Comments (20)

By kilax, April 4, 2012 6:36 am

This is the longest review ever. I do promise there is a (self-sponsored) giveaway at the end though!

You Bar was kind enough to send me some sample premade bars, mixes and shake mixes to review!

You Bar is a neat company – you get to choose and create your own protein bar! What goes in, how big it is, even the protein bar name. They make it fresh and ship it to you. You can also make your own shake and trail mix!

I was initially interested in the trail mix, when Jen recommended You Bar to me after I wrote about making my own trail mix in the beginning of February.

I think it’s pretty cool that they have so many options on what to put in your trail mix on their site, and you can even say you want more or less of a certain type of item (less nuts, normal nuts, more nuts, etc.). They have a lot of options for the bars and shakes too (and even call out what is “most popular” and “recommended”). But I think I would feel more comfortable making a trail mix – if it goes wrong I can always pick out the things I don’t like, ha ha. 

Anyway, I digress. Let’s get on with the review. 

Only one of the bars sent to me was almost vegan (the Cookie Dough bar which actually had honey in it so it’s not technically vegan), and there were things I could pick out of the mixes to try, but all of the bars and shakes had dairy products in them. So, I recruited some people to help me review the products!!! Thank you, reviewers!

And please, readers, keep in mind that there are a variety of opinions since there were a variety of reviewers!

Honey Cashew Bar – reviewed by Julie (my mom)
Ingredients: Cashew Butter, Honey, Whey Protein, Crunchy Rice Cereal. 

Pros: Easy to open, smells good and tastes good. High source of protein (10g per bar).
Cons:  Crumbly, lots of calories for a “snack” (220 per bar) and for not being delicious, sticks in your teeth.

Chocolate Trails Trail Mix – reviewed by Julie (and some bits by me)
Ingredients: Pecans, Dried Cherries, Peanuts, Milk Chocolate Raisins, Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, Mini Pretzels. 

Pros: Easy to open, everything had great flavor, especially the chocolate chips (which were vegan). 
Cons: The pretzels were a bit stale, but still had great flavor.

Mix Up Your Day Trail Mix –  reviewed by Julie (and some bits by me)
Ingredients: Oat Bran Sesame Sticks, Organic Cashews, Almonds, Dried Pineapple, Goji Berries, Shredded Coconut. 

Pros: Easy to open, the nuts were good quality, everything was tasty.
Cons: Some things were a bit stale and not crisp – maybe from the moisture of the mix?
Wondering: About the dried pineapple vs. chunks. Maybe chunks would have been better! 

Training 33 Bar – reviewed by Erin
Ingredients: Whey Protein Isolate, Organic Dates, Almond Butter, Walnuts, Organic Black Mission Figs, Organic Clover Honey, Organic Goji Berries, Organic Cacao Nibs, Organic Flaxseed, All One Vitamin Infusion, Oat Bran, Cinnamon
I feel bad for giving this one to Erin. It did not turn out to be so good and she said she only finished it because she was so hungry and that was all she brought to work! I just copied and pasted what she sent to me because I thought her passionate review was very honest. 

The ingredients sounded amazing.  Dates?  Almond Butter?  Figs?  Honey?  YUM!  Don’t really know what Goji berries are but, hey, berries are berries, right?  Well, when I opened the bar I noticed right away that it didn’t look that appetizing.  There was kind of this gray/white film and the ingredients didn’t seem evenly disbursed. 

I like to break off pieces of bars and eat them bits at a time.  When I did that with this bar it was kind of crumbly yet it stuck to my fingers and felt kind of slimy/oily. 

And the taste?  It tasted like chemicals!  I’m not sure what it was but it tasted kind of fermented.  Not quite bitter but definitely not sweet.  And it kept getting stuck in my teeth.  I was trying to eat it in a meeting and I’m pretty sure I was unconsciously digging bits of bar out of my molars with my fingernail. 

It left a pretty nasty aftertaste in my mouth, too.    I’m not sure if it was one of the ingredients that I didn’t like or if it was the combination of one or more things.  Overall, NOT a fan even though the ingredient list showed promise.

Vanilla Dream Shake Mix – reviewed by Erin 
Ingredients: Soy Protein, Organic Cane Juice, Organic Vanilla Powder. 

Pros: Okay flavor – not too sweet and not too bland. 
Cons:  A bit gritty – may taste better in a smoothie mixed with other flavors to offset it. 
Recommendation: Would probably be great with Soymilk.  

The Breakfast Shake Shake Mix – reviewed by Erin 
Ingredients: Whey Protein, Egg White Powder, Organic Cane Juice, Cocoa Powder, Organic Bananas. 

From Erin: 

After drinking the Vanilla Dream shake “pure” I decided to add a few things to the Breakfast Shake.  I made it into a smoothie with one frozen banana, one cup of baby spinach leaves, and about half a cup of cow milk.  It dissolved much better in the shake and mostly just became a protein powder additive with a hint of chocolate flavor.  The chocolate flavor wasn’t very strong, though.  And even though it claimed to have banana in it I didn’t notice any “extra” banana taste on top of the banana I added.

I liked that it had additional egg protein in it and it didn’t taste any different from my regular protein powder.  That’s a plus!  Also, the calorie content was decent for the amount of powder  and the ingredient list was all things I recognized. However, I’d rather just buy a can of protein powder and get more for my money since I didn’t think this tasted all that different.   But, if you’re really into no extraneous ingredients then maybe this shake mix is for you. 

Great Date with Chocolate Bar – reviewed by Steven
Ingredients: Organic Dates, Whey Protein Isolate, Organic Honey, Cocoa.

Pros: Decent flavor.
Cons: Like eating a bar of clay. A bit too dense and chewy.

Cookie Dough Bar – reviewed by ME!
Ingredients: Organic Dates, Cashew Butter, Cashews, Clover Honey, Semisweet Chocola Chips, Vanilla Extract.

Pros: Actually tastes like cookie dough! Well, a healthy version of it.
Cons: A bit crumbly.

Thank you You Bar, for sending me these items to review!!! (I still have one bar left, but I wanted to get this review out!)

Since I was originally interested in You Bar for their custom mix, I would like to sponsor a custom mix giveaway!

You Bar Trail Mix Giveaway Rules

1. One reader will receive one custom trail mix (13 packages per box) from You Bar.
2. Required to enter the giveaway: go to the site and tell me what you are going to put in your mix!  
3. This giveaway is open until 5:00 PM CST on Friday April 6. I will use random.org to select the winner. I will announce the winner on Saturday April 7. 
4. This giveaway is open to readers in the US. 

Comments (47)

By kilax, March 12, 2012 5:16 am

I had heard of PB2 a long time ago, but it was not until I was in Kansas City at the end of January that I actually saw it in a store and bought some for myself to try. Now, I am hooked! But first, let me explain to you what PB2 is…

PB2 is powdered peanut butter! The peanuts go through a natural process to remove 85% of the oil, and you are left with the powder (which is all natural with no added sweeteners or preservatives). When you mix the powder with water, you get the same consistency and taste as full fat peanut butter, with 85% less calories (nutrition info here).

I made a little video to show you how it works:

You can also add it to shakes, dip fruit in it, and do many other things (their website has a recipe section). So far, I have just been using it as a spread!

I still eat regular peanut butter too, but I like using this for a snack with crackers/fruit, whatever. And did I mention they have a chocolate flavor?!

I’ve been so in to PB2 that when Erin sent me a code to buy it cheap online, I bought some for myself and two jars to give away – the regular and chocolate. 

PB2 Giveaway Rules

1. One reader will receive one jar (6.5 oz) of each type of PB2: regular and chocolate.
2. Required to enter the giveaway: tell me how you want to use the PB2.  
3. This giveaway is open until 5:00 PM EST on Wednesday March 14. I will use random.org to select the winner. I will announce the winner on Thursday March 15. 
4. This giveaway is open to all readers.

Comments (12)

By kilax, March 8, 2012 2:50 pm

Steven – I hope you appreciate the post title because you are going to be the only one who gets the reference!

