Review - Nutiva O'Coconut

Brand:  Nutiva

Flavor:  O’Coconut Classic

Where to get it: here @ Nutiva.com

                O’Coconut, O’Coconut, I wish you were more than twoooooooo biiiiiiiites. Have you guys tried some of those raw macaroons that are on the market now? The ones that are really super delicious? These little treats make those delicious macaroons seem just average. They are softer, chewier, and every bit as coconutty. If they come in a bigger bag, I don’t think I want to know about it. If they come in more flavors, I don’t think I want to know about that either. Although I bet they’d be good covered in chocolate, or peanut butter…or raspberry jam….Phew. Thanks, Nutiva, these are great little treats, I tell you what.

               

Tastes like:  The guts from an Almond Joy  

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Non-GMO, USDA Organic, vegetarian, vegan

What’s in it:

Review - Get Up and Go Caffeinated Blondie

Brand:  Get Up & Go

Flavor:  Caffeinated Bright-Eyed Blondie

Where to get it: here @ GetUpAndGoBaked,com

                Well, I’m a bit torn on this one, guys. It tastes amazing, like, maybe one of the best chocolate chip products I’ve ever had. The problem is…it SHOULD taste amazing, for it has 360 calories and 48g of carbs – 36 of which are sugar. So, on one hand, this is not for people who are dieting or counting calories, except in a really, really rare instance. You’re NOT going to eat half of this…2 servings, my ass. It’s not very big. On the other hand, there are PLENTY of bro bars out there with the same kind of nutritional stats, and they taste like absolute rubbish.

               

                So here’s what I’ll say: it’s yummy. It’s full of calories and carbs. It’s hailed as a caffeinated treat so you don’t have to drink those nasty (and HORRIBLE) for you energy drinks, but the very last ingredient is caffeine. The VERY last, after even vanilla extract. If you’ve ever made chocolate chip cookies, you know how little vanilla extract goes into an entire batch of those cookies, leaving a miniscule amount in a single cookie. I imagine it’s much the same for these brownies, and caffeine is listed AFTER it. If you’re going to feel a blast of energy from this product, it’s coming from the sugar, I assure you.

Tastes like:   A chocolate chip blondie

Taste rating:  10/10

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

What’s in it:  (I couldn’t find this anywhere on their website…) Brown Sugar, Eggs, Chocolate Chips (Sugar, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla, and Salt), Oat Flour, Palm Oil, Butter, Invert Sugar, Tapioca Starch, Rice Flour, Vanilla Extract, Water, Xanthan Gum, Caffeine.

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 - Cracked Nut Butter

Brand:  Cracked Nut Butter

Flavor:  Brownie Batter & White Chocolate Raspberry

Where to get it: here @ VitaCost.com or here @ CrackedNutButter.com (Different things are available on each site.)

                How many protein products have you had that claim to be “Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough” or “Cake Batter”? I know I’ve tried scores. And how many have even come close to tasting like dough or batter? For me, pretty much none.

                Until now.

                Holy crap.

                This is happening.

                What we have here, is Cracked Nut Butter in raw confectionary flavors, spiked with protein. Actually, they have more grams of protein than sugar, but you’d never know it. The Brownie Batter seriously tastes like actual brownie batter. The little sucky pouches are DANGEROUS, because I find myself just mindlessly, joyfully sitting at my computer, sucking on them like they’re 70-calorie applesauce packs. They definitely aren’t that, but they really aren’t terribly nefarious, especially for how stinkin’ delicious they are.

               

                Great before working out, great after working out, great for a before-bedtime treat…these are just incredible.

               

Tastes like:  Batter and dough and %$!@*! heaven

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Gluten free

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 - 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 - 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 - Purely Elizabeth Granola

Brand:  Purely Elizabeth

Flavor:  Original Ancient Grains Granola

Where to get it: here @ PurelyElizabeth.com

                This is my new favorite thing - unique, tasty, really just flat-out spectacular granola. It tastes great right out of the bag, but I especially like to dump it into my yogurt. It has enough grains that it will sog up a bit if you let it sit in there long enough, which I love to do. It also has enough “other things” that it doesn’t completely sog up into a worthless carb-bomb. The ingredients are also not your “every day” panel of oats and sugar, you’ve gotta love being able to work millet and amaranth into your diet. I can confidently say that if I never ate another type of granola, I’d be satisfied with this one for the rest of my days.

                 

               

Tastes like:  The best granola in all the land

Taste rating:  10/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Hail Merry Macaroons

Brand:  Hail Merry

Flavor:  Choco Macaroons

Where to get it: here @ HailMerry.com

                Tiny little sweet balls of coconut sweetness, you’re just SO GOOD! Looking for a treat? Like coconut? Grab some of these Hail Merry Choco Macaroons. I’m not even a big fan of chocolate and I absolutely LOVED these. The bag I had contained 3 little macaroons – the perfect amount for when you really need to feel like you’ve had dessert. Even better, you can enjoy one here, one there, one later – just to squelch that nagging voice in your head that tries to send you to the office vending machine around 3 pm. They pack a great flavor and sweetness punch, so I’m really not being unrealistic when I say you CAN just eat one and feel pretty good about it, and that’s almost no calories at all. Plus…coconut is healthy, right? These are basically vegetables.

