Weight Watchers Spicy Summer Meals*

Diets don’t have to be boring and this has been proven by the Weight Watchers Spicy Summer meals. Weight Watchers is the worlds leading commercial provider of weight management services and has been going for more than 50 years. The company has helped millions of people across the world transform their lives through healthy weight loss. I was lucky enough to receive a couple of the limited edition meals to try out and review for you here on my blog. These meals are both limited edition and will only be on the shelves for 12 weeks until two different new and exciting meals are released to replace them. The current meals incorporate summer flavours inspired by Brazil and Mexico.

I love that this range encourages me to try new and exciting flavours whilst sticking to a diet plan. The first meal I received was The Brazilian Bahia Chicken which is exclusive to Asda and retails at just £2.59. This is such a great choice and ties in with the Rio Olympics. This meal contains just 300 calories or 8 smart points. The flavours are inspired by Brazil and uses a Bahia seasoning blend with paprika, ground pepper, oregano and garlic. I thought this was really tasty and one of the first microwave meals I have tried that actually looks like the photo on the packet!

The second meal I got to try was the Naked Enchilada and Mexican Style Rice which is available from Asda, Morrisons and Ocado, also retailing at £2.59. This limited edition meal has just 304 calories per pack and is made using only ingredients you will find in your kitchen. This meal was slightly spicier than the previous one but still very tasty. Looking at the ingredient list I can see no nasties, chemicals or foods I cannot pronounce. It is just simple food and delicious flavourings. Taking just 5 minutes to cook in my microwave is very convenient and means I can even take these to work on the days I want a hot fresh meal. If you are following a Weight Watchers diet this meal has just 8 smart points per packet.

The Weight Watchers range of chilled prepared meals promises that every dish is less than 400 calories, low in fat and sugar, contains no artificial colours or flavourings and a source of protein. Overall I thought both of these meals were really tasty and something I would definitely repurchase again. What do you think of these meals? Will you be giving them a go?

*I received these meals free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

Cote Brasserie Norwich Review

When me and James visited York last year we wanted to visit restaurants that we didn’t have in Norwich to make it a unique experience. One of the restaurants we went to was Côte Brasserie and it wasn’t until we looked it up online afterwards that we realised we do actually have one in Norwich too! We had a really nice meal there despite our table being delayed and decided we would treat ourselves to a meal at the Norwich branch seeing as it is so convenient to visit. If you’re visiting Norwich or coming from afar then it is worth noting that Côte Norwich is on Exchange Street. We parked at St Andrews Car Park which was just a couple of minutes’ walk away at the most and only costs £1.80 after 6:30pm right through until the early hours.

I booked our table at this beautifully decorated French restaurant online which was really convenient and it meant I could easily change our booking to a later time when James found out he had work. We arrived about 10 minutes before our allocated time and were seated. The atmosphere was quite noisy, I don’t know if that was because it was a Saturday but I felt as though other tables were shouting at each other instead of talking and generally being loud. There were a lot of groups so this could have been why.

It was quite difficult to find a starter that James would like as a lot of them seem to contain some form of garlic which he hates! We don’t like to appear fussy and I am sure there was the option of having it taken off but we wanted to simply pick something without having to make amendments. Last time I visited Côte I had the French Onion Soup which was delicious. I wanted to try something new this time and went for the Chicken Liver Parfait which was pate with toasted brioche and apple chutney. It was delicious, and just the right amount. James settled on Calamari in the end which was sautéed in garlic and he ate it! I was so impressed. He said that it didn’t taste very garlicky and he enjoyed it.

For our main course we wanted to try something different to what we had last time. I went for the Cassoulet De Toulouse which is duck, Toulouse sausage and smoked pork belly stew with tarbais beans and toasted garlic and parsley croutons. This is something I would never have at home so tasted very luxurious and like a lovely indulgent treat. It was cooked to perfection and served nice and hot. It was very filling and something I would love to try and recreate at home. James had the Fish Parmentier which is essentially Fish Pie and he was impressed with it. The portion sizes were just right.

I couldn’t leave without having dessert and I went for the same dessert that I had when I visited the York branch and that was the Praline Crepe. It tastes like heaven on a plate. Essentially it is just a crepe but the praline filling tastes exactly like melted seashell chocolate and served with the crème Chantilly and caramelised bananas this indulgent treat is everything I crave on a plate. The plus side is because it has banana in it, it’s basically healthy –right? James had Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla ice cream which melted in the middle. I think if I were to return I would go for that for a change!

Overall our meal came to about £60 and that included a couple of drinks. A 12.5% service charge is automatically added to your bill, however this is optional and you can ask to have it taken off if you don’t think that’s fair. We had a great service so we left the bill as it was. I will definitely return to Cote when I want a nice treat. Have you ever been?

Nandos Relaunch - Norwich #NandosRehatch*

Who doesn’t love a cheeky Nandos?! When I was invited to the new relaunched and revamped Nandos recently for a meal I couldn’t wait to get my teeth into some tasty chicken! Nandos invited some of the Norwich Bloggers along for lunch and I was joined by the lovely Charley - I've just discovered her YouTube channel and I love it! The Nandos on Red Lion Street, Norwich has recently undergone a revamp and I could instantly see the difference. It even smelled new!

I ordered the 4 chicken drumsticks which came with 2 sides. I went for chips and coleslaw as I was in the mood for something naughty after being really good lately. It was delicious and served hot. The coleslaw was really creamy which is just how I like it and the chicken hit the spot. I also got myself a drink. Nando's do bottomless soft drinks and even have a new touch screen drinks machine which I enjoyed playing around with.

We were served quickly and efficiently by a smiley member of staff. I love that everyone in here is so happy and it just makes the atmosphere feel really good. We were asked by multiple members of staff if everything was ok or if we needed anything else and they were very attentive.

We were kindly given a tour of the new restaurant by a lovely friendly lady called Claire who was very knowledgeable about the refurbishments and talked us through all of the changes. She even explained that all of the different light-bulbs had different names which I thought was interesting. The decor looks really modern and unique, it's not like anything I've seen before. They've really done a great job of opening it up and it just feels brighter overall. There's even a living wall of plants! 

Overall,  I really enjoyed my meal at Nandos and I really like the new look. The atmosphere is amazing, service great and food is awesome. Will you be visiting soon?

*This meal was free of charge in exchange for a blog review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.