Why is it that whenever I already have a short day planned at work (left at 2:00 today to make it to an appointment) that I get the most *requests? Seriously – I was approached and/or contacted today by multiple people, mutiple times, about three old projects of mine that are CLOSED. Over. Done with. I want to be helpful, but I am going to be gone all next week in New York City and potentially taking on a new detail for a project located there. Why does this have to happen now?! I do not have time for this…

Do you ever feel like everything gets busy at work when you are trying to **leave?

I am ready for a new kind of work crazy. I hope this New York thing turns in to real work, so I can do something different for awhile. 

Otherwise, ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In other news, I am such a sexy beast that the owner of the restaurant Katie and I ate in for lunch gave me free baklava. 

Just kidding – about the sexy beast part. He did give me free baklava, but because he recognized me from ordering catering there before. Nom. 

I was sad when I left lunch, because I was having so much fun chatting with Katie I didn’t want it to end. But then I remembered she lives super close to me. Boo yah!

*crazy stupid
**really, GTFO***
***Using the acronym in the literal sense here.  

Comments (34)

By kilax, March 6, 2012 4:54 am

OREO!

Fortunately (or unfortunately), most Oreos are vegan. And I love Oreos.

I actually toured Kraft* last week. There is a special Kraft store on site where you can buy Kraft products at discounted prices. They had many types of Oreos, including the special Birthday Cake Oreos.

I did not buy any Oreos though. Why? I was trying to be good.

More importantly, why didn’t I track down someone from the Oreo division while I was there and ask them this important question – why do they even make non Double Stuf Oreos? Get real! Double Stuf is where it’s at! That is my only gripe when they come out with special flavors – they are usually not Double Stuf. I have to do so much work to take them apart and make them Double Stuf. Sigh.

There are actually a lot of interesting Oreo facts in this little article. I’ll let you read it for yourself, but I did want to mention two things! Oreos started in Manhattan, and there is a street named Oreo Way. I could not find much info on Oreo Way online (except it’s on 9th Ave between 15th and 16th streets or 9th Ave between 9th and 10th streets), so I may have to look for it in person.

Also, the article mentioned that –

According to the company, past market research found that while 84 percent of men ate the cookie whole, 41 percent of women pulled the cookie apart.

How do you eat Oreos? Pull them apart? Dunk them? Or do you not even like them?

I like to make one quadruple stuf – pull the cookies off of one side each of a double stuf and put them together. And one time this happened…

*Nabisco makes Oreos, Nabisco is part of Kraft 

Comments (28)

By kilax, February 7, 2012 4:19 am

It’s taking me longer than I thought it would to eat all of those LUNA Chocolate Dipped Coconut bars because I found a new bar that I love! A few weeks ago, Erin pointed out a good deal on Gnu Bars to me. These weren’t on my radar at all! But the price was good for the sampler pack of all 7 flavors, and they are vegan, so I ordered them.

And wow. They taste so so good.

There are seven flavors, of which I have tried and love five: Chocolate Brownie, Cinnamon Raisin, Lemon Ginger, Orange Cranberry, and Peanut Butter. I have not tried Espresso Chip (don’t like coffee) or Banana Walnut (don’t care for tree nuts).

Image credit here

The Gnu Bars are advertised as being fiber bars – each bar has 12 grams of fiber. I don’t need more fiber in my diet, but really enjoy the flavor and texture of these, so I have been having one from time to time.  At only 130 calories they make a great snack, and they are chewy and a bit dense – the way I like bars/cookies.

I haven’t seen these bars in the stores (maybe at Whole Foods?) and thought maybe some of you have not seen them either, so I ordered 7 more for one of you to sample!

Gnu Bars Giveaway Rules

1. One reader will receive one of each flavor of Gnu Bar: Chocolate Brownie, Cinnamon Raisin, Lemon Ginger, Orange Cranberry, Peanut Butter, Espresso Chip and Banana Walnut.
2. Required to enter the giveaway: tell me which Gnu Bar flavor you are most excited to try.  
3. This giveaway is open until 5:00 PM CST on Thursday February 9. I will use random.org to select the winner. I will announce the winner on Friday February 10. 
4. This giveaway is open to all readers.

Comments (14)

By kilax, January 31, 2012 4:24 am

Awhile ago, Erin sent me this article “Meatless in the Midwest: A Tale of Survival” that bashes Kansas City (and the Midwest) for not being a more vegetarian-friendly. I think the article is pretty far off. Sure, Kansas City is not the vegetarian Mecca of the world, but why does this author think he will find vegetarian food at a steakhouse? Or in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest? I love this quote from the article:

…it is important to not forget that hunger is the price a picky eater must be willing to pay without becoming insufferable

Listen to your own advice much? The author complains that there are only two fully vegetarian restaurants in Kansas City. Um… that doesn’t mean you can’t go somewhere that serves meat and figure out what you can eat there. I mean, come on, we practically only eat out when we go to Kansas City, and it’s not in those two fully vegetarian restaurants every time. In fact, I had not even heard of one of them before (more on that below)!

Later on in the article, the author recommends checking out websites in advance for options (duh), going to a Chinese restaurant (more veg-friendly options?), and bringing your own food to eat before or after (duh). That’s all obvious to me. Of course, I am not from NYC (like the author) – where there is a higher per capita of vegetarian restaurants. But what did he expect?

While it is totally awesome to go to a restaurant and know I can order anything off of the menu, I am realistic. I know that is rarely going to be the case. I try to avoid restaurants I know won’t have anything close to a vegan option. But hey, sometimes you can’t. Get over it. 

Back to that quote – which I do love – do you know anyone who is extremely picky about food and is a martyr about it? 

I have to admit I have had my whiny baby moments. But I am getting better… right, Steven?

Alright, I kind of got off on a tangent on that silly article. I just meant to mention that I am happy Erin sent the article to me, because we were in Kansas City last weekend and went to the vegan restaurant listed in the article – Füd – and absolutely loved it!

We went with our two friends Amy and Adam, and got a nacho appetizer: (!!!)

And our own plates, which we all tried a bit of. I had macaroni and cheese, Steven had a fish filet, Adam had bbq pork and Amy had a chalupa.

What was cool is that they used very different meat substitutes that I had not even heard of! The “meat” on top of my macaroni is some sort of fruit! Who knew?! I loved it and want to go back. And try everything on the menu. 

Comments (12)

By kilax, January 30, 2012 4:29 am

Soy Curls! What are those?

They’re a new vegan product Steven recently added to FakeMeats.com!

Soy Curls only have one ingredient – whole soybeans – and are all natural. 

The idea is that you can substitute these in your favorite meat recipes. We decided to make a fajita mix with them!

The first thing you do is soak them in water for 10 minutes. 

Then you drain the water, season them and add to your recipe (then cook according to the recipe)!

Super simple! For the fajitas, we used the Chik-Style Seasoning (also available on FakeMeats.com, from the same manufacturer, and all natural), and Steven added taco seasoning too. 

Yum yum yum.

They turned out really good. We were both like “Holy crap, how can these be so good?!”

The chewy, pull-apart-with-your-teeth texture reminded me of Gardein products. Only a lot cheaper – under $3.50 for the 8 servings in a bag. And they don’t have to be refrigerated (but that will extend their freshness, if you do). I have a feeling we are going to be using these Soy Curls a lot. 

Since Steven has been running FakeMeats.com, it’s really given us the opportunity to try a lot of fun vegan (and vegetarian, for him) products. I love how adventurous he is in trying new things, and how many cool products there are out there!

How often do you try to cook with new products, or new to you foods? Do you stroll around the grocery store looking for new items like we do?

Comments (28)

By kilax, January 24, 2012 4:27 am

Do you make many slow cooker recipes?

Truth – I did not even know what a slow cooker was, but apparently, I sent Steven a recipe a long time ago that required one. I didn’t believe we had one until he pulled it out of “junk” (sigh) cabinet.

Oh! It’s a Crock Pot! I am familiar with that word. But I am pretty sure we haven’t used this one since I’ve lived in this house (5 years this May). It was time to remedy that on Sunday! We made this Moroccan Slow Cooker Stew, and I was super impressed with how easy it was to just throw everything in the slow cooker, and let it sit for six hours. 

And I loved the way it made the house smell!

Ha ha. I didn’t realize the Crock Pot would get so messy, as it sat all afternoon. I guess that makes sense. 

The mess and wait were worth it. This stew is awesome. We made some rice to go with it, and it was the perfect combination. The recipe called for cumin, cinnamon and crushed red pepper as the spices, and it just went so well together. We will definitely be making it again!

This slow cooker is pretty nifty… do you guys have any slow cooker recipes to share with me?

It makes me laugh that this thing cooks all day… and I eat it in 5 minutes. Yeah. I still struggle with not eating too fast. 

Comments (28)

By kilax, January 16, 2012 5:05 am

During my run on Saturday, I was thinking about how well my eating has been going, except for a few unfortunate run-ins with some cookies. “That’s it!” I told myself. “Stop buying cookies until you learn to eat just one.” (Really, stop buying HUGE cookies! Because just one of the kind I had was 550 calories, revision “Stop buying cookies until you learn to just eat part of one.”)

Then I checked the mail later in the day and had a package from Caveman Cookies!

Ha ha. I had forgotten I saw their ad in a magazine and was intrigued and asked them to send me some samples to review.

But the cool thing about Caveman Cookies is that they only have a few base ingredients (they’re kind of like the Larabar of cookies!), they’re low in calories, they’re gluten-free and they’re dairy free! They’re not vegan, because they have honey in them, but… I eat honey. Sigh. I am not a real vegan. The secret’s out!

Here are their cookie flavors and ingredients:

Original Caveman Cookies: honey, almond meal, walnuts, raisins, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon.
Tropical Caveman Cookies: almond meal, honey, unsulfured coconut, macadamia nuts, ginger.
Alpine Caveman Cookies: honey, hazelnut meal, almond meal, toasted ground carob.
Rainforest Caveman Cookies: honey, almond meal, brazil nut meal, chopped almonds, dried cherries (cherries, sunflower oil), nutmeg, cayenne pepper.

I think the story to how Caveman Cookies got started is really cool:

And what is really interesting is that this cookies are designed to be a part of the paleolithic diet, which I mentioned in this post! And their little caveman guy is so cute:

Okay, on to the review! The cookies are chewy and dense, which I LOVE! I am not a fan of brittle or crunchy cookies. 

And they are not overly sweet! I think honey was the predominant taste in most of them. They reminded me more of a healthy snack, than a cookie. Which they even say in their literature “sweet enough for a dessert: healthy enough for a snack.”

I don’t think I would eat one of these as a replacement for a cookie, but if I was looking for a filling, somewhat sweet in the afternoon, I would grab one!

Want to give them a try? I have two sample cookies of each flavor to giveaway!

Caveman Cookies Giveaway Rules

1. One reader will receive two cookies of each flavor: original, tropical, alpine and rainforest. 
2. Required to enter the giveaway: leave me a comment telling me which flavor you want to try first. 
3. This giveaway is open until 5:00 PM CST on Wednesday January 18. I will use random.org to select the winner. I will announce the winner on Thursday January 19. 
4. This giveaway is open to all readers.

Comments (33)

By kilax, January 4, 2012 1:09 pm

Danger Danger!

An entirely vegan restaurant (Native Foods Cafe) opened across the street from my office. This… could be bad. Vegan cupcakes, only a 2 minute walk away? Vegan chicken wings? Vegan Mac and Cheese?!

Ahh! I must be good. I must be good. I must be good. (Ironically, I have a post scheduled for tomorrow about willpower. Hmm).

It’s really rare for me to find a place where I can walk in and order anything off of the menu (and I recognize it’s my own choice to live this way). It’s actually overwhelming.

Today, I went with a bowl – tempeh on rice with kale, veggies, curry sauce, cranberries and green onions. The presentation was stunning.

My coworker went with a different bowl – tofu, veggies, quinoa, currants and almonds. We agreed hers was better! Mine was very good too.

We grabbed a menu so we can mark all the things we’ve tried. Ha!

Chicago bloggers – if you are looking to meet-up… let me know! Let’s just get there early. There was quite a line!