Review: Enjoy Life Plentils, Margherita Pizza

Brand:  Enjoy Life Plentils

Flavor:  Margherita Pizza

Where to get it: here @ AbesMarket.com

                These are probably my favorite of all the “chip substitute” snacks I have tried. They have a great texture, and the flavoring is strong enough to satisfy my flavor cravings. They don’t taste like potatoes cobbled together with flavorless air like a lot of the other products I have tried. I ate some of these plain, which was good, but then I made some tuna salad and scooped it up with the Plentils, and that was REALLY good. I also feel like these would be great on a sandwich, if you’re the kind of deviant that puts chips ON sandwiches. I am that kind of deviant, so there will be no judgment from me.

               

Tastes like:  Light & airy herb crunchies

Taste rating:  7/10

Qualities:  Gluten Free, Non GMO, All natural, Halal, Kosher, Vegetarian, Vegan, Made in the USA

What’s in it:

Review: Zouq's Curry Crunch Snack Mix

Brand:  Zouq

Flavor:  Curry Crunch

Where to get it:  here @ Zouq.com

                I love curry flavor, but I usually find actual curry a little too rich after a couple of bites, which I blame solely on most chef’s overuse of coconut milk. The awesome thing about this snack mix is that you get all of that delicious curry flavor, with none of the ooooog, too much! feeling. Zouq also splooshed a little something sweet in here, making it so much better than just a straight-up curry flavor. The tidbits are little, it’s a “sleeker” snack mix, if you will, and I absolutely loved it. Hits the spot for salty or sweet cravings, and I’m excited to see what other products they make that I might snarf up.

               

Tastes like:  Sweet and savory curry

Taste rating:  9/10

Qualities:  Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten free

What’s in it:

Review: The Naked Edge Veggie Go's

Brand:  The Naked Edge

Flavor:  Veggie Go’s (variety)

Where to get it: here @ Abe's Market

                If *I* mixed carrots, apple & ginger together with nothing else, I’m fairly certain that the end result wouldn’t even be edible. Somehow the lovely folks at The Naked Edge take bare bones, natural ingredients, and turn them into one of the best snacks I have found in my quest for weight loss cuisine. These are a lot like Fruit Leather (we’ll talk about those in a future review), but they only have 15-20 calories per snack. Mind = blown.

               

Tastes like:  Fruit leather on a diet (but that mythical diet where you’re never hungry)

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, Non GMO, Kosher, Made in the USA, All natural, Organic, Vegetarian, Vegan

What’s in it:

Review: Yum A Roos Caribbean Crop

Brand:  Yum-A-Roos

Flavor:  Carribean Crop

Where to get it: here @ Abe's Market

                Have you ever gone to a baby shower and played that game where you taste the different baby foods and then try to guess what flavor they are? If you have, then you know how horrible most baby food is. While these snacks aren’t for actual babies (because they have no teeth, I presume), I think they are intended for toddlers who are past the choking-risk age. Don’t quote me on this stuff, since I don’t know anything about children. I am making these assumptions because these little snacks are very healthy, but they taste so bad. The peas are the worst part (and you thought it would be the banana, didn’t you?) and I was looking all over for something to eat just to get the taste out of my mouth after one mouthful of these guys. Simple, organic ingredients…get them for your kids if they will eat them, but skip them for yourself.

               

Tastes like:  How do I get this out of my mouth?

Taste rating:  1/10

Qualities:  Organic, Made in the USA, Vegan, Gluten-free, Non GMO

What’s in it:

Review: Vintage Italia Pasta Chips

Brand:  Vintage Italia Pasta Chips

Flavor:  Marinara

Where to get it: here @ Pasta Chips

                I love all things cracker, but I’m not a big fan of chips, oddly enough. I don’t usually seek out chip-like snacks, but I received these in a monthly snack subscription box, so I thought I would give them a shot. The texture of these is a lot like a baked cracker, and I freakin’ loved them. They come in other flavors (which I haven’t tried yet...and I plan to!), but I don’t know how anything could improve upon the marinara flavor. Slightly herby, a little tomato-sweety, I bet they’re good dipped in tzatziki sauce, but I didn’t make it that far. I love the tiny snack bag size (1 oz.) too, because if I had the full-size bag at my disposal, I’d probably go on a bender.

               

Tastes like:  A Wheat Thin and an angel had a baby

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  All natural, Kosher

What’s in it:

Review: Emmy's Chocolate Chip Macaroons

Brand:  Emmy’s

Flavor:  Chocolate Chip Macaroons

Where to get it: here @ Emmy's Organics

                Raw stuff turned into other stuff is usually gross. It just is. I applaud those who can subsist off of a raw diet, but I will never be one of those people. I was expecting these cookies to taste like either dates or seeds, because that’s what all raw stuff tastes like. BUT WAIT. There must also be some raw sorcery in these Emmy’s Chocolate Chip Macaroons, because ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…they are wicked good. I can honestly say that I would rather eat these than a traditional, cooked macaroon – which are almost always overcooked and dry to me. Just 100 calories per little cookie puck, toss a pack of these in your desk drawer for that 3pm pick me up!

               

Tastes like:  Heaven

Taste rating:  10/10

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

What’s in it:

Review: Barnana Banana Snacks

Brand:  Barnana

Flavor:  Peanut Butter Banana

Where to get it: here @ Barnana

What a very interesting little snack! The pieces were a lot bigger than I was anticipating, about the size of a fresh medjool date. The composition is simple, dried (to about raisin-wetness) bananas wrapped in a shiny peanut butter coating. I couldn’t taste a lot of the banana flavor in these sadly, and I would probably not purchase them again, but I did find them utterly fascinating. I think they’d make a great snack pre-workout, or for kids before/after sporting events.

               

               

Tastes like:  Peanut butter, but a little different

Taste rating:  6/10

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

What’s in it:

Review: I Heart Keenwah Snacks

Brand:  I Heart Keenwah

Flavor:  Ginger Peanut Quinoa Clusters

Where to get it: here @ Abe's Market

                Peanut brittle has fallen a bit out of fashion, in my opinion, but there are a handful of specialty companies bringing brittle back, baby! I Heart Keenwah is doing a pretty good job of keeping the old-fashioned taste for dying in a cut glass candy bowl on your grandmother’s end table. The ginger in these makes them exceptional, and I LOVE that they come in tiny snack bags. If you’re at all a fan of peanut brittle, you won’t be able to put these down.

               

Tastes like:  Peanut brittle, without the stickiness

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free

What’s in it:

Review: Yuki No Yado Snow Senbei

Brand:  Yuki No Yado Senbei

Flavor:  Cream Frosted

Where to get it: here @ Yahiro Mart

                “Healthy” is a very subjective word. Sometimes, it just means low-calorie…and that’s the excuse I’m using to review these here on my “healthy snacks blog”.  It’s okay if you disagree with me, I still love you.  I do. I also love these senbei.  I ate a package of these “by accident” because it came in one of my monthly subscription snack boxes.  I swiftly scoured the internet for somewhere that would sell me mass quantities of these magical little Japanese crackers. They really don’t have any nutritional value, AND there is MSG in them to boot (boo!), BUT they really hit the spot during that lull after lunch where I just HAVE to have something that’s quasi-junk food. At only 73 calories for the whole package (2 pieces), I deem these guilt free!

Tastes like:  Salty, crunchy, sweet corn

Taste rating:  10/10

What’s in it:

Review: Smartfood White Cheddar & Kettle Corn Popcorn

Brand:  Smart Food

Flavor:  White Cheddar and Kettle Corn

Where to get it:  here @ FreshDirect.com (I had some trouble finding the box with both kinds online, check your local grocery store)

                Popcorn is a dangerous snack.  Do it wrong, and it’s worse than chips.  Do it right, and it usually tastes like garbage. I was excited to come across these little bags at the store, only 90-100 calories each! It’s hard to moderate with the *scary horror music* BIG BAG of this stuff, and I usually find myself in “Doing It Wrong!” territory before the first commercial break. With these smaller sizes, you can’t do it wrong…accidentally. When the bag is empty, it’s empty. There are significantly more kernels in the white cheddar bags, but I still really like the kettle corn bags as well. Both make great snacks.

Tastes like:  Popcorn that won’t make you hate yourself

Taste rating:  10/10

What’s in it: