Review - Betty Lou's Just Great Stuff Bars

Brand:  Betty Lou’s  

Flavor:  Just Great Stuff Superberry Acai Bar

Where to get it:  here @ BettyLousInc.com

                I’m already a huge fan of the Betty Lou’s family of products, and these bars are but a small exception…I can’t stand acai, so they never really had a change. That aside, if you like acai, these are just another great vegan staple from Betty Lou’s. They’re soft and chewy like a fruit bar, but they have more substance to them, similar to a Nakd or Lara Bar. Lots of good fruit and nuts ground up in these as well, so no funky weird ingredients. If you’re following a straightforward approach to your food, this is a great choice for a midday snack.

               

Tastes like:  Acai & protein powder

Taste rating:  6/10

Qualities:  Vegetarian, vegan, Gluten free, Made in the USA, USDA Organic

What’s in it:

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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - Boundless Nutrition Perfect Cookie

Brand:  Boundless Nutrition

Flavor:  Perfect Cookie, Chocolate Chip

Where to get it: here @ VitaCost.com

                Protein cookies are just ALL the rage lately. To the uneducated, a lot of these cookies seem to be beckoning with a promise of cookie taste, but muscle-building protein shake nutrition. While they all definitely have more protein in them than a standard cookie, they should all be carefully evaluated for other nutritional factors as well, lest we fall into the trap of lying to ourselves. Oh and also, some of them just taste like absolute crap.

                The reason I really like these Perfect Cookie cookies is twofold. One:  they taste delicious. Not too much chocolate, not too much protein…honestly the taste is really just like eating a blob of delicious chocolate chip cookie dough. Who doesn’t love that?

                The second reason I really liked this cookie is because it’s small. Most of the other protein cookies I’ve tried seem to be obsessed with cramming 25g+ protein into them, which typically leads to a huge, gut busting 300+ calorie cookie that makes me feel super blah. These little guys are perfectly wonderful with just 10g of protein in them, and 150 calories – making them a snack, not a meal. They also donate a portion of their sales to cancer research. Can’t beat that, on any level.

               

Tastes like:   Cookie dough

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:   Gluten-free, Made in the USA, Non-GMO, All natural

What’s in it

Review - Yummy Health Yummy Snack Bar

Brand:  Yummy Health

Flavor:  Yummy Snack Coconut Bar

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                Do you like coconut and chocolate? Get this. Straight up, it tastes like a candy bar. If coconut is your jam, this bar is definitely for you. The chocolate coating is sugar-free, which helps this bar post up just 8g of sugar, which is probably a far cry from your favorite candy bar. I didn’t notice the sugar-free taste so much as I did the Stevia, which isn’t my favorite sweetener, as I find it has a very distinctive taste aside from just sweetening whatever party it’s attending. It’s not overpowering and doesn’t ruin this bar, but it was noticeable for me. If you’re a Stevia-head, I’m guessing this bar will make your eyes roll back with delight. If you’re not a Stevia-head, try it anyway.

               

Tastes like:  A Stevia’d candy bar!

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  Gluten-free, Made in the USA

What’s in it

Review - Toosum Bar

Brand:  Toosum

Flavor:  Yogurt & Blueberries

Where to get it: here @ Toosum.com

                 You’re made in Seattle! You’re only 100 calories per bar! Please come here and let me love you! Awwww man, I don’t love you. Sad face. The bar does have a great blueberry presence, but that’s about the only thing worth mentioning. The texture is dry and sawdust-y, and the blueberry flavor isn’t enough to overpower the rest of the flavors in this bar. This bar is definitely not what you’re expecting from a “fruit and yogurt” bar.

               

Tastes like: 

Taste rating:  3/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Alyssa's Healthy Vegan Bites

Brand:  Alyssa’s

Flavor:  Healthy Vegan Bites

Where to get it: here @ Alyssascookies.com

                 I ate the whole package. At once. I ATE THE WHOLE PACKAGE AT ONCE. I didn’t mean to, but it happened. When I flipped over to the nutritional information on the back to see what kind of damage I had done, I was shocked. 4 servings at 44 calories apiece = 176 calories. This can’t be right. Are these mislabeled? They taste like cookies. They are cookies…they ARE HEAVEN!!! If you’ve been missing oatmeal raisin cookies on your diet, these are literally life-changing. They’re also vegan, so I can’t think of a reason for anyone not to enjoy these little delights, unless you’re allergic to awesome. 

               

Tastes like:  Oatmeal raisin cookies!

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  All-natural, vegetarian, vegan, Made in the USA, Non-GMO

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 - 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 - 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:

Review - R Bar

Brand:  Well Rounded Snacks

Flavor:  PB & J R Bar

Where to get it: here @ RBarEnergy.com

                Organic dates, organic raisins, organic peanuts. That’s it. That’s what you’re getting with this bar. I happen to really like all three of those components, so this bar was a hit with me. If you don’t like raisins, you will certainly not like this bar. I’m not too sure about the “PB & J” claim here…maybe R Bites was trying to take the angle that the raisins equate to grape jelly? Whatever the angle, it’s not really working out that way; this tastes nothing like a PB & J anything. That doesn’t mean it’s not good, though. I must confess that I was missing the salt in a big way, since this is basically trail mix all smooshed into a puck. However, I will admit that not everyone is as debased as I, and this is certainly a more healthy option without salt in it.

                 

               

Tastes like:  A giant raisin

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  All natural, Gluten free, Vegetarian, Vegan, organic, Made in the USA

What’s in it: