some little things..

I've had a week off work recently, so have had some nice down time and a chance to kick back. Several Banana type treats have been consumed over the period, so here's a little breakdown..

Ma Baker Giant Banana Bars

Ma Baker Giant Banana Bar

 I'm starting this blog post with my ultimate nemesis over recent weeks. Had I not been cycling to work and back daily, this bar would have completely destroyed my diet. As it happens, at 391 calories of what it nearly my perfect banana and oats bar, I still had to do a bit of extra exercise most days, as I was eating more than one a night after randomly buying a box of 20 through Amazon. Without a doubt, to date, this is my favourite banana snack bar of all time. It has the banana and oat combination taste which works incredibly well and at 90g is a decent size and quite filling.

Do try one of these if you find it anywhere, they're just lovely!

Nākd Nibble Banana Bread

Nākd Nibble Banana Bread

I'm quite into a bit of healthyish baking, so on a shopping trip I found myself in the Gluten Free section of Sainsbury's. There was a box of these nākd nibble banana bread bars, so in the interests of banana lovers everywhere I took it upon myself to experiment with this new find.The bars are quite small (nibble sized), but are absolutely completely bananaery and delicious! At only 92 calories for each 30g bar, they're not a diet killer either.. though unfortunately, they're also very moorish so you have to be careful not to overindulge :)

These are highly recommended and delicious!

Cioccolato Di Modica Alla Banana

Cioccolato Di Modica Alla Banana

Walking around Rome in the middle of the night, I stumbled (almost literally) into a small artisan pasta shop with this lovely expressive Italian lady shop owner. Thankfully her English was considerably better than my Italian (non-existent), so she showed me her pastas, sauces, etc. explaining the origin and history of each of the products I showed an interest in.. then in the corner of my eye I caught the unmistakeable image of a banana.. of course, I just had to add a couple of these (rather expensive) chocolate bars to my list of purchases. She didn't recommend this to me at all, but the lure of the Banana was too strong and I had to have some. I didn't get a hint of Banana in the flavour of this, which was somewhat disappointing, but the ingredients list certainly did have banana in it. Perhaps the bitterness of the dark chocolate was too strong to support the 'subtle' taste of the Banana? I probably won't buy it again (at the same price), but I'd be interested in trying it again in other circumstances. I'm betting, however, that the pasta and sauces I bought (at her recommendation) will be wonderful!

Chef Bernie's Banana Ketchup

Chef Bernie's Banana Ketchup

I went to the West Dean Chilli Fiesta in August this year with a couple of friends and took great delight in trying samples of many of the different Chilli Flavoured sauces on offer. I was giving it a bit of bravado after being a joint winner of a local Chilli eating competition not too long before this. Admittedly, in between events I hadn't had an awful lot of chilli in my food, having had more than enough in the short time sitting on the stage destroying my taste buds with millions of scoville units of raw chilli.

Quite early on at the Chilli Fiesta I was trying some Chilli sauces near the entrance and there was a small bowl of Chef Bernie's Banana Ketchup on display. Of course.. I had to try it, and try it again, and try it again! (In fact I spent most of the Chilli Fiesta trying numerous Chilli/Banana combo's - some more of which will be mentioned in a later post). WOW! It was fantastic.. It was so good that I bought the entire range of Chef Bernie's sauces, which I am still working my way through and enjoying every moment of it.. Hands up.. the Banana Ketchup is finished and I need more, and soon! You can check out the full range of Chef Bernie's products by following this link.