Have I ever told you how much I love chocolate? I’m sure it’s been mentioned at least seventy thousand times by now and I’m still not sick of it, especially when it’s really good chocolate. Lindt make really good chocolate- I’m yet to meet one of their products I haven’t liked (I’ve avoided trying any combinations I knew I wouldn’t enjoy) and I was intrigued when they released a new bar to their EXCELLENCE range, which is already host to my favourite ever coconut bar. The new flavour is Cherry Intense and I was lucky enough to have been sent a bar by blogging pal Sally.

As you can see, it’s a mighty fine looking bar. Lindt packaging always manages to look sleex and luxurious which is one of the things I love about the brand. This is a dark chocolate bar which was great news to me, given the choice I’ll always opt for good quality dark chocolate. It contains real pieces of cherry as well as slivers of almond for a texture and taste adventure.

I’ve actually only been able to try a tiny bit of the bar as over the last year my throat has decided to get very tight and my skin very red any time I eat nuts, but in the name of blogging I had a bite of this anyway. I can verify that a) it hasn’t killed me and b) it’s really, REALLY good! It doesn’t quite compete with my favourite coconut version but with the rest of the bar teasing me, sitting on my desk looking all delicious I might have to risk my life a second time for another piece.

Have you tried this bar yet? Which Lindt product is your favourite? I’m a sucker for them gold bunnies!

Who doesn’t love an Easter Egg? Up until this year I had spent 11 years missing out; now I’m in a much better place I’m making up for lost time and have already eaten two with around a month still to go! What can I say? I’m well on my well to being healthy about food and well, perhaps egg shaped?!

Easter Eggs are so easy to eat in their entirety though aren’t they? The hollow middle makes you think that there’s nothing really there and before you know it there is just a pile of foil left behind. I’ve heard many a people moan about the hollow feeling left behind- it’s almost like being cheated right?! Not anymore! Today I introduce you to the most genius invention of all time; the best thing since the invention of Easter Eggs themselves…the SOLID CHOCOLATE Easter Egg!

Prepare to have your mind blown.

As you can see, this beast weighs in a a massive 700g (that’s a lot of chocolate!) and is split in to 42 decent sized chunks. I broke in to this whilst Ben was staying at the weekend and between four of us we still couldn’t manage half of the egg, I think the record was Ben’s five chunks in one go so it’s pretty good for portion control. One chunk contains approximately the same calories as a row of Dairy Milk from a sharing bar and to be honest, one chunk at a time is enough!

A note on the chocolate itself, because nobody likes nasty chocolate from an otherwise promising product. No worries here. The chocolate recieved thumbs up from everyone, it really is of a superb quality. The egg looks quite spectacular too. Mine was a bit dusty looking, for want of a better word- I am putting this down to the fact I dropped it at least twice though.

These eggs are made in limited quality and are avaialble on The Solid Chocolate Company website. Available in milk, white and dark chocolate the eggs cost £19.99 each but for 700g of solid, high quality chocolate that aint’ a bad deal. Supermarkets sell hollow eggs weighing less than that for similar prices, this one will leave no hollow aftertaste or regret (and if you ate a chunk a day it could last six weeks, just sayin’).

This really is one of the most genius products ever in my eyes. Will you be asking the Easter Bunny for one? What’s your favourite Easter Egg?

Those of you with good memories may recall I reviewed some Ilumi meals last year and was really quite taken with then, so when they got in touch again to ask if I’d like to trial their Energy Boost Diet I was more than game. Now, I should mention that although this was called a diet, I personally had no weight loss intentions and supplmented the meals and snacks each day to make up my bodys own calorie requirements. The plan claims it can boost your energy in just one week by following it’s gluten free meal plan which is delivered to your door- gluten free lager included!

The box of food you get delivered also comes with a printed meal plan and hints and tips for the week ahead which were really useful to refer to. I actually only followed the plans for a couple of days myself, but Dad also participated and we both really enjoyed the meals! I’m sorry my snapshots of the meals are only phone ones and don’t look the most appetising but these were some of our favourites. For Dad it was lamb casserole served with a vegetable tagine and the Thai red curry with rice that he enjoyed most. My favourites were the slow cooked beef casserole (this from a former vegetarian) which is a complete meal, although I added baby broccoli as well as the chicken cacciatora, I served that with carrot and swede mash (made with butter) as I’m not a huge fan of rice. The lunches were equally delicious- the spicy butternut squash soup was heavenly.

Snack wise you get gluten free oatcakes and breakfast biscuits which were both something I already ate regularly. To get more calories in I ate the oatcakes with hummus or cream cheese. Breakfast was porridge, which I have every day anyway, I had banana with that. Yum.

I’ve never been a fan of the concept of diet plans like this but Ilumi have really changed my mind. Each meal is so delicious and full of flavour. I’m fussy about meat but everything was so lean and tender that I could find no fault. I felt far less bloated on the days I followed this, and it was a life saver for easy meals after my operation- everything is cooked in the microwave so no bending down to the oven or standing for a long time. I didn’t follow it long enough to notice a difference in energy, but with food this wholesome I can imagine getting a real boost. This is something I’d sign up for again in the future when I’m feeling sluggish, I’d still have to supplement it as I don’t want to be losing weight (the plan works out at about 1500 calories per day) but as long as you stick to gluten free it really doesn’t matter.

At £40 for the week I don’t think this is bad- a weekly food shop with breakfast and snacks included would probably cost about this, there’s no waste and you get something different every day. Sure I couldn’t afford to live like this all the time but as  a now and again health boost I think it’s good value.

Have you ever done an energy boosting diet? I’d love to know how you got on, especially if it was this one by Ilumi. Once again the company have really, really impressed me and I’ll continue to eat as much of their tasty food as possible.