Trader Joe's Cereal Bars

So I'm pretty sure ALL of you have been to a Trader Joe's before. It's kind of a food blogger rite of passage. No joke.

Anyway... A new one just opened up near me and I went with my mom to take a look. Kind of small, and there's a lot of space that isn't utilized, but still awesome. Especially the food!

I picked up these little boxes of love last week. I think they're one of my favorite bars ever! And don't you just love the title? This "Insert Fruit Here" Walks into a Bar. <3

I tried three flavors, fig, strawberry, and apple. All delicious by the way, but I loved fig the best. It tastes exactly like a healthy Fig Newton!

Fig: Nice and sweet, with that trademark fig crunch in the filling. I love those little seeds. :) I swear this one tastes exactly like a Fig Newton. I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference during a blind taste test.

Apple: Not as apple tasting as the Kashi bars, but still really good. The flavor just isn't as strong, which is good for some people. I found this one to be less sweet than the Fig for some reason. Buy this bar if you want a milder cereal bar.

Strawberry: I used to love the taste of strawberry a while ago, but now it's moved down on my list of fav fruits. I don't really know why... But anyway. This strawberry bar is definitely true to the fruit. It tastes like a squished up strawberry in a bar! I don't usually say that about bars because there's generally that fake fruit taste, but not this one.

The nutrition stats on these bars are pretty good, considering they're the cereal kind. With either 120 or 140 calories per bar, they can be an easy on-the-go snack. There are also around 2 or 2.5 grams of fat, 24-28 grams of carbs, 1 or 2 grams of dietary fiber and protein, and finally, around 17 grams of sugar. A little bit high on the sugar side, but nice for a treat once in a while.

Nutrition Facts for "This Fig Walked into a Bar..."

Serving Size: 1 Bar

Amount per Serving
Calories 120 Calories from Fat 20
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 2g	3%
Saturated Fat 0g	0%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 75mg	3%
Total Carbohydrate 24g	8%
Dietary Fiber 0g	0%
Sugars 13g
Protein 1g	2%

Vitamin C	0%
Calcium	2%
Iron	2%
Thiamin (B1)	10%
Riboflavin (B2)	10%
Niacin (B3)	10%
Vitamin B6	10%
Folic Acid (Folate)	10%
Vitamin B12	10%

---

Est. Percent of Calories from:

Fat 15.0% Carbs 80.0%

Protein 3.3%

So there you have it! I really like Trader Joe's. I hadn't been to one in a long time, and it was a good experience. :)

Ooh! And I want some ideas on what else to incorporate into my blog... Any ideas? What do you guys think?

Price: $1.99 per 6 bar box

Calories: 120-140 depending on the flavor

2 Oz. VitaMuffin

Hey guys! Sorry it's taken me so long to post. You all know how life gets. ;) If freshman year has this much homework, what am I going to do in tenth grade?!

Anyway... I'm doing a post on three flavors of the two ounce VitaMuffins. There were more at my Shop Rite, but I just got these to try them out. I know how you foodie bloggers love these muffins, but I'll do a little explaining for those of you who don't.

The VitaLicious company makes VitaBrownies, VitaMuffins, VitaTops, VitaCakes, even VitaCoffee! Their goal is to make healthy and delicious baked goods that are full of essential vitamins and minerals. Sounds impossible? I can tell you that it's not! These muffins actually taste good.

Sugar-Free Velvety Chocolate: I had to get this sugar-free flavor because it was the only chocolate one, and I really wanted to review one of those for you. :) Don't worry though, there's no Splenda or aspartame. Just erythritol, a natural sugar alcohol. This flavor did taste a little bit more fake than the others, but still rich and chocolatey. I love the mini chips in it! When you microwave it, it goes all warm and melty.

Blue-Bran: Ergh... Unfortunately, I didn't really like this one. There was a little bit too much "bran" and not enough "blue". :D It kind of tasted a bit like soft cardboard. I know that sounds disgusting, but it wasn't that bad. I just wouldn't buy it again.

