Product reviw Archives

Iced Coffee Kick – Delicious Or A Dilemma?

August 7, 2020/in Product Review, Product reviw, The Weekly Buzz/by Julie Meek

As I write today with a coffee in hand (just a regular instant Moccona), I am remembering the iced coffee of my childhood. Mum made it seem so glamorous when in fact it was just plain milk, a few ice cubes and probably a mere skerrick of actual instant coffee.

This concoction was shaken up in a plastic container that looked like a big cup with a separate lid. Once these two parts were together, the aim was to shake the living daylights out of the contents to produce a blended drink. Does anyone remember these?

Are You My Friend Mr Iced Coffee?

These days, there is no such effort or physical feat required to get yourself an iced coffee. All you need to do is buy it, crack it open and enjoy. No hunting and gathering required.

The thing is, as we have discussed previously on this blog, the flavoured milk market is not only diverse but can also be a veritable nutrition minefield to navigate. There are sugar, fat and calorie potholes to fall into at every turn.

Newish Kid On The Block

A couple of years ago, a new iced coffee brand emerged in Western Australia. Cleverly named Hunt and Brew, they are all about single origin coffee beans from various locations around the world. They have several flavour varieties available and all with no added sugar.You just need to decide which country you would like to travel to.

I love their iced coffee for the amazing flavour and the absence of overpowering sweetness that is often the case with other coffee flavoured milks. These guys put actual coffee into their product too.

Please note that if you drink the full 400ml bottle in one hit, you have just consumed 224mg caffeine. This is equivalent to almost three shots of coffee.

What About The Others?

There are more than three iced coffees on the market but let’s compare three of the most popular.

Masters and Hunt and Brew have the closest nutrient profiles but the purchase sizes do differ. If looking solely from a cost perspective, the larger size in the Masters does appear to be more economical.

Think about those times when you find yourself in the supermarket and as you are rushing around, you notice the SUPER specials located at the end of the aisle. Those half price Tim Tam’s seem like just the ticket right now, despite the fact that you only came into the supermarket to get milk and bread.

It’s exactly the same thing in the iced coffee dilemma – lower price or better for you?

Calling all iced coffee lovers – what would you choose and how do you like yours?

Fake Chicken – The Real Deal or Fake News?

September 19, 2019/6 Comments/in Product Review/by Julie Meek

This week, fake chicken has made an appearance in my life and to be completely honest, everything about this product was quite a surprise.

Trying the fake chicken became a thing after a listener called into 6PR 882AM Morning Show a few weeks ago, asking about the nutritional value of some of the vegan/vegetarian ready to eat products.

To Be Or Not To Be Fake Chicken?

I trawled the chilled section of the supermarket on the hunt for some fake chicken and I was rewarded by finding the Chick’n Schnitzel made by the Unreal brand.

If I were to judge a book by its cover (as I keep telling my children that is not what we should be doing), it didn’t grab me. However, I was on a mission. Luckily, there was a 20% discount on the product, which lessened the pain I felt might be coming.

I was finding it hard to imagine enjoying this product, so based on this I decided to make it into a chicken parmigiana. I imagined this ‘chicken’ topped with a couple of tablespoons of pasta sauce and for a lovely finishing touch, some grated vegan cheese which I also purchased.

The ingredients were all set to get this fake chicken on the road. Mind you, wrestling the cheese out of the packet was an extreme sport and once freed from the packaging the aroma nearly overcame me. I soldiered on.

Once assembled, the fake chicken now newly reinvented as Chicken Parmigiana, baked in a moderate oven for 30 minutes. Unfortunately one can’t use baked until ‘golden brown’ as an alternate guide to time as the cheese didn’t melt and there didn’t seem to be any colour change to my fake chicken at all. Just set your timer ok?

Taste Test 1,2 3

Once done, I rushed that Chicken Parmi straight to radio where Gareth Parker and I taste tested live on air.

Well. We looked at each in total surprise. This Chick’n Schnitzel made into Chicken Parmigiana was actually tasty and it had a very similar texture to chicken.

As you can see below, the nutritional breakdown of the product ticked boxes across the fat, sugar and salt categories and it has some fibre too. This makes sense as it is a plant based product and the real Chicken Parmigiana is mostly protein with a minuscule amount of fibre in the crumb only.

For those still not convinced just yet, you can check out my meaty version of a Chicken Parmigiana here.

So, I will admit that I was wrong (ouuuccchhh) in assuming the Chick’n Schnitzel was going to be gross. I was correct in my assumptions about the fake cheese though. Just no.

Meat Free Week Coming Right Up

The timing of the Chick’n Schnitzel tasting and revealing fits very nicely into Meat Free Week which runs from next the 23-29 September.

Meat Free Week encourages you to challenge yourself, your friends, your family and your colleagues to try a plant based menu and raise funds for a great cause – the prevention of bowel cancer.

I will write more about Meat Free Week next week but let’s be clear that this is not about abolishing meat from our diets – it’s about eating more plant food.

Celebrate Milk with Sipahh Straws

May 29, 2019/in Product Review/by Julie Meek

Sip it Up with Milk

My kids LOVE the unique product Sipahh Straws. They think it is a great treat and indeed it is.

Aussie dad (and now grand dad) Peter Barron loved milk but didn’t like giving his kids the flavoured variety that contained too much sugar and too many flavours and preservatives. With some trial and error this clever man developed a straw filled with little tapioca balls that release their flavour when the milk is sucked through the straw. The best and most exciting bit is that each straw contains less than ½ teaspoon sugar and has no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives. For those that have allergy issues the straws contain no egg, gluten and no dairy.

Although marketed towards the smaller ones, they are also perfect for the big people too. The straws are an ideal way of increasing milk intake and calcium plus a much healthier and cheaper alternative to flavoured milks. These guys can be found in the long life dairy aisle of any supermarket in a wide variety of delicious flavours.

World Milk Day

While we are on the subject of milk, the 1st June marks World Milk Day. Yes, it is a thing because in 2001, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) elected this date as World Milk Day. This day celebrates the important contribution of the dairy sector to sustainability, economic development, livelihoods and nutrition.

Raise a Glass

This years theme is ‘Raise a Glass’ and a good reminder that milk is a natural source of the super important nutrients that our bodies need. Of course we know that milk is a rich source of calcium for healthy bones and teeth plus protein for healthy muscles.

There are other benefits of milk and dairy products that you may not be aware of. These include a reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and colorectal cancer. Consuming dairy products are also associated with a healthy weight and play an important role in sport and exercise performance.

Is there anything that milk can’t do you might be wondering? Well, it hasn’t got up and washed my clothes yet but one can hope.

The Alternatives

There are many alternatives on the market now and for the minority of people who are lactose or dairy protein intolerant, these are a great option. However, milks such as soy, oat, rice, almond and hemp do not naturally contain calcium at all and do not contain all the essential amino acids.

For the rest of us though, let’s raise a glass!

What about you – do you love a glass?

Corn Chips – The Healthy Alternative

March 26, 2019/4 Comments/in Product Review/by Julie Meek

Corn chips + salsa, corn chips = nacho’s, corn chips solo – the list could go on.

It is hard not to love those crunchy savoury bites but the fact is, these tasty morsels are not hitting the greatest of all time on any nutrition list. Before you get all uptight and upset about enjoying food – I agree and I get it, totally.

The thing is, if I ate these chips every day of the week there would be additional bits added to my body that I really don’t need. Quite honestly, I have have got enough going on while Hot Cross Buns are on the shelf.

Great news ahead though – there is a newish kid on the block in the corn chips world and they are seriously good.

What are these corn chips you speak of?

Cobs Naked Corn Chips come in two flavours, ‘The Big Cheese’ and ‘By the Sea Salt’ and both are seriously delicious. As soon as I open a pack of these corn chips – boom, they are gone (I think my kids can smell them from 100 paces). They are made in Australia too, which we love.

Nutrition Round-up

These corn chips are made from corn and ancient grains, quinoa, chia and sorghum. Don’t forget that on a nutrition information label we are looking for less than 8g of fat per 100g serve, less than 10g of sugar per 100g serve and a sodium (salt) content that is not off the Richter scale. For a savoury snack product, at 533mg per 100g serve, the salt content is very reasonable.

Regular corn chips contain around 25% fat (compared to 14% for Cobs). They are 100% wholegrain and made with high oleic sunflower oil, which is very low in saturated fat.

How are they best eaten?

You can eat these chips just as they are – naked and they work really well as the base for nacho’s. Perfect for lunch boxes too.

How much are they?

It depends on where you get them from but they retail for around $4.00 for a 168g pack. To find out where you can locate them in Australia, click here at Cobs list of retailers.

The Naked range is not stocked in the two major supermarkets (although their popular popcorn is), so you might need to look at the smaller independent stores.

Have you tried them yet?