Party Night Snack Ideas

On the Bloggers Night In, that I recently attended meeting lots of lovely people, food and drink was an integral part of the evening.  We were lucky to try some new brands, foods and flavours, most of which turned out to be surprisingly tasty and definitely on my shopping list for Christmas snacks this year.

First we tried Wonderful Pistachios, a range of all natural nuts from California, roasted and come in Plain, Salted, Salt & Pepper or Sweet Chilli flavours.  I tried the salted which made a lovely snack, perfectly roasted with a nice crunch, a great evening snack with a glass of wine.  I was also drawn to the Salt & Pepper flavour and I have to say they were utterly divine.

The Salt & Pepper flavour with the nuts works beautifully and I could have sat and ate the whole pack if I didn’t have to share them with 9 others!!  I am really pleased to have discovered Wonderful Pistachios as they are not a nut that I would normally have bought but these are delicious – can’t wait to try them again.

Next up were Popchips, a new crisp type of snack that are made of potatoes that are popped just like popcorn.  Not baked or fried meaning they are a lot healthier than normal crisps and come in a less than 100 calories per serving!  The flavour that caught my eye was the Salt and Pepper, and I can assure you it didn’t disappoint – they were really tasty.  A light but tasty snack, so versatile – perfect for a snack at work, with lunch, with a glass of wine in the evening.  These are definitely one for my regular shopping list.  And best of all Popchips are low calorie, just what I need for a treat on the run up to Christmas.

Mr Trotters kindly sent us some of their popular pork scratchings to try but being vegetarian they aren’t for me.  What I was pleased to find though is that they have just brought out a new range of proper potato crisps that are indeed vegetarian.  They are sliced and cooked with their skins on and include a sprinkling of Mr Trotters Original seasoning.  This gave the crisps a rich, luxurious crisp bursting with flavour that was absolutely delicious, so moreish in fact that I polished off the pack on my train journey home from our Girls Night In!

I always think of Ryvita as one of those snacks to have when I am trying to lose weight but no longer!!  They have brought out these new Cheddar and Black Pepper Thins Bites.  Being on the healthier side they are drier than some other snacks out there but add a bit of cheese and a glass of wine, and voila, you have a delicious Saturday night treat!   You can probably tell by now that I have a soft spot for black pepper meaning the taste of these really appealed to me and I love the versatility of these Ryvita Thins, from a low fat daytime snack to a girls night in treat with wine – Perfect!

Olive It! sent us some olives to try in a variety of ways.  Their website is dedicated to inspire, surprise and delight you on ways of using olives.  With three chefs on board the Olive It! campaign there are plenty of recipes to try and with me not personally being a fan of olives I brought a tin back from our girls night for my olive loving husband to try.   With 3yr old Mister B being my kitchen assistant for the afternoon he carefully mixed together some olives with olive oil and blue cheese for daddy to try.  Daddy’s verdict – delicious!  It’s definitely inspired me to be a bit more creative with olives as they are one of my husbands favourite snacks – it’ll also be good to put out when I have guests round rather than a plain bowl of olives.  Do check out the Olive It! website for more ideas and inspiration.

I have to say that I was very impressed by the snacks I tried on our Girls Night In.  My eyes have been opened to new products and interesting flavours, and I’m thrilled with the variety of black pepper snacks on the market at the moment – a flavour that really appeals to me and tastes good, a bit more grown up than some other snacks around.  I will definitely be buying these products to use over the Christmas period and beyond and can’t wait to share my new findings with friends and relatives.  I hope something from the above selection of snacks has inspired you – go on, why not try and taste them for yourself!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions. We are not paid for reviews although we do receive the product to try out and enable us to write the review.