Reviews Filed Under 'Vegan'
Price: $1.39
Serving: 1 bar, 1.7oz.
Info below for entire bag
Calories: 210 per bar
Fat: 19%, 12g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 0%, 0mg
Protein: 6g
Carbs: 8%, 23g
Fiber: 12%, 3g
Sugar: 14g
Weight Watchers Points: 5 per bar
Lara says: Two ingredients, one incredible flavor! The unprocessed, creamy cashews are rich in iron, zinc and B Vitamins. The chewy dates have more potassium than bananas. Together they form a bar rich in fiber with 2 grams of heart-healthy Omega-6 fatty acids and 15 essential vitamins and minerals. So much sustaining nourishment in such a simple recipe.
Abi says: The energy bar section of Trader Joe’s is always good for an interesting snack or two. Tired of searching for the elusive Fiberful Bar and refusing to toss half a package of Fiberful ends and pieces, I decided to take a chance on the Larabar.
After scanning the shelves and seeing the words “Cashew” and “Cookie” I knew I’d found my perfect energy bar match.
Or had I?
Initially looks were promising: the bar was studded with cashew pieces and featured a distinctly cookie-like appearance and texture. Mmmmm, cookies. But looks aren’t everything. I’d learned that lesson the hard way in Italy, realizing that while Italian bakers made some pretty incredible tarts, they uniformly sucked at producing delicious cookies.
But this isn’t a cookie, it is a energy bar masquerading under the name ‘cookie’. I’m used to it by now, the bars with ‘cookie’ and ‘pie’ in the names. I’m just waiting for Belgian Waffle and New York Cheesecake flavored bars. They probably already make those flavors and carry them at my local GNC alongside enormous tubs of what amount to legal steroids. And I avoid GNC like the plague.
SnackLounge.com isn’t about body building or poorly informed supplement salesmen. Rather, we are all about helping you avoid about an energy bar that tastes like an old brown couch. You know, one of those dismal ones in a Craigslist ad that is updated every day for two weeks before the owner realizes that nobody is going to buy that couch and finally it appears in the free section.
My mouth was not happy. First, this bar contains only dates and cashews. While I like those things and understand that they can be part of a delicious and healthy energy bar, on their own they DO NOT EQUAL CASHEW COOKIE. In fact, they’re sort of like those no-bake cookies that you make once in awhile because you forget that they’re just not that great. Yeah, like that but with even less flavor. I suppose that if the folks at Larabar added a dash of salt and a drop of vanilla to this snack then it would finally approach flavorful cookiedom. Until then, we’re sticking with Clif Chocolate Chip Cookie ZBars when we want an actual, cookie-like energy bar.
P.S. We have since then tried a couple of other LARABARs that are tasty and delicious (and not boring, like this one) and we’ll report on those in November.
4 Comments »
Posted on October 25, 2007
Categories: Vegetarian, Contains Nuts, Larabar, Cashew, Vegan, High Fructose Corn Syrup Free, Two Stars, Five Points, All Natural, Energy Bars
Price: 75¢
Serving: 1.9oz., 4 cookies
Calories: 250
Fat: 15%, 10g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 9%, 210mg
Protein: 4g
Carbohydrates: 3%, 8g
Fiber: 12%, 3g
Sugar: 15g
Weight Watchers Points: 6 points
Nutter Butters says: Peanut Butter sandwich cookies made with real peanut butter.
Abi says: Nutter Butters are a one note cookie. Sure, they provide a layer of crisp cookie and a creamy filling, but both layers taste like off-brand peanut butter. I’m not sure why I even got excited about eating these. I love peanut butter, but it would have been much more satisfying to have the real thing rather than these cookie imitators.
Nutter Butters are much better in my memory than they are in real life. Sure, the peanut shaped cookies are adorable. But you can’t eat adorable.
2 Comments »
Posted on October 3, 2007
Categories: Kraft, Peanut Butter, Vegetarian, Vegan, Two Stars, Six Points, Cookies
Price: €1.50 for 1 small bag
Serving: 2/3 bag, 25 grams
Calories: 130 per serving
Fat: 13%, 8gg
Sodium: 13%, 300mg
Protein: 1.8g
Carbohydrates: 4%, 12.8g
Fiber: 4%, 1g
Sugar: 0g
Weight Watchers Points: 3 per serving
Nabisco says: Su crujiente textura y su exceptional sabor son fruto de la perfecta union entre el aceite de oliva y la sabiduria de nuestros expertos.
Abi says: If you don’t speak Spanish, here is my crude translation of the product blurb:
These crispy, flavorful chips are the product of the perfect union between olive oil and our expert chip-makers.
I purchased these Olive Oil chips in Spain, so everything on the package is in Spanish. I enjoy that because it gives me a chance to practice my language skills. Also, it is fun to imagine how the text could be translated literally by a non-English speaker.
But this review isn’t about learning a second language. No, this review is about Olive Oil potato chips. That’s right, brilliantly yellow, thick, crunchy, salty chips that pretty much leap from the bag and into your mouth. Okay, so they aren’t that fantastic. They are an olive oil version of a kettle chip: a bit more heft than your average Lay’s chip. And while the Olive Oil taste is interesting, it certainly isn’t the essential, nutty, grassyness of truly fantastic olive oil. One can’t eat a lot of these chips (a selling point perhaps?) and they definitely lack the light airiness of a standard, sunflower-oil friend potato chip.
I think that America will continue to operate just fine without the Olive Oil chip. Or this olive oil chip, but foodies may be up in arms. How else will they be able to produce Ferran Adria’s Egg and Potato Chip Tortilla?
Yeah, the answer would be ‘go to Spain and get some chips’ but once you’re in Spain, fantastic tortillas de patata abound and the reason for these crisps becomes null. What a conundrum!
No Comments »
Posted on October 2, 2007
Categories: Vegan, Vegetarian, High Fructose Corn Syrup Free, Frito Lay, Three Stars, Potato Chips
Price: $1.00
Serving: 2.4oz., 1 pouch
All information below for apples only
Calories: 35
Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 0%, 0mg
Protein: 0g
Carbohydrates: 3%, 8g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 6g
Weight Watchers Points: 1 point for 2 pouches
McDonalds says: A bag of delicious sliced and peeled apples.
Abi says: Yeah, yeah, we’re featuring a refrigerated item from McDonalds. But you know what? Apple slices rock. Yeah, yeah, they aren’t as good as a perfectly crisp Gala or Jonagold, but when you’re a mile from a grocery store and you’ve got a 30 minute lunch break, those fancy schmancy apples will have to wait. And yeah, yeah this snack is a bit expensive. But they’re still fabulous.
Why are these apple slices awesome? First, they do not require washing. Second, you won’t end up with apple skin stuck between your teeth. Third, they are somewhat good for you.
Okay, maybe they aren’t really good for you at all. A glance at the nutrition information conveys that the only thing in this bag is a crunchy combination of carbs and sugar. What it doesn’t tell you is that two (Yes, two) bags of apple slices are the ideal fry-eating deterrent. Sure, you could add caramel and call it a dessert, but I prefer to think of these guys as the perfect way to de-guilt a 6 piece box of Chicken Nuggets.
No Comments »
Posted on October 1, 2007
Categories: Vegan, McDonalds, Vegetarian, High Fructose Corn Syrup Free, Gluten Free, All Natural, Fat Free, Four Stars
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