REVIEW: Atkins Endulge Peanut Caramel Cluster Bar

Today's another day for an Atkins review! The subject we'll be focusing on today is this Endulge Peanut Caramel Cluster Bar. From its name and appearance, we can deduce that its a healthy, low carb alternative to a PayDay. But, you know, it just occurred to me- why does there have to be a healthy alternative to a PayDay? Why can't all PayDays be only 130 calories, have only 2g net carbs, and only contain 1g of sugar. Why do we have to be paying high prices for healthy candy alternatives, when all candy could be healthy? I mean, this system is an outrage! I DECLARE HERESY! (Or should I say HERSHEY? Nyuk nyuk nyuk!)   I mean, you might say that it's impossible for candy to be healthy! That's right! I'm starting a candy revolution! Viva La ResisTONCE! Let them eat healthy, reasonably-priced candy!

And you may say it's impossible for companies to make healthy candy and still make it in the food market, but I disagree. Atkins has proved that healthy candy can sell, as evidenced by this product right here! And there are other examples too! Maybe someday our shelves will be stocked with average price, healthy candy, but till' then, looks like we'll have to turn to the diet aisle for relief. I'm not scolding Atkins or the guys who make PayDays, just suggesting some forward-thinking is all. 

Anyway, a 6 oz. box with five 1.2 oz bars costs around $4.88.

REVIEW: Kellogg's NutriGrain Fruit & Oat Harvest Country Strawberry Bars

Well, looks like I'm on an official quest to review each and every NutriGrain Fruit & Oat Harvest Bar!!! ...Which really isn't hard at all, considering there's only two of them...

So far.
Kellogg's more than likely'll make new Fruit & Oat Harvest Bar flavors, I'm hoping- Maybe a ...Radical Raspberry, or a Grape Goodness? And if you use these names, Kellogg's, I better get a slice of the pie, if you get my drift.

First I tried Kellogg's Blueberry Bliss flavor, and now I'm moving on towards the Country Strawberry. Why did I the blueberry first, may you ask? Well, I like blueberry better than strawberry, plain and simple. The slight tangy, sour undertones of the blueberry just bring more depth to the flavor than the sometimes overly-sweet strawberry can provide. But I don't harbor some strawberry prejudice either, so time to review this Fruit & Oat Harvest Bar's take on the berry.

An 8.8 oz. box with five 1.76 oz. bars costs around $2.50.

REVIEW: NuGo Free Dark Chocolate Crunch Bar

Today's review is brought to you by NuGo Free: Gluten Free, Kosher Free, Soy Free, Low Fat, High Protein, Vegan NuGo Free. Yup, pr-eee-tty healthy. And you know where I got this bar from? Not a vitamin shoppe, nor an organic supermarket, nor a nutrition center... believe it or not, I purchased this Dark Chocolate Crunch bar from a gluten-free stand at a basketball stadium. Yeah, whatever. I could've gotten something really tasty like soft serve or a warm pretzel- and all for the same price -but I guess this was what I went with. 

Yaaaaaay.

Sometimes I wonder if I even think. But in my defense, I hadn't heard of NuGo before so I was somewhat intrigued by the protein bar gazing down at me from the display of the gluten-free stand. So, here we go: NuGo's Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Crunch Bar. Since I was at a sports game, mine was purchased for the cutthroat price of $5.00, but you can most likely buy one 1.59 oz. bar for around $1.49 at more reasonable retailers.

REVIEW: Fiber One 90 Calorie Chocolate Peanut Butter Chewy Bars

You've probably heard of Fiber One's 90-Calorie Brownies, but did you know that they make 90-Calorie Chewy Bars as well? Along with the classic Chocolate and delicious-sounding Chocolate Caramel & Pretzel, Fiber One also has made a 90-Calorie Chocolate Peanut Butter Chewy Bar, which I will be reviewing today. An 8.2 oz. value pack box containing ten 0.82 oz. bars costs around $4.99.

REVIEW: Kashi Soft n' Chewy Berry Muffin Bars

I reviewed Kashi's Soft N' Chewy Apple Cobbler Bar awhile back on this blog and was sufficiently impressed, so now I'm tackling their Berry Muffin flavor. The Soft N' Chewy bar I REALLY wanted to try next was the Banana Chocolate Chip ( I mean, CHOCOLATE, come on), but since I had a coupon for $1.00 off any NEW Kashi product, I settled on these bars instead.

A 7 oz. box containing five 1.4 oz. bars costs around $3.29.

REVIEW: Fiber One 90 Calorie Lemon Bar

Fiber One has had their line of 90-calorie, mini chocolate brownies on shelves for a long time now, but recently they've been reaching out and crafting "brownies" out of different flavors- these two flavors being Lemon Bar and Cinnamon Coffee Cake. While I think the Cinnamon Coffee Cake sounds like the much more preferable of the two, my mom went and bought the Lemon Bar flavor when I asked if she could pick up some new "review materials" next time she stopped at the grocery store. Ahhh well! It's not coffee cake, but it IS a new product to try, and that is exactly what I asked for. One 5.34 oz. box containing six measly 0.89 oz. bars costs around $2.98.

REVIEW: Atkins Advantage Peanut Butter Granola Bar

Recently, my mum and step dad have been on a low-carb diet. I'm not a follower of the trend, but I like to watch others do take it on. Basically, in a low-carb diet, you can eat anything and everything you want, as long as it's low in carbohydrates. I know that might SOUND easy- you can eat all you want of cheese curds, string cheese, steak, chicken, pork, bacon, fish, eggs, nuts, cream, beef jerky, yogurt, milk, most vegetables, most dressings, some types of mayonnaise even, as long as they're low in sugars -and everything seems fine and dandy, but then you gotta think of everything you CAN'T eat. Pizza, bread, pasta, chips, muffins, granola bars- NO SUGAR. NO SWEETS. WHATSOEVER. Nothing even CLOSE to sweets. NOT. EVEN. CEREAL.

That would just right-out kill me! I love my precious Cinnamon Toast Crunch WAY too much to give it up. See, this diet would never work for me. And now my step dad is all bummed out, because HE can't eat any of the foods HE wants at the moment. I thought I'd never see the day where that man would get tired of cheese.

But in the darkness that is the Atkins Diet, there is a ray of light with Atkins' frozen meals and bars. And only for the low, low price of $8.29 on the Atkins site (sarcasm intended), you too can have an 8.5 ox. box of five 1.7 oz. low-carb, Peanut Butter Granola Bars. Highway robbery, I know. But at Woodman's, these only cost about $6.99, which is clearly a better deal.

REVIEW: Nature Valley Chocolate Pretzel Nut Sweet & Salty Nut Granola Bar

Maybe this craze has been around longer than I've believed it to be, but it seems like people nowadays just can't get enough of sweet and salty food pairings. Salty fried chicken and sweet, syrup-y waffles; salty cheddar cheese and sweet, cinnamon-y apple pie; salty, meaty ham and sweet, juicy pineapple; salty....... uh....... salt and sweet, buttery caramel- and let's not forget this one! Salty, crunchy pretzels and sweet, creamy milk chocolate. Oh yeah. Can't resist em'.
Odd sweet n' salty combinations have been on the rise for quite awhile now (Heck, they were even serving chocolate-covered mozzarella cheese up at the State Fair), but chocolate-covered pretzels have been a no-brainer since 1544, when pretzel-man Herr Joseph Franz von Liebniz hooked up with the chocolatier next door in Hamburg, Germany to make a truly special food combo. Ahh, Hamburg... Raising up The Beatles AND the sweet n' salty trend.
So why DOES a chocolate pretzel granola bar sound so strange to me? Maybe it's the fact that salty foods like pretzels just seem ODD in typically sweet granola bars, even if said pretzels ARE accompanied by chocolate? I don't know. But anyway, I decided to embrace this growing sweet n' salty trend by testing out Nature Valley's Chocolate Pretzel Nut Bar. One 7.4 oz. box containing six 1.2 oz. bars costs around $3.38.

