Review - Brami Beans

Brand:  Brami

Flavor:  Snacking Lupini Beans

Where to get it: here @ BramiBeans.com

                Everything about these beans is ADORABLE. The packaging, the little bean dressed up as a Trojan warrior, the other little bean on the back who’s naked; I die. Small size, delicious taste, great package, nutrition on point, all the yes. 50 calories per little vacuum pack, which includes 6g of protein. Plus, they’re DELICIOUS. A little bit salty, and like edamame, but less nutty. Eating them out of the package is completely permissible. I put these on a salad (after I knicked two of them to eat plain), and that was also delicious.

I went to Palm Springs for Spring Break one year in high school. I went to a restaurant with my grandmother, and their little house salads came with garbanzo beans in them. 16-year old small town me was FASCINATED by this, so I’ve been a big bean-on-salad fan ever since. I actually liked these better than the garbanzos that I typically use, because there’s not such an overpowering “earthy dirt” taste with these. With the garbanzos, I feel like I really have to use a vinegar-based dressing to make it work; with these I think I could really use anything at all and be happy with the addition.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Slightly salty snacky beans

Taste rating:  10/10

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

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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - Caveman Primal Bar

Brand:  Caveman

Flavor:  Chicken Sweet Cherry Primal Bar

Where to get it: here @ CavemanFoods.com

                This bar tasted like I expected, but the texture was much different. I thought this would be tough like jerky, but it really isn’t. It’s kind of like a little meatloaf bar! Tender, a little smoky, a little sweet, and I found the color and packaging to be really appealing, which I think is especially important in a meat-based snack. You can definitely tell the meat is chicken; no other meat lends itself so well to a smoky flavor, in my opinion. At 150 calories and 18g of protein, as well as being made from a whole bunch of ingredients you probably have in your kitchen right now, there’s really no downside at all to this snack.

               

Tastes like:  Sweet, smoked jerky without all the tooth work

Taste rating:  8/10

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:

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 - Laughing Giraffe Organics Snakarola

Brand:  Laughing Giraffe Organics

Flavor:  Curry Cashew Snakarola

Where to get it: here @ TheLaughingGiraffe.com

                 Now we’re having fun! It’s not really a granola, I’d call this more of a snack mix. Now that I’ve written this out, I’m seeing why they call it “Snackarola”. Well, I’m glad we got that all worked out! The pieces are big-ish, you can just fish them out of the bag with your fingers and pop them right into your mouth, as opposed to doing the “pour & dump” that you’d have to do when eating granola straight from the bag. The flavor is a slightly sweet curry, with just the slightest hint of heat in the back of your throat once you’ve swallowed your bite. If you’re a curry-phile, you’re probably going to demolish this bag in one sitting, pretty easily. I’m only so-so on curry, so I’m definitely going to be on the lookout for some other flavors of this, but the quality and desirability of this mix is quite obvious, even to me. Snack on!

               

Tastes like:  Sweet curry with an afterburner

Taste rating:  7/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Bubba's Fine Foods Chipotle Honey BBQ Snack Mix

Brand:  Bubba’s Fine Foods

Flavor:  Chipotle Honey BBQ

Where to get it:  here @ BubbasFoods.com

                 I don’t really like BBQ sauce, and I definitely don’t like banana chips…but I really did like these munchies quite a bit! I’m really learning that I shouldn’t just a snack by its ingredients unless it contains mint (I’m allergic). This has a very, very mild BBQ flavor, and zero chipotle heat. It’s actually got closer to a much nicer savory tomato flavor, and the banana flavor is negated completely. The banana chips in here are actually a great wonder to me - I was just munching away on them like I don’t hate banana chips, which I never in a million years would have imagined. Super creative, super straightforward ingredients, super good snack.

               

Tastes like:  A very interesting and wonderful situation

Taste rating:  8/10

Qualities:  All-natural, vegetarian, 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 - Eat Real Quinoa Chips

Brand:  Eat Real

Flavor:  Quinoa Chips

Where to get it: here @ Tesco.com

                Nutritionally-speaking, these aren’t really a standout – sometimes a bag of chips is just a bag of chips. They do taste good both alone and also with salsa or dip though, and finding flavored chips that are also vegan can be a real challenge, as many of them contain milk ingredients. If you’re looking for a change of pace with your savory snacks, this is a great bag to grab. If you’re looking for a savory snack that reduces your caloric snacking intake, you’re probably going to want to pass on these.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Great savory chippies

Taste rating:  7/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Somersault Snack Co. Santa Fe Salsa Somersaults

Brand:  Somersault Snack Co.

Flavor:  Santa Fe Salsa Somersaults

Where to get it: here @ SomersaultLifeCompany.com

                                I’m usually on the fence when it comes to these new jumbles-of-seeds-as-snacks thingamajigs, but these are 100% delicious. Just enough seeds to be seedy, just enough seasoning to not be ONLY seedy, the ingredients are a perfect balance of savory and seed-er-y. The “Santa Fe Salsa” isn’t super spicy either, so you can actually taste the ingredients, unlike other snacks that are clearly trying to cover up what they’re made of. I would definitely nom these again, and I will for sure be seeking out some of Somersault’s other flavors.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Some oats and seeds went on a vision quest

Taste rating:  9/10

Qualities:  All-natural, Non-GMO

What’s in it:

Review - Alive & Radiant Kale Krunch

Brand:  Alive & Radiant

Flavor:  Kale Krunch Quite Cheezy

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                                Kale is the prettiest girl at the dance right now, and for good reason. It’s delicious, it’s healthy, and it’s crazy versatile. The recent wave of kale-based snacks punctuate that versatility, and I assure you, I’m happy to try them all! This “cheezy” Kale Krunch tastes great, and is full of good stuff (it contains no cheese at all, and is vegan). All the ingredients are things you can picture in your mind – this is the new thing that I do. If I read a label, and a food-type image does not come to my mind pretty quickly, well…sometimes I eat it any way, to be honest. However, I won’t be extolling the virtues on the ingredient panel for my blog posts, at least.             

                But back to the snack at hand! Cheese-y and nutty tasting, the only improvement I could make on these would be to add a tad more salt. It is known that I am an absolute salt fiend, though, so I don’t want to lead you to believe that these are lacking in flavor – they definitely aren’t. If you’ve never tried kale, this is a great way to start, because it doesn’t taste “green” or “like dirt”.   

                 

               

Tastes like:  Crunchy, cheesy nuts

Taste rating:  8/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Osem Bamba Peanut Snack

Brand:  Osem

Flavor:  Bamba Peanut Snack

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                This is my new favorite thing. So simple, so good! The first piece seems a bit bland on your tongue, like unsalted peanut butter. Then somehow, the more pieces you eat, the more the delicious, salty peanut flavor breaks through. These are truly satisfying, low-calorie, and have just 4 ingredients. Look for them in the Kosher section of your local grocery. I live in a small town, and the Kosher section of my local store is literally 3 shelves big, but they still have these, so hopefully yours will too. This is the best-kept secret from the peanut butter maniac community.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Salty peanut butter puffs

Taste rating:  10/10

Qualities:  Vegetarian, Vegan, All natural, Kosher

What’s in it:

Real Deal Sriracha Veggie Chips

Brand:  The Real Deal All Natural Snacks

Flavor:  Sriracha Veggie Chips

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com  

                 Do you like chips? Do you like spicy things? If you do, oh man, you are going to love the YOWZA out of these veggie chips. I’m a bit of a spice wimp, personally, but these chips have great flavor nonetheless. Crispy, little in size, and a great amount of salt to really bring out the fire; I don’t think I would dip them in anything, they are pretty tasty all by themselves. I mean, they were, before all of my taste buds burned off…

               

Tastes like:  HOT! HOT! HOT!

Taste rating:  8/10

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

What’s in it:

Review - Annies Cheddar Snack Mix

Brand:  Annie’s

Flavor:  Cheddar Snack Mix

Where to get it: here @ Amazon.com

                                This bag has bunny pretzels, blonde bunnies, and orange bunnies. I wish the whole bag was full of orange bunnies. I never eat food like this like you’re supposed to. I eat all the pretzels, then all the “this”, then all the “that”. I actually think that you can buy just the cheddar bunnies. I might have to look into that. Those buggers are GOOD. Way better than say, a Cheez-It. I love Annie’s packaging on pretty much everything they make. I love the marketing, I love that there are bunnies everywhere. And if you’re going to eat cheese crackers, they should at least be organic…because at the end of the day they’re still cheese crackers. We all need a break from protein once in a while though.

                 

               

Tastes like:  Salty pretzels and cheese crackers

Taste rating:  9/10

Qualities:  Certified Organic, no artificial ingredients, Made in the USA, Non-GMO

What’s in it:

Review - Slow Food For Fast Lives Bars

Brand:  Slow Food For Fast Lives

Flavor:  Various

Where to get it: here @ Abe's Market

                I’ve had savory bars before, so I don’t have that mental roadblock of expecting all bars to taste like some combination of cereal, chocolate, and peanuts. I thought I would really like these, as I read through the ingredients. I was so wrong. A penny with a hole in it couldn’t have been more wrong than I was. Holy spit it OUT, Batman. The spice flavors are the prevailing flavor in all 4 of the bars that I tried, and not in a good way. It was like doing the cinnamon challenge with curry, at one point. I love the packaging, and the bars look attractive when you unwrap them, but dang, I just can’t with these.

                               

Tastes like:  Horrible rotten spices

Taste rating:  0/10

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

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: