Review: Fiber One's Protein Cookies & Creme Chewy Bar

Hey, everyone! After a very long hiatus, Sweet and SavoRi is back! I'm sorry it's been so long. I know I suddenly dropped off the blogging scene, which was a very unprofessional and very uncool thing of me to do. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone who read Sweet and SavoRi got impatient after waiting so long for this blog to update and just gave up reading altogether. BUT! If there is anyone still out there, I can't apologize enough for just quitting on my writing all of a sudden. I feel tremendously bad for stopping my blog posts all of a sudden without a word about it or anything. I promise, this WON'T happen again. And if it does, burn me at the stake!!! (...Just kidding. Please don't do that). So, if anyone out there is willing to forgive me, I couldn't be anymore grateful, and I hope you will enjoy Sweet and SavoRi's latest review- a review of Fiber One's Protein Cookies & Creme Chewy Bar!

Review: Subway Pepperoni Flatizza

Heyyyyy, everybody! How it's been???

...............Looks like I got some explaining to do for my sudden absence, huh?
Well, trust me, it has got NOTHING to do with sheer laziness.
Well, maybe a little. But you can't hardly blame me- I'm just a kid!
It's not like I meant to just stop writing, I really didn't... It just sort of happened like that. Things got a little busy and I didn't find myself having any time to write food review posts. There are a few reasons for this, of course:
1. School
2. Extracurricular activities
3. Sheer laziness
4. Trying to focus on what I want to do over what I feel I "have" to do
5. Another writing project (which may or may NOT be a book- I'll never tell!)
So there you have it! And, well, with all these things taking up my time, it gets a bit hard to write on the ol' blog. Especially with that last reason. Really, you don't wanna finish writing something just to start writing something MORE. I mean, BLAH! ...But I know the responsibilities of a blog, and I would never EVER want to disappoint my readers, cuz' that's not cool. That'd make me, like, a traitor! So, here's a BRAND NEW blog post! Yaaaaaaaaay!
Like I said, I feel incredibly bad for just dropping out of the blogging world, without giving even a moment's notice or anything of the sort... I can't promise this won't happen again, but I will, for sure, tell all of you ahead of time if I'm going to put my blog writing on a brief hiatus from here on out. So, I'm really sorry everyone! I am! And in all honesty, I wasn't even sure if I was ever going to return to the world of food reviews anytime soon. But someone came along and inspired me to get writing again- my boyfriend! Yup, I have a boyfriend now, and he's the sweetest, strongest, funniest guy you'll ever meet!
Yeah, my boyfriend is the best- he evens likes to read Sweet & SavoRi. And one day, he really wanted me to review Subway's New Flatizzas. I didn't know when I'd really get around to it, but luckily I went to Subway just in the nick of time! For you see, today is me and my boyfriend's one-month anniversary and I really thought it'd be nice to write the review he ever so wanted me to write for the celebration. It may not seem like much, but I'm flat broke, y'know, and it's the thought that counts! Either way, I hope you like the review, baby!
So, right- like I said, this time I'll be reviewing Subway's Pepperoni Flatizza! It comes with sauce, cheese, pepperoni, and all the veggies you want- a six inch costs $4.00.

Fiber One Assorted Fruit Fruit Flavored Snacks

Hello, everyone! At the behest of one of my readers, Dorothy, I am going to go ahead and try these new fruit snacks from Fiber One! Now, I usually jump at the chance immediately to try NEW products, but I wasn't allowed to eat fruit snacks when I was younger, so I never really developed a taste for them. So, seeing fruit snacks on the market- even if they are new -just kinda evokes an indifferent "meh" from me in response. But since one of my readers requested me to try these, how can I say no? Plus, they seem pretty healthy for fruit snacks, so that's good. I don't really know of any fruit snacks that actually have fiber, except for these. Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and try the Assorted Fruit flavor! I hope that's the one you would suggest, Miss Dorothy! 

So, an 8 oz. box containing ten 0.8 oz. pouches costs around $3.49.

REVIEW: Nature Valley Blueberry Breakfast Biscuits

Gee, it sure has been awhile since I've reviewed any Nature Valley products. But I guess now's a good as time to get back on track as any! Hey, in my defense, Nature Valley hasn't released any new products in FOREVER. But finally, finally... they're here. Nature Valley's Breakfast Biscuits. A product so innovative, so original, so unique, so one-of-a-kind that-

Just kidding. I mean, where have I heard the term "breakfast biscuits" before? Uhhhhh, duh! belVita!!!

These "new" Nature Valley biscuits are nothing more than a rip on belVita's biscuits. And I should know. I reviewed the Apple Cinnamon belVitas before (which really weren't that good, but that's irrelevant), and they looked COMPLETELY like these Nature Valley biscuits. But, with a perceptive eye, one can also see that these NV biscuits are more granola-like than the belVita biscuits. I suppose that makes sense, because what does Nature Valley specialize in? Yes, granola! Correctomundo!

Well, while these biscuits don't show too many signs of originality, they are new, and they are Nature Valley, and who knows? They could be mighty tasty, even if they are ripoffs. So today, I'll be reviewing the Blueberry Breakfast Biscuits. Why Blueberry? A cuz' Blueberry sounds a lot more tastier than plain ol' Honey, that's why.

Anyway, an 8.85 oz. box with five 1.77 oz. packages costs around $3.39.

REVIEW: Fiber One Trail Mix Chewy Bar

I tend to stick away from trail mix-flavored granola bars; I'm not a big fan of the raisins and the cranberries and all that... Trail mix bars, in my opinion, are just too mainstream. Everybody sells trail mix-flavored granola bars. There are just more interesting flavors out there- why should I waste my time on trail mix bars? Booooooring.

However, on the other side of the equation, I love trying new products. See, if you're the one to review a new product first, then you're like the journalist who's got the scoop before anyone else!

So, when I saw that Fiber One had a NEW Trail Mix Chewy Bar, I was a little conflicted. It was new, but... It was trail mix-flavored, but... It was new....

So, if you can't tell already, my affinity for new food items ultimately won out over my disdain for trail mix-flavored bars. It's just... the NEW! on the box was calling out to me... Plus, these bars are covered in chocolate; how bad can they be? Well... my gut feeling better not fail me this time!

A 6.75 oz. box with five 1.35 oz. bars costs around $3.39.

REVIEW: Stride Sour Patch Kids Red Berry Gum

Sour Patch Kids are definitely one of my favorite candies- I'd be scrunched to find someone who DOESN'T like these chewy, fruity, sour-than-sweet, tiny children of deliciousness.

Wait, no. That doesn't sound quite right.

Anywho, even if you were to take my weird analogies out of the equation, I'm pretty sure we'd ALL agree that Sour Patch Kids are the BOMB. Unfortunately, they're full of sugar. Just chock-full to bursting with the stuff, I kid you not! So, for those of you who have thought you'd have to swear off Sour Patch Kids for eternity and forever, there IS a solution- Sour Patch Kids-flavored gum from Stride. By the wayyyyy... it's sugar-free! Obviously, this gum is certainly an intriguing creation, whether you are looking for the taste of Sour Patch Kids guilt-free, or just are interested in chewing gum that tastes like Sour Patch Kids. 

There are two available flavors of this new candy-esque gum: Red Berry and Lime. Great thought was taking into consideration when selecting which of the two flavors to taste-test first, but eventually I decided on the Red Berry. I think, after weighing out the odds, Red is my favorite Sour Patch flavor. 

A 14-pack of gum costs around $1.29.

REVIEW: Edy's/Dreyer's Slow Churned Cinnamon Bun Fun! Ice Cream

You know what sounds nice during this last stretch of winter? Some warm pastries, hot from the oven... Donuts, muffins, danishes... Maybe a cinnamon bun! Oh yeah, totally a cinnamon bun! Warm, gooey, yummy, cinnamon-y, bun-y... They're great. Who wouldn't want a warm cinnamon bun during this everlasting Wisconsin cold!?

Well, apparently me, since I'm eating cold, icy, shivery, cinnamon bun ice cream. So yay. But heyyyy, it won't be so bad. It's Cinnamon Bun FUN! Ice Cream. Funnnnnn.

But in all honesty, this is a flavor I've been meaning to try out as soon as I heard about it. It's one of the three seasonal Bakery Treats flavors Edy's/Dreyer's have just released not too long ago- the other two being Luscious Red Velvet Cake and Coffee & Cookies Delight. They all sound good, really. And I wanted to buy both the Cinnamon Bun and the Red Velvet Cake flavors at the same time, but my dad didn't want to get the Red Velvet Cake since there was only a marginal difference between its appearance and the appearance of Edy's Strawberry. Maybe Dad didn't know Red Velvet is completely different from strawberry or something, I dunno. Either way, I'll make do with what I can and test-out this delicious, pastry-esque ice cream! (Or is it delicious? I suppose we'll find out!)

A 1.5 qt. container costs around $3.39.

REVIEW: Fiber One Protein Maple Brown Sugar Granola Cereal

Welcome to the wonderful world of Fiber One Protein Cereal, where you can fart while lifting weights for muscle mass! ...And now that I think about it, that is NOT such a wonderful world to be in. Well, at least this cereal fills you up, with a two-punch combo of protein and fiber. 

Fiber One already created protein bars a long while ago- and protein meal bars more recently, but they just started making protein cereal now. Which seems a little odd to me, considering Fiber One started out as a cereal company in the first place... riiight? I dunno. Maybe I should do my research a bit more, but I really don't care. As long as Fiber One is making some protein granola now, I don't mind! Seriously, trying a new granola from one of my favorite food brands is pretty exciting, so without further ado, let's dig in!

