Who doesn’t love trail mix? Crunchy, sweet, salty, savory, and satisfying- all in one! I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a box on my front step from Enjoy Life, and inside was their  Not Nuts! Seed and Fruit Mix in Mountain Mambo and Beach Bash varieties.

Take a closer look. Here’s the Mountain Mambo

camera fail. blurrrrrry!

And heres the Beach Bash flavor

Alrighty, let’s get down to business. The first one I tried was the Mountain Mambo. It had apple pieces, raisins, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and more.

The apple pieces were so yummy! Soft and chewy, and perfect addition.

The raisins were a little off tasting. Not super sweet like I’m used to, and I was a bit disappointed. Especially since in the bag, there was a LOT of raisins. Seriously- I got a big blob of raisins right in the middle all stuck together!

The sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds were very fresh tasting and crunchy, and not really salty at all. However, not salty doesn’t mean they weren’t flavorful!

Then, I shook up bag a little and found…

Chocolate chips!

These were yummy! Smooth chocolate, and tasted like a milk chocolate would.

Another surprise was I found  VERY few cranberries. Only got like 2 in the bag ! However, the two or so I got were quite tasty, and not too tart. So for this variety….

3 ½ stars

Next up, the winner in my eyes, BEACH BASH variety.

Seriously, in a word,- yum.

There were sunflower seeds, pumpkin, apricots, pineapple, cranberries and more. On a brighter side, there were definitely more cranberries in this one and yummy too! Sweet, not tart and chewy!

The pineapple pieces were BEYOND delicious. Seriously- I want a bag of just the pineapple! It was soft, and sugar sweet! I may or may not have picked all the pineapple out of the bag the first day I got it….. oops

The apricot pieces? eh. Kind of hard and dry and tart. Not  a fan. Would rather more pineapple…

Overall, 4 stars

Overall, yummy! Both are NUT FREE, wheat free, dairy free, egg free, soy free, peanut free! And yum-my! I like beach bash better. I would totally buy it!

What would you put in your ideal trail mix? Mine would be dried pineapple pieces from above, glazed pecans, cashews, reeses pieces, and pretzels!

I loooooove cherries. Not the kind on top of ice cream sundaes- but dark, purple cherries. I remember a friend of mine and I ate a whole bag of them on the 4th of July coming home in a car ride. We were left with an awful lot of pits and stems, but they were so good we couldn’t stop eating them. And really, how can there be any guilt involved eating mass quantities of FRUIT? I mean really, how DARE I? Now I ate a bunch of antioxidants with no added sugar and exceeded my quota for fruit for the day, maybe even the next few days! I’ll never learn, will I?

But, ANYWAY, I was contacted by the Power of Fruit and asked if I wanted to try their Berry Cherry Power of Fruit Bar. These frozen treats are all natural, and have no added sugar, which I really liked. I’m a diabetic, so I try to stay away from sugar as much as possible. Of course, I’m not saying I never took a spoonful of icing straight from the container (tell me I’m not the only one who does that….), but when given the option for natural sugars from fruit rather than added sugar, I’m all for it!

Here’s a pic of the fruity ice pop after a bite was taken. You can actually see a blueberry!

The bar looked pretty tasty, and as you can see it was a deep purple/red in color and rather thick. I took a bite, and the first thing I thought of was how tart it was! At first I thought it was pretty good – not too sweet, and pretty fruity. As I ate it though, I thought it was just ok and didn’t like it as much. It had mostly a cherry and blueberry flavor, but they didn’t seem like they had the same luscious flavor as they would straight from the carton or bag. The pop was also just too icy in consistency for me (another friend of mine who took a bite agreed) and I actually wish it was sweeter.

I do love the fact that there is no added sugar, and these are made with fruit. I also  do take into account that they are so low calorie, and they would be a really good treat for those times when I’m not really hungry but feel like eating (which happens….. a lot.) However, it wasn’t memorable enough for me to want to eat on a daily basis, and I do wish it was just a bit sweeter. 2  stars

What’s your favorite fruit to eat in the summer? Mine would be watermelon- I think it ONLY tastes good in the summer! =)

I was provided these fruit bars to try for free from the company.

With the ingredients I had on hand, I decided to try the Strawberry Apple Ginger Smoothie/Frozen Yogurt, that according to the card, is courtesy of Amie Valpone, The Healthy Apple.

The only thing I omitted was the ginger, since I didnt have it at home. Otherwise, I halved the recipe, and used the Totally Fruit Strawberry applesauce, the top portion of a Black Cherry Stonyfield Yogurt, fresh strawberries, and a basil leaf straight from my garden.

Next, I blended!

The taste straight after blending was ok. I felt it lacked sweetness and was rather runny. Also, the basil leaf which I so closely associate with tomatoes, kind of threw me off a little bit. I think if I make this again I would omit the basil, or use less than called for.

I decided to add some ice and some stevia to cool this smoothie down even more, and add something extra to it. Here’s how the final product looked

As you can see, it was a mild pink in color, and had the tiny green specks from the basil. I thought the taste was pretty good, but not spectacular. I think I would add more sweetener or stevia if I made this again, and maybe try using frozen strawberries instead of fresh. I had some friends try it, and one of them said it wasn’t thick enough, which I agreed with, and the other said it was a bit “off”. However, I don’t think it’s anything that couldn’t have been fixed with a little sweetener and some extra ice!

So thank you again, Musselman’s, for the recipes to try and the awesome picnic  basket!

Questions for you guys- what is YOUR favorite smoothie recipe? Do you ever use applesauce in your smoothies?

Ask me my favorite ice cream bar when I was little? Strawberry Shortcake bar. Favorite ice pop? Strawberry frozen fruit bars. (can we see a pattern emerging?) I was also told as a child that when eating my favorite fruit, strawberries, (which strangely enough, is not my favorite fruit anymore- I’ve graduated to the apple!) my entire face and hands would turn red. That was compltely uneccessary to share, but now you  know one of my flaws. I was a messy strawberry eater as a child. Shame on me.

ANYWAY, I saw these Edy’s Frozen Strawberry Fruit Bars in my freezer today, and decided I NEEDED to have one. How they got there, I don’t know. I suppose the appropriate thing to do would be to ask whoever bought them if I could eat one, but that never works nicely in this house.

“Can I have one?” “No.” “Why not?” “Because I said so. “

Which I then proceed to eat anyway and get yelled at, or not eat and wish I had eaten it. SO, as they say, ignorance is bliss. Or, ignorance= me eating strawberry ice pops.

it's really, really hard to take a good picture of an ice pop you plan on eating

So, now finally, enough of my rambling. Here’s how they tasted!

These bars had a very soft bite to them- I was surprised! I was expecting a harder, more icy product, but they were soft. Almost like they were strawberry ice cream bars. They also were not as sweet as I had hoped for, they were a bit toned down. Although I did like that because it wasn’t super sweet, it gave it more of a natural fruit product sort of feel. One thing I do wish is that there were more strawberry peices/chunks. In my bar, I think I only spotted one!

Overall,not bad, but not my favorite. Certainly not as good as the ones I had when I was little. 3 stars

What is your favorite ice cream bar and ice pop flavor?

I think it’s safe to say I never had a freeze dried peach before. Sure, I’ve had strawberries and apples, and even bananas freeze dried before, but a peach? I was up for giving it a try- I mean why not? I really liked Crispy Greens Crispy Apples and Crispy Asian Pears, and the Fruitzio Freeze Dried Apples & Strawberries.

I tried some of them dry first. Here’s what a piece looked like.

They were light, crispy and at first I thought, wait, what fruit is this again? But as I continued to chew, the sweet flavor of peaches flooded my mouth. It was very tasty, and had that sweet, juicy flavor.  I liked how they were big slices of peaches rather than little pieces as well.

Next I decided to try them in my cereal in place of my morning banana with almond milk. Here’s what it looked like

Even after sitting for a few minutes, they kept a nice crunch and great flavor. Next time I think I might actually break the slices if I use it again in my cereal, as they were a bit big. As I said before, I liked them big when I was eating them dry, but in the cereal I think pieces would be more convenient. Still, nothing I couldn’t very easily fix. They were still sweet, and complimented the almond milk and my cereal perfectly.

Overall, I’m an official fan of freeze dried peaches! They were unique, sweet and crunchy, and very enjoyable. I would try these again. 4 stars

Gotta love simple ingredients!

Dont forget my “3 Favorite Things” Giveaway going on! You can enter here!

I got these to try, for free, from the company.

It’s safe to say that I have eaten at least one apple a day, every day, since I was in middle school. Yep- they ARE my favorite fruits! And quite a lot of years and a LOT of apples were eaten in that time! That’s what I was happy to try the Crispy Greens Crispy Apples with my breakfast this morning, as well as the Crispy Asian Pears.

What I liked about these is that the ingredients is just fruit. No salt, preservatives, or sugar added, it’s just freeze dred fruit. According to the bag, both of them are also gluten free, vegan, dairy free, and peanut free.

I decided to have these with my cereal this morning. Here’s what they looked like out of the bag. (Ignore my ugly handwriting =P )

The Apples

The Asian Pears

As you can see, there was a texture difference. Not huge, but certainly there.

The Crispy Apples were just that- crispy. They also had a nice little crunch to them. They were sweet, yet tart, and pretty good. The Crispy Asian Pears were very soft. Almost as if they were the apples, but I left the bag open over night and they softened up. They just didn’t have the same crunch and crispy consistency that the apples had. However, the flavor was really yummy! They tasted just like a juicy pear would. They were also very sweet. In fact, I couldn’t get over just how sweet they were, and to think there was no added sugar!

Overall, pretty good! I added them to my cereal with almond milk and a banana, and thought they made a great addition. Gotta love that it’s just fruit, and no added sugar or preservatives! 4 stars

10 grams (1 bag) is 40 calories,  0 grams of fat, 8 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram  of fiber, 7 grams of sugar and 0 grams of protein.

Have you eaten one of the same things every day? What is it?

I got these to try, for free, from the company.

haha - I love it! an apple juggling strawberries!

These lovely snacks are all natural, and according to the package are also “peanut/tree nut free, gluten free, dairy free, vegan”. What I like about it also, is that there are ONLY three ingredients-”Apples, Strawberries and Cane Sugar”. At first I was a bit puzzled by the cane sugar- I have had freeze dried fruit before and I find it to be sweet enough, but the package also stated that there was “just a hint of natural sugar”. I’m assuming it was added just to bring out the sweetness a little bit. Regardless, it didn’t seem to effect the nutritional information in a tremendous way.

I opened up the package and saw big slices of strawberries and apples. I liked that the pieces were big rather than tiny.

The apple pieces were soft, yet crunchy. They had a sweet and quite yummy apple flavor. If I had to guess as to which apple it was, I would say a Macintosh. It doesn’t state what kind on the bag, so who knows for sure. The strawberries were crunchy as well, and actually quite tart! They were still pretty tasty, but I preferred the apples over the strawberries, even though I found more strawberry pieces than apple slices in my bag.

Overall, pretty good! I felt these were a bit crunchier and a bit sweeter than other freeze dried fruit I have had in the past. I also threw these into my cereal in the morning for some added sweetness and crunch. 4 stars

What’s your FAVORITE freeze-dried fruit? I have always been partial to bananas (:

In case you're wondering...

I got these to try, for free, from the company.

I love pudding. In fact, I eat a chocolate pudding cup every day. I love the sweetness, the creamy texture, everything about it. So, at the store the other day, I went to purchase my chocolate pudding but I saw something new on the shelf- CowRageous! pudding, in STRAWBERRY flavor, by Kozy Shack. You know I was tempted. Well temptation won, because not only did I buy the strawberry pudding, but I also bought the chocolate pudding as well (you know, just in case!!)

First off, I loved the cartoon cow- how cute! I also love how this is made with natural ingredients, is gluten free, and has some fiber and calcium per cup. It was a bit on the small side, so I do wish that the serving was bigger.

Anyway, I opened up the cup and decided to have it with some fresh strawberries (and whipped cream, because, well, why not!?). Here’s what it looked like

Yea... I ate more whipped cream than that.

As you can see, my strawberries and whipped cream kind of swallowed up the pudding. Not a lot of pudding in the cup, but that’s what toppings are for!

It was thick and creamy, almost like a gel/pudding consistency, with more of a vanilla flavor with strawberry undertones. It wasn’t really all that sweet, I was expecting sweeter. In fact, my strawberries and the whipped cream were sweeter than the pudding. It also had a bit of a funky aftertaste, but nothing too overpowering. It was pretty good snack, and I enjoyed it, but it certainly won’t replace my love for my usual- the chocolate pudding.

Overall, 3 1/2 stars. It’s only 100 calories with 3 grams of fiber and 10% of the calcium needs per pudding cup. It was a bit small, however, so I would reccomend eating it with something else as well.

1 pudding cup is 100 calories, .5 grams of fat, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

If you could invent any flavor pudding, what would it be? I would do chocolate chip cookie dough pudding, or peanut butter! Mmmm! =)

Each one was tough, and had a nice bite to it. But the flavor was actually quite good. Definetly sweet and chewy, not tart at all with a raisin-like consistency, they reminded me of those bits of apples I used to get in my instant oatmeal when I was a kid, (and, well, still eat now…).

What I also liked was that you get quite a bit of pieces for a serving. They are not all apple rings, some are just pieces in the bag, and after I measured how much a serving was (40 grams), it was a generous amount. Something good to snack on, and something I’d have to actually take time to chew and enjoy! Just another way for me to enjoy my favorite fruit. Best part is, only ONE ingredient, Dried Organic Apple Rings. 4 stars!

1/4 cup (40 grams) is 120 calories, 0 grams of fat, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 22 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

What’s your favorite dried fruit?

I was provided this bag of Organic Apples to try for free from Newman’s Own Organics.

Source

Who likes muffins? Or rather, who likes the tops of muffins (aka the best part in my opinion!)

Well, today’s review is the Raisin Bran VitaTop from Vitalicious. I  happen to like a few of the Vitalicious products that I already reviewed, including one of my favorites the Cran Bran VitaTop. What’s also cool about these VitaTops? They are a good source of fiber, and are only 100 calories!

So I opened up my Raisin Bran VitaTop( which was in the freezer and then I defrosted it) and looked at it. It seemed as if there weren’t a lot of raisins, maybe about 5 or 6, and it had a brown color and a somewhat bumpy texture. I took a bite and was surprised in 2 ways.

1- The first bite of my VitaTop was dry. I don’t know if it was because it was in the freezer, and maybe just that part of the muffin lost some moisture, but it was dryyyyy.

2- There were actually more raisins then I thought, scattered throughout the VitaTop and not just on top, and they were actually quite good, and quite sweet.

So, I gave it a few more bites. Not as dry as the first bite, so perhaps just that part of the VitaTop was dry, and the rest wasn’t as much. It sort of had the same flavor as the Cran Bran VitaTop, which was a toasted flavor and a bumpy texture. The raisins added a nice touch with some sweetness, and overall the VitaTop was kind of chewy.

Overall, 3 1/2 stars. Not my favorite VitaTop, but still pretty good. I love that it has 5 grams of fiber and 100 calories as well!

1 VitaTop is 100 calories, 1 gram of fat, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar and 4 grams of protein.

What’s Your Favorite Flavor/Variety of Muffins? Please leave me a comment below! : )

*I was sent this vita top to try for free from Vitalicious*