Review: Oloves Olive Snacks

Brand:  Oloves

Flavor:  Tasty Mediterranean (looks like these have been rebranded as Basil & Garlic)

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                Oloves are a glorious collision of a great-tasting, healthy snack, and a brilliant idea. Perfectly sized little snack pouches of wonderfully-seasoned olives (they have many different kinds) – and only 50 calories for the whole bag. If you’re a fan of things that are pickled and/or salty, you need these in your lunch and in your life. They don’t even have to be refrigerated, unless you open them and somehow manage not to devour the entire satchel, and I feel like that's not a real thing. They’re also perfectly-sized to dump on a salad, or a pita. I literally can’t find anything wrong with anything about these. I love you, Oloves.

                 

Tastes like:  Perfectly seasoned salty green yum bites

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, Kosher, Vegetarian, Vegan, all-natural

What’s in it:

Review: Gorge Delights Just Fruit Bar

Brand:  Gorge Delights Just Fruit Bar

Flavor:  Assorted

Where to get it: here @ Gorge Delights

                If it says “pear”, I will buy it. If it says “apple”, I will almost always buy it. These bars are super thick and super dense. There is not a thing in them but fruit, which is totally awesome. Apparently, I need a little something else though, because I didn’t love these like I thought I was going to. They weren’t yucky, but I wouldn’t buy them again, sadly. If you don’t mind a more muted, less sweet fruit flavor, you might love these bars. They are also uncrushable, which makes them perfect for bags and packs, and a great idea for a low-blood sugar emergency item.

               

Tastes like:  Super hardcore fruit leather. Fruit heavy leather.

Taste rating:  5/10

Qualities:  Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-free, all-natural, Non-GMO, Made in the USA

What’s in it:

Review: Way Better Snacks Sweet Chili Corn Tortilla Chips

Brand:  Simply Sprouted Way Better Snacks

Flavor:  Sweet Chili Corn Tortilla Chips

Where to get it: here @ Abe's Market

                For once a company who has adopted a somewhat boastful name can back it up. These chips are WAY BETTER than traditional mass-market tortilla chips, which I find to taste like corn dipped in oil. These chips have substance, they have flavor, and they’re sturdy enough that you won’t end up with broken off, soggy corners milling around in your salsa tub. The sweet chili is true to flavor, just enough spice to make your lips tingle a bit, but not enough that I would consider these chips truly spicy, and my spice-threshold is not very high, so you’re safe. Plus they’re full of all kinds of good, natural ingredients. If you’re going to eat a chip, you might as well pick one that cares about quality ingredients…and they’re delicious, so that definitely helps. 

               

Tastes like:  A real-food tortilla chip with amazing flavor

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, Non-GMO, Kosher, no artificial ingredients, Organic, Vegetarian, Vegan

What’s in it:

Review: 2 Degrees Cherry Almond Food Bar

Brand:  2 Degrees

Flavor:  Cherry Almond

Where to get it: here @ 2 Degrees Food

                Cherries and charity, this bar is a dynamic duo – but no one has to be the Robin. Not only does this Batman & Batman bar taste great, but 2 Degrees also donates meals to hungry children around the word. You can feed yourself while you feed a child who needs your help, what a fantastic business model. The bars have great taste, and aren’t overtly “seedy”, so you can actually taste the featured flavors. The bar I had was full of sweet and subtly tart cherries and I really enjoyed it. It’s dense enough that it won’t disintegrate in your pack or purse too, so have bar may travel, my diabetic and active lifestyle friends!

              

               

Tastes like:  Tart & soft yummy bar

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  Vegan, Vegetarian, Non-GMO, Gluten-free

What’s in it:

Review: Lenny & Larry's Pumpkin Spice Complete Cookie

Brand:  Lenny & Larry’s

Flavor:  Pumpkin Spice Complete Cookie

Where to get it: here @ Lenny & Larry's

                When I got this absolute BOMB of a cookie, I was like…I CANNOT EAT THIS, nor can I review it on a “healthy snacks” blog. I felt like I should hide it. First of all, it’s heavy. It weighs a QUARTER OF A POUND. I hefted it, wailing, because I knew I was going to eat it. I’m powerless against pumpkin. Why was this happening to me?? Once I regained rational thought and vision, I studied the little stud. No eggs, no dairy, all natural, vegan…so no butter. No eggs. No milk. Now I’m interested.

This is a unique cookie, to say the least. JUST BE CAREFUL. If you eat the whole thing at once, it’s a meal. It has 420 calories, *60* grams of carbs (ouch, but hey, it IS a cookie), and 14 grams of fat. That’s not too terrible, if that’s your entire lunch. Unless you’re hiking with no other real food on you, you’re not going to want to make this your entire lunch. So here’s what I did: I took a pizza cutter, and cut it into quarters. I put each quarter into its own snack bag, and took one quarter with my lunch for 4 days. That gives you a little over 100 calories, 15 carbs, 4g protein, and about 3g of fat. It’s the perfect sweet little lunch finisher.

PS - They have other flavors, too. I'm DYING to try the Lemon Poppy one!

               

Tastes like:  Pumpkin cookie! (It’s good.)

Taste rating:  9/10

Qualities:  Vegan, All natural, Non-GMO, Kosher, Vegetarian

What’s in it

Review: Go Vida Dragon Fruit & Dulce de Leche

Brand:  Go Vida

Flavor:  Dragon Fruit & Dulce de Leche

Where to get it: here @ Go Vida Foods

                This past summer I had my first ever fresh dragon fruit. They are pretty uncommon in the Pacific Northwest, and when you can find them they are very expensive. I shared one with a friend when I was in California (she had never had one either, we had a moment), and it still cost $6 for a single fruit. My thoughts on the fresh fruit were, “Wow, it’s so pretty! But it mostly tastes like a kiwi, which are about 50 cents.”

The freeze-dried version is actually BETTER than the fresh fruit, in my opinion, and a lot more portable. My only complaint is that there wasn’t more of it in the pack, but again, dragon fruit is expensive as hell so I can’t really blame Go Vida. The dulce de leche pieces are interesting, they taste a little like caramel meringues. I could take them or leave them, but they do add more substance to the precious few pieces of the dragon fruit in the pack. All in all, I deem this snack innovative and very delicious. I’ll be on the prowl for more of it.

               

Tastes like:  Freeze-dried fruit, but like…better

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, no artificial ingredients, vegetarian

What’s in it:

Review: Life Choice Peanut Butter Extreme Protein Bars

Brand:  Life Choice Protein Bar

Flavor:  Peanut Butter Extreme

Where to get it: 

                These bars offer a big dose of peanut butter flavor, but also a big dose of delightful protein.  More filling and about twice the calories of my favorite little peanut butter bombs, these really do hit the spot if you are HUNGRY and about to crack. Loads of vitamins and minerals, I also keep these in the fridge. I’m not sure where my desire for cold peanut butter came from, but it’s seriously in full force during the summer. My gym is about 15 minutes from my house, so I often cut one of these in half and eat half on the way there and half on the way home; in the car, singing at the top of my lungs and spewing peanut crumbs all over the steering wheel. It’s a lease anyway. Real talk.

               

Tastes like:  Semi-sweet peanut butter bars

Taste rating:  7/10

What’s in it:

Review: Skout Raw Pumpkin Seeds

Brand:  Skout

Flavor:  Sea Salt Raw Pumpkin Seeds

Where to get it: here @ Skout Organic

                If you’re into pumpkin seeds, you NEED these in your life. I mean it. Roasted perfectly, because they aren’t roasted They’re raw, but they’re perfect. The amount of salt is perfect, the packaging is perfect, the nutrition is perfect. Not a lot to say, because this is simply simple goodness at its finest.

               

Tastes like:  The best pumpkin seeds money can buy

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Organic, Gluten-free, Non-GMO, Raw, Kosher, Vegetarian, Vegan

What’s in it:

Review: Health Warrior Chia Bars

Brand:  Health Warrior

Flavor:  Chia bar (variety)

Where to get it: here @ Health Warrior

                Hello, you perfectly-sized tiny little powerhouse of a snack! 100 calories per bar? Yes, please! I love, love, love the texture of these Health Warrior Chia bars. If you’re the kind of weirdo that gets excited when a glob of chia seeds get stuck together in your smoothie and then you get to chew them (why is that so fun to me?), then you will love these as much as I do. They come in all kinds of flavors, I devoured the apple cinnamon one before I remembered that I needed to take a picture. These are a definite winner in the “so many bars, help!” snack race.

               

Tastes like:  Fig Newton-granola bar-fruit casserole

Taste rating:  9/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, Kosher, Vegetarian, Vegan

What’s in it: (Mango flavor bar)

Review: Peeled Snacks Apple-2-the-Core

Brand:  Peeled Snacks

Flavor:  Apple-2-the-core

Where to get it: here @ Abe's Market

                Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union between everything Peeled Snacks makes and Bree’s mouth. Seriously, these guys can do no wrong. “But it’s just more dried fruit, what are you going on about?” I don’t know. I don’t know why these are so much better than any other brand. The aforementioned pineapple is fantastic, and the apple offering is equally great. Perfect texture, perfect moisture content, perfect sweetness level. And there’s nothing in here but apples. So…I can only assume that their process is next-level, and ooze tons of praise on the company that keeps making me so happy with their wonderful, simple snacks.

               

Tastes like:  Delicious, moist apples

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, Non-GMO, Organic, no artificial ingredients, vegan, vegetarian

What’s in it:

Review: Simply 7 Quinoa Chips

Brand:  Simply 7

Flavor:  Quinoa Chips

Where to get it: here @ Simply 7

                Growing up in a small town, there was a sandwich shop called The Sub Shop (creative, I know) nearby. I always used to get these chips called Munchos with my sandwich. They stopped selling them (at least where I lived) for many years, and when I was a grown up I managed to find them in Canada, and I felt like a tiny slice of my childhood was reborn. Now, they sell them again in my local grocery store, but of course I never buy them because I am no longer a child that doesn’t care about nutrition. Simply 7’s quinoa chips taste EXACTLY like Munchos, but without the greasy yuck feeling. You could even go so far as to say that they taste BETTER than Munchos. I will allow it. I LOVE these chips. They are salty as heck, and so crunchy and delicious. A 1 oz. serving delivers a pretty reasonable 140 calories, especially when you consider that there are *9 grams* of protein in that ounce.

                               

Tastes like:  Munchos, without all the grease

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, Non-GMO, No artificial ingredients, Vegetarian, Vegan, Kosher

What’s in it:

Review: Zone Perfect Greek Yogurt Bars

Brand:  Zone Perfect

Flavor:  Greek Yogurt Raspberry

Where to get it: 

                Here we have an almost perfect mixture of granola bar, cereal bar, and nutrition bar. Chewy like a granola bar, but not as sticky or moist as one, but not quite as dried out as those other bars infested with soy pellets. The raspberry flavor is perfect and you get quite a good dose of it. I really like these bars for times when you know you’re not going to make it to dinner time, but you don’t want to eat so much that you don’t want dinner at dinner time. I think that’s called “a snack,” and I think it’s a concept that’s easy to do wrong. Zone Perfect does it right.

               

Tastes like:  A raspberry granola bar, but with more substance

Taste rating:  8/10

What’s in it:

Review: Cottage Kitchen Cheddar & Chive Crackers

Brand:  Cottage Kitchen

Flavor:  Cheddar & Chive Cracker

Where to get it: here @ Abe's Market

                These are really phenomenal crackers, because they taste more like cheese than cracker. Not orange-cheese-dust cheese, actual cheese, but crunchy like a cracker. I didn’t taste a lot of the chive, and I wished they were a bit saltier, but I am like, seriously out of control when it comes to salt. I PUT salt on these and then it was ON. The serving size is 4 crackers for 70 calories, which I was initially very skeptical of, but the crackers are quite large and pretty substantial. Not to say that I couldn’t eat more than 4…but I was happy when I cut myself off after 4 for the sake of science and my butt-width. The gist of all this rambling is that these were FREAKING DELICIOUS and I will for sure be eating more of them. Definitely worth a try, if you love crackers like I do.

               

Tastes like:  Crunchy cheese DY-NO-MITE!

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  No artificial ingredients, No added sugars or sweeteners

What’s in it:

Review: Field Trip Beef Jerky

Brand:  Field Trip

Flavor:  Original Beef Jerky

Where to get it: here @ Field Trip Jerky

                I’m “MSG intolerant”. It gives me a headache, racing heartbeat, and flushed cheeks. It’s bad. Every once in a while I’ll cave and eat some Top Ramen just to see if it still makes me feel horrible - and it always does. (Please don’t hold my love for Top Ramen against me. Because college.) If you don’t already know, I looooove salty things. Too much. Ergo, I am a big fan of beef jerky. Something you might not realize if MSG doesn’t make you feel like your face is on fire is that almost all beef jerky has MSG as an added ingredient – not just from the soy sauce, but as an actual additive. 

              There are more and more brands leaving it out now with people being more conscious of eating natural, but I have liked exactly ONE brand of MSG-free jerky before I tried Field Trip. (Tillamook - you can check them out here.) It just never tastes right without it, but Field Trip has it NAILED. I honestly couldn’t even tell the difference between this jerky and the jerky of my carefree childhood. I gobbled my little 1 oz. package of original flavor, and went straight to their website to order the Teriyaki, Honey Spice, and Roasted Sesame flavors. They have a couple other flavors as well, but they sounded too spicy for this wimp. Huge, huge, huge fan of this stuff.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Beef jerky that has MSG in it, but this doesn’t!

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  All-natural, Gluten-Free

What’s in it: