Review: Raw Rev 100 Chocolate Crave Food Bar

The free sample train that comes as a result of writing a food review blog is pretty fun.  As much as I'd like to think I know everything, I very much do not and via free samples, I often find out about product that I've never heard of before.  Today's review is of a free sample that I received that I had definitely not heard of before and that leads me to this review of the Raw Rev 100 Chocolate Crave Food Bar.  The company that manufactures these bars, Raw Revolution, ordinarily manufactures full size bars, but since this particular bar is a diminutive version of the full size bar, they've decided to shorten the name to Raw Rev.  Very cute.  Anyway, this shortened bar is 0.9 ouncs and in keeping up with the name, it 100 calories with three grams of protein.  It's also got quite a bit else going for it too being that it's peanut free, gluten free, dairy free and organic.  Holy moly.

Review: thinkThin Crunch Chocolate Dipped Mixed Nuts Bar

In one of my previous reviews, I reviewed basically this same bar with the exception that it was white chocolate based instead of milk chocolate based.  So, despite the fact that they are similar and that this bar appears to be in the old packaging, I'm still going to dive into this review of thinkThin Crunch Chocolate Dipped Mixed Nuts Bar.  I picked this up at Kroger on sale for $1.00 and it's 1.41 ounces with 190 calories and ten grams of protein.

Review: Chobani flip Almond Coco Loco Greek Yogurt

I was just thinking prior to writing this post how much tastes change over the course of a lifetime.  The reason I was thinking of that is up until about two years ago, I could not stand foods that were coconut flavored.  In the past couple years, I've gone from just testing to coconut to now actively seeking it out.  In fact, I'd say that I love coconut flavored products and more and more of them have been popping up in the blog recently.  With that, I'm led to another Chobani review with their entry into the choose your own adventure yogurt market (along with Muller, etc.) with this Chobani flip Almond Coco Loco Greek Yogurt.  I got this one on sale at Meijer for $1.00 and each double-compartment cup is 5.3 ounces and 230 calories with twelve grams of protein.  It's made with natural ingredients as well.

Review: Talenti Southern Butter Pecan Gelato

In the early days of the blog, I hit up Talenti products for reviews quite a bit.  Since then, I've mostly stayed away (it's been almost a year; WOW) for a couple of reasons.  First of which is that my stores just don't change out their varieties very often.  Second, and perhaps most important though, is that that they are seemingly never on sale and their regular prices are just not something I want to pay for a pint of any dessert, no matter how good it may or not be.  So, on a recent trip to Kroger, both of my excuses were blown out of the water as I noticed that for the first time in quite a while, my Kroger had switched out its flavors and added this Talenti Southern Butter Pecan Gelato to the collection as this was a flavor introduced the world this past March.  The sale price for this pint was $3.50 and with four half-cup servings inside, each serving measured in at 210 calories.  It's also all natural, gluten free and kosher, so it's got all sorts of goodness going for it.

Review: Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Cherry Cereal Bars

I'm at a loss here, dear readers.  These Nutri-Grain bars can tend to be so boring that I sometimes forget that I've already reviewed them and end up doing two reviews of the same product.  As I was preparing for this review, I just saw in my blog archive that I did two reviews of the same Raspberry Nutri-Grain bar.  LOL, oops.  I guess they aren't really that memorable.  Even with that said, I'm going to do another review of one of their bars with this Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Cherry Cereal Bars that I picked up on sale for a box of eight at Marsh for $2.99.  Now, I'm 100% certain I haven't reviewed this one before, so this is fresh content, if you want to call it that.  Each bar in the box is 1.2 ounces and has 120 calories with two grams of protein, by the way.

Review: Larabar Chocolate Coconut Chew Bar

I don't know what it is about Larabar products, but when I initially started the blog, I did many reviews of them and did not like most of them.  I then took a break from them and picked them back up later and now, I find myself liking them more often than not.  That seems strange to me that my mind could have shifted so much, but whatever I supposed.  Anyway, it's the recent positive experiences that led me to pick up this Larabar Chocolate Coconut Chew Bar on sale at Kroger for $1.00 and it's 1.8 ounces with 240 calories and a somewhat ample (for Larabar) five grams of protein.

Review: KIND Almonds & Apricots in Yogurt Fruit & Nut Bar

I've had some decent success with KIND bars on the blog, most of which I've received as a result of a KINDING Mission.  Today's review is no different as I once again picked up a bar via one of those missions and that leads me to this KIND Almonds & Apricots in Yogurt Fruit & Nut Bar.  I was a bit apprehensive to try this one out because I've generally not been a big fan of apricots throughout my life, but hey, when something is free, I feel obligated to try it.  This bar is 1.6 ounces and has 220 calories with three grams of protein.  It's also all natural, gluten free, wheat free, etc., so it's got a lot of positive characteristics going for it, which is not surprising since it is the product of a very generous and aware company.

Review: Fruttare Coconut and Milk Frozen Fruit & Milk Dessert Bars

Apparently Fruttare bars are another  import that we've been deprived of (like Magnum ice cream bars were at one time).  Recently though, Unilever (also the importer of Magnum bars) has decided that Fruttare bars should jump from their home country of Brazil and be released to the masses of the United States (they've been available in other parts of the world for quite some time) and spurred on by a free product coupon via my Kroger Plus savings card, I picked up this four pack of  Fruttare Coconut and Milk Frozen Dessert Bars on a recent trip to the store.  Each bar is 2.7 fluid ounces and 140 calories, so it's a relatively sizable and semi-healthy treat.

Review: Kozy Shack Crème Caramel Flan

Today's review is of a product that I've seen multiple times in the grocery store but have always been a bit hesitant to try.  I've had flan before and it was okay, but I was never sure how that would translate into a pre-packaged product that I could find in the dairy case at the store.  With that, I decided to embark on another Kozy Shack review when I saw this Kozy Shack Crème Caramel Flan on sale at $2.50 for a four pack at my local Meijer.  Each cup in the four pack is four ounces and each cup consists of 140 calories.

Review: Cascadian Farm Organic Harvest Berry Chewy Granola Bars

Cascadian Farm is on the brink of entering the Quaker zone for me. By that, I mean that I've been finding so many varieties of their granola bar products that this blog is going to become Cascadian Farm heavy. Since I found another flavor on sale at Kroger recently, I figure now is as good of a time as any to review this box of six Cascadian Farm Organic Harvest Berry Chewy Granola Bars that I got on sale for $2.49. Each of this six bars is 130 calories and has a tiny two grams of protein. One thing I noticed and found particularly impressive when I was looking at the nutritional information was that of the 130 calories in this bar, only 15 of them were from fat. I forget what the "healthy" fat ratio is (and I'm too lazy to look it up), but I do know the ratio in this bar is substantially better than the normal "safe" ratio.

Review: Health Valley Organic Blueberry Cobbler Multigrain Cereal Bars

Are you familiar with the expression "tiptoeing through the tulips"?  Well, I'm remind of that as I once again decide to tiptoe through the Health Valley with my second review of one of their bottom shelf products.  This time I bent down to pick up this box of six Health Valley Organic Blueberry Cobbler Multigrain Cereal Bars at Kroger for $2.00.  Each bar is 1.3 ounces and has 130 calories and two grams of protein.  It's organic and multigrain, so I guess that is what Health Valley is using as a selling point to differentiate this from the typical cereal bar.

Review: thinkThin Crunch Caramel Chocolate Dipped Mixed Nuts Bar

I like to think about being thin, don't you? Well apparently someone likes to think about it so much that they decided to manufacture bars with that name. So, after the worst two opening sentences in this blog's history, I'm led to another thinkThin review with this thinkThin Crunch Caramel Chocolate Dipped Mixed Nuts Bar. I picked this up at Kroger on sale for $1.00 and it has 190 calories and nine grams of protein. It's got a clear wrapper too, so there's not a lot of mystery to this bar.

Review: Chobani Bite Raspberry with Dark Chocolate Chips Greek Yogurt

Maybe it's just me that feels this way, but it seems to me that I've been doing a lot of "throwback" reviews recently.  What I mean by "throwback" review is that there were a certain group of product manufacturers that I hammered really hard at the outset of this blog and then have only really sporadically touched on over the past year or so.  Chobani is one of those manufacturers that falls into this review list.  So, today's review is of a new product offering from them with these Chobani Bite Raspberry with Dark Chocolate Chips Greek Yogurt cups.  These come in a nifty little four pack of 3.5 ounce cups that I picked up on sale for $2.00 at Meijer.  Each cup is 100 calories and eight grams of protein.

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Review: Detour Lower Sugar Chocolate Chip Caramel Whey Protein Bar

As I was walking through the office, I came to a big cluster of people and knew that I had to take a detour to get away, thus today's review.  Okay, that was perhaps the cheesiest and worst opening line I've ever written in blog history and that's saying something because I've written some truly AWFUL introductions.  My awful introduction notwithstanding, today's review of this Detour Lower Sugar Chocolate Chip Caramel Whey Protein Bar is the first Detour product that I've taken a look at here on the blog.  I grabbed this at office snack time, so it was free to me, but I have seen these at the store in the $2.00ish range, I believe.  This bar itself is of the lower sugar variety (50% less sugar than a normal bar) and is 170 calories with fifteen grams of protein.

Review: Haagen-Dazs Rum Raisin Ice Cream

If you read this blog regularly, you can tell that I'm a big fan of ice cream.  What you may not know is that I'm also a big fan of drinking alcohol, so when those two paths cross, it's a dream come true for me.  In fact, the morning that I typed up this review, I actually homemade a batch of White Russian ice cream, so that's how much I love intersecting the two things.  As I previously mentioned in my Haagen-Dazs posts, I picked up three containers of their ice cream in a buy two, get one free sale and this Haagen-Dazs Rum Raisin Ice Cream is the final container from that splurge.  This is one of Haagen-Dazs' traditional flavors and humorously enough, it's also all natural.  Each container is fourteen ounces and has 3.5 half-cup servings.  Each serving is an economical (for Haagen-Dazs) 260 calories.

Review: Life Choice Chocolate Fudge Brownie Energy Bar

Snack time is a wonderful and entertaining time at the office for me.  My desk is near the break room, so when 3:00 p.m. rolls around, I'm always amused by the stampede of people that go rushing in there to get their afternoon fill of food.  Now, I'm not going to lie and pretend that I am above that have never partaken because that would be a total lie.  Several of those snacks have led to reviews on this blog and another one of those snacks leads to today's review of Life Choice Chocolate Fudge Brownie Energy Bar.  This is a bar that I had never seen before (it's a Walmart exclusive), so I definitely snatched one up for review purposes.  This comes in at 1.94 ounces, has 230 calories and also eight grams of protein.

Review: Health Valley Organic Apple Cobbler Multigrain Cereal Bars

I'm no giant, but being that I'm six feet tall, there's a bit of distance between me and the bottom shelf at the grocery store. Add to that the fact that most stores try to put the most purchased products at eye level for the average American and well, lets just say I don't get down to the bottom much. On a recent trip to Kroger, I must have been feeling a little frisky because I meandered through the health foods section, I came across this box of Health Valley Organic Apple Cobbler Multigrain Cereal Bars, which I had never seen before. There were three different flavors available, so I grabbed all three and you'll see those reviews in the future. Anyway, back to the task at hand...a box of six of these bars was on sale for $2.00 and each bar comes in at 1.3 ounces and has 130 calories and two grams of protein.

Review: Rickland Orchards Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Flavored Greek Yogurt Coated Granola Bar

I know I've said this before, but I'll regurgitate it anyway. It just cracks me up how Greek yogurt products are all the rage now. Bars, yogurt cups, frozen yogurts, etc. I've touched on Rickland Orchards Greek yogurt bars before, but recently at office snack time, I saw a product from them that I've never seen before and that leads me to this Rickland Orchards Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Flavored Greek Yogurt Coated Granola Bar. Yeah, try that name on for size. Anyway, this is new to me because while I've seen there bars before, I've never seen them attempt dark chocolate yogurt. Imagine the health benefits...Greek yogurt AND dark chocolate. It's like you are adding seconds onto your life just by eating this! Joking aside, this bar is 1.41 ounces and has 170 calories with ten grams of protein.

Review: Kemp's Low Fat Black Jack Cherry Frozen Yogurt

A long ago on the blog, I reviewed a Kemp's frozen yogurt product.  Being that I was incredibly unimpressed by its taste and the fact that I was also unimpressed by its cost, I was in no hurry to pick up another container.  Recently though,  I was going through my Sunday paper and saw a coupon for Kemp's in the coupon insert in the paper and since coupons cure all ill will in my mind, I was ready to take another dive into reviewing a Kemp's product on the blog.  It certainly didn't help that Kroger had this Kemp's Low Fat Black Jack Cherry Frozen Yogurt on sale for $3.50 for a 1.5 quart container, so after my coupon, I got it for a bargain basement cost of $2.50.  You really can't beat that, so I excitedly grabbed it out of the freezer case. Each half-cup serving in this container (there are twelve) is only 110 calories, so it's very, very economical on that front too.  Sale price, coupon and low calorie...score one for the Crazy Food Dude!

