causes so much confusion in shops when you ask for it!

Not to mention, my computer does not like it when I attempt to spell it.

    Up until a week or so ago, I'd never tried the stuff. I'd always seen it advertised as a SUPERFOOD; high in protein, gluten free, low GI, fibre, tasty and great as a side dish. The works really! However, I was always a smidge nervous. Especially at the beginning of my recovery when I was terrified of over eating or was insistent on weighing out precise serving sizes. Plus, I didn't know how to cook the stuff. Was it like rice that went to stodge when overcooked or broke your teeth and choked you if not left long enough?

All in all, quinoa was a mystery. 

But I was determined to try it and so I found Altiplans Express, Alice and Oscar's Quinola sachets. Not only had I never seen portioned sachets in the UK, but I'd never seen Pearl Quinoa, Red Quinoa or Black Quinoa!

    

 Well, I certainly was worrying about nothing all along! It's tasty and these sachets made portion control and actually making the quinoa really simple! I cut open the top and popped them into the microwave for two minutes and BISH BASH BOSH, they were ready to go.
I think that's the main reason that I liked it! Because it was really easy and useful when I was busy; I used it in a salad one day and then the other, used it as a side for some chicken with feta and roasted peppers.

    I think I'll start getting quinoa more often. The fact that is is so packed full of protein, and nutritionally balanced makes it really great for refuelling after training and it's perfectly wholesome and clean! Not to mention the fact that it is Fairtrade!
You can buy this brand online and it's currently available in a lot of stores in Ireland!!

http://altiplans.com/    @QuinolaUK   www.facebook.com/pages/Quinola

Pulsin' & Beond Organic Bites - Beyond yummy?

    Sorry for the awful pun in the heading. I couldn't think of another way to make it sound interesting.
So I should probably just crack on with my little review.
-Cough Cough-

      When I emailed Pulsin' enquiring about their bars, I didn't expect them to send me a little trove of goodies. In my little parcel, was a stash of Beond Organic apple and cinnamon bite size bars, blueberry bars, a raw chocolate brownie and a vanilla chocolate chip raw bar. Now, I've said before that I DON'T follow a strictly raw eating diet/vegan and I don't really think that it is something that I want to do in the future, however I don't mind trying products when they are as yummy as this!

    The bite sized bars tasted like fruit and were perfect crumbled over yogurt, or slightly warmed on their own. I prefered the apple cinnamon flavour, simply because I am a self confessed cinnam-aniac and apples are simply divine, however both were really nice! Lets just say that the list of ingredients is pretty damn impressive too (No hefty list of rubbish, added sugars and flavourings here, no way hoosay!) Plus, they are vegan, dairy free, soy free, gluten free and of course as the name suggests, 100% Raw.

Ingredients -
Raw Dates*,Raw Almonds*,Raw Agave Nectar*,Raw Apple* (7%),Raw Raisins* (5%),Raw Cinnamon Powder* (0.8%),Natural Apple Flavour, (*Organic

    I think that list deserves praise in itself!
Then, the protein bars, which 'Pulsin' claim are to rival a chocolate bar. Personally, I preferred the raw chocolate brownie flavour which is definitely a lot healthier than it sounds! Again, it's ingredients are impeccable, 'Dates, Raisins (14%), Cashew Butter, Almonds (10%), Raw Cacao (10%), Brown Rice Powder, Brown Rice Malt, Cacao Butter (4%), Sea Salt, Green Tea Extract' and my insides felt like they were glowing after eating them! Some people have said that they don't like the bars and found they tasted plasticy, but I would like to reassure you that a) this was far from the truth for meb) the bars are more natural tasting than a lot of things I have tried) they are packed with protein, vitamins and completely nutritiously balanced!

   All in all, a glowing report for a little company that has a lot to offer! On to bigger and better things for these guys for certain.

www.pulsin.co.uk         @pulsinandbeond     www.facebook.com/pulsinandbeond

'Nom'; The name says it all -

    To be fair, when I got asked to write a mini testimonial for Nom Bars, I had no idea what a testimonial was. Heck.  I had to ask around to find out (talk about embarrassing).When I finally found out what it was, I decided to give this brilliant small company the best dang testimonial that I possibly could!  

Then a week or so ago, I received a package. The girls at Nom had told me to expect a lovely little surprise, and that I was. Not only was I surprised with one of their origional bars (that I had found it so hard in the past to source), but also 2 day passes to The Natural Food Show in Olympia! This shows that the company really go above and beyond for everybody they talk to!

   
   I think I should start with how lovely the staff are first. I don’t like to call them staff, as I see them more as friends and people who I can talk to openly and without worrying that I will get a stuffy and very generic response. I recently contacted them with a query and a problem that is close to my heart and they were not only supportive but extremely encouraging and made me feel 100% better even though they could not help me directly. This alone speaks wonders for the company. They may be small, but their ‘heart’ is large, sort of speak.
   Secondly, I have to admit that when writing the testimonial, I have never had chance to find or try the bars. Despite the fact that I was desperate to, I hadn't had chance to, but it was always on the top of my todo list! They sounded absolutely divine and I loved the idea of how natural, organic and honest they are. Free from dairy, refined sugars and absolutely stuffed full of superfoods, the flavours are tempting and yummy!
NOM stands for 'Naturally Organic Matters' (clever right?).
If food could tell no lies, this bar would be one of them! What nasty things could it possibly lie about?! All natural and real ingredients, as well as being completely nutritionally balanced and healthy, I had always been told they were ridiculously tasty too! Is there anything that these bars do wrong?!

I think that although I hadn't tried them, Nom had helped me more than many can imagine. As you all know, I am recovering from an eating disorder and now completely focused on getting better and regaining control as well as increasing the exercise that I do again. After talking to the people at NOM months ago, I decided that I wanted to start challenging myself and my demons that my eating disorder created.
Now, I have not only started trying more foods and genuinely enjoying them,  but I have also stopped seeing food as something that has to be earned and is much rather fuel for the body.You wouldn’t run a car on cheap, nasty petrol that could damage the engine, why do that to my body?!

  @nom_foods              http://www.nomfoods.co.uk/                 www.facebook.com/nomfoods