Tideford Organics aren’t a wholly vegetarian company, but out of their six varieties of soups, five are vegetarian and four are vegan. They also produce a range of vegetarian sauces, puddings and jellies.

I tried five of their soups and they were all fresh and delicious (even the carrot and coriander one, which isn’t a combination I usually like) and heated up in their pots after just a few minutes in the microwave. The soups are designed to be drunk on the go and have a cardboard sleeve that keeps your hands from burning. The cardboard sleeve is removable, so you could use the pot for something else, after you’ve drunk the soup (might be best to wash the pot first).

Tideford Organics’ products are mostly sold to independent retailers but some of their range can be found in Sainsburys, Tesco or Waitrose.

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Over the next four weeks, innocent will be giving away veg pot offers and discounts a-plenty. What the discount actually is will be completely in your hands: the more people that tweet, the cheaper you eat.

As the number of people who tweet #tweetandeat increases, the discounts will too – whether its veg pots for a pound, half price, or even completely free, there will be all sorts of offers available to download.

Collective buying power is where it’s at. So get your friends, workmates, that bloke sat next to you on the bus tweeting now to push up the Tweet-O-Meter and get more discounts.

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The man who sent me the ‘beyond minging’ artichoke tea (I’m not entirely sure that phrase will be going out in their future marketing materials but it certainly should be their slogan), also sent me a box of Natur Boutique Lotus Green Tea, which is said to aid relaxation. After almost gagging on trying the artichoke tea, I was a tad nervous about trying the green tea. Searching the box for any sign of strange ingredients, e.g. turtle’s anus (which probably tastes like artichoke tea), all appeared to be ok, and on the assumption that they can’t f**k up green tea, gave it a go. And no, they haven’t f***ed it up. It’s a perfectly pleasant green tea. In fact, I’ll even go as far as saying it’s really rather nice.

On the packet they suggest that you drink a cup of it 2-3 times a day 15-20 minutes before eating for 20 days. I’m assuming they don’t mean eat non-stop for 20 days. They also say this on the box of Natur Boutique Diet Green Tea Blend they also sent [review to come soon]. If drinking a cup of tea means you can eat non-stop for 20 days, then I would suggest Natur Boutique only impart this information to a select few, otherwise there’ll be a stampede of chubsters breaking into their head office to loot their entire stock on their way back from Greggs.

And they wouldn’t want that to happen now, would they?

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I got sent some Natur Boutique Artichoke Tea to try.

It was beyond minging.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting a mouth full of artichoke flavoured hot water. I poured it down the sink and made myself a nice mug of hot chocolate instead.

If anyone ever offers you a cup of artichoke tea, just say no.

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Quorn have a new fish range out.

In the past, I’ve eaten Redwood’s Fish Style Fingers quite a few times. The first time I tried them, I was immediately transported back to being 14 years old and getting home from school; they were – as far as I could remember – just like the real thing (although that was only the first time. On subsequent times I’ve had them, they haven’t seemed that authentic [which will be a good thing for many people]. I’ve also tried Redwood’s Thai Fish Style Cakes but they weren’t for me and after eating two of them, the rest of the packet went into the bin.

We gave Quorn Fish Fingers a go and they were ok, but a bit dry and bland and nowhere near the texture of fish (although, I don’t want them too ‘fishy’, just like I don’t want meatfree products too ‘meaty’. I like meatfree products like Quorn and supermarkets’ own range meatfree stuff for what they are, not because they’re ‘fake’ meat [but that's not something I'm going to go into on this blog]).

The new Quorn fishcake range that I’d seen in the supermarket had made me a bit squeamish. Quite a few times, I’d lingered over them but moved on without buying them. That’s probably because while us veggies have been used to burgers and sausages being around for ever, veggie (or vegan; all Redwood’s products are vegan [unlike Quorn that contains milk and egg]) fish products are relatively new. Still, I was brave and put some Quorn Salmon and Dill Fishcakes in the trolley and served them up for dinner.

Unlike a lot of breaded products that are oven baked, these came out nice and crispy. Perfectly crispy, in fact. They’re very thick and substantial – a lot thicker than I expected and that was a bit off-putting. Also a bit off-putting was the colour; a pale greyish pinkish colour. A faint taste of fish came through but not overpowering. On the whole, they seemed a bit weird at first, but perfectly pleasant, although not something I’d have on a regular basis.

Now then, when will I be brave enough to try the Quorn Tuna Style Melts that are currently in the freezer?