Golden Corn: My favorite flavor so far! It has all the makings of a regular corn muffin. You can't even tell that it's healthy for you! I can eat this one room temp or microwaved. I highly recommend this one!

Besides the vitamins, what else is in the nutrition label? Let's take a look.

Sugar-Free Chocolate

Not bad, not bad at all... :) I especially love the fiber.

I can only find these at Shop Rite, but some Whole Foods have them. I do have to warn you, they're a bit expensive!

Price: $4.25 per four muffin box

Calories: 80-100 per two-ounce muffin

LesserEvil Kettle Corn

I don't know if you remember, but I did a review in August or something on the LesserEvil Krinkle Sticks. I really like their company because they offer a healthy alternative to the junk food most of us love! I know the picture to the left shows four different Kettle Corn flavors, but I've only seen the Classic and the Black & White. The website itself doesn't even show the other two flavors... :/ Who knows?

I really like this snack... It's not what I would call a daily staple or anything, but it's great for a quick sweet treat once in a while. And I DO mean sweet. There is definitely a strong sweetness to this popcorn, but maybe it's just me.

The Black & White flavor is basically the same pieces of the Classic Kettle Corn mixed with chocolate-y pieces. When there's a choice at the store of either flavor, I just get the one with chocolate in it because I can get two tastes for the price of one! ^^

This Kettle Corn has a strange texture... I kind of like it. It's more like Cracker Jack than regular popcorn. I would even say it's a little bit more crunchy than Cracker Jack. I love how they are sweetened with evaporated cane juice and brown rice syrup rather than sugar. There are also no artificial flavors or colors, it's low fat, gluten-free, and made from whole grains. In addition, there is no trans-fat, preservatives, or corn syrup. There are only 110 calories per serving!

I found bags of these lovely little things at both Wegman's and Whole Foods, at the same price for both. Finally, WF isn't the most expensive!

Price: $2.79 per bag

Calories: 110 per 1.1 ounce serving (about 1 cup)

My Favorite Peanut Butter!

Okay, so I know I usually do a review of all the flavors for a company, but I had to make an exception for this one. Cinnamon Raisin Swirl is the best peanut butter I've had so far! Unfortunately, this was the only flavor my Shop Rite had today, but the guy at the store said they were getting ALL of the other flavors in tomorrow. :) Yay for me! I really want to try the Maple one and the Dark Chocolate one. But even if I only had this flavor, it would still be awesome.

How is Peanut Butter & Co. different from other peanut butter companies? Well, to start with, it's all natural, with no trans fats or cholesterol. It's gluten free and vegan, and there is no hydrogenated oil or added sugars in any of their products. Yum!

They have a restaurant in NYC... I really, really want to go! They have all different types of peanut butter sandwiches, and even other treats like grilled cheese. Wash it down with a cold glass of milk, or my favorite, sparkling apple cider. ^^

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl: Blended with cinnamon and raisins, this peanut butter is perfection! The raisins aren't too big, but they're plentiful throughout the jar, though not so much in the beginning. That can easily be changed with a little bit of mixing. Some say that the raisins are too hard, but that just makes them taste more like candy to me!

I think I need to invest in this cookbook.

For some reason, two tablespoons have only 160 calories instead of the usual 190 or even 210. That's a pretty good deal for me! In addition to that, there are 11g of healthy fats, 6g of protein, 2g of dietary fiber, and 9g of sugar. Go buy this PB right now!

I bought this jar of loveliness at Shop Rite, but I've seen it at Whole Foods. It's just so expensive there (by more than a few dollars), so I got it at Shop Rite instead.

Price: $3.49 per jar

Calories: 160 per two tablespoons

Three Sisters Cereal

Sorry I've been gone for so long! School is just insane. I'm only a freshman, but we get divided into different categories of classes based on our abilities. I'm in Accelerated for all my classes, and... I'm kind of worried about how hard sophomore year is going to be. :/ Anyway... Onto the review. In light of Halloween, I've decided to do a sweet, candy-like cereal review! I never ate candy when I was little, but we always had these organic treats at my house during Trick-Or-Treating time. :) This cereal has to be the best sweet thing out there! It's made by the Three Sisters Cereal company, and is currently only available at select Whole Foods locations. If you can't tell from the pic, the cereal doesn't come in a box, it comes in a freshness saver bag. With less packaging, there's less waste.

Here's an excerpt from the back of the bag:

"Each year, there are about 2.5 billion cereal boxes sold in the United States. If even half of those boxes were bags, we'd save 90,000 tons of paperboard. The energy saved could power over 11,000 homes for a year. It would eliminate 170 million gallons of waste water and avoid 1,800 garbage trucks of solid waste."

Not to mention the cereal itself is made with wind-generated electricity! But what about the taste? Well, I've only personally tried the Marshmallow Oaties and the Cinnamon Sweets, but I asked for opinions from people who've tried the other ones.

Marshmallow Oaties: Yum! This cereal is definitely what I imagine Lucky Charms would taste like. The cereal part tastes like Honey Nut Cheerios while the actual marshmallow circles are crunchy, yet melt in your mouth. So far my favorite!

Cinnamon Sweets: I've actually had Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and it tastes exactly like this. Seriously, maybe even sweeter. I couldn't eat more than a few squares of this cereal because of the overwhelming amount of sugar, but my brother could. He's the type who inhales bags of food at a time. >.<

Sweet Wheat: My little cousin tried this one because she loves Mini Wheats. She said these tasted pretty similar, but were crunchier for some reason. I told her it's because of the "organic-ness". *shrug*

Graham Crackerz: Apparently this cereal isn't quite as sweet as the others, but still sweet enough. Kind of like a real graham cracker in cereal form, but not as thick.

Honey'n Oats: This cereal is the only one with flakes in it. There are also sweet oat clusters in it. My mom liked the clusters, but not so much the flakes. She said they were too bland.

Honey Oaties: I think it's even more obvious that these are supposed to be Honey Nut Cheerios. :) I clearly didn't get a chance to try this one, but the picture on the internet looks yummy.

Here are the nutrition facts for the Marshmallow Oaties:

There is corn syrup and gelatin derived from animals (><) in this cereal, but hey, you've got to live a LITTLE, especially on Halloween. :D I hope you enjoyed this review girls! And I'm going to assume, like many food bloggers do, that my readers, or most of them, are girls. Let me know if you're not and I'll be sure to include that in my next post. ;)

Price: On sale at Whole Foods for $3.49 per 12.5 ounce bag

Calories: 120-130 per 30g serving for every cereal except Sweet Wheat, which has 210 calories per 55g serving

Popchips

I'm pretty sure we've all had our fair share of Popchips, but I couldn't resist doing a review of the greatest chips known to (wo)man. I haven't tried or seen all of them, but of the ones I have, they're all delicious!

So... how are Popchips different than other chips? Well, for starters, they're not baked or fried. They're popped! (I'm seeing where the name came from...) And what is "popping"? Start with potatoes, add a little heat and pressure, and there you have it. Apparently, they have rice and corn chips as well, but I've never seen those.

All of the chips have a texture very similar to a regular potato chip. Popchips have a nice crunch, but no grease on the outside. You know how some chips leave you feeling "heavy"? Not with these. All in all, a very innocent snack.

I'll just list all of the potato flavors, in no particular order. :) I love them all.

Cheddar: Okay, I lied. So my favorite is going first. This flavor is just... awesome. It kind of tastes like someone baked really tangy mac cheese into the chip. It's kind of like the chip was dipped in a powdered form of mac cheese. <3

Salt and Vinegar: This flavor is definitely tangy! If you like that burst of vinegar flavor, go for these. I know some kinds of vinegar chips have a subtler taste, but this one is like WHAM!

Sour Cream and Onion: This flavor is somewhat milder than the other ones, but still very good. If you haven't noticed by now, I really like strong flavors. This chip would be perfect if it was more dominant over the potato taste.

Original: Like your regular old Lays chip, just healthier! I actually love this flavor when I need something a little bit calm in the taste bud zone. They are really salty though, and I like that.

Barbeque: There's somewhat of a spice to this chip... I do like the fact that it has an authentic barbeque taste, but it's kind of hot! Some of the people I've asked don't think so though, so maybe it's just me.

Parmesan Garlic: Never tried or seen! I wish I could find this flavor, it sounds great.

Salt and Pepper: I do see this flavor often, but I'm not a big pepper fan, so I just get the original.

Sounding good, right? But how healthy are these chips? Well, they have 120 calories for every flavor, but the chip amount ranges from 19-22. That's quite a lot! They have around 4g of fat per serving, and around 20g of carbs. No saturated or trans fat, so that's good. There is also no cholesterol, preservatives, or artificial stuff. Yum!

Where can you get these? Lots of grocery stores actually have them, not just health food stores. I buy them at Whole Foods, Target, and sometimes ShopRite.

Price: Around $2.99 per bag.

Calories: 120 per serving

I'm feeling giveaway deprived... Got to win one soon. :)

Candid RD's Giveaway ends Friday, October 23rd

Mary's Hush Hush Book Giveaway ends Friday, October 23rd

Audrey: Susie Q Pumpkin Giveaway ends Friday, October 23rd

I Made Dinner's Blogiversary Giveaway ends Sunday, October 25th

Tri 2 Cook's Giveaway ends Monday, October 26th

Julie Go Lean's Nature's Path Giveaway ends Tuesday, October 27th

Audrey: TyeJ Painting Giveaway ends Friday, October 30th

Run to the Finish's Good Mood Giveaway ends next week

Sensible Foods: Dried Fruit Snacks

It can sometimes be hard to get in your fruits and veggies on a daily basis. We don't buy produce because we don't eat it in time, it's too messy (peaches! <3),>Unfortunately, I've never tried the vegetable snacks from Sensible Foods, but I have tried all of the fruit ones. :) My mom went on this crazy QVC spree and bought an assortment box of, like... 40 or something. It was insane, yet strangely awesome to witness. Our neighbors actually asked what was in the huge box on our porch. I replied dried fruit. They stared. Hm.

Again, in order from favorite to least favorite:

Tropical Blend: A delicious mix of apples, pineapples, bananas, and mangoes. The only reason that this one beat the Orchard Blend was because the bananas are so delicious. They're not like dried banana chips, they're much softer and more like... puffed, I guess?

Orchard Blend: This one is a mix of apples, peaches, and apricots. The peach bits are very good, but the apricots that I had in my bag were slightly sour. It may be just that one bag, because my mom had one as well and she thought the whole thing was sweet.

Cherry Berry: Ah, this one has apple, cherries, blueberries, and strawberries. The strawberries are definitely sour in this one, everyone in my family agreed on that. The blueberries are hit or miss, depending on the size really. The big ones tend to be sweeter. I kind of thought the cherries were kind of scarce in my bag, but it really varies.

Apple Harvest: Eh. Still good but... Apples are one of my least favorite fruits. I love the flavor, don't actually like the fruit itself. These are incredibly crunchy and flat, unlike the puffed up cubes of peach, pineapple, mango, etc...

I do believe there is a marketing strategy to having apples in every bag. Simply put, apple are much cheaper than any of the other fruits they use, and trust me, there are way more apples than the other bits. Oh, well. If you like apples, it's good for you!

The flavors range from 70 (Orchard Blend), 80 (Tropical Blend and Apple Harvest), and 84 (Cherry Berry). The Apple Harvest is the only organic fruit flavor. It's all fat free, and each bag is equal to 1/2 cup of fruit, or one daily serving. The sugars and carbs are quite reasonable considering it's fruit! Check the website here for full nutritional info.

So that's it, lovies. Another yummy review. Anything special you've seen lately at the grocery store, but haven't tried because you don't know if it's good? Leave me a comment and I'll try picking it up and reviewing it for you. ;) Yes, yes, it will be very hard work.

Price: I'm not sure how much my mom got them for, but an individual bag is $1.69 on their site.

Calories: 70-84 per bag

Dun dun dun dun! *fanfare* Giveaway time!

Lisa's Zevia Giveaway