Product Review: Baobab Super-fruit Powder

We were recently sent this magic pot of antioxidant super fruit powder;  Baobab from Minivita! With a healthy mix of vitamins and minerals that offer six times more Vitamin C than oranges, twice as many antioxidants than goji berries and more iron than red meat, Baobab is being described as the new superfruit of 2012.

Packed full of goodness, it's a great natural alternative to multivitamins. I enjoyed my Baobab powder stirred into my yoghurt with breakfast but you could also add it to smoothies, juices or even water.
Baobab is available from www.minvita.co.uk or Holland & Barrett for £14.69.

Baobab fruit powder forms naturally inside the hard-shelled fruit of the African Baobab tree.

Yu! Healthy yoghurt and fruit snacks

Yu! is a new range of fruit bars and pieces, their products are made from real fruit and are completely free from artificial flavourings, colourings and preservatives, using only the best ingredients without compromising on taste. The new range includes:     

• 100% Jus Fruit (RRP £0.67) – delicious bite-sized pieces of dried fruit, one of your 5-a-day and less than 90 calories.
• Yogurt-CoatedFruit Pieces (RRP £0.45)– tasty fruit bites covered in a creamy yogurt coating, containing real fruit and real yogurt.
• Yu! Bars (RRP £1.79 for 3) – 40% fruit combined with cereal in a gorgeously healthy yogurt-coating.

We were sent a few of each flavour for review, they are sweet but taste really natural and wholesome, I'm a sucker for anything yoghurt coated, so these were perfect for me. I have a long commute to work on the tube and I don't always plan my time well enough in the mornings to have breakfast, these were perfect as a snack to tide me over until I could grab a proper breakfast near my office. I also snacked on them before the training runs for my 10k this weekend, as they were light but gave me energy.

I preferred the Yu! Bars over the other products as they were very convenient and handbag friendly, and are available in a range of flavours including strawberry, cherry, wild berry and apricot. I also think the price is great value for money and I will certainly be buying these again to snack on!

I'm sure these would also be great for kid's lunch boxes as they are free from artificial flavourings, colourings and preservatives.

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Find the perfect healthy snack for Yu! with the dried fruit snacks in the home baking sections of Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores nationwide now. 

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Creamy Herb Dip

An easy creamy herb dip, great for a veggie lunch box or to serve with crisps and vegetable batons. Could also work well stirred into a pasta salad.

Ingredients

A selection of herbs; parsley, basil, chives for example

Watercress

Rocket

Spinach

1/4 white onion finely chopped

3 tbsps cream cheese

3 tbsps natural yoghurt

1 tbsp mayonaisse

Sprinkle of paprika 

Splash of Tabasco sauce

Squeeze of lemon

Method

1. Roughly chop your mixed herbs and the salad leaves, and squeeze over some lemon juice
2. Finely chop a quarter of an onion and add to a food processor along with the greens
3. Add the cream cheese, yoghurt and mayonnaise and pulse together
4. Taste and add more yoghurt to loosen if needed. Add the paprika, tabasco and lemon juice and transfer to a bowl
5. Stir to ensure all ingredients are well combined, season with salt and pepper and serve.