A Trip to Whole Foods - Cheltenham

On Friday, my mum, dad and I traveled to Cheltenham for the weekend for the Literature Festival. On the way in I asked if we could stop at Whole Foods - they didn't need much persuading. I absolutely love Whole Foods. Its products may be slightly above my budget but it's worth just having a wander around the store for the experience. There are lots of freebies and unique products.

Upon arrival we were met with our first free tasters - hot & spicy quinoa chips. I thought they were quite tasty - very light and definitely spicy. My parents weren't that impressed but I grabbed a handful... or two.

Then - oh gosh - THEN, we spotted this table where there was a basket of bread and two types of nut butters to try. Needless to say, my sweet free day went out the window.

The brown one was a hazelnut and chocolate spread - basically Nutella - but so much better because it was made in store, with a better quality chocolate, and nothing extra added. The other butter was salted peanut. Yummaaaay.

I just think this nut butter station is so cool and I would be making my own peanut butter every week if I lived near a Whole Foods. You can choose from unsalted peanuts, salted peanuts, cashews and hazelnut & chocolate. All so tempting, but I went for the salted peanut butter. All you have to do is grab an empty tub, hold is under the machine of your choice and press the green button. It will stop when it's full - so clever.

 

A nut-lover's haven - and this was just one section of a whole row:

Chocolate pearls - yummy, but expensive.

The aisle of tea. Look at all that green tea.

 Just. Yes.

And my favourite - the nut butter aisle:

Where to look first?!

I'm thinking of writing a whole post about nut butters. I'm a little bit obsessed.

I found my dad eyeing up the fruit juices. He settled on the Superberries juice - a combination of blueberries, grape, acai and blackberry. I tried a little bit and it was a bit too sweet for me, but a refreshing alternative to water.

I didn't buy any of these appealing San Pellegrino cans but they looked seriously good I had to take a snap. I absolutely love the orange flavour so I think the blood orange would go down well. Grapefruit looks interesting, although I'm not sure why it's in green packaging?!

I did, however, buy some coconut water. This stuff has been hyped up for about a year now and I've been wondering what all the fuss is about.

I chose the peach and mango flavour - the ingredients said that the drink was purely coconut water, mango puree and peach puree so I had high hopes.

However, after one sip of it I was utterly repulsed and left incredibly disappointed. It didn't taste like peach, mango or coconut at all. It had a savoury taste to it, and it reminded me of what I can only imagine raw chicken juice would taste like. Just, nasty.

Mmmmm sweets. Here, my mum and I tried some chocolate biscotti and chocolate brownie. The brownies were delicious but the biscotti was not to either of our tastes.

But look at the array of cakes and macaroons

Loved the burger cake.

We decided to get some of Mrs Tilly's tablet after eyeing up all the confectionery. Tablet is the Scottish name for fudge, and the texture is crumbly and melt in the mouth - unlike regular fudge. It is really bad for your teeth but so moreish and too good to pass up.

Oh, so many crisps. We picked up a few bags - and I have to say my favourite was the Mackie's crispy bacon. They were so smoky, so bacony. So good.

We decided we had picked up enough stuff to last all weekend and headed to the checkout. The staff were friendly and relaxed, and it was nice to see that they weren't made to wear ugly office-like uniform, but jeans, tshirt and a Whole Foods apron.

There was a cafe area which I did not visit this time, but would recommend it for breakfast or lunch. Their croissants, coffee and soup are all so delicious and there are lots of fresh sandwiches, sushi, pizzas and more made in store. Have you visited Whole Foods?

Review - Cafe Moochoo - Cheltenham

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit one of my favourite cafes in Cheltenham with my sister, Emily. We were out shopping for the day and fancied something light for lunch.

I discovered Cafe Moochoo in 2012 when I was wandering down the end of town I never usually venture towards because once you get past New Look, it isn't the most aesthetically pleasing area. 

However, if you give it a chance there are some lovely second hand book shops and pubs down this end of the spa town and the relaxed, homemade look about Cafe Moochoo drew me in.

The staff are lovely! Last summer when I lived in a flat a bit further down from this area I was in Moochoo's for my falafel wrap at least once a week. Safe to say they knew my order by the time uni started again and I had to move back to the other side of town.

If you like simple, nice food then Cafe Moochoo is worth a visit. They have a variety of wraps, sandwiches and paninis on offer as well as soup and a hot meal of the day. They also have homemade cakes and sausage rolls on display in the front window which are extremely hard to resist, and at about £1.50 each you can't go wrong with a slice of chocolate cake made by the lovely Lara.

Emily chose lemon San Pellegrino and I chose orange. Both refreshing and quite possibly the best carbonated soft drinks out there.

Everything is affordable and delicious but I can't help but order the same thing every time I visit. The falafel wraps are the best I have ever tasted. They are filled with little falafels, mango chutney and a tomato and red onion salad-relish, an excellent combination of flavours that I never would have thought to put together myself. 

The sweet mango chutney and the cool tomato and onion salad-relish compliment the spicy falafels perfectly.

What I love about this place is that when you order a sandwich, that's what you get, and that's what you pay for. Unlike most cafes these days that charge £5+ for a sandwich and then serve it with crisps and salad you didn't ask for, Moochoo serve what they state on the menu, and you can get the crisps and salad as extras if you really want them.

Emily had a sweet chilli chorizo and mozzarella panini - another tasty combo I have never come across before. 

We were stuffed by the time we'd finished so we passed on the cakes that day and got back to shopping.

Have you ever visited Cafe Moochoo? Is there a similar cafe in the town/city where you live? I love these types of places to eat so let me know your recommendations in the comment box below.