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Veatable Savoury Snack Bars are a new chewy, savoury snack from Crendon Foods that you keep in the fridge, unlike most crunchy, sweet snack bars that you keep in the cupboard. They’re one of your 5-a-day, only 99 calories per bar, high in fibre, suitable for vegetarians (obviously, otherwise they wouldn’t be on this blog), gluten and wheat free, and free from artificial flavourings, colourings and preservatives.

That’s where the good bit ends.

I got sent all three flavours to try: Tomato Pizza, Thai Sweetcorn, and Sweet Roast Vegetable. Being a complete pizza lover, I eagerly ripped off the wrapper from the Tomato Pizza variety and thought, ugh.

Not very appetising is it? Still, who cares what it looks like, it’s going to taste of pizza, yay.

Did it heck. It tasted like, oh, I don’t know what. It was flipping horrible though. So horrible I couldn’t get further than one bite. One bite that was full of grit. The rest went immediately into the bin.

I was too scared to try the other ones for a few weeks, but then I decided to be brave (OK, I admit it, I was out of crisps). Not being a huge fan of sweetcorn in stuff, I gave the Sweet Roast Vegetable flavour a try. This time I didn’t even get as far as one bite. Well, I did, but it didn’t get swallowed as I spat it out into the bin.

Inedible.

If this hasn’t put you off, I’ve still got the Thai Sweetcorn one left, if anyone’s brave enough to try it. If so, just leave me a comment and I’ll post it off to you.

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Innocent asked me if I wanted to try out their new veg pots and this morning a courier delivered to me a big box containing four to try, including their brand new Portuguese red pepper piri piri veg pot and a sneak preview of their Thai sweet chilli veg pot that launches in April.

Also in the box was a hessian bag containing fresh thyme and parsley plants (which can be put into an empty veg pot with some more compost and left on a sunny windowsill [remembering to water them every now and then], four wooden forks and some purple napkins with white polka-dots.

Lovely.

Each pot has a cardboard sleeve wrapped around it with heating instructions and on opening today’s pot of choice which was the Innocent Piri Piri Veg Pot, saw a serving suggestion of ‘try adding some cooked prawns’.

THIS KIND OF THING REALLY WINDS ME UP!

Bah.

According to the card that also came with the veg pots, since January their entire rage of Innocent veg pots has the Vegetarian Society’s special stamp of approval. The one I opened didn’t display the special stamp of approval, so I’m assuming that when it does, it won’t suggest serving it with a dead prawn or two.

I heated up my veg pot in the microwave as instructed (you can also heat it on the hob but it recommends it to be heated in the microwave: saves on washing up, too) and had a peek in the pot. Cubes of potato mingled with beans and red pepper in an orangey red sauce. I generally avoid cubed potatoes after an unfortunate experience involving some Bombay potato consumed a few years ago, but I won’t go into that now.

On the cardboard sleeve, it says it’s spicy. There was a hint of paprika but no real spiciness and definitely no chilli kick. Then again, I haven’t got much of a palate, and would definitely fail Masterchef’s taste test.

On the whole, it was fresh and tasty and not like a microwaved ready meal at all (apart from the fact it is a microwaved ready meal, obviously).

Recommended if you’ve forgotten your packed lunch and need something tasty, quick and easy to eat in the office (although I’m not a fan of people eating hot food in offices but I work alone at home and can stink the place out as much as I like).

Nutritional bit:

Naturally low in fat
300 calories
3 portions of your daily veg
High in fibre
Source of protein

Suitable for vegetarians and vegans (if you don’t follow their serving suggestion)

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I love salad dressing but as I love to drown my food in sauces and dressings, I usually choose a low calorie one. The problem with this is that they don’t usually taste of much, so when I got sent some Righteous All Natural Salad Dressing to try, I was a bit perturbed on reading the label that it contains 66 calories per 15ml.

Still, as I don’t like to eat too much crap, I was pleased to see that they’re made of 100% natural ingredients, with no additives, preservatives, thickeners, flavourings and also they’re vegan (it says 100% vegan on the label, but surely you can’t be 99% vegan?)

Today with my lunch of salad leaves, red pepper, feta cheese, sweet corn, kalamata olives, cucumber and tomato (I would have had some cannellini beans too, but after opening the tin and draining them, I forgot to add them), I tried out the Ginger & Toasted Sesame Dressing and keeping in mind the 66 calories per 15ml thing, I didn’t pour half the bottle over my salad.

I didn’t need any more than 15ml as it was delicious and I’m looking forward to lunch tomorrow!

Righteous All Natural Salad Dressings are available in three varieties:

• Ginger & Toasted Sesame
• Lemon & Mustard Seeds
• Raspberry & Sweet Basil

and each 225ml bottle retails at £2.69 and available from Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Whole Foods and Partridges.

For more information, visit www.loverighteous.com

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