Tags: soy free

14 Nov 2011, Comments (10)

Enjoy Life Caramel Apple Chewy Bars

Author: Healthnuttxo

Along with the Sunbutter Crunch bars I was sent to try for free from Enjoy Life, I was sent a few other flavors to try for free, including the Caramel Apple variety.

How can you really say no to something Caramel Apple flavored? An image of sticky, chewy, sweet and delicious comes to mind thinking of a caramel apple. And so fitting with the fall. Nothing like a crisp apple picked off a tree! (not that I get to experience that all that often given my current urban situation… -__- )

ANYWAY, insert Enjoy Life Caramel Apple Chewy Bars. Gluten free, vegan goodness in bar form. Very small bar form, aka the size of my pointer finger small, but whatever. Good things come in small packages!

This bar was pretty good. It was dense and chewy, and had the little crispy rice sort of action going on like the Sunbutter Crunch variety had. I liked that it was sweet, but not I have to make a dentist appointment for the cavity I’m going to develop sweet. A good amount.

I could certainly taste the apple flavor, which was a plus. While I was eating it, I couldn’t help but notice how much it tasted like Quaker Apple Cinnamon instant oatmeal. I would know – I ate that oatmeal SO FREQUENTLY when I was younger. It seemed like every school breakfast I heard the teapot kettle whistle, poured the hot water in my instant oatmeal, ate and went on the school bus. *sigh* back to when life was simple!

So, as a whole for this bar, although it lacks sustainability, as in I’d be hungry still if I only ate this, it was pretty good, and a good snack bar/pre workout boost. I’d give it 4 stars.

What was your typical breakfast before school when you were younger? I alternated with instant oatmeal, and toasted english muffin with peanut butter! =)

6 Nov 2011, Comments (9)

EnjoyLife Sunbutter Crunch Chewy Bars

Author: Healthnuttxo

Yay for new products to try! I was sent a few boxes of EnjoyLife Chewy Bars to try to review for free. Of course I agreed, as I am always up to try new things. Plus….I eat granola bars like crazy! Even more…these bars are dairy free, wheat free, gluten free, fish free, egg free, soy free, and nut free!

I decided to try the Sunbutter Crunch bars first. Why? I don’t know. They called to me. They reminded me of baseball games when I was little where I was given sunflower seeds to munch on. At the time I didn’t know you supposed to take the shell off. I was literally chew-chew-chewing the seeds with the shell on. HA!

But anyway, I opened one up and took a look. The texture is quite weird. They feel almost rough to the touch and dry, and don’t bend well. If you bend the bar, it breaks off into pieces automatically.

These smell EXACTLY like sunflower seeds. Which I suppose they should…they are made from sunflower seed butter! I broke off a piece, and it seemed like a very dense and kind of dry bar. The only way to know for sure was to take a bite. I went for it, and…I can’t say I was a HUGE fan, but I can’t say I hated it either.

At first, it was kind of bland, and it was chewy and dense, with a puffed rice krispie texture thing going on as well. As I chewed, the bar became sweeter and sweeter. As expected, the bar was kind of dry, but not so bad where my mouth was calling water uncontrollably. These were actually kind of good! They had a mild sunflower seed taste, but tasted like peanut butter at times too (no worries- these are NUT free!!).

As I continued to eat the bar, I liked it more and more. A rather unique flavor, but really quite good! I liked it more than I thought I would, as I thought there would be an overpowering sunflower seed taste, but there wasn’t! My only complaint is these are TINY!. Here’s a pic of it in comparison with a pen. Blue ink only, guys. I’m biased and will only write in blue. ; )

See…tiny! But they are only 120 calories each, so I could eat one (or 1.5 of them!) before a workout as a snack and I feel like it would fuel me up just fine. Or pair one with a glass of milk! (unless you have milk allergies of course!) Overall, 3  stars. Recommended to try, especially if you like sunflower seeds!

Do you like sunflower seeds? flavored sunflower seeds? sunflower butter? Tell me! : )

12 Oct 2011, Comments (3)

Enjoy Life Not Nuts! Seed and Fruit Mix Mountain Mambo and Beach Bash

Author: Healthnuttxo

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!


7 Jul 2011, Comments (5)

Amazing Grass Organic GreenSuperFood Whole Food Energy Bar

Author: Healthnuttxo

As a kid growing up, I was always told “Greens are Ninja Turtle food”. If we wanted to be strong and cool (or just be a ninja turtle for that matter), we had to eat our green vegetables. Oh and the fact that dessert wasn’t allowed to be eaten until the vegetables were gone probably had something to do with it too. But that’s besides the point.

And, well, I’ve eaten my fair share of green vegetables over the years and I’ve yet to see any transformation. Just saying.

But anyway, hoping to come to the green rescue is the Amazing Grass Organic GreenSuperFood Whole Food Energy Bar. According the the wrapper of the bar, it is organic, raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy and soy free, and has no sugar added.

It had a slighty fruity smell, almost like a date. The bar was very dense, but also soft to chew. The taste was pretty fruity, and surprisingly sweeter than I had expected. It reminded me sort of like a raspberry flavored fruit leather, but softer, and definitely not as sweet. It also reminded me of what the inside of a fig newton tasted like, but again, not as sweet. The tiny pieces of walnuts that were in the bar I liked, because it added a bit more flavor.

Overall, not too bad, but not my favorite. It was lackluster for me, but the nutritional facts were impressive. Chock full of awesome ingredients, such as organic dates, organic wheat grass, organic flax lignans and more. I felt as if it truly was a bar from nature, and green inspired. However, it wasn’t so good as to where I would buy it again (although I recieved this sample for free). And even though it was sugar free, I felt like I wanted to drizzle icing on it. Curse my sweet tooth. 2 1/2 stars

Have you ever watched the Ninja Turtles? Which one was your favorite? Leonardo was mine =)

25 Jun 2011, Comments (8)

Peas of Mind Veggie Wedgies Baked Carrot Fries

Author: Healthnuttxo

The other day I went to Whole Foods (which is quite a bit of a drive from my house) with $12.00. I had intentions to only buy one thing (a pot pie) and then leave. I have no idea why on EARTH I thought it was a good idea to go in with only $12.00, as that was the day it seemed my Whole Foods had a whole bunch of new products. Since I had enough to buy one other thing, I was torn  between these Peas of Mind Veggie Wedgies Baked Carrot Fries and a few others. However, these looked the most unique, and at 4 servings a bag, I thought I could eat them at least more than once.

Some info on these fries from the bag…

I baked these in the toaster oven. I noticed that they really didn’t get super crispy, and there was literally NO grease at all (which makes sense, since they are fat free).

They reminded me of sort of a bread stick in texture, they were smooth on the outside but sightly crunchy on the edges. I decided to have a cheese omelet and some ketchup with these fries as well

I have no shame. I had multiple=

I have no shame. I went for multiple servings of ketchup that night.
Good thing we buy the economy sized bottle =)

So, onto the taste. I was so excited for these for a few reasons- low in fat, good way to get some extra veggies in, gives me an excuse to eat ketchup (just kidding). I tried one as is, no ketchup no nothing. And, well. bland. Very bland. Disappointingly bland. I really only tasted a hint of carrot flavor, and the first thing I thought was that these needed salt. They were slightly crunchy/smooth on the outside, with a more mushy interior. Kind of weird, actually, but not too bad.

Next, I dunked them in ketchup. This would explain why I went through, oh, I dont know, a good 1/4 of the bottle of ketchup that evening. They were good, but only when there was a lot of ketchup.