REVIEW: Kashi Dark Mocha Almond Chewy Granola Bars

I have an affinity for almonds- they're my favorite nut, when it comes down to it. I also have an affinity for dark chocolates- they're my favorite variety of chocolate, when it comes down to it. I also have an affinity for mochas- they're my favorite coffee drink, when it comes down to it. 

At least I THINK they would be... I haven't had what my mom calls "frou-frou" coffee drinks in years. But hey, it's coffee with milk, sugar, and cocoa- what's not to like? So I decided to give these Dark Mocha Almond Bars from Kashi a chance when I was at the grocery store debating what granola bars to taste-test for the week. One 7.4 oz. box containing six 1.2 oz. bars cost $4.09.

LOCAL REVIEW: tg's of Kenosha

Hot beef sandwiches (or also sometimes called Italian beef sandwiches) are probably one of the most perfect sandwiches out there. And thankfully, my little town of Kenosha is crawling with restaurants who offer this delectable combination of succulent pot roast-esque beef, thick absorbent bread, and flavorful au jus. You can find a hot beef pretty much anywhere you go! Well- maybe not if you went out for Chinese or Mexican, but you get the picture. But in all my years of living here in town, I've never been to tg's Restaurant & Pub, self-proclaimed "Home of Kenosha's Famous Hot Beef." Not really an outrageous claim- Many Kenoshans have been to tg's to try their hot beef and even go as far as to say they make THE BEST hot beef. And today, I finally got to go and experience what everyone's been talking about.

REVIEW: Nature Valley Salted Caramel Nut Protein Bar

This is one of Nature Valley's new products from their recent protein bar line. I've tried their Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate flavor before (not as a review, but still tried it), and was not overly impressed. Perhaps this bar will taste a bit better. What can I say? I believe in second chances! And the temptation of salted caramel was calling my name! I thiiiiink a pack of five 1.42 oz bars is around $5.00. I've really got to start keeping track of prices, haven't I? Anyway, on with the review!

REVIEW: Fiber One Oats & Chocolate Bar

Hey everybody!!! I know it's been awhile- a terribly LONG while- but I've been swamped! Well, not really during the summertime, I don't really have an excuse for that other than feeling too lazy to do even a degree of work- but certainly since school's started! Not only have I had to go to THAT for seven hours, five days a week, but I also had cross country practice on top of that. But since the cross season is now officially OVER, I guess I can start to play catch-up.
Like I said, I'm really, really sorry I haven't written up a post in awhile. I almost feel traitorous, completely dropping out when my blog just grew and grew in popularity. In fact, I was even mentioned over at the Impulsive Buy!!! That hit me hard, seeing I was getting all this recognition and doing no work...
But let bygones be bygones, am I right? So here's a new review!

This time I'm reviewing Fiber One's Oats & Chocolate Chewy Bar. It was 99 cents for a single unit.

Birthday Bash at the Tuscany Bistro Bar & Grill!

Hey, everyone! I'm so, so sorry I haven't written in so long... It's just that... Thursday was my birthday, and that's always a busy time, and I was sick that very day, along with the day after, so I was just too tired to work the cogs in my brain and type something up... And on Saturday, although I was feeling a lot better by then, a bunch of my friends and I went to Six Flags in Illinois to celebrate my birthday, and we didn't get back till' late... and Sunday...Well, I don't really have an excuse for Sunday. But it was Sunday, so uh... remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy or whatever?

But I'm back now! So don't fret! I really do apologize for the long hiatus, but I figure it's better late than never to get back into the swing of things and start working on a brand-new post! And since it was my big day just last Thursday, I thought I'd tell all of you dear readers how it turned out! I promised myself up and down the night before my birthday that when tomorrow came, I wouldn't worry about what I ate in the slightest. I figured if there was any day to go hog-wild on junk food (or any kind of food you want, really), it might as well be your birthday! You should do what makes you happy on your birthday, right? You don't want to go to bed that night thinking, "I could've done things different...", do you? I sure didn't! I hate lame birthdays with a passion! If your special day is lame, you've defeated the whole purpose of remembering your birthday in the first place! So, I vowed to make that Thursday as anti-lame as humanly possible!!!
Within reason, anyway...

I started my morning with a biiiiiiig bowl of cereal. It was a more indulgent take on my famous Yogurt Bowl than I'm used to creating. I didn't measure anything out at all- something I wouldn't even think of doing any other day. And instead of using just Fiber One for my cereal, I also threw in a couple good handfuls of Life, one of those rare cereals that actually tastes better in milk. I added in a plain Chobani yogurt, a whole bunch of cool, creamy milk, some Splenda, some vanilla flavoring, and a pinch of cinnamon. I even mixed in some Cool Whip Free for a tasty treat! And then I threw in some ice cubes, since I love it when my Yogurt Bowl is freezing cold. I ate this along with a Vanilla coffee, flavored with more milk, Cool Whip, and Splenda! What a great way to mix breakfast up a bit! It was very sweet, and a lot more decadent a Yogurt Bowl than I'm traditionally used to eating.

REVIEW: PowerBar ProteinPlus 20g Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar

Mmm-mmm-mmm! Chocolate and peanut butter: A classic combination that just works. It's a hard pair to resist, am I right?! Rich, sweet chocolate and decadent, salty PB- It's also a very popular flavor for protein bars, or so I've noticed. While at the gas station, I decided to pick up PowerBar's take on it in their ProteinPlus Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar. I've tried their Cookies N Cream ProteinPlus Bar before, and wasn't even REMOTELY impressed, but I figured I ought to give PowerBar a second chance. So, I thought, "Why not try this bar?" Plus, I still have yet to find a line of exercise bars with so much protein for such a decent calorie count. PowerBar's 20g for 210 calories is quite a find in the world of protein bars. It's a great ratio to maximize your workout without using up too many calories in one sitting.

Unfortunately, this protein bar was NO cheap buy: A single one set me back a whole $1.99! Hooo boy... This Chocolate Peanut Butter bar better exceed its Cookies N Cream brother, or I will be sorely disappointed...

After you’ve pushed yourself as hard as you can, you need the proper nutrients to help recover. PowerBar ProteinPlus® bars are a great addition to your exercise regimen, especially after you’ve given it your all. They’re designed with 20 grams of TriSource™ protein: a proprietary blend of whey, soy and casein proteins. And, there’s no preservatives or artificial flavors.

Keep going strong with a delicious way to round out your exercise routine.

REVIEW: PowerBar ProteinPlus Bar 20g Cookies N Cream

Cookies and cream is one awesome combination with humble beginnings, only faintly aware of how loved it would become. It started off just being the taste of a simple sandwich cookie, better known as the Oreo. But the taste quickly found its spot in ice creams, pies, cheesecakes, and plenty of other sweet desserts. And for good reason! Who doesn't like cookies and cream? It's one of my favorite sweet flavors, that's for sure. I even named my two cats- you guessed it- Cookie and Cream!
But, sadly, cookies and cream can't find its spot in everything you buy. I think we'd have a much easier time losing weight and eating healthier if apples had the crunchy, chocolately taste and the sweet, thick cream that Oreos possess. But, until science makes this physically possible, I guess us healthy eaters out there will just have to yearn for the taste of high-calorie, nutrient-belittled, yet totally addictive sandwich cookies... Sigh...
That's what I thought, however, until one day when I was walking around the supermarket and came across this in the protein bar aisle:

Dadadada! PowerBar's ProteinPlus Bar, now available in Cookies N Cream! I couldn't believe my eyes! I knew that new protein bar flavors were being released left and right, but now this?! Could I possibly enjoy the divine wonder that is a sandwich cookie and still eat healthily? 20g of protein and 4g of fiber in a bar that tastes like heaven above? How can this be??? Well, no time to ask questions- Time to rip this baby open!!!