A 16.2 oz box costs around $3.39.

REVIEW: Girl Scouts Cranberry Citrus Crisps

Guess what season it is!!! Winter? No!!! Valentine's? No!!!Feburary? No!!! IT CAN ONLY BE GIRL SCOUTS COOKIE SEASON... The season where you can buy overpriced cookies from your cute niece, or daughter, or neighbor, or whatever. Seriously, most of people's February expenses HAS to come from Girl Scouts Cookies (Honestly guys- we ALL know you're just gonna get Some Dumb Little Thing from CVS for your gal on Valentine's, so that don't got the cost of Girl Scouts Cookies beat).

So, in lieu of the Girl Scout Cookie Season, we'll be reviewing one of the latest flavors to appear on their order forms: these Cranberry Citrus Crisps. I think they're Girl Scouts' latest attempt at trying to make a "healthy" cookie flavor, as they're not selling their godawful Mango Cremes that were available last year, which were the previous "healthy" cookie.

One 6.3 oz. box costs around $4.00.

REVIEW: Kashi Chocolate Almond & Sea Salt with Chia Chewy Granola Bars

So, Kashi's had these new Chocolate Almond & Sea Salt granola bars around for awhile (I know, that sentence kinda contradicts itself there), and it seems to have "Made For RiRi" written all over it (Not technically, but still). Sea Salt? I love salty foods! Almonds? They're my favorite nut! Chocolate? I love chocolate!!! (It's not DARK chocolate, but it works). Except for the chia, everything Kashi has put into this bar is making it sound faaaantastic. So I kinda have high hopes for this review! Let's see how it goes.

A 7.4 oz. box with six 1.2 oz. bars costs around $4.09.

Review: Kashi Crunchy Granola & Seed Honey Oat Flax Bars

Recently, Kashi's released a whole new line of granola bars with the addition of seeds in them. Well, if you call two flavors a "line", that is. I reviewed one of the flavors so far- the Chocolate Chip Chia. They were a bit seed-like in taste to being with (well, dur-hur... they ARE seed bars), but all in all the taste was yummy and hearty enough to bring me back to try the other kind of new granola bar Kashi has released- their Honey Oat Flax Bars. Whereas the Chocolate Chip Chia Bars were made with... chia (dur), these Honey Oat Flax Bars are made with... flax. Hopefully you all deduced that for yourselves before I had to spell it out!

A 7 oz. box with five, two-bar, 1.4 oz packages costs around $4.09.

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: Kellogg's Special K Honey Barbecue Cracker Chips

For a long while I wasn't very much into chips- it was all about the sweets. I didn't have time for chips- I was too busy reviewing cereal and granola bars and... more cereal. But I've been on a chip kick lately and have been taste-testing a few different varieties of this salty snack. First up for reviewin' is Special K's Honey Barbecue Cracker Chips. They're new, but just became old by food industry standards. I'm serious. One day I'm in the store buying a box of this stuff with "NEW!" plastered all over it and the next I go back into that same snack aisle and all the Honey Barbecue boxes have that NEW taken off. I guess the food world moves much too fast for an average Joe like I...

So then, a 4 oz. box costs around $2.88.

REVIEW: Kellogg's NutriGrain Fruit & Oat Harvest Blueberry Bliss Bar

Sooo... Is it me, or has Kellogg's been releasing an unusual amount of new NutriGrain products lately? For years NutriGrain has been nothing more than a line of commonplace cereal bars- but now they've got these NutriGrain Crunch thingies, and even these super-new Fruit & Oat Harvest Bars as of late. ...Oh yeah, and I guess they had to have released these NutriGrain Waffles sometime in between as well. What's up Kellogg's? NutriGrain not doing so well in the sales market lately? Or is it that they're doing SO well that you wanted to make more varieties to keep things interesting? I'm just curious. I'm also curious to see how these Fruit & Oat Harvest Bars taste, so I'll be trying the Blueberry Bliss flavor today. An 8.8 oz. box with five 1.76 oz. bars costs around $2.78.

REVIEW: Fiber One 90 Calorie Brownies Cinnamon Coffee Cake

I've reviewed two of Fiber One's 90 calorie "brownies" so far- their Chocolate Fudge and their Lemon Bar. And I've been impressed enough by these two little treats that I decided to swoop up two MORE flavors while on a recent trip to the grocery store. One of those flavors- Cinnamon Coffee Cake -I shall be reviewing today. One 5.34 oz. box with six 0.89 oz. bars costs around $2.98.

REVIEW: General Mills Chocolate Toast Crunch Cereal

I don't know what is IS about chocolate-flavored cereals, but they seem to be are just cause for celebration! A long-time example: Cocoa Krispies. I've ALWAYS preferred those over regular Rice Krispies- since as long as I can remember. A more recent example? Released just last year was Chocolate Frosted Flakes. ...Otherwise known as Choco Zucaritas, whatever the heck that means. Whatever- they were chocolate covered Frosted Flakes, and I was freaking out about them!

And then along came Chocolate Toast Crunch... Now, if I was jumping up and down eagerly telling all my friends about Chocolate Frosted Flakes like a geekwad, just imagine how I felt when I heard about Chocolate Toast Crunch, a chocolate version of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, aka THE BEST cereal in the world?!?!

Well, actually, I was a bit skeptical. I was excited, sure, but I'm sure you can see how there might be room for doubt. Let me explain: There has been Frosted Toast Crunch: Toast Crunch with a vanilla icing flavor; there has been Peanut Butter Toast Crunch: Toast Crunch with a peanut butter flavor. I can see both vanilla icing and PB working well with cinnamon. Plus, those two flavors are pretty unique. But chocolate flavor is such a far cry from cinnamon flavor, and is so overly used in today's cereal market. Cinnamon Toast Crunch is a FANTASTIC cinnamon cereal, but could it be a fantastic chocolate cereal as well, or would it only be as good as standard chocolate cereals like Cocoa Puffs? Chocolate is an easy flavor to make a GOOD cereal out of, but what about a great cereal? This is what I set about to find out today with this review. A 12.7 oz. box costs around $2.98.

REVIEW: belVita Oats & Chocolate Soft Baked Breakfast Biscuit

belVita's Mixed Berry Soft Baked Bar was pretty delicious by my verdict, so I'm back for more to try their new Oats & Chocolate Bar! I honestly always tend to think at first glance that chocolate-flavored products will most likely beat out berry-flavored ones by taste (except gum. Chocolate gum sounds gross), but I guess we'll see. An 8.8 oz. box with five 1.76 oz. bars costs around $2.98.

REVIEW: Fiber One Chocolate Peanut Butter Meal Bar

It's interesting to see what brand names are hopping on the meal bar bandwagon nowadays, but I'd NEVER think to see Fiber One producing them. Sure, Fiber One has made protein bars in the past, and I see nothing weird about that, but meal bars? Like the ones you find near the medicine aisle? Not Fiber One! Fiber One just seems so... commercial, I guess. I don't know. I mean, I'm sure CLIF and Atkins and PowerBar are all plenty commercial too, but at least they were FOUNDED as meal/protein/energy bar companies to begin with. Fiber One just didn't strike me as the kind of brand that would really be serious about making nutritious products like meal bars. Does that make sense? Fiber One cereals and granola bars are nutritious too, but in a different way. In a way that people who aren't TOO serious about nutrition would buy into. Maybe this all sounds just gobbley-gook, so I'll just shut up now.

But anyway, I'm totally glad Fiber One is making meal bars now- don't get me wrong. They make yummy chewy bars, so I'm sure their meal bars have some degree of potential to them as well. The flavors they've released so far are Strawberry Greek Yogurt, Dark Chocolate Almond, and Chocolate Peanut Butter- the last of which I will be reviewing today. A 7.95 oz. box with five 1.59 oz. bars costs around $5.49.

REVIEW: Nature Valley Oats 'n Honey Protein Crunchy Granola

I like granola bars a TON, but I've never really had any actual, good ol' granola granola. Like, you know, the kind you have in a bowl of milk or as a topping on yogurt. I think this party has to due with the fact that, for all the calories granola has, most of them are pretty empty. There were always plenty of other higher-fiber, higher-protein cereal choices, with less sugar and fat not to mention, so I always avoided purchasing granola, even though I really, really wanted to. Another reason I never bought it was that I was never really sure WHICH granola brand to start off with. A lot of them- especially the "better for you" ones -are made by kinda obscure brand names, leaving me to wonder if they're any good or not. But now, Nature Valley has released a new protein granola cereal, which a decent 10 grams of the stuff per serving. Nice! And come on, Nature Valley hasn't let me down before, so why would they start now? I doubt they- the granola bar pantheon of the WORLD -would be unsuccessful in their endeavors of creating something as simple as a granola cereal. But I guess we shall find out! An 11 oz. bag costs around $3.98.

REVIEW: Nabisco belVita Mixed Berry Soft Baked Breakfast Biscuit

Sometimes, in the morning, you need to whip up something quick and easy for breakfast if you want to make it to wherever you need to be...Like cereal! Cereal takes all of two minutes to prepare. But even if that's too much trouble, you can take one of these belVita Soft Baked Breakfast Biscuits out the door and along for the morning commute. An 8.8 oz. box containing five 1.76 oz. biscuits costs around $2.98.