As most of you know by now, I have a cat called Flash (seriously THE most un-fitting name in the world). He’s an old man now and over the years has had a fair few ailments that have left us with large vet bills.

When we first got him we never really thought about pet insurance, I mean no-one plans for their beloved animal to get ill or injured right?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, taking in to account jabs, medications, a few surgeries/overnight stays and other delights, insurance would have been kind of handy! It’s quite a double edged sword though; do you want to pay monthly for something you may never need (I don’t think animals come with a no claims bonus!) and swallow the bills are they come (I’ve coined the phrase “pay as you go pet” for that one), or would you rather be prepared and set aside x amount per month to cover anything your pet might need?

I’d say, if we were just getting Flash now I would be taking out insurance. Treatment for animals doesn’t come cheap. I think we’ve had bills run in to about £500 at times with a combination of operations, tests and follow ups. And you know, for peace of mind and instant access to treatment for my baby, I think I’d rather just set up a direct debit (err, forget about it) and know that it’s there, and I’m sure if I shop around I’d find the perfect balance plan. I can’t imagine how distraught I’d be if I found myself unable to pay for his care.

What do you think? Do you have insurance for your pets? Have you ever needed to use it? Did it cover every aspect of your pet’s treatment?

About Project Ocean

This review has been a long time coming. I first discovered Bear Nibbles over a year ago when they first launched their range of snacks; at the time they were hard to come by and once in my possession were treated like gold-dust. You’ll now find Bear available online, in supermarkets (Waitrose I know for sure stock it) and health food shops which for me, is perfect (although my local Waitrose has decided to stop selling a lot of the range, booooo).

This review is based on what I was able to get locally, so doesn’t cover the full range; if you see any products by Bear that I don’t mention here, try them!
For more information on Bear and their story check out the “About Us” section of the website…they say it better than I ever could! I’ve been in touch with a couple of members of the team and they are all super lovely and passionate about what they do.

Yo Yos are aimed at kids and come complete with Bear trading cards! There are four flavours available…the one I sampled was peach. Each roll (there are two in the pack) equal one of your five a day. The ingredients list is impressively short and the taste is amazing. They are also very diet friendly with each roll being approx 30 calories.
I keep a stash of these in my bag at all times for a quick blood sugar boost.

The Fruit Nibbles also boast an impressively short ingredients list and each pack is under 100 calories. There are two varieties; Cherry and Berry containing plump, juicy dried cherries and berries and the more tropical Mango and Pineapple flavour which has a dryer texture but still tastes exactly like the fresh fruit. I LOVE these. Perfect with some mixed nuts for a mid-afternoon snack.

The Granola Nibbles are the stand out product to me. Again coming in at under 100 calories, these are crunchy snacking heaven. I love them on their own, but also mixed in to greek yoghurt, porridge or ice cream! There is also a tropical flavour that I used to be able to get hold of until Waitrose plotted against me, which is AMAZING. Second favourite is Cocoa Cherry pie which balances out the granola crunch with freeze dried cherries and nibbed cocoa beans.

All Bear products are available on the online shop where you will also find a list of stockists.

If your on Twitter, give them a follow for fun and friendly tweets…Follow_the_Bear

So,
who else has tried Bear nibbles?
Have I tempted you? They really are Grrreat (sorry, I had to)

xxx

I have three lipsticks up for sale here (twitter followers know I’ve been on a spring clean frenzy today!)

Price includes postage to the UK, and I’ll be going to the post office Tuesday. Leave a comment or send me an e-mail if your interested!

Illamasqua Disciple Lipstick. Never used. £8 *sold*

Benefit Flirt Alert Lipstick, used x 1 with a clean brush. £4

MAC Mattene Lipstick in Chock-ful. Limited edition (cult of cherry collection), used 3 or 4 times with a clean brush. £5 *sold*

xxx

Fans of Pret will probably already be aware of Metcalfe’s skinny topcorn. Up until about a fortnight ago I was shamefully un-aware, until a pre birthday coffee date with friends and a need for snackage led me to trying the sweet n salt flavour.

Instant.Love.

As soon as I got home I got googling to find out more about the genius brand. I sent a curious e-mail and was delighted to get a friendly response and an offer of samples for review on Snacking Saturday!

Of all four flavours, suprisingly (and I say surprisingly because I generally hate the stuff) Wasabi was my favourite. So much so I plan on ordering a whole box of it!
The bags are generous sized, yet remain diet friendly at under 130 cals per bag (except for chocolate which comes in at 220).
The chocolate drizzle flavour is a taste sensation with an amazing clash of textures and tastes that satisfied all possible food cravings in one fell swoop!

In short, this stuff is addictive. Buy in bulk. Now! Healthy, tasty and affordable…what more could you want?! (actually, if it could make tea…)

Available at Pret stores and selected other retailers,
or by the box, online.

This my friends, is a revolution in snacking. I urge you to jump on board.

(and yes, it is also cheap and easy and fun to make your own popcorn, but this stuff is the shizzle!)