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Product review: Macro Natural Nut Mix
Woolies has recently launched a snack pack called Macro Natural Nut Mix. The bag contains 5 single-serve packs 5 and costs $3.99, making a convenient and reasonably-priced snack. Sadly, convenience also means extra packaging. Each pack contains 30g of nuts (almonds, blanched peanuts, walnuts and cashews), which is the recommended serving size in the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Note that the nuts are either raw or blanched and unsalted, making them healthier than the roasted and/or flavoured varieties. Nuts contain healthy fats (mainly monounsaturated and some polyunsaturated fatty acids), as well as some protein and fibre. They also contain appreciable amounts of micronutrients such as vitamin E, folate, magnesium, calcium, and…
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Product review: Huon Salmon to Go Deli Bites
Huon, the well-known Tasmanian salmon producer, has launched a new line of ready-to-eat products called Salmon to Go. I bought a bag of Deli Bites, hot smoked natural flavour, which only contains salmon, salt and natural wood smoke. Other hot smoked options are blackened spice, lemon pepper and sweet chilli, and there is also a cold smoked one. The product’s selling point is convenience, as it can be easily added to pastas, salads or pizza, as suggested on the package. The bag contains 250g of salmon, which at $6 is significantly cheaper than other smoked salmon products. In my opinion, this is a clever way of using those bits and…
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Product review: Hart and Soul cup soups
I wrote a product review for the nutrition site Foodwatch, ran by dietitian extraordinaire Catherine Saxelby. As all my reviews, this is a product I discovered while looking for a convenient, yet not overly processed source of nourishment. At the time, I was doing placement in Orange and I wasn’t able to cook every day. These soups turned out to be a perfect addition to my weekday lunches, particularly because it was freezing cold. To read the full review, click here.
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Product review: San Remo pulse pasta
I came across San Remo pulse pasta at the Gluten Free Expo a few weeks ago. Even though I very rarely eat pasta (in fact I never buy or cook it because I prefer using vegetables as the vehicle for sauces), these caught my eye because they are not just an empty source of refined carbohydrate, but actually pack some nutrition. Because they are only or mostly made from pulses, they are higher in protein, lower in carbs and higher in fibre than regular pasta. They come in three shapes: spaghetti, penne and fusilli. The spaghetti and penne are made out of equal parts of pea, chickpea, borlotti bean and…
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Product review: Well & Good all purpose cake mix
My goodie bag from the Gluten Free Expo contained a box of Well & Good reduced sugar all purpose cake mix. Even though I’m not a massive fan of cake I was excited to try it out mainly because it was my first time baking something out of a box. Luckily, it was my husband’s birthday so I had an excuse and many friends to share the cake with. The cake mix is free of the 8 main food allergens and, as advertised, has some of the sugar replaced by stevia. The ingredients are: gluten free flour mix (rice flour, corn starch, maltodextrin, tapioca starch), brown sugar, non aluminium raising…
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Product review: Helga’s gluten free gourmet rolls
Even though I’m not a fan of gluten-free versions of processed foods (no, the fact that something is gluten-free doesn’t make it automatically healthy), I was very curious when I found out that Helga’s had launched their gourmet gluten-free buns in partnership with Chur Burger and Bar Luca. I tried a couple of Woolworths stores but they were sold out. Then I tried QE supermarkets and found them there at a much higher price ($8.22 vs $6.99 in Woolies) but I was really keen on trying them. There are 5 rolls per pack, which seems like an odd (no pun intended) number. The health claims at the front of the…
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Product review: Green St Kitchen kimchi hot sauce
The makers of my favourite kimchis and krauts (see previous review) have a newish product in their line of fermented vegetable products: a kimchi hot sauce. It comes in a 280ml cough-syrup-style bottle. Be careful when opening it for the first time, as fermentation makes it fizzy. I’m glad I opened it over the sink. The sauce contains red peppers, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, red pepper powder, coconut sugar, sea salt and Korean miso… but don’t worry, it’s not as hot as it sounds! In fact, I found it pretty mild for my Peruvian palate. I loved the taste and would suggest you try it with different cuisines, not just Korean/Asian.…
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Product review: Peak Chocolate Bar by True Protein
Yes, this is a chocolate bar sold as a fitness supplement. This is the sort of thing that gets my coach fired up about the money-driven fitness supplement industry, but I could not resist and had to try it as soon as it got released. Given the ingredient list (80% dark choc, creatine monohydrate, BCAAs, organic caffeine, and Himalayan rock salt), I expected it to be at the very least a decent chocolate bar, even if it didn’t accelerate muscle growth and increase energy as promised. Nutrition wise, each 25g serve (1/2 bar) provides 2.5g protein, 4.7g CHO (of which 3.6g are sugar), 70mg caffeine, 1.5g creatine monohydrate and 1.0g…
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Product review: Fine Fettle Eats
I’ve been a Fine Fettle customer for several years now. Their flats have been a life saver when travelling, and an awesome healthy anytime snack. I’m always thrilled to try their new products at the farmers markets. This time the new kids on the block are Eats. Eats come in the universally recognisable instant ramen cups. After brief flashbacks of MSG-laden camping food, I picked up the cups to look at the label. These instant meals are based on dehydrated vegetables and contain no gluten, preservatives or oil. They are also vegan and contain mainly quinoa and legumes with different seasonings. The contents come in a sealed plastic bag inside…
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Product review: Kooee! jerky
Jerky and macadamias are my go-to snack when I need something nutritious and portable. My favourite macadamias are Hand’n’Hoe (I buy them at the Eveleigh farmers market) but I’m still looking for the “perfect” jerky. I was researching some things (read: wasting time) on the net when I came across Kooee! jerky, which caught my eye thanks to their short list of gluten-free, refined sugar-free ingredients. This jerky is made in Tassie using top quality Cape Grim grass-fed beef. The current flavours are smoked chipotle and sesame ginger. I love the packaging, both visually and functionally. The serve is not huge but you can reseal the bag in case you…
