Review - Pop Chips Sweet Potato

Brand:  Pop Chips

Flavor:  Sweet Potato

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                I’m not always on board with popped potato snacks, but I am on board, under the deck, and snuggled into the captain’s bed with these Pop Chips. They also hit the magic number, 100 calories in the snack-size bag. There is decent amount of chips in the bag, but I wish there were more…purely for pig-out reasons. I guess you could dip these guys in something if you wanted to, but I really saw no reason to do so. These are one of the best popped snacks on the market, for my calories.               

                 

               

Tastes like:  Crispy, light sweet potatoes

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, Kosher, vegetarian, vegan, all natural

What’s in it:

Review - Stuff'd Dolmas

Brand:  Milas

Flavor:  Stuff'd Dolmas

Where to get it: here @ Amazon

                 I get really suspicious when I see a snack that I think should be refrigerated, but claims to need “no refrigeration” – chocolate milk (full of weird stuff to keep it from spoiling), cheese & pepperoni snacks (yeah…that is NOT cheese), etc. These adorable little packs of dolmas made me immediately suspicious for the same reason. The great thing is…the only thing in these making them shelf-safe is citric acid. That’s it. Everything else is a real-food ingredient. Oh, and the taste? AMAZING. The texture? AMAZING. Super tender, super flavorful, I can’t believe how good these are. In a world full of vending machine lunches, eat a pack (or 2!) of these with that bag of crisps, and you’ll actually feel like you had some real food. Preparation time:  ZERO MINUTES. Boom goes the dolmanite.

                 

               

Tastes like:  The most flavorful snack you’ll ever have

Taste rating:  10/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Fruigees Nothing Beets Cherry

Brand:  Fruigees

Flavor:  Nothing Beets Cherry

Where to get it:  here @ Amazon.com

                Not everybody loves beets. I love beets. However, I love beets in an “on my salad” kind of way. Anytime I have had a juice that has had beets in it, it has had that unfortunate dirt-type flavor. But beets are a superfood, so the more beets you can get into your diet, the better. If you just can’t handle those damn dirty beets and their dirty dirt taste, try this Nothing Beets Cherry squeezer from Fruigees. This pouch is a delicious miracle of cherry wonder. So cherry, so delicious, I bought more of these online less than 5 minutes after I finished my first one. I like to chill them, and then have one right before working out. That fruit sugar really does the trick when I have a long bike ride & some Friends reruns ahead of me after work.              

                 

Tastes like:  Cherry sauce millionaire!

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Non-GMO, Organic, vegetarian, vegan, all natural

What’s in it:

Review - Dark Dog Energy Drink

Brand:  Dark Dog

Flavor:  Organic Energy Drink

Where to get it:  here @ Amazon.com 

                I was pretty excited to try this product. I am constantly in search of low-calorie, natural, taurine-free energy drinks. The packaging is dynamic, the name is cool, and all of the ingredients are derived from plants found in nature. Problem is…it tastes pretty bad. Unsweetened, carbonated prune juice is the closest thing that I could liken it to. I kept trying to drink it, thinking that perhaps it was an acquired taste – but I never even got close to liking it.      

                 

               

Tastes like:  Bitter prune juice

Taste rating:  2/10

Qualities:  Non-GMO, Organic, vegetarian

What’s in it:

Review - Go Vida Grapes & Pineapple

Brand:  Go Vida

Flavor:  Grapes & Pineapple

Where to get it: here @ GoVida.com

                Freeze dry everything you can get your hands on, Go Vida. You’re perfect, everything you make is perfect, and I love you. A lot. I’m not sure what they are doing differently than other companies, but please keep doing it. I love the combinations they make, and the fruit is always sweet and never chalky. I was skittish to try this combo, since pineapple can be so sour when mishandled. There is no sour about this, it’s as sweet and pineapple-y as the non-dried stuff. These are the best pure fruit snacks on the market, for my money.

               

Tastes like:  Big raisins and delicious pineapple

Taste rating:  10/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Essential Living Foods Keen-Wah Bars

Brand:  Essential Living Foods

Flavor:  Keen-Wah Bars (various)

Where to get it:  here @ Essential Living Foods

                These bars are another example of how choosing the correct flavor can make all the difference in the world. I tried Tumeric Goldenberry Pecan and wished that someone would end my life. It should have been called Tumeric Tumeric Tumeric Death. NOPE. Next, I tried the Hemp Maca Goji, and it was just alright, nothing special, but man was I happy it wasn’t a repeat of the first flavor. The third flavor that I tried was the Mate Cranberry Cacao (not pictured), and it was actually something I could eat enough of to process a real review. The texture of these is great, a bit chewy, but easy enough to break off bite-size pieces. The caloric value is perfect for the size. The quinoa doesn’t really factor into the taste much on these bars, so pick one who’s “front ingredients” sound good to you.

               

Tastes like:   Seeds

Taste rating:  5/10

Qualities:   Certified Organic, Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Vegan, Kosher, Made in the USA

What’s in it:

Review - Pop Corners Chips

Brand:  Pop Corners

Flavor:  Various

Where to get it: here @ Pop Corners  

                If you were to ask me, I would tell you that I don’t like popcorn. When it comes in my subscription boxes, I don’t even try it. I give it to my coworker Jessica, who LOVES popcorn. It’s not the taste that keeps me away - it’s the sticking-in-my-teeth-and-gums-until-I-go-insane that keeps me away. I also hold a big grudge against popcorn, because it NEVER tastes as good as it smells, not even at the movie theatre.

                I am so glad that I didn’t let my grudge keep me from trying these Pop Corners chips. The texture is more of a thin rice cake, but the flavor is about a zillion times better than any rice cake ever dreamed of being. It’s popcorn without the hulls, and evenly coated with flavor. The Kettle Corn flavor really blew me away, perfectly salty, perfectly sweet – not too much of either one. If you love popcorn, you will love these. If you hate popcorn…well, I think you’ll still love these. Jessica’s gonna have to get her own bag.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Popcorn without the pain

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Gluten free, Vegetarian, Made in the USA

What’s in it:

Review - Goldbaum's Snap Stix

Brand:  Goldbaum’s

Flavor:  Tangy Ketchup Snap Stix

Where to get it: 

                I discovered ketchup potato chips on a trip to Canada when I was 19. My love for those chips continues to burn, especially since they aren’t readily available here in Washington where I live. I found these Stix and it’s very possible that I squealed aloud. While they aren’t quite the same as a greasy bag of “ketchips,” they’re pretty dang good, and a lot better for you to boot. They’re the “puffy-hollow-straw” variety of shape, which really isn’t my favorite. I tend to think this particular shape of reduced-calorie potato snack is less flavorful and harder to eat, but I appreciate that Goldbaum’s is straying from the usual flavor suspects. Maybe they’ll make me a sweet potato ketchip someday!          

                 

               

Tastes like:  Puffy ketchips   

Taste rating:  7/10

Qualities:  Gluten free, Non-GMO

What’s in it:

Review - Coco Libre Protein Coconut Water

Brand:  Coco Libre

Flavor:  Chocolate Protein Coconut Water

Where to get it: 

                Believe it or not, this was my first time trying coconut water in any form. I have friends who love it, and friends who hate it. After drinking this Coco Libre chocolate protein coconut water, I will definitely be trying more coconut water products. It tasted a lot like chocolate milk that had been watered down a bit, and I don’t mean that in a bad way (it sounds kind of gross). It was just less rich than traditional chocolate milk. I also found this to be a very satisfying 130 calories, and it had a minimal impact on my blood sugar since it has no added sugars. I can’t wait to try the vanilla flavor.             

                 

               

Tastes like:  Weakened Chocolate Milk

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  Fair Trade Certified, vegetarian

What’s in it: