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: Pure Protein Chocolate Deluxe High Protein Bar

I like having snacks that are full of protein. But as much as I like food like meats and beans and cheeses and all of that stuff- they're not really convenient as on-the-go foods. Or really anything that I'd actually want as a "snack" (well, maybe cheese, but still). No, I just think there's more appeal to eating sweet protein foods when you want a snack. Like protein bars. Plus, there is no end to the variety in protein bars! Cinnamon bun-flavored protein? Blueberry pie? Oatmeal cookie? Really, you can have you protein any way you want it- there are just so many flavors to choose from nowadays. And what craaaazy-cool flavor will I be reviewing today? That's right- Chocolate! Woohoo! What the little daredevil I am!

But this isn't just any Chocolate- it's Chocolate Deluxe. Oooooooh! This bar is made by Pure Protein, and with 20 grams of the stuff in one bar, I wouldn't say the brand name is all too misleading at all.

One 50g bar costs around $1.49.

REVIEW: Marathon Crunchy Dark Chocolate Energy Bars

Protein bars satisfy. And you know what else satisfies? SNICKERS. Combine them, and you might possibly have the most satisfying snack on earth. Or the most horrendously unhealthy. I mean, come on- Snickers protein bar??? That kinda defeats the purpose of even EATING a protein bar. 

You would think so, right? But it turns out the same guys who made Snickers are now making these Marathon Energy Bars- and guess what? THEY'RE ACTUALLY HEALTHY. Gaaaaasp!

Well, at least healthy enough by MY standards. I guess it depends on which Marathon Bar you get exactly, but these Crunchy Dark Chocolate Marathon Bars are only 150 calories a pop, and are packed with 11g of protein. Not bad, especially if these thing's taste live up to the Snickers name. But if NOT... that kinda defeats the purpose of even buying these things. I can buy any old protein bar at the gas station- but when I'm buying one with Snickers on the label, IT. BETTER. DELIVER. OR I WILL CONSUME THE EARTH IN A BOUT OF FLAMES!!! AND SAY, "MARATHON! THIS WAS ALL MARATHON'S FAULT! MARATHONNNNNNNNN!!!"

But no pressure.

A 44.2g bar costs around $1.85.

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 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: CLIF Crunchy Peanut Butter Energy Bar

Time for this blog's first-ever CLIF Bar review! Yayyyyy! I'm so excited!!! This is honestly my first time even EATING a full-sized CLIF Bar, let alone reviewing one, so hopefully it's an enjoyable bar. I'd like to start taste-testing and reviewing CLIF Bars more often, especially since they have a LOT of mouthwatering flavors: Banana Nut Bread, Carrot Cake, Maple Nut, Oatmeal Raisin Walnut, Chocolate Chip, White Chocolate Macadamia... ALL of these sound VERY good, but of course the first CLIF bar I get is the average ol' Crunchy Peanut Butter... Oh well. Peanut Butter-flavored products have disappointed me in the past, but there've also been pleasant surprises as well. So hopefully this CLIF Bar falls into the latter category. One 2.4 oz. bar costs around $1.27.

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: Fiber One Protein Peanut Butter Chewy Bar

Peanut butter seems almost like a cliche' protein bar flavor, doesn't it? I mean, what major protein bar brands DON'T have a PB-flavored product, huh? Name ONE! Yup, betcha' can't! Why is that? Is it because peanut butter is an easy flavor to incorporate into workout bars? Is it because PB is known for it's protein capacity? Or is it just because peanut butter is a popular flavor here in the West???

Well, I'm sure any of these statements could be considered the right answer. Anyway, today I'll be reviewing Fiber One's Peanut Butter Protein Bar. One box containing five 1.17 oz bars costs around 3 to 5 dollars.

REVIEW: Fiber One Protein Coconut Almond Chewy Bars

Fiber One's recently been adding protein to their chewy snack bars, which are already full of, well... fiber. Doy.
So far, they've released three different flavors, and, so far, I've tried three. But the one I will be reviewing in depth this time is the Coconut Almond variety.
This flavor immediately caught my eye because of my affinity for coconut... and almonds. Sounds a lot like an Almond Joy bar, right? That's what I thought too.
One box, which includes five 33g bars, costs around 3-5 dollars.

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: Met-Rx Protein Plus Protein Bar Creamy Cookie Crisp

My quest to find the world's yummiest, healthiest protein bar has led me to my local CVS, where I decided to pick up a Protein Plus Creamy Cookie Crisp Protein Bar from Met-Rx. One bar cost me $2.77.

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: Special K Double Chocolate Protein Meal Bar

This weekend, my Dad decided to take my brother and me to see the White Sox play at Comiskey Park (Well, technically, now it's called U.S. Cellular Field, but my parents say it was originally- and always will be, Comiskey Park). Road trip! Woohoo! We stopped at a gas station as we headed out that morning, and Dad was all like, "Get what you want," to my brother and me as we walked through the doors. Score!!! I''ll takeeee... hmm... a powdered donut, this bag of chips, two bottles of soda, a pack of gum, a large hazelnut coffee, this loaf of white bread, a block of cheese, SPAM, ramen noodle cup, a package of S'Mores Pop-Tarts, teriyaki beef jerky, a granola bar, a box of cereal, a tin of canned cat food, a gallon of 1% milk... and a bunch of bananas, why not!
Well... that might be considered going a touch overboard. So keeping that in mind, I tried to narrow down my options to one drink and one food item. I got a Diet Cherry Coke, and since I'm on this new found protein bar kick, I decided to try this one from Special K: Their Double Chocolate Protein Meal Bar.

REVIEW: LUNA Protein Cookie Dough Bar

As much as I talk about low-calorie this and low-calorie that, how to stay lean and lose weight, there comes a time in an underweight gal's life when she needs to wake up and realize the best thing for her health is to gain some weight and build up her scrawny muscles! And really, accomplishing BOTH of these goals takes a lot more thought than one might think. If you want to gain weight in muscle, and NOT in fat (I mean, who wants a muffin top when you can have rock-hard abs instead?), you can't go around eating chips and cookies all day. No, rather, when looking to gain, you need to search for the most-nutrient dense foods available! And what nutrient is the building block for muscle? Protein, people! Protein!
But how are you supposed to get all your protein in? Well meat, obviously, but that gets kind of boring. For me, anyways. I don't want every snack I eat to consist of deli slices or cheese. This girl needs her sweet-tooth fix! But what's sweet and high in protein at the same time? The two don't exactly go hand in hand. When I think of sweet snacks, I think of Hostess treats, ice cream, granola bars, Oreo cookies, cereal, candy, Pop-tarts- Need I go on? If it wasn't obvious to you already, NONE of these are great sources of muscle-building protein. Or any significant nutrients, really. Some of them are high in fiber, and maybe even a couple of granola bars and cereals have good amounts of protein, but not many I've seen. So what's a sweet-craving teen who wants to gain weight healthily to do? Behold the LUNA Protein Cookie Dough Bar!