Review - Go Healthy New York Date Bar

Brand:  Keep Healthy

Flavor:  Apple Date Bar

Where to get it: here @ KeepHealthyInc.com

                 I was really surprised to see that this bar doesn’t have any added sugar in it. I know dates and raisins can be very sweet, but this flavor blend is really outstanding. The almonds and walnuts take the sweet down a little so it’s not downright syrupy, but they don’t make this bar taste like another nut bar at all. The texture is great, moist (sorry), chewy, but not goopy or slimy. You know how sometimes these fruit bars “sweat” and get a little weird? This one didn’t do that at all. Truth telling – I actually ate this one 2 months past its “best by” date and it was still pretty much spectacular. If you’re a fan of dates and raisins, and you’re tired of eating trail mix, get some of these bars. You can even eat them one-handed.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Sweet date heaven

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free

What’s in it:

Review - Chef's Cut Buffalo Style Chicken Jerky

Brand:  Chef’s Cut

Flavor:  Buffalo Style Chicken Jerky

Where to get it: here @ ChefsCutRealJerky.com

                This review is going to be very short and simple. Do you like hot wings? Then you’ll like this jerky from Chef’s Cut. Boom, end of story. You can even eat it at your desk, in your bed, and in the car without making a mess or getting in trouble.

At 70 calories (1g fat, 2g carbs, and a whopping 12g protein) per ounce, this snack is damn near perfect.

               

Tastes like:  BUFFALO CHICKEN WINGS!!!!!!11!!!1!1!!!!

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Gluten free, Made in the USA

What’s in it:

Review - Bites of Bliss Bar

Brand:  Bites of Bliss

Flavor:  Pineapple Coconut Superfood Bar

Where to get it: here @ MyBitesofBliss.com

                                I love pineapple, coconut, and dates – basically everything that this bar is made of. Unfortunately, I didn’t love this bar. I’m trying to figure out exactly how that makes any sense at all. I wonder if it’s the kind of dates that they used? The bar had a very robust flavor, almost like rum. I couldn’t taste the pineapple at all. The coconut does make a nice presence in the form of actual shreds throughout the bar, but provides just an undertone of flavor. I’d skip this one, unless you’re a dark liquor fan.

                 

               

Tastes like:  …rum raisins?

Taste rating:  3/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Morning Sunshine Kitchen Cookies

Brand:  Morning Sunshine Kitchen

Flavor:  Dark Chocolate & Fix

Where to get it: here @ MorningSunshineKitchen.com

                 There is A LOT going on with this cookie. In fact, I think that there are probably more mix-ins than actually cookie substance. It’s cookie-shaped, but as soon as you take a bite, it crumbles quite a bit, and ends up a lot like trail mix. It is tasty though, but if you’re in the mood for a cookie, you might not be too stoked to find yourself tucking in to a pile of seeds and raisins along with it. The nutrition is also a pretty heavy hitter, this is more of a meal cookie than a treat – 269 calories & 14g of fat, don’t take this little mound lightly.

               

Tastes like:  Crumbly cookies with trail mix in them

Taste rating:  6/10

Qualities:  Gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, all natural

What’s in it:

Review - 180 Degree Snacks Cashew Crunch

Brand:  180 Degree Snacks

Flavor:  Cashew Crunch

Where to get it: here @ CrumCreek.com

                The only people who have a reason not to eat these are people with tree nut allergies. There’s no excuse for anyone else. Sweet & salty blocks of cashews, what’s not to love?? Salt, sugar, nuts. No weird soy crisps binding it together, no flax seeds to get stuck in your teeth, no bizarrely placed cranberries ruining my life. 4g sugar, 4g protein, vegan, gluten-free…this just really fits into every diet. The packaging is also really dynamic, and anyone who’s been reading this blog for a while knows that I’m a sucker for great-looking packaging so I can feel special when pulling out my purse snacks in public.

Tastes like:  Kettle corn cashews

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  Kosher, vegetarian, vegan, all natural, gluten free, Made in the USA

What’s in it:

Review - Exo Cricket Flour Protein Bars

Brand:  Exo

Flavor:  Apple Cinnamon Protein Bar

Where to get it: here @ ExoProtein.com

                Let's talk about bugs ba-by, let's talk about you and me-e, let's talk about all the good things and the bad thing that we eeeeeeeeeeaaaat...

Have you heard of these Exo protein bars? If not, the thing that makes them noteworthy (and somewhat newsworthy), is that the protein source is crickets. *Gasp* BUGS?!?!? Amigawd, how like, totally disgusting, right?? Well...perhaps a little perspective will help with this one:

I'm guessing that a lot of the treats you eat semi-regularly, or have at least tried a time or two without repulsion of any sort, contain bugs. Not bugs like accidental bugs-fell-into-the-vat-at-the-warehouse bugs, but bugs, as an ingredient, on purpose. Don't believe me? Junior Mints, Birthday Cake Oreos, Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, Mike & Ike's, Hot Tamales and many other products contain Confectioner's Glaze. Confectioner's Glaze is almost always made from beetles. (There is a plant-based alternative, but it's much more expensive, and is rarely used in the US.) These little ground up (female) Lac Beetles are what make those movie-time treats shiny.

So, now that we've hopefully established a path of logic that won't make you disregard a sustainable protein bar because it's made out of bugs, and you don't eat bugs (except when you do), let's talk about the actual product at hand, sans the bug issue.

Crickets have kind of a nutty flavor, so it's smart that the first ingredient in this bar is almonds, which helps to harmonize any weird trigger your brain might start to attach to being "bug-flavored". The bar itself tasted kind of like a nut bread...maybe if you made banana nut bread and left out the bananas. It's soft and has a good texture, but is high in fat 14g (almonds, flax, coconut), and you can actually see it leave your fingers shiny. There are also 26g carbs - 16 of which are sugar (honey and fruits). At 290 calories, 16g sugar & 14g fat...that's a lot of macro-fudging for just 10g protein.

Don't get me wrong, I love this idea. There's no nasty, chalky protein cloud swirling around ruining your mouth for 10 minutes after you've finished the bar. Sustainable cricket flour is a great idea, and this bar is full of all natural ingredients. I can live with the fat, because it adds up in a hurry when you're dealing with nuts, but I feel like there is something that could be done about the sugar content here. Swap the honey for some Stevia? Ditch the plum paste for applesauce (the apple flavor wasn't very strong)? I don't know what works and what doesn't, but there's gotta be a way here without affecting the taste too much.

At any rate, I think this is a great idea, and I hope Exo keeps growing and expanding. You're eating bugs anyway, at least Exo has the balls to tell you about it up front.

               

Tastes like:  Nutty bread

Taste rating:  7/10

Qualities:  Gluten free, Made in the USA

What's in it:

Chipz Happen, and they're freakin' awesome!

                A short while ago I wrote this review about some chips (Chipz, as it were) that had me over the moon. Well, the nice people who make these Chipz noticed, and were just heartbroken that I had only been able to try one of the four flavors that they make, so they sent me a big ol’ delicious box of their Chipz! Alright, maaaaaaaaybe heartbroken is a stretch and they didn’t use those exact words, but the end result was the same – Chipz have happened to me!

                The three flavors that I hadn’t tried are Himalayan Pink Salt, Spice-z Parmesan Garlic, and Cinnful  Sweet Heat. They also included the Parmesan Garlic which I had tried, and honestly I’m pretty thrilled to have more of. The Himalayan Pink Salt and Cinnful Sweet Heat are vegan, so there’s really no reason for anyone to have to miss out on these snacks.

                Something else these fine folks have done is start the Kidz Happen Foundation - kidzHappen.org. This foundation awards scholarships to kids who might not be able to attend college without financial assistance. Chipz Happen donates a percent of their sales to these kids. As a small business, this isn’t something they’re obligated to do for PR reasons, or to get a big tax break at the end of the year, this is something that they have wanted to do for the sake of the kids. That’s a big deal.

                Thanks again for the love, Chipz Happen. Small businesses with fantastic products are the reason I’m here, eating my way through the best snacks I can get my grabby little hands on. Not only are these chipz totally delicious (which I said even before they sent me goodies, so don’t accuse me of taking bribes!), but they sure do care about their product, their reputation, and their customers.

                Have Chipz Happen-ed to you yet? Don’t pass them up if you get the chance!

The site!

Buy the Chipz!

And don't forget kidzHappen!

Review - 22 Days Nut Butter Buddha

Brand:  22 Days Nutrition

Flavor:  Nut Butter Buddha

Where to get it: here @ VitaminShoppe.com (they are currently sold out on 22 Days' site, but here is that link in case they come back soon).

 Here piggy piggy piggy piggy….see that little guy up there? Yeah, the Piggy flying around in the sky above us? He’s pretty stoked, for a couple of different reasons. The first is because this delicious bar is vegan. The second is because someone has FINALLY nailed a “two-texture” bar. The outer chocolate coating is dark chocolate, smooth & firm. The inner coating is noticeably different –chewy, soft, an actual filling instead of just more of what the bar is wrapped in (the nut butter name is really accurate).           

      

It may seem strange that I’m this excited about a detail that most consumers probably don’t even think of once in their bar-eating lives, but right now I have about 25 bars that I have to review. When you’re faced with that kind of variety (and truly, everyone is…you make this choice every time you choose your bar at the store or online), sometimes it’s the extra little things that can make a bar really stand out.

PS – I also super love your packaging, 22 Days.

               

Tastes like:  Dark chocolate & almond butter  

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  Non-GMO, Organic, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free

What’s in it: 

Review - E & C's Heavenly Hunks

Brand:  E & C’s Heavenly Hunks

Flavor:  Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

Where to get it: here @ EandCsSnacks.com

                I’m kind of a sucker for cute packaging, and if you put a red heart on it, you’ll have my attention. If you put a red heart on a package that also contains the words “oatmeal” and “cookie”, I’m getting out my wallet. These Heavenly Hunks are very appropriately named, but they didn’t look quite like the picture on the package (most things don’t, I’m not complaining). They looked like weird little cylinders that made me think…”Oh man, have I overestimated the experience that I’m about to have?”

                Fear not, fellow munchers! The taste on these guys is truly heavenly indeed. They taste like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that has just a smidge of concentrated brown sugar in the middle of them. When I was scavenging for a treat the night after I had eaten them (the whole package, natch), I found myself wishing that I could just eat these again…that’s how you know you really liked something. Anyone who eats gluten-free…I don’t know why you’d buy any other cookie.

               

Tastes like:  Oatmeal brown sugar tasties  

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Gluten free

What’s in it: 

Review - Raw Fusion Almond Berry Bar

Brand:  SAN Nutrition

Flavor:  Raw Fusion Almond Berry Bar

Where to get it: here @ Sann.net

                 Let’s start with the positives on this bar, shall we? It’s vegan (yay bunnies!), the ingredient list is full of good things (broccoli, spinach, almonds), and it has 15g of plant-based protein per bar. As far as taste goes, I found it a little iffy to begin with, and the more I chewed, the worse it got.  The strongest flavors are berry and sesame (there are sesame seeds in it), and they are marginal at best, but I just couldn’t get past the texture.

               

Tastes like:  Putty

Taste rating:  3/10

Qualities:  Vegetarian, Vegan, Made in the USA, all natural

What’s in it: