Sinking My Teeth Into Tim's Bits | Tim Hortons Manchester Market Street First Impressions

 Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I recently went to Manchester and whilst I was there, I decided to check out the new Tim Hortons as I haven't been to a Tim Hortons before.

I was staying in Manchester for a few days to celebrate Alex's birthday and we saw Tim Hortons in the distance so we decided to check it out. After wondering what to have for quite a while we decided on getting the Sherbet Lemon Coolers, Tims Smoky Maple Burger, Crispy Meatless Chicken Sandwich and Timbits. 

Sherbet Lemon Cooler 

Cool down this summer with our fruity ice cold Cooler

I'm not the biggest fan of slush based drinks but the drink contained Lemon and I have to try anything that contains Lemon. When Tim Hortons said Sherbet Lemon, they meant it and I liked that about them. The Lemon flavour in this drink made your mouth go ooh whilst still having a slightly sweet edge to it which to me is perfection. The weather was also quite warm which made for more reason to enjoy this drink. I loved it. If you want a good Lemon slushy sort of drink in the Summer then I would definitely recommend this drink. 

Tims® Smoky Maple Burger 

Everyone's new favourite burger. Made with beef, onions, shredded iceberg lettuce, cheese and maple & chorizo sauce ketchup inside a lightly toasted brioche bun. 

I was expecting so much from this burger and sadly it just didn't deliver. This burger was quite small to begin with for the price which was a little bit annoying. The burger patty was juicy and succulent but lacked a tiny bit off seasoning for my liking. The Onions provided a good amount of crunch which I adored. The sauce was great and sweet which complimented the meat. The only problem is that I didn't get Maple and Chorizo. I got more of a sweet and slightly curry powder based taste which I didn't mind but I was expecting the heat and the taste of Chorizo to kick me in the face a little bit. This burger satisfied my hunger but I think that I just wanted a little bit more oomph. 

Crispy Meatless Chicken Sandwich 

Made with a plant based meatless chicken patty, mayonnaise, green leaf lettuce and smokey tomato mayonnaise inside a toasted brioche bun. 

I love a good meatless burger so I had to try it. I quite enjoyed this burger. The flavour of the meatless patty itself was a bit muted but the texture was amazing and resembled meat which was amazing. The batter of the patty was crispy and had flavour running through it. I have had meatless burgers that have been dry as hell and some that have resembled a sponge soaked in Mayo. This one was neither of them which I adored. The Smoky Tomato Mayo added a sort of flame grilled flavour to the burger which I quite liked as not only did it add a bit of depth to the burger but added some sweetness to the burger too. If you're looking for a new meatless burger to try out then I would definitely recommend this one. Even Alex stated that they would come back and get this burger again. 

Timbits

A variety of fillings, sprinkled and powdered mini donut style cake balls

Who doesn't love top bite into a bit of Tim? I have heard so much hype about Timbits so when I saw them on the menu, it was fate. For anyone who hasn't tried Timbits. Imagine little doughnut balls filled with different flavoured fillings all shuffled up in a box to create a sort of surprise tasting experience. There was Churro, Birthday Cake, Apple, Chocolate and other flavoured little bits of beautiful goodness. I liked the Churro inspired one the most. I think it was Churro? I love Cinnamon so anything that was coated in Cinnamon is a good thing to me. I kind of expected a little bit more from the Birthday Cake one as it just tasted of a normal doughnut bite with some sprinkles on top. Overall though, they were amazing and definitely worth the hype! 

Would I go back again? Yeah! I would go back but I would want to try some of the other products that are on offer to try if I was to visit Tim Hortons again. I would definitely like to see what their breakfast menu is like and I would definitely like to try their hot drinks. Overall, Tim Hortons is definitely worth a try if you can get to one. 

Have you been to Tim Hortons before? Let me know down below. 

Thanks for reading!

Jamie x

McDonalds Katsu Curry Chicken McNuggets Review

 Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new blog post. I thought that today, I would talk to you all about the brand new Katsu Curry Chicken McNuggets from McDonalds 

These McNuggets are a part of their brand new promotional menu that is around via stores, drive thru and delivery, from the 30th December and is available for six weeks only. 

I love Katsu Curry and I love fast food. So, when I saw that the two had combined in the format of McNuggets, I had to try them. I was out running some errands with Luke earlier today and remembered that it was the day of their release, and as a McDonalds location was in our reach, I decided to drag Luke along to try some. 

The texture of these McNuggets were amazing. Honestly, I'm not the biggest fan of their original Nuggers because there isn't much of a textural difference and it puts me off a bit. These Katsu ones are different. They contain a spicy Panko coating. When I popped one of these Nuggets into my mouth, a crispy crunch enveloped my mouth making me want to pop another one into my mouth instantly. I loved popping these into my mouth. After the crispness came a wave of succulent Chicken. I'm always a bit dubious of Fast Food based Chicken because it normally ends up being on the dry side. This definitely wasn't the case with these Nuggets. The Chicken was tender and succulent and I loved it. It was such a pleasant surprise!

The taste of these were different. The Panko contained a wonderful blend of spices that danced upon my tastebuds. The spices were warm but not spicy and left me wanting more. I loved these warming spices as they contrasted beautifully against the coolness of the Chicken that lied within. Sadly, I wasn't fully a fan of the Curry Sauce and Nugget combination as the Curry Sauce that was provided had such bold fruity notes, that it, overwhelmed the flavour of the Nuggets themselves. The Sweet and Sour Sauce was a better match for these as it still added a note of fruitiness that you would get within a Katsu Sauce (S&B Katsu sauces contain Apple which gives a fruity roundness to their sauces) but still allowed the palette to grab onto the warming spices. I think that McDonalds should've created a separate Katsu sauce for these Nuggets instead of relying on the Dips that they already have for other products. 

Would I buy these again? Yes I would! I loved the uniqueness of these. I loved the warm notes that were provided by the spices and the Panko coating made me want to go back for more and more. I think that these are a great addition to the McDonalds UK menu, even if they are only available for a short time. 

Have you tried them? Let me know down below! 

Check out McDonalds UK here.

Thanks for reading! 

Jamie x

(This isn't a sponsored post. I just like food a lot and thought I should discuss my opinion on this brand new product to you. I paid for these out of my own money and were not paid for in exchange for a blog post.) 

Lush Soya Bran Exfoliator Body Scrub

Hey everyone!

How are you? Happy that January is finally over? Sad that the rest of the year is going to fly by?

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I thought that today, I would talk to you all about, a new naked product from Lush, that I got to try by going to the new Naked store in Manchester.

I heard about Lush Manchester Market Street being turned into a new Naked shop, and well, the Lushie in my head, told me that I had to go ASAP. The weekend after the launch of the newly refurbished Lush store, I decided to go into Manchester to meet up with a couple of friends, so, I thought that I would check out the new shop as I might as well as kill two birds with one stone.

If you haven't heard of a Lush Naked Shop, then imagine your favourite/local Lush store, now imagine all of the products having no packaging where possible. Obviously the items at a Lush store that need pakaging aren't sold at the Naked store, but to make up for that, the store contains exclusive products that you can't find anywhere else!

I had a look around the spacious shop (if you would like me to do a post on the shop itself, then let me know via the comments or social media), and decided that I wanted to get a new product to try out. After uhmming and ahhing with a friend between the, shower oils, body masks, and, body scrubs, I finally decided on a product. Soya Bran Exfoliator

List Of Ingredients & Scent: 

Granulated Sugar Fine Ground Oatmeal Soya Bran Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter Glycerine Lauryl Betaine Sodium Laureth Sulfate Lemon Peel Powder Bergamot Oil Neroli Oil Brazilian Orange Oil Sicilian Red Mandarin Oil Tangerine Oil Dried Blue Larkspur Gardenia Extract *Limonene *Linalool Perfume

The Sugar ensures that the product has a coarse scrub to ensure that all the dead skin on your body disappears, but, the Oatmeal within this product ensures that it's not too coarse. Oatmeal is very well known for soothing sensitive/irritated skin. The Cocoa Butter ensures that the skin stays soft and smooth which is needed in the British cold weather. The Red Mandarin and Lemon Peel Powder, give this Scrub a very citrus scent, but, the Gardenia gives it a bit of a floral (which reminded me a bit of the old Dorothy Bubble Bar mixed with Lemon Cheesecake.)

How To Use:

So, with naked products, there are many ways to use the product due to its solid form. I wet it lightly via the sink or shower, then, i massage it into the skin in circular motions to ensure the sugary scrub works it's magic. I then leave it on for an extra 30 seconds, and then rinse.

Results:

I loved it. For someone with sensitive skin, its a sensational scrub. The Sugar, Oatmeal and Soya Bran, are soft exfoliants therefore they don't irritate the skin that much. The Scrub as a whole, gets rid of dead skin and makes you feel super smooth.

Overall Thoughts:

I loved it. it had a fresh scent to it. I love how Lush are creating new and creative ideas to help the environment and cut down on waste upon plastic. However, my main problem with the Scrub, was that the Oatmeal and Soya Bran made the product dusty, so if it wasn't in a form of tub or anything, it would make it a bit hard to handle. It only becomes a problem for myself when travelling, but, I loved the product and can't wait to try some of the other naked products that are now available at the Lush Manchester Market Street store.

Have you been to the new Lush Naked Store? Have you tried the new products from the Naked Store in Manchester? Let me know down below on or Social M edia.

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x

Is It Safe To Be Gay In The UK

Hey!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I think the title says it all really but I thought that today I would talk to you guys about why I believe that it's not completely safe to be gay in 2017.

I know that within the UK, we have some rights that ensure that we can be ourselves and we have things such as a legal same sex marriage now compared to things in countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Russia where being gay endures harsher punishments such as jail and concerntration camps but not everything within the UK is rose tinted spectacles.

Let's take going on a date for example... You have to awkwardly seem like you're just two friends catching up in case a staff member catches you and they chuck you out due to the news stories such as the Bakery denying a same sex couple to have a cake made for them. You then can't really show any affection and you're always scared on the actions that you make whilst you're on said date because in public, someone might cause harm to you... The lightest harm might be name calling and the hardest harm that might happen might be physical harm such as being beaten up for being something that you can't control. You end up realising that it's just easier to invite them to a date at home due to the amount of hate that happens...

I know that name calling might not sound like a big deal but when it happens time and time again, it slowly chips away the foundations of your self confidence when out and about.

Sadly, I've had some of the above thrown at me whilst being out in the public and it just makes you feel like you should be like you shouldn't be who you are because then you'd feel safer

Obviously, it doesn't happen everytime but it happens the majority of the time which is the sickening thing.

Sadly, media has helped to socialise the general public and reinforce hegemonic ideas into their minds via using minorities such as homosexual people as scapegoats to ensure that the general public steer their minds away from the truth and put their anger and frustration into something/somebody else. The general sort of lines include the fact that homosexuals are the epicentre and vessel of HIV or AIDS and if we didn't have them then the count for that would be lower when in fact the passing of HIV/AIDS can happen via sharing things such as needles which can be used by anyone not just homosexual people or they write some spiel about how something can ensure that someone is homosexual such as smoking marijuana. I'm not promoting marijuana but how can smoking something once make you instantly be sexually interested in the same sex as yourself. It's ridiculous... I know the nature/nurture debate about topics such as sexuality is a massive thing within society but I honestly doubt the nurture side can happen via partaking in something once...

I know that we have rules and laws in pace such as the Equality Act which ensures that no discrimination against people who are disabled, different sexualities, ages etc but does everyone actually know of this act and do they abide by it because if so then would we really have this much hate which has even gone to murder before because I honestly doubt it if we did... I know that some wouldn't abide by it but not as many that do in today's society.

People aren't safe in the UK but if we gave a little more tolerance and acceptance then we can make society a better place for minorities such as people of colour and the LGBT+ community. Just please take that into account.

What's your opinion? Let me know down below! 

I hope that you've enjoyed this little rambly LGBT+ based blog post and I hope that I've made some sense. I hope that you come back next time for another blog post!

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x 

Dairy Milk Chips Ahoy Review

Meow, so this post is going to be about the Dairy Milk Chips Ahoy bar. It was on offer at my local store. I've never tried Chips Ahoy! so I wasn't sure what I was thinking of the chocolate bar. I haven't done a food review in a long while. If you have tried any of the Dairy Milk/Mondelez UK range (eg Dairy Milk Oreo/Daim etc) then comment down below telling me what you think of them!

So the Cadbury's range has been going for years. It was originally a British brand but was bought out a few years ago by Mondelez/Kraft. This means that they can collaborate with other brands such as Oreo, Daim, Chips Ahoy etc. This also means that they could bring back things such as Eclairs and create new things such as the Marvellous Creations/Mix Up franchise.

The packaging of the bar!

The texture of it is creamy and rich. I know that sounds so obvious but with cheap chocolate bars, it can sometimes feel a bit rough and bitty. It's smooth from the 'glass and a half' milk. Within each square though, it has a knobbly texture from the cookies within each square.

The taste of it is slightly weird. Now imagine your general milky sort of Dairy Milk taste then multiply it by 2 and you'll get the taste of the general bar but then add it the interior of a square with has a chocolate cookie with a hint of nutmeg and mix it all together. It's a good taste but its slightly interesting the first time round then you get used to it by the end of the bar. If you've had Maryland cookies then imagine them mixed into a Dairy Milk bar! 

The actual bar!
From: http://eveningtreats.blogspot.com/

Me and lactose don't get along so I may be in pain after this but it is somewhat worth it just for a blog post.. Yay for lactose intolerance!

So, I'd rate this a 8/10. It's nice but it's not orgasmic. It's chocolate and me so I can never give it a 10 unless it has no lactose in the product. The cookies give it a nice texture and taste. I'd prefer the Oreo one but this one is nice.

So, I hope you've liked this blog post!
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