               

Tastes like:  Chocolate coconut YUM

Taste rating:  9/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Papa Steve's No Junk Raw Protein Bars

Brand:  Papa Steve’s No Junk Raw Protein Bars

Flavor:  Peanut Butter Crunch

Where to get it: here @ PapaSteves.com

                If you’ve been counting calories for any amount of time, you know that eventually, each one becomes really, really precious. That’s how calorie-counters succeed, we learn that if we have that 500-calorie donut at the breakfast meeting (that we didn’t even enjoy that much, we only ate it because it was “there”…crap), we are going to struggle for the rest of the day trying to stretch our remaining 700ish calories over our remaining 14ish hours of consciousness. It is for this reason that I almost never get impressed/fall in love with any kind of bar that has over 200 calories. I simply cannot eat a bar for a meal. I can’t do it. I want other things. It doesn’t feel like real food to me, it always feels like a snack.

                This bar…is a little different. Yes, it has 295 calories and 31g of carbs. Yes, you need to pay attention and not go to bed thinking, “Wow, I ate three of those Papa Steve’s bars today in between my meals”. HOWEVER…if you’re a peanut butter fan, and you miss eating peanut-buttery desserts from heaven above…this bar needs to be behind your “Break In Case Of Emergency” glass. It’s got such an authentic peanut butter taste, but there’s a little extra to it, so it fulfills a need different than the peanut butter you put on your oatmeal on gym mornings. The “Dessert” need. The “I Need To Eat Something Bad” need. But it’s NOT something bad. The ingredients are stellar, plus you get 20g of protein and no added sugar.

                Thank you, Papa Steve. Thank you a whole bunch.

                 

               

Tastes like:  A mellow peanut butter experience

Taste rating:  8/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Kay's Naturals Protein Pretzels

Brand:  Kay’s Naturals

Flavor:  Cinnamon Toast Protein Pretzels

Where to get it: here @ KaysNaturals.com

                When I was in grade school we were often served this strange-looking blob of sticky rice with our lunches. As far as I could tell, it was just cinnamon, sugar, and rice, but I have been unsuccessful at recreating the concoction in my adulthood. Enter these protein pretzels from Kay’s Naturals, and BOOM! I’m right back to being a happy, porky 4^th grader. Now, obviously pretzels are not rice, but the flavor is so much the same that I absolutely squealed with glee, to the surprise of most of my coworkers. I didn’t even both to try to explain to them why a bag of seemingly ordinary pretzels was giving me such delight, I don’t think they’d get it.

                Oh and before I get too carried away (too late…), I should mention that if you want to eat pretzels, these are CRAZY full of protein – 12g in the 120 calorie-size bag. They only have 15g of carbs – I say “only” because they are PRETZELS and they have almost as many grams of protein as they do carbs. That’s pretty kickass.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Cinnamon sugar rice from the lunch lady

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Vegetarian, Kosher, Gluten free

What’s in it:

Review - 6350 Natural Foods Raspberry strips

Brand:  6350 Natural Foods

Flavor:  Raspberry

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                Apples, raspberries, sugar – that’s it. YUMMY. They are like little fruit strips, but they taste like sweet raspberry jam. They are about 100 times better than your favorite fruit strip, I guarantee it. I love that they are also studded with raspberry seeds, and why wouldn’t they be? They aren’t some over-processed, 25-ingredient Red 40 kid snack. I like these better than fresh raspberries. I like these better than chocolate raspberry torte. If you’ve ever seen the Friends episode where Monica makes a huge batch of jam, and Joey eats it right out of the jar - that is me with these strips. I like 6350’s raspberry strips as much as Joey Tribiani likes Monica’s jam. There is no higher compliment that can be given.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Delicious, sugary raspberry jam

Taste rating:  10/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Terra Nut P'Nut Punch

Brand:  Terra Nut

Flavor:  Pnut Punch

Where to get it: here @ TerraNut.com

                Little teensy power house! These have just 3 ingredients – peanuts, oats, sugar, and what a perfect little snack they are! They seem small, but I warn you, do not pop the whole “log” into your mouth at once. The texture is a bit powdery, so bite gently, but you won’t regret it. Somehow, the initial “dryness” fades away as you chew. I’m guessing that’s the handiwork of the sugar. With the perfect balance of sweet, peanut, and somehow salty tastes, these tiny bombs are perfect for a snack, a pick me up, or a treat at night.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Sweet peanut dust

Taste rating:  8/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Urban Remedy Banana Brittle

Brand:  Urban Remedy

Flavor:  Banana Brittle

Where to get it: here @ Urban Remedy

                I am a bread monster. All kinds, all times of the day, as much as I can get. Well, not anymore, because it turns out that bread isn’t that great for you, especially if you’re a diabetic. Well shit. No more of my mom’s banana bread with an inch of butter slathered on top of it for me! But wait…what’s this? Banana…brittle? Ohhhh, I’m sure it’s just another raw chunk of dates and almonds. So then I took a bite, and I am pretty sure that glitter shot right out of my eye sockets. This tastes JUST like banana bread. JUST. LIKE. IT. The texture is different, sure…but the taste is indistinguishable to me. It’s not hard like peanut brittle, it’s more of a delicate, chewy situation.

                I love this product SO MUCH. I would like to write another entire paragraph just slobbering on and on about how much I love it, and how crazy it is to me that the flavor is just so perfect. But I suppose writing that declaration is almost as good, so I’ll spare everyone. If you like banana bread – YOU NEED THIS IN YOUR LIFE.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Banana bread!!

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Raw, Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, Certified Organic

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 - Real McCoy's Rice Chips

Brand:  Real McCoy’s All-natural Rice Chips

Flavor:  Sweet n’ Spicy

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                I was happy that the bags of these chips were single-serving size, because I could probably eat a much larger quantity of them if someone let me off my leash. The chips are a little thicker and seedier than your typical tortilla chips, and the seasoning on them is SO GOOD. Not too sweet, not too spicy, it’s just so perfect. I ate them plain – delicious. I ate them with salsa – delicious. I ate them with Greek yogurt – delicious. I feel like I could have gone outside and scooped up some dirt with them, and they still would have been delicious. Good thing I had a lot of condiment choices in the house.               

                 

               

Tastes like:  Seedy tortilla chips coated in deliciousness

Taste rating:  10/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Labrada Cinnamon Bun Cookie Roll

Brand:  Labrada

Flavor:  Cinnamon Bun Cookie Roll

Where to get it: here @ Labrada.com

                                 Upon closer inspection, I realized that the wrapper recommended popping this bar into the microwave for 10 seconds. Magically, I was at home when I was intending to try this, so the stars aligned for me and Mr. Labrada's Cinnamon Buns. I really feel that the warmth made this bar unique and delicious. No aftertaste at all, and really great cinnamon bun flavor. ACTUAL cinnamon bun flavor. With frosting. I really, really, REALLY liked this bar. The calories are high, so if you’re counting calories, eat it in thirds, or just eat the whole thing once in a while for a really tasty treat.

If you’ve read any number of my blog posts on these types of bars, I tend to have a really hard time endorsing them. For those keeping track, this is the SECOND Labrada product that actually made me happy. I will be seeking more of them out, because they are tasty treats in a sea of yucky protein garbage bombs.

               

Tastes like:  A dense, delicious cinnamon roll

Taste rating:  9/10

What’s in it:

Review - Hail Merry Raw Almonds

Brand:  Hail Merry

Flavor:  Vanilla Maple Almonds

Where to get it: here @ Hail Merry

                The only thing wrong with these almonds is that there aren’t 700 of them in the package. I was so sad when the last one was gone. Slightly sweet, perfectly crunchy, with just a pinch of salt…almonds aren’t even my favorite nut, but these may very well be my favorite nut-based snack. I also really like the packaging, cute design, and the fact that it’s not just another cellophane pouch. I’m glad I had the chance to discover these.      

                 

               

Tastes like:  Lightly sweetened nuts from above

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Vegan, Vegetarian, Raw, Gluten free, Kosher

What’s in it:

Review - Dolcetto Petites Lemon Wafer Bites

Brand:  Dolcetto Petites

Flavor:  Lemon Wafer Bites

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                I know, I know…cookies…WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE?? Making me smile, that’s what they’re doing here. Any company that takes the time to make a 100-calorie pack deserves a chance. These little darlings are so light and flaky, so lemon-y delicious, so YES PLEASE. They don’t mess around, they’re very sweet, and you won’t be under any kind of illusion that you’re eating a diet cookie. These are the real thing, and I am celebrating that fact. Instead of that donut in the break room, or that piece of birthday cake, eat a pack of these with wild abandon, and don’t feel guilty about it.   

                 

               

Tastes like:  Light and flaky lemon kisses

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  All-natural, no artificial ingredients

What’s in it:

Review - Thunderbird Energetica Bars

Brand:  Thunderbird Energetica

Flavor:  Various

Where to get it: here @ Abe's Market

                I LOVE overachievers. I’m not one, but that just makes me appreciate them all the more. Thunderbird Energetica has drilled down the awesomeness of their bars all the way to the wrapper, which is compostable. Heyo! Could you be any cooler? No, I really don’t think you could be. Eating these bars makes me feel like an Earth Avenger. They’ve even been blessed by a shaman. Show me a snacker who remains unimpressed, and I’ll also have you know, they are incredibly tasty. The Cashew Fig Carrot was my favorite (ahem, why no snazzy name?), but I also liked the Sweet Lemon Rain Dance as well. They’re quite fruity and have that sweet date-type taste, and I’m into it. Thank you for being you, Thunderbird Energetica. I appreciate your awesomeness.          

                 

               

Tastes like:  Mmmmmm dates and figs and smiles

Taste rating:  9/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, Non-GMO, Vegetarian, Vegan, Raw, No artificial ingredients

What’s in it: (Cashew Fig Carrot Bar)