Overall, these were ok. I might eat them again given I had something to dunk them in or season them with, but I probably won’t buy them again. I do like that they are a healthier option to greasy french fries and that they are versatile in seasoning them up. However, they were not amazing enough for me to want to buy them again. 2 1/2 stars

My question- how do you think I should eat the other half of the bag? Any ideas? I was thinking about going the sweet route, and maybe adding some butter and brown sugar? ;)

18 May 2011, Comments (5)

EnjoyLife Double Chocolate Crunch Nut & Gluten Free Granola

Author: Healthnuttxo

EnjoyLife offered me something new they came out with to try for free, the Double Chocolate Crunch Nut & Gluten Free Granola. Being the nut about granola that I am, (and the fact that chocolate was involved), I couldn’t wait to try it.

This cereal is very “allergy friendly”, as the package states, as it is free of  ”wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish, shellfish” and “also made without casein, potato, sesame and sulfites”. Wow. It’s amazing how they can still make tasty products even with excluding so many different types of food!

Once I got the package, I immediately dove in and gave it a try. Here’s what it looked like

Look at all those yummy chocolate chips!

At first, I thought it was a bit bland, since it’s not super sweet. But, as I ate it, it really is delicious, and I couldn’t STOP eating it! Handful after handful, I ate the yummy granola. I loved the fact that there were a LOT of chocolate chips, no scrimping there for sure, and they were smooth and sweet. The texture of the granola was crispy, crunchy, and it had a mild chocolate flavor, that again, was not overly sweet.

Overall, very good. It was kind of like a bag of chocolate candies, once I started eating a few handfuls, I kept saying “oh, just a little bit more”, and then proceeded to take even more handfuls! I love that this is made with good ingredients,has a bit of fiber, and is a decent portion size given that it involves both chocolate and granola. 4 stars

What’s your favorite thing that’s “double chocolate”? I love double chocolate chip muffins!


7 Mar 2011, Comments (4)

Enjoy life Soft Baked Snickerdoodle Cookies

Author: Healthnuttxo

I’m pretty sure snickerdoodles are my FAVORITE type of cookies. I love the cinnamon sugar flavor, and the chewiness that they have. I was offered a free box of the Snickerdoodle Cookies from Enjoy Life, and was excited to try them. I recently reviewed the Lively Lemon flavor of these cookies I also was sent to try, and thought they were pretty good.

Some quick words about these cookies, according to the box, they are nut free, gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, peanut free, egg free, fish free, soy free and shellfish free.

I opened up the box, and like the Lively Lemon cookies, these cookies were kind of small. Like I stated before, they are about the size of a Snapple cap, but 1 serving is 2 cookies as stated on the box.

I took a bite, and found them to be very moist, chewy, and almost fudgy in consistency.  I actually really liked the texture, almost like a cake-cookie. They certainly weren’t like any Snickerdoodle I have eaten before, but they were still pretty good. A deep cinnamon flavor, and almost a bit of a burnt flavor as well. They were sweet without being too sweet, and even though there wasn’t molasses on the ingredient list, the flavor reminded me of something sweetened with molasses.

Overall, pretty good, and quite unique. I would probably eat these again, and I also love how the ingredient list was rather short- 4 stars.

2 cookies is 130 calories, 5 grams of fat, 21 grams of carbhydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 13 grams of sugar and 1 gram of protein.

What’s your favorite kind of cookie?

30 Jan 2011, Comments (1)

Enjoy Life Soft Baked Lively Lemon Cookies

Author: Healthnuttxo

EnjoyLife offered to send me some of their cookies for free, and one of them was the Lively Lemon cookies. According to the box, these are wheat free, peanut free, dairy free, tree nut free, soy free, fish free, egg free and shellfish free, as well as being gluten free. I don’t have any food allergies, but I was still up for trying them anyway.

I opened the box, and saw kind of small-ish cookies with yellow spots on them. They smelled very fresh and lemon like. I took one out of the box and was a bit disappointed at how small they were. For a comparison, here’s what they looked like compared to a Snapple cap.

More like bite-sized cookies to me!