Review: Walden Farms Russian Salad Dressing

A comment on a past Haagen-Dazs post mocked me for complaining about the cost of Haagen-Dazs products and yet ignoring the fact that my "beloved" (their word) Walden Farms products are sometimes equally or more expensive.  True, guilty as charged as I've clearly done a lot of Walden Farms reviews and only rarely have complained about the cost. Since I do love Walden Farms for some absurd reason, I'm led to review another one of their products with this Walden Farms Russian Salad Dressing review.  I picked up this twelve ounce bottle at Marsh for $3.50 and as always, it's sugar free, calorie free, etc.

Review: YoCrunch Yopa! Black Cherries with Whole Grain Granola Greek Yogurt

In my previous YoCrunch Yopa! review, I was struck by how YoCrunch had done such a fine job taking a simple flavor combination and making it quite tasty. Since I had that positive experience, the next time I saw Yopa! Greek yogurts on sale at Meijer, I grabbed a few more flavors to try out and that leads to today's review of this YoCrunch Yopa! Black Cherries with Whole Grain Granola Greek Yogurt. This was on sale for $1.00 and clocks in at 100 calories for the yogurt alone and then adding the whole grain granola in ups this to 180 calories. It also has thirteen grams of protein packed into 5.3 ounces of fun.

Review: Kashi Ripe Strawberry Soft-Baked Cereal Bar

I love company snack time.  Not because I need a snack, but because I love picking up free stuff to review. Snack time and my propensity for free stuff leads me to another Kashi review with this review of the Kashi Ripe Strawberry Soft-Baked Cereal Bar.  Each bar is 1.2 ounces with 130 calories and two grams of protein.  Since I got this gratis, I couldn't tell you exactly  how much this is, but I'd guess a box of five or six of these carries a regular price at your local grocery store of around $4.00.

Review: Honey P. Nutty Chunky PB Bar

There are no secrets on this blog...at least when it comes to peanut butter.  I love it, I would bathe in it, it's one of my favorite things in the world.  It's especially my favorite when its chunky peanut butter and being that I'm doing another Honey P. Nutty review on just that, I'm beyond excited.  With that, I got this Honey P. Nutty Chunky PB Bar directly from the manufacturer and it's 1.8 ounces, 251 calories and has seven grams of protein.

Review: Klondike Heath Ice Cream Bars

The old commercial tagline for Klondike Bars was "What would you do for a Klondike bar?"  Klondike bars are fine, but I wouldn't even buy them unless they were on sale.  So, in response to the commercial, my answer is that I wouldn't do much.  That said, they were on sale recently as I mentioned in a prior review, so I picked up two different flavors and this Klondike Heath Ice Cream Bar is that second flavor.  I picked these up at Meijer on sale for $2.50 for a box of six and each bar in the box is 230 calories and roughly four ounces per bar.  Obviously modeled after HEATH bars, it's milk chocolate English toffee in ice cream bar form (the tagline is "Kind of like a HEATH bar, only ice creamier"; cute).  I can't remember if I've mentioned this in prior toffee flavored product reviews, but toffee is something that I never really developed a craving for until later in life.  HEATH bars were fine as I was growing up, but they weren't anything that I actively pursued.  It wasn't until later in life when my uncle showed up at Christmas with a brick of toffee from a sweets shop that I developed an intense craving for it.  That stuff was so incredible that it sold me on toffee for life.

Review: Larabar Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte Bar

Larabars have gotten mixed reviews on this blog. Some of them have been abysmal failures, while others have been ringing successes. Because of that, I never know what to expect when taking my first bite, so that unexpectedness always makes these reviews kind of fun. It's that air of uncertainty that leads me to try out another flavor in this Larabar Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte Bar. I picked this up on sale at Kroger for $0.99 and it's 1.6 ounces with 190 calories and three grams of protein.

Review: Fiber One Protein Coconut Almond Chewy Bars

Who doesn't need a little protein or fiber in their life? Apparently General Mills caught onto that and decided to put out a line of bars that would cover you on both with these Fiber One Protein bars, some of which I've reviewed previously. I like having both of these things in my life, so due to that, I'm led to this review of the Fiber One Protein Coconut Almond Chewy Bars. I picked up a box of five of these on sale at Marsh for $2.99 and each bar in the box is 1.17 ounces and has 140 calories and six grams of protein, which is not a ton for something that bills itself as a protein bar. This bar does have twenty percent of your daily fiber allowance though, so that is a lot.