Sunday, March 25, 2012

Review: Nature Valley Oats 'N Honey Granola Bar


My company has a wellness refrigerator on the premises where they supposedly stock the refrigerator with "healthy" snacks.  Of course, their definition of healthy is very much different than mine.  While they do have a fair amount of fat free yogurts, fruits, vegetables, etc., they also have a fair amount of ranch dressing, potato chips (Sun Chips, so those are healthy!  LOL.), etc.  It's like a manic refrigerator in that it could swing either way.  Other people's definitions of healthy aside, I was rummaging through there the other day for some lunch and came across this Nature Valley Oats 'N Honey Granola Bar.  It's all natural (hey, healthy!) and clocks in at 1.5 ounces, 190 calories and contains a relatively minuscule four grams of protein.  They market this as an energy bar though, so protein is not the true aim of this.



If you can't tell, this package is actually not one bar, but instead two long and thin bars.  Each bar weighs 0.75 ounces (like my math skills) and is made up of a granola mix whose primary ingredient is oats.  Binding it together are some other natural chemicals, the primary of which is honey, thus the name of the bar.  The oat pieces in the mix are quite large, as you can see.  The one thing about these bars is that they have an airy feeling to them, so its not a tightly packed granola mix.  These bars are also extremely brittle.  I took this out of the package and it pretty much started crumbling in my hands with me barely touching it.  There were crumbs everywhere and being that I usually don't like cleaning up after myself, I was not very happy to see this.

My slovenliness is a story for a different day as the story for today is a review of this granola bar and I've got to say it was not bad.  Being that it was so brittle, it was crunchy, but yet also quite dry.  The granola mix had a nice oat taste with a mild and sweet honey taste mixed in as well.  Frankly, neither taste was really the star of the show and I'd say that the oats and honey really split the flavor in a 50/50 ratio.  Both were there, but they worked completely in tandem with each other and not against each other.  Good thing I wasn't looking for anything else, because this bar certainly did not have anything else going on.  It was oats, honey and granola, nothing more and nothing less.

Buy It or Fly By It?  Despite the fact that it is a pretty bland bar and the whole bar can be defined by its name, I've got to say that this one still gets a BUY IT rating.  It's a reasonable and flavorful enough bar that it is going to give you a little pick-me-up to quench your hunger or substitute for a missed meal over the course of the day.  As long as you don't expect to have your socks knocked off in any way, I think you'll find this bar to be a good one.

BUY IT!!

9 comments:

  1. You're right about these suckers being messy. I have to eat one over a plate because I get crumbs everywhere! But, I'm glad that you liked/didn't mind them.

    I like to break off a tiny piece and just let it get soft in my mouth. Er, that sentence doesn't sound too appetizing lol, but it's good. While waiting, it's kind of like and honey lolly pop and when the bar is softer, it has a nice chew to it.

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  2. I also like these bars.

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  3. Top it with some raw honey and some almond butter. YUM!

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  4. Dip them in milk for a soft cookie-like taste or heat them in the microwave for 8-10 sec, they get warm just like out of the oven, Yum!!!

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  5. Thumbs up to the dip it in milk crew. What a great idea and it sounds delicious!!

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  6. Eat with a banana, alternating bites... taste like banana cream pie!

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  7. Oh my god I'm doing it and its amazing!

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