These cookies were super soft,  no crunch here. They were chewy, except for the little yellow bumps that were a bit harder. They were sweet with a lemon zest flavor, and pretty good. It was strange that they were really moist, yet dry at the same time- odd? Overall, they were pretty good. Not amazing, but pretty good. I had a friend try one an she said they were “very good in their own way” but they “had something missing”. I agreed.  3 1/2 stars.

What’s your favorite thing that is LEMON flavored?

2 cookies is 130 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar and 1 gram of protein.

6 Jan 2011, Comments (5)

Larabar Blueberry Muffin bar

Author: Healthnuttxo

Oh yea, here’s something BRANDDD NEWWW! Yesterday I got a lovely package from LARABAR with some new Blueberry Muffin Larabars inside. YES! I love new products! I thought when I opened the box.

The first thing I noticed was that the wrapper was much more of a plastic-y wrapper than usual, but then again,  maybe it’s just me and my imagination. But onto the bar, not the wrapper (who am I to judge by the outside?)

This bar is “gluten free” “soy free” and “dairy free” , has “no added sugar” and counts as “1/2 serving of fruit” according to the wrapper. How’s THAT for a snack that’s also all natural with only 6 ingredients? (Ok, I sound like an advertisement. I’ll stop now… =P)

The bar was brown in color, with little pieces of nuts and blue spots for the blueberries. Strong cashew flavor, that really reminded me of a sweet cashew butter. It had a slightly tart and yet still sweet blueberry flavor as well.  It was chewy, dense, and very moist. It’s pretty good, actually!

Overall, 4 stars.  While I liked the carrot cake or chocolate chip cookie dough Larabars better, this one was still quite tasty, and a great snack between meals!

1 bar is 190 calories, 8 grams of fat, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 17 grams of sugar and 4 grams of protein.

Dates, Cashews, Blueberries, Blueberry Juice Concentrate, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Vanilla Extract.

Whats your favorite Larabar?

I was provided this bar to try for free from LaraBar.

26 Nov 2010, Comments (1)

Enjoy Life boom CHOCO boom dairy- free rice milk with crispy rice bar

Author: Healthnuttxo

Source

Introducing, one of the most allergy friendly bars I have probably ever eaten. Enjoy Life sent me some of their boom CHOCO boom bars to try for free, one being the dairy-free rice milk with crispy rice bar. This bar is soy free, dairy free, nut free, gluten free, and according to the back of the wrapper, “they contain NO: wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish or shellfish. Also made without casein, potato, sesame, and sulfites”. How’s THAT for a chocolate bar?

So of course, I was a bit iffy to try it. I mean, milk chocolate is usually what I eat and like, and this bar had NO dairy? Hmm..

So, I opened up the wrapper and saw 4 rather large squares of chocolate. I took the plunge and took a bite and…

mmmmmm. :)

Sweet, creamy, delicious. This has no dairy? I would have never known! A great chocolate flavor, a great milk chocolate flavor (minus the milk of course), and really good. There weren’t a ton of crispies in it, which I actually liked because I feel as if sometimes the add-ins take away from the actual chocolate. But the crispies themselves tasted like white rice crispies, and left a little bit of an aftertaste.

Overall, 4 stars. Delicious! I think that anyone might like this bar, and it’s great that it caters to people with special dietary needs. It is a bit high in saturated fat (10 grams per package), and sugar (16 grams per package), but then again, it is candy, and probably not meant to be eaten every day.

1 package  is 220 calories, 15 grams of fat, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 16 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.

What’s your favorite type of chocolate bar? Please leave me a comment below! :)

Evaporated Cane Juice, Non-Dairy Cocoa Butter, Natural Chocolate Liquor (non-alcoholic), Rice Chips (rice flour, rice bran, raisin juice concentrate, honey, salt), Rice Milk Powder (rice syrup powder, rice starch, rice flour, salt, carrageenan), Salt.

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