Review - Kay's Naturals Protein Puffs

Brand:  Kay’s Naturals

Flavor:  Almond Delight Protein Puffs

Where to get it: here @ KaysNaturals.com

                I think you’re supposed to snack on these out of the package like you would a cracker or chip. I did that for the first 2 puffs, and then immediately dumped them in a mug with some unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I let them sit for a few minutes (okay 10), and they sogged up just a bit. DELICIOUS. I’m having trouble deciding if this was embarrassing or genius. Either way, these little cinnamon balls are snacking good, with only 125 calories per package and a whopping 12g of plant-based fiber. I seriously might just buy more to eat for breakfast.

               

Tastes like:  Slightly salty cinnamon cereal!

Taste rating:  8/10

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

What’s in it:  

Review - Amrita Energy Bar

Brand:  Amrita

Flavor:  Energy Bar, Protein Bar

Where to get it: here @ AmritaHealthFoods.com

                I have such a hard time with raw bars. Is it me? Someone please let me know. I feel like if I was on a raw diet, I would only be able to eat fruit, veggies, and nuts. The presence of sesame in the Apple Cinnamon Energy Bar just killed this for me. I like sesame, and I also like apples. I guess together…not so much. I was actually surprised to see that there was no flax in the bar, it was that “seedily bitter”. I’ll keep trying the raw products, but for now I’m solidly in the “please cook my food” camp.

               

Tastes like:   Cinnamon and sesame

Taste rating:  3/10

Qualities:   Non-GMO, Gluten free, raw, Kosher, vegetarian, vegan, Made in the USA

What’s in it:

Review - Rise Bar

Brand:  Rise Bar

Flavor:  Almond Honey Mini Protein Bar

Where to get it: here @ RiseBar.com

I really enjoy a true-honey taste, and this bar provides that really nicely. It’s literally made of almonds, honey, and whey protein isolate. I don’t think you’ll find a more straight-forward protein bar on the market, anywhere.

Imagine taking a scoop of your favorite protein powder. Now, smash up some almonds, and then glob it all together with a nice dollop of honey. Gross right? Rise Bar takes the dirty work out of the process, but gives you exactly that. The blueberry coconut energy bar has more ingredients, but they’re all whole ingredients – no weird stuff.

               

If you’re into simplicity that tastes pretty good to boot – Rise Bar is YOUR bar.

               

Tastes like:   Subdued Honey

Taste rating:  7/10

Qualities:   Non-GMO, Gluten free, Kosher

What’s in it:

Review - Betsy's Best Bar None

Brand:  Betsy’s Best Bar None

Flavor:  Cinnamon Cardamom

Where to get it:  here @ BetsysBestBarNone.com

                Cardamom isn’t for everyone, but I’m not a person who minds a little of the spice in my goodies. I’d like to blame my dislike of these little “rounds” on the flavor, maybe there is too much cardamom in these? I don’t really think that’s it though, I think it might have to do with the presence of the hemp as well – it’s the first ingredient. All in all it makes for a really weird taste combo here, very much like potpourri or what you’d imagine a scented candle might taste like. Because I’ve never actually tasted one, have you? Probably not. They don’t look very appealing either, weird little round things the color of lawn clippings. I can get over that for taste, but unfortunately, that’s not an option this time.

               

Tastes like:   A scented candle

Taste rating:  2/10

Qualities:   Gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, Kosher, certified organic, made in the USA

What’s in it:

Review - Go Macro Bar

Brand:  Go Macro

Flavor:  Macrobar

Where to get it: here @ GoMacro.com

                I tried two different flavors and varieties of these bars, and I really liked both of them. Firstly, the little one (Cherries + Berries) tastes a lot like the cherry Nutrigrain bars, that I don’t think you can buy any more, that I LOVED. But, these are better. They’re absolutely studded with cherries, and you can really taste them. At 90 calories, this was an absolutely perfect mid-morning snack for me.

The second bar was the protein replenishment variety in peanut butter flavor. This is a bigger bar, with 260 calories and 12g of protein. The smell was really pleasant, almost like my mom’s peanut butter fudge. The texture is chewy, and the taste is very much a true peanut butter flavor. The bar isn’t heavily sweetened or salted (only 5g of sodium, so basically unsalted). I mean, if you HAD to have the salty peanut butter taste, you COULD sprinkle a little sea salt on top of the bar. I’m sure it would stick and taste delicious. I heard that from a friend…I mean, what?

Anyway, these bars are great. So great. The website is super cool, and the wrapper says the company is family-owned and based in a small community (in Wisconsin, I assume), so that’s pretty cool too. Nothing wrong with big commerce, but man, I get pretty jazzed when a small company makes a really delicious product, and Go Macro does exactly that.

PS - Their website is SUPER cool. 

               

Tastes like:   A cherry Nutrigrain Bar/Unsalted peanut butter

Taste rating:  9/10

Qualities:   Gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, Kosher, certified organic, made in the USA

What’s in it:

Review - Health Warrior Chia Protein Bars

Brand:  Health Warrior

Flavor:  Chia Protein Bars

Where to get it: here @ HealthWarrior.com

                I really like chia seeds. They don’t taste like much, but I kind of love how they get stuck in my teeth and then turn just a teensy bit gummy. Don’t judge me, sometimes it’s the little things in a day that make me happy. I am really starting to dig it when companies don’t try to go overboard with their protein products. Your body can really only absorb so much protein at a time before it turns into fat like everything else, anyway.10g of protein in these bars, and all plant-based, so everyone can enjoy it. No weird protein taste like those bars that pack in 20+ grams. They are flavored, but I found the flavors to be totally mellow, just enough to keep them from tasting too plain or too savory. Grams of sugar are totally realistic as well, just 10, same as the protein. This is a great-tasting and super well-rounded bar.

               

Tastes like:   A mellow bar for everyone

Taste rating:  7/10

Qualities:   Gluten-free, vegan*, vegetarian, Kosher, Non-GMO

*The bars are labeled as 100% vegan, but the Honey Almond flavor contains organic honey, so I don’t see how that could be true in the case of that flavor. Honey does not appear to be present in the other flavors.

What’s in it:

Review - Protings

Brand:  Pro Tings

Flavor:  Sea Salt

Where to get it: here @ Protings.com

                Finally, a crisp that’s not just a potato product marketed as health food. This is a legitimately healthy alternative to potato chips. 130 calories in the 1 oz. bag, and a whopping 15 g of (vegan!) protein. To me, the taste was just alright though. The chips are extremely brittle, leaving very few intact chips in the bag, and many, many tiny pieces. Additionally, the picture on the cover looks nothing like the actual product. The cover looks like pita chips. The actual chips are darker brown, studded with flax seeds, and kind of curled up around the edge. As I mentioned before, they’re really brittle, but kind of sog up in your mouth quickly. I think these are probably best eaten with a yogurt dip or pico de gallo of some kind, rather than straight from the bag.

               

Tastes like:  Brittle bean board

Taste rating:  5/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Bare Deelights BOA Bar

Brand:  Bare Deelights

Flavor:  Chocolate BOA Bar

Where to get it: here @ TheBOABar.com

                 I think this bar had a more distinct “banana bread” flavor than many other products that I’ve tried that claimed to be “banana bread” flavor. The bananas and oats are a really nice complement to each other there, and this bar doesn’t add a bunch of unnecessary junk to complicate the matter. No pumpkin seeds, no flax (barf), and no weird soy crisp chunks. THANK GOODNESS. I think I would have liked this bar a little better without the chocolate, just because I’m not a chocolate person, but it wasn’t an overpowering presence. That’s not a knock against the bar in any manner, that’s just me. The nutrition is just right for a good little snack, too – 160 calories, 8g fat, 7g protein, and only 4g sugars.

               

Tastes like:  Oaty banana

Taste rating:  7/10

Qualities:  Non-GMO, vegetarian, vegan, Kosher, Gluten free, Made in the USA, USDA Organic

What’s in it:

Review - Stonefire Naan Crisps

Brand:  Stonefire

Flavor:  Naan Crisps

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                I love Stonefire Naan – with butter, with cheese, with peanut butter…I’m definitely a bread head. The struggle is real, though, so I can’t just go eating all the naan that I want with every meal like I’ve got some kind of hamster metabolism (more like a hibernating bear, ugh). These little bags of Naan Crisps have just 60 calories and are the perfect fit for a little snack when paired with your favorite hummus…or even plain (they have enough salt to make them good all by themselves). Totally non-important side note – I really love the packaging as well. I’m not sure if it’s the font or the color scheme, or just the whole thing together, but it gets me interested. (Just in case you’re paying attention out there, Stonefire.)

               

Tastes like:  Crunchy, salty naan

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  Kosher, vegetarian

What’s in it:

Review - Simple Squares

Brand:  Simple Squares

Flavor:  Various

Where to get it:  here @ SimpleSquares.com

                The texture of these is just absolutely perfect. It’s like, the moistest (sorry), chewiest granola bar that you’ve ever had – but there’s no granola in it. These bars are nuts and coconut, with some sweetener and seasoning, and that’s it. No grains. No soy crispies. I’m not sure how many tries it took them to get the consistency this perfect with such limited ingredients, but I bet it was quite a few. I’m not a big chocolate fan, but I will say that the amount of chips in the Cho-Coco flavor was the absolute perfect amount; it really set the coconut flavor off without being too sweet. Due to these bars being almost all nuts, the fat content makes up the majority of the ingredient panel, which is just fine with me. If you’re a coconut-lover, you need to get you some Simple Squares!

Tastes like:  Lightly sweetened coconut granola bars

Taste rating:  7/10

Qualities:  Gluten free, USDA organic, vegetarian, Kosher, Raw

What’s in it: (Cho-Coco Flavor)

Review - Nuts About Granola Forager Nut & Seed

Brand:  Nuts About Granola

Flavor:  Forager Original Nut & Seed

Where to get it: here @ NutsAboutGranola.com

                I appreciate people trying to be low carb, or Paleo, or Primal, or whatever you want to call it…I really do. But that means there are some things you are just going to have to live without. Potatoes, bread, even granola. I don’t really care if you make an oatless granola, but you can’t just throw nuts and seeds in a bag and call it granola. The presence of raisins in this bag makes this trail mix at best. Dried quinoa, millet, amaranth, I don’t really care if your granola is “untraditional”, but you have to have something in there.

                This is literally nuts, seeds, and raisins. This is not granola in any form. I’m not saying nuts and seeds are bad, but THEY ARE NOT GRANOLA. If you want granola, this won’t do. If you want to use this for anything you have traditionally used granola for in the past, this will also definitely not do. Also, it wasn’t even remarkable in any manner when evaluated on a “nuts & seeds” platform, rather than a granola one. Sorry guys, this is a big miss no matter what you call it.

               

Tastes like:  Nuts & seeds and not granola

Taste rating:  0 if you wanted granola, still just a 5 if you wanted nuts & seeds

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

What’s in it:     

Review - Fly Joy Snack Bars

Brand:  Fly Joy

Flavor:  Cashew Cookie Dough Snack Bar

Where to get it: here @ FlyJoy.com

                 So good so good so good!! With all of the nutritional boxes that this bar checks, I really can’t believe how good it is! I have four flavors, but so far I have only eaten the Cashew Cookie Dough bar, and man, it’s (as I mentioned) SO GOOD. I really can’t explain the flavor much more than, it tastes exactly like chocolate chip cookie dough, but soft and chewy. It’s definitely on the sweet side, but what a fantastic treat. I would eat this over a traditional candy bar ten times out of ten. That includes Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, which are my all-time bad girl favorite. The fat content is a really reasonable 8g, and I’m okay with the 24g of carbs (including 11g) of sugar, because darn it, sometimes you just need a treat – and there are much worse treats that you could choose. Caloric content under 200, and vegan to boot, this is one that you will want to buy by the box.

               

Tastes like:  Chocolate chip cookie dough

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Non-GMO, vegetarian, vegan, Kosher, Gluten free, Made in the USA, all natural

What’s in it:

Review - Fiber Gourmet Cheese Thinables

Brand:  Fiber Gourmet

Flavor:  Cheese Thinables

Where to get it: here @ fibergourmet.com

                If you were dieting, and you could eat Cheez-its for 140 calories per serving, or you could eat these Cheese Thinables which are almost as good as Cheez-its for 60 calories, would you make that trade? I sure would. I’m not going to tell you that you won’t be able to tell the difference, because I think you probably will. Although…maybe not as much if you’re dipping these in hummus or some yogurt-dill concoction (side note:  dill is just the BEST). I think the point of these crackers is that they have a truckload of fiber (11g per 28g of crackers), but I got distracted by how low the calories are for how similar-tasting the crackers are to the Big CI that we’re all used to. Either way, this is a no-brainer swap!

               

Tastes like:  Generic Cheez-Its?

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  Kosher, vegetarian

What’s in it:

Review - Funley's Super Crackers

Brand:  Funley’s

Flavor:  Pizza N Stuff Super Crackers

Where to get it: here @ Funleys.com

                I think that I expected these crackers to be more of a Cheez-It-type situation, and I may have done them a disservice coming in with this mindset. They really aren’t anything like those – they’re less flaky & fairly dense. They also don’t have a ton of flavor to them, which I was definitely expecting since I tried their pizza version. I actually ended up eating them with some carrot sriracha hummus because hey, a cracker is still a cracker, no need to toss the bag just because they don’t taste like the utter junk food you were expecting them to be. I am a little wary of the claim on the front of the package that they contain “superfood carrots in every bite”. Are carrots a superfood? Is there a hard-standard for what IS a “superfood”? I’m not sure, but if there is, I don’t think carrots really meet the criteria. They’re better than potato chips for you, sure, but they aren’t exactly kale…

               

Tastes like:   Mostly thick cracker with a little bit of seasoning

Taste rating:  5/10

Qualities:   Non-GMO, Kosher, all natural

What’s in it:

Review - Sheffa Tasty Snack Mix

Brand:  Sheffa

Flavor:  Tasty Snack Mix

Where to get it: here @ SheffaFoods

                There are times when I think a snack is going to be yucky, and it’s great. There are also times when I think a snack is going to be so straightforward that I won’t even know what to write about it. I assumed the latter was going to be the case with this Sheffa Tasty Snack Mix, but I was mistaken. It’s literally a delightful little packet of fruit and nuts and such, but there’s something weird about it. Some spice in here just makes me unhappy. They are a product of Israel, so it’s totally possible that it’s some spice that is super common over there that I’m just not used to, but I just couldn’t do it. I will say they are healthy and very interesting, if you’re looking for a change from your typical nut and salt mix, but these just weren’t for me.

               

Tastes like:  Some kind of weird spice that I don’t like

Taste rating:  2/10

Qualities:  Vegetarian, Vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, Kosher

What’s in it:

Review - Nothin' But Granola Cookies

Brand:  Nothin’ But

Flavor:  Cherry Cranberry Almond Granola Cookies

Where to get it: here @ NothinButFoods.com

                I had these sitting in my review pile for sooooo loooooong because I just felt like I wasn’t in the mood for a seed and nuts pile like, ever. I finally made myself eat them and oh my, how wrong I was! These are literally cookies. I wish the package had only some way to tell me that they were actual, real cookies…oh. Crap. There’s that word, right on the package. Why did I disregard it? Why didn’t I trust Nothin’ But? Has it ever led me astray? Has it ever betrayed my tiny trust? Nope. And it still hasn’t.

                These taste like oatmeal cookies with dried cherries in them, which I want to run to my kitchen and hurry up and make for every party I go to now. They are so delicious. And you know what? The 2-pack of cookies says Serving Size: 1. FINALLY, a company with realistic rules. There’s just no way I’m not eating both of these once the package is open. Try these immediately.         

               

Tastes like:  Cherry oatmeal cookies

Taste rating:  10/10

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

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 - 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 - Attune Foods Probiotic Chocolate Bar

Brand:  Attune Foods

Flavor:  Probiotic Chocolate Bar

Where to get it: here @ VitaCost.com

                 I haven’t done a lot of research about probiotics and the like, but from my uneducated standpoint, chocolate with them has to be more nutritionally useful than chocolate without them, right? That’s what I’m going with anyway. Only problem is…this isn’t very good chocolate. Do the probiotics affect the taste? I have no idea. If you’re a die-hard probiotics person (is that a thing?), then I am sure this bar is more convenient, and more enjoyable, than trying to eat six cups of yogurt in a day. If you’re looking for some good chocolate that you haven’t tried before, this probably isn’t it.

               

Tastes like:  Not great chocolate

Taste rating:  5/10

Qualities:  Kosher, gluten free, vegetarian

What’s in it:

Review - Zing Bar

Brand:  Zing Bar

Flavor:  Almond Blueberry

Where to get it: here @ ZingBars.com

                 A bar is a bar is a bar…how to choose? If this Zing bar is available in your pile of choices, I highly recommend that you give it a go. This bar has real blueberry taste, like when you mix fresh blueberries into pancake batter. The almonds mellow out the grains and create a really great mix in this bar. It’s also uncrushable, so it’s great on the go to throw in a purse or backpack – especially if you’re like me, and bars roll around in your purse for a couple weeks before you remember that they’re there, usually smashed into oblivion.

               

Tastes like:  Real blueberries and grains

Taste rating:  7/10

Qualities: Kosher, gluten-free, vegetarian

What’s in it: