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 - Chicken Nacho Meat Chips

Brand:  Meat Chips

Flavor:  Chicken Nacho

Where to get it: here @ MeatChips.com

                                                                                                                                                      

                “Meat Chips,” well, that’s certainly an attention-grabbing name! I didn’t know if they would be jerky, tortilla chips, or some weird freeze-dried experience. Turns out, they taste pretty much like your standard tortilla chip with some seasoning on them. Not exactly like a true tortilla chip, but I’d say maybe 85% like them. I ate them plain, but you could totally bust into these with some salsa and be pretty dang happy, I’d say. I’ve had a lot of protein chips, and they have pretty much all had varying degrees of weirditude. Not these. No weird texture, no bizarre aftertaste, no sticking-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth…kaplech!

                As far as I can tell, the chicken is ground with the corn in the chip making process, which I am sure is essential to making it not ultra-weird, like it sounds like it might be. The nutritionals on these might scare you off – 380 calories, 17g fat, and 31g carbs – but I did find that they didn’t spike my blood sugar AT ALL, which I was not expecting.. I checked it about an hour after eating them, on a day I DID NOT go to the gym, and it was cruising along at a very pleasant 99.Plus, they have 21g of protein in the same parameters as the other stats, which is really killer. If you’re going to eat tortilla chips, you’re going to get all that fat and calorie content anyway; you might as well get a massive dose of protein while you’re at it.

                These are going on my short list of snacks that I’ll continue to eat even though I’ve already reviewed them.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Lightly seasoned tortilla chips

Taste rating:  9/10

Qualities:  Gluten free, Made in the USA

What’s in it:

Review - Chipz Happen

Brand:  Chipz Happen

Flavor:  Parmesan Garlic Tortilla Chips

Where to get it: here @ ChipzHappen.com

“Dude, these are GOOD.”

“What are they?” (my person asked)

“They are tortilla chips, but they’re like…FLAVORED.”

“Oh.”

“There needs to be like, a lot more of these. In different flavors.”

“There are, they’re called Doritos.”

                No. No. Nonono! These are SO MUCH BETTER than Doritos, on so many levels. As you can plainly see, these are so good that my grammar took a pretty solid hit for a minute there. The first thing that lets you know that this isn’t a radioactive orange Dorito-type situation is the declaration on the bag that they use no artificial ingredients. The rest is all in the product – the chips are thicker, they taste like actual corn that hasn’t been processed from here to Mumbai, and the coating is the color of food – delicious parmesan cheese, salt, and what I assume can only be magic dust. Naturally occurring magic dust, of course.

These chips are hands-down one of the best products I have ever had the privilege of reviewing. I am not overstating this. The small (1.5 oz.) bag has 220 calories and 12g of fat, so I would advise that you limit yourself to the small bags if you’re watching your calories, because I know I wouldn’t stop after 1.5 oz. if I had the larger bag in front of me.

                There are an absolute TON of “nut bars” on the market equaling the calories and exceeding the fat of these chips, and I’d pick these EVERY TIME. Don’t worry nut bars, you still have a place in my life. After all, you don’t squish in my purse, and these little darlings most definitely would. I would never mistreat them thus.

D E L I C I O U S.

fin.

               

Tastes like:  Salty, corny, magical magic

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Non-GMO, vegetarian, gluten-free, No artificial ingredients, Made in the USA

What’s in it:

Review - RW Garcia Tortilla Chips

Brand:  RW Garcia

Flavor:  MixtBag Tortilla Chips

Where to get it: here @ VitaCost.com

                                I’m always excited to try new tortilla chips. These are pretty, but that’s pretty much the only allure they held for me. Not nearly salty or crunchy enough, they just lacked that “snap” that I find essential in a chip, especially one made to carry heavy loads of pico de gallo from the table to my face.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Bland tortilla chips

Taste rating:  5/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Mediterranean Snacks Lentil Crackers

Brand:  Mediterranean Snacks  

Flavor:  Cracked Pepper Lentil Crackers

Where to get it: here @ Abe's Market

                When I ate the first cracker, I thought (as I so often do), “These could use some more salt.” But when I ate the second, third, and then the remainder of crackers, I thought, “How do they do that??” The flavor on these little guys is DEAD ON for the white, peppery country gravy that I broke up with a long time ago. This is good and bad – the crackers are pretty much delicious, but they did make an image of a slathered country biscuit bounce around in my mind for the rest of the afternoon. I’m a formerly obese American, sometimes I can’t help myself. The good news is that I didn’t cave in to that biscuit image. The OTHER good news is, these crackers are a total winner.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Crackers dipped in peppery “biscuits and gravy” gravy

Taste rating:  9/10

Qualities:  Non-GMO, Gluten-free, Vegetarian

What’s in it:

Review - Laiki Rice Crackers

Brand:  Laiki       

Flavor:  Red and Black Rice Crackers

Where to get it: here @ LaikiCrackers.com

                                I’ve never been a fan of rice crackers. I don’t like their smooth surfaces, their resistance to being smashed satisfactorily between my teeth, or their smug puffiness. When I received these Laiki crackers, I almost gave them to my coworkers without even looking closely at them. I am very, VERY glad that I didn’t give them away – they are NOTHING like I expected. They look like small Triscuits – no shiny surface or smug puffiness! They are salted to the gills – YES. They tasted a lot like the mass-market, oil-soaked, salty heaven corn chips that always gave me a hydrogenated headache – but without the snack hangover, an no remorse at all. Just 3 ingredients – it doesn’t get any “cleaner” than that. These crackers are probably the biggest surprise I have had since I started this blog, and I would like to thank you, Laiki, for reminding me to keep an open mind, and an open mouth. 

                 

               

Tastes like:  Healthier, better “Bugles”

Taste rating:  10/10

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

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 - Quest Nutrition Protein Chips

Brand:  Quest

Flavor:  BBQ Protein Chips

Where to get it: here @ Quest Nutrition

               

                Nutritionally, these are a freaking MIRACLE. 120 calories, 2g fat, 5g carbs, and 21g protein. I feel like anything that can deliver those numbers, and even be HALFWAY edible is a miracle. But these chippies were actually TOTALLY edible. The BBQ seasoning covers up 95% of the “protein powder” taste, and the other 5% goes away after you eat a couple chips. My only complaint is that they are so delicate, I had trouble finding a single intact chip in the bag, and about 80% of them were pulverized into “tip the bag into your mouth” status. If the stares of people pretending that they are too civilized to dump chips into their faces don’t bother you, these are just incredible.

                                 

               

Tastes like:  a BBQ’d baked cracker

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, vegetarian (I think)

What’s in it:

Review - Eatrageous Crunchy Mac n' Cheese

Brand:  Eatrageous

Flavor:  Crunchy Mac N’ Cheese

Where to get it: here @ Eatrageous

                The competition in the 100-calorie snack market is FIERCE, so when I see a new product enter the ring, I don’t get too excited. It’s hard to taste REALLY good, and be plentiful enough that I don’t need to wolf down 3 servings to feel like I got an actual snack. Eatrageous is crushing this game. I’ve had so many crisps, many of them just blend together. These are a real stand out, they taste GREAT, you get a lot of them for your 100 calories, and they are super crunchy. Nacho-cheesey-licious and shaped like penne pasta, if you’re looking for a savory, cheesy, crunchy snack, I can’t think of many better than these.

               

Tastes like:  Crunchy tubes of cheesy delight

Taste rating:  10/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Simply 7 Pomegranate Chips

Brand:  Simply 7

Flavor:  Pomegranate Chips

Where to get it: here @ Simply 7

                Ohhhhhh salty! Yes. I like it. Disclaimer, these are not chips made of pomegranates, nor are they pomegranates that have been chipped. They are potato chips that have pomegranate powder added to them. You can taste it, a little bit. If you want a delicious salty snack , buy these. If you want a fruit snack, or a snack made of fruit, these are not the chips you seek. But they sure are pretty! Personally, I’ll be sticking with Simply 7’s quinoa chips when I need a fix – less calories, and a decent amount of protein. But these were fun to try!

               

Tastes like:  Salty potato chips with a little extra

Taste rating:  10/10

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

What’s in it:

Review: Goldbaum's Pop Potato Chips

Brand:  Goldbaum’s

Flavor:  Pop Potato Onion & Garlic

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                Goldbaum’s has so many “chip alternative” products…I’m becoming kind of fascinated with them all. Great packaging, great natural-ness, and I feel like the serving sizes are really good for the small amount of calories. These dudes have 70 calories in a bag, whereas we’d be looking at over 150 for any of the mass-market “o’s” chips for the same amount. I can dig it like a grave. (Don’t.) Plus, the amount of flavor in these little guys is off the charts! I hate it when flavored chips have a “hint” of something. If I didn’t want flavor, I’d buy plain. You get these, you’re all about that onion.

               

Tastes like:  Sour cream & onion Pringles without the oil

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  Kosher, Gluten free

What’s in it:

Review: Beanitos White Cheddar Puffs

Brand:  Beanitos

Flavor:  White Cheddar Puffs

Where to get it: here @ Beanitos

                I like beans. I also like almost all alternative material (i.e. not made from corn or potatoes) chips/crackers/puffs. I had been saving these for a few weeks because I thought they would be a sure bet for a time when the old me would have hit the Cheetos. I was pretty surprised by the taste, they definitely HAVE a very different taste, and I couldn’t taste the white cheddar at all. It didn’t really taste like any beans I have eaten, in any form, either. I’m a bit stumped on how to describe these. They aren’t very salty or savory, they are just kind of…earthy. I think that’s the best word for it.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Weird fiber…?

Taste rating:  2/10

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

What’s in it:

Review: Goldbaum's Kale Chips

Brand:  Goldbaums

Flavor:  Kale Chips

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                I’m not entirely sure what angle I want to take with this review, because on one hand, these are a little nutritionally misleading, but on the other hand, they taste delicious. Maybe we’ll just stick with the facts. They are called “kale chips,” but there are A LOT of ingredients in here before kale makes an appearance – including sugar. So…calling them kale chips is kind of a marketing ploy, I feel. That being said, for a chip-esque snack, these aren’t all bad. 100 calories in the single-serving bag, and you get a good amount of chips. Not a lot to speak of nutritionally except for the things listed below in the “qualities”. That being said, they are really tasty. They have a fair amount of salt, which I am a fan of. And they don’t have that straight-up, air puffed potato flavor, which I am not a fan of. Long story short, if you want a salty chip snack, these taste great. If you’re thinking of buying them because of the kale, you might be disappointed.

               

Tastes like:  Salty chips without the blerch

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, Non-GMO

What’s in it:

Review: Dang Coconut Chips

Brand:  Dang

Flavor:  Toasted Coconut Chips

Where to get it: here @ Dang Foods

               

                I am determined to avoid using any puns involving the brand name of these coconut chips in this review. The struggle is real though, because the first time I tasted these, I said it. I swear. Coconut, sugar, salt. That’s it. I know that coconut is a love/hate food, so you’re obviously not going to like these if you hate coconut in the first place. You can shoo. But if you love coconut, you will be super impressed by these. I ate them straight out of the bag before it even occurred to me that they would be good on froyo, ice cream, cereal, yogurt…even a chicken or shrimp salad. I’m dying to use these in a shrimp dish. And guess what?? They sell them in little snack bags. Dang, I love you. (That wasn’t a pun!)

                   

Tastes like:  Crunchy sweet coconut heaven

Taste rating:  10/10

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

What’s in it:

Ingredients:  Coconut, Cane Sugar, Salt

The Best of October, 2014!

                So, it's the end of October, and I ate some stuff this month. Some of it, I won't be eating again. Some of it, I might be eating again. And some of it...I have already eaten again. Without further ramblings, here are the top 3 new things I tried (and reviewed) in October, in case talking about them once wasn't enough to capture your interest. In no particular order...

1. Simply 7 Quinoa Chips - After trying these for the first time, I ordered A CASE of the 0.8oz snack-size bags. 110 calories and 7 g protein. Plus they taste just like potato chips & are full of salty goodness. The original review/where to buy can be found here.

2. Field Trip Beef Jerky - No MSG! MSG has 2 jobs - to make things taste good, and to ruin my life. This jerky tastes every bit as good as Evil MSG Jerky, but I don't end up with a racing heart rate and beer cheeks 10 minutes after eating it. Low fat, low calorie, high protein, high quality - I went swiftly to their website & ordered other flavors. The original review/where to buy can be found here.

3. Go Vida Dragon Fruit & Dulce de Leche - So inventive, so unique, so tasty.This is basically a snacking delicacy. I also ordered myself a tiny stash of these bags, and I'm hoarding them like the precious little fruits they are. The original review/where to buy can be found here.

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: 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: 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: 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: