Review: Curate Salted Decadence Dark Chocolate & Almonds Bar

Curate bars have successfully infiltrated my Kroger in all shapes and sizes.  Okay, so maybe they are all the same shape and size, but they at least have different flavor varieties and I've taken a look at some of those already.  In standard operating procedure for me and this blog, today's review is another example of me plowing through all the flavor varieties of a particular manufacturer as I take a look at this Curate Salted Decadence Dark Chocolate & Almonds Bar that I was able to pick up at the aforementioned Kroger for $1.79.  Each bar clocks in at 1.59 ounces and has 200 calories with seven grams of protein.  It's also gluten free and crafted with joy, so if either of those things are of interest to you, then maybe that sparked a little interest in this review for you.

Review: Curate Indulgent Dark Chocolate & Hazelnuts Bar

Another day in the books for me, which means its time for me to curate another review.  Like that brilliant introduction/segue into this review?  Yeah, it's incredibly lame.  Anyway, I was able to pick up another one of these Curate bars at Kroger for about $1.79 and since it really is another day, that means it is time for another review.  This time it's the Curate Indulgent Dark Chocolate & Hazelnuts Bar.  This bar clocks in at 1.59 ounces and packs 200 calories and six grams of protein into that package.  It's also gluten free if that is your thing and you are interested.

Review: Brookside Dark Chocolate Cranberry With Blackberry Flavor Fruit & Nut Bar

I've reviewed these Brookside bars before and I found/find it funny how they take one fruit as the primary ingredient and then they top that with more fruit, but not just fruit...fruit FLAVOR.  Is it too much to ask to have the fruit in there?  Okay, I'm going off the deep end as usual here.  Anyway, I was recently browsing my local Kroger when I saw boxes upon boxes of these Brookside bars on clearance, so I grabbed this Brookside Dark Chocolate Cranberry With Blackberry Flavor Fruit & Nut Bar on clearance for $0.79.  I'd imagine it's typically in the $1.50 range though.  Anyway, this bar is 1.4 ounces, has 180 calories and packs in a modest four grams of protein.  The bar is gluten free, but I do find it funny that the nutritional info on the website specifically says that this is NOT Kosher.  Can't say I've ever seen that definitively stated before.

Review: Nature Valley Sweet & Spicy Chili Dark Chocolate Bars

I've been getting a lot of products from Marsh recently in the clearance section.  I don't think it is because the products are terrible but instead because Marsh has a real problem controlling their expiration dates and keeping food fresh.  So, I guess I bring this up because you should just ignore the clearance sticker on these products going forward and instead focus on the product itself.  Today, I'm adding to my Nature Valley review collection with this review of a box of six Nature Valley Sweet & Spicy Chili Dark Chocolate Bars.  Each bar in the box is 1.24 ounces and has 160 calories with three grams of protein.

Dry bags

Review: Premier Protein Dark Chocolate Mint Bar

Today's review is of a product that I've had in my stock for quite some time.  I've been avoiding it for several reasons.  First, I've reviewed Premier Protein products before and while some of them have been okay, they've mostly been just blah.  Second, as the blog has aged, I've been steering away from hardcore protein bars because I've just lost interest.  Third (and last), I generally keep my distance from dark chocolate, as any reader that has been here more than once will know.  But, on a recent evening, the perfect storm hit and I knocked down all those barriers and decided to take a look at this Premier Protein Dark Chocolate Mint Bar that I received via an online signup for a free sample and then was delivered to me through our good, old United States Postal Service.  It was a new bar at the time and it clocks in at 2.5 ounces and is heavily packed in with 280 calories and thirty grams of protein.  It's also gluten free.

Review: Nature's Path Organic Qi'a Roasted Peanut Dark Chocolate Bar

I know some people might view this as odd, but I often find it kind of soothing and therapeutic to wander through the grocery store aimlessly just looking at all the products on the shelves.  You find new stuff, you see variety and it's a great way to pass the time as you definitely have to be in no hurry to get anything done.  I recently was doing that at my local Meijer when I stumbled upon something brand new in this Nature's Path Organic Qi'a Roasted Peanut Dark Chocolate Bar.  It's not my first Nature's Path review, but it is the first time I've seen one of these Qi'a bars.  So, I quickly snatched it up for about $1.50 and here we are.  The bar itself is 1.3 ounces and packs in 190 calories and five grams of protein.  It's also gluten free, organic, vegan and ALSO a superfood.  It's got tons and tons of stuff going on.

Review: Brookside Dark Chocolate Cherry With Pomegranate Flavor Fruit & Nut Bar

It's amazing to me how many products Kroger gets me to try for the first time because they give them away for free.  Usually, they give them away (and I review them) via their Free Friday Download promotion, but today's review of this Brookside Dark Chocolate Cherry With Pomegranate Flavor Fruit & Nut Bar was a freebie that Kroger was giving away just because.  Not tied to any particular promotion or anything...it was just free.  I like that.  So, I happily grabbed my freebie and that leads me to take a look at this 1.4 ounce bar.  Within that 1.4 ounces of gluten free fun (to be determined) is 180 calories and one gram of protein.

Review: thinkThin Dark Chocolate Peppermint Protein & Fiber Bar

The holidays bring lots of peppermint into our lives and as I mentioned in a prior holiday-themed peppermint review from earlier this week, nutrition bars also join that fray.  Today's review is thinkThin adding another product to their review catalog with this thinkThin Dark Chocolate Peppermint Protein & Fiber Bar being a spin on the holiday peppermint craze.  This very thin bar clocks in at 1.41 ounces and has 150 calories and ten grams of protein packed in.  It's also a gluten free product as well, so there is that, I suppose.

Review: Zone Perfect Salted Caramel Brownie Nutrition Bar

I'll admit that I don't pay much attention to the Zone Perfect bars when I'm in the store.  Perhaps I've got it stuck in my head that I've exhausted all their flavors in reviews or I'm just bored by them...I'm not sure, although I'm guessing it's more of the former than the latter.  Anyway, I was prompted to take a look at them again recently when I was given a Free Friday Download digital coupon from Kroger and when I did look, I found this Zone Perfect Salted Caramel Brownie Nutrition Bar, which is one that I've never looked at before (or noticed).  This comes in at 1.58 ounces and has 200 calories with eleven grams of protein.

Review: Ehrmann Mixim Fat-Free Greek Yogurt with Cherry and Dark Chocolate Curls

My last Ehrmann review mentioned  that this was a new product that popped up in my store.  I have mentioned many times previously how I always like to see new products sneak up in the store on me, because when that happens, I often binge shop and buy several options of that product and that's what leads me to today's review of this Ehrmann Mixim Fat-Free Greek Yogurt with Cherry and Dark Chocolate Curls that I picked up at Kroger for $1.29.  This extremely long named product clocks in at 5.3 ounces of separated weight and within all that separation, it contains 160 calories and ten grams of protein.

Review: Nature Valley Almond Dark Chocolate Nut Crisp Bars

Crazy Food Dude likes nuts.  Wait...that didn't come out right.  Crazy Food Dude likes eating things with lots of nuts.  Wait...shoot, I can't win.  Anyway, when I saw that General Mills and Nature Valley had put out yet another new product with nuts as a primary ingredient, I knew that I had to add to my gigantic review catalog.  Of course, I wouldn't have bought these had they not been on sale and fortunately I saw them on sale at Meijer for $2.50 per box, which is kind of a steal for Nature Valley products.  Each box of Nature Valley Almond Dark Chocolate Nut Crisp Bars has six bars and each bar in the box comes in at 0.89 ounces and has 130 calories and three grams of protein.  These are also gluten free for all the gluten-less dieters out there.

Review: CLIF Organic Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Trail Mix Bar

I went into my local Kroger and while going through the nutrition bar aisle and looking for new products, I noticed what I thought was a whole bunch of new products from CLIF so I snatched up several of them.  When I got home, something about the flavor names seemed strangely familiar to me, so upon doing some research on the blog of old reviews, I was able to discern that CLIF has changed the Mojo product line to just CLIF Organic.  Since I looked at a large variety of Mojo flavors already, I found that most of the bars that I bought were duplicates.  Fortunately, not all was lost though and this CLIF Organic Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Trail Mix Bar is a flavor I hadn't previously reviewed, so here we are today.  This non-duplicate set me back $1.00 (sale price) and it comes in at 1.4 ounces with 200 calories and six grams of protein.

Review: Mamma Chia Blueberry & Dark Chocolate with Chia Bar

Fresh Thyme has brought me a lot of new and interesting products to review for the blog and I've continuously hammered on those in reviews over the preceding months.  Today brings me another one of those reviews as I take a look at this Mamma Chia Blueberry & Dark Chocolate with Chia Bar, which is produced by a manufacturer making its first appearance here on the blog.  Their tagline is to "Seed Your Soul" which is a witty play on the fact that the bar is made with chia seeds in case you didn't pick up on that.  That chia is also part of a "Chia Vitality Bar" so there's that additional kick of life too.  Anyway, I picked this up for $1.99 at the aforementioned Fresh Thyme and it comes in at 1.4 ounces with 180 calories and three grams of protein.  It's also gluten free, kosher and organic.

Review: BumbleBar Chocolate Crisp Organic Energy Bar

Sometimes a product name can be intriguing.  That was the case with BumbleBar products and it's why I picked up a couple of these at Fresh Thyme for reviews.  I've already looked at one and was decidedly unimpressed, but since I bought two, I was on the hook for another review and that's why we are here today to take a look at this BumbleBar Chocolate Crisp Organic Energy Bar that I grabbed for $1.89  This one is organic, gluten free and vegan friendly and clocks in at 1.4 ounces.  Within that is 190 calories and five grams of protein.

Review: NuGo Slim Brownie Crunch Bar

NuGo has had nearly a one year rest in reviews on this blog. so it's been a while.  Mostly that's been because I haven't been able to find any other flavors in my usual haunts.  Some time back, I took a voyage to Fresh Thyme and picked up a lot of different bars for reviews and this was one of those bars.  Finally, I'm getting around to taking a taste of this NuGo Slim Brownie Crunch Bar that I was able to pick up for $1.89.  The bar itself is gluten free and also clocks in at 1.59 ounces with 190 calories and sixteen grams of protein.

Review: La Chocolãt Strawberry with Dark Chocolate Chips Lowfat Yogurt

In my first La Chocolãt review, I mentioned that I was intrigued by the newness of the product but in the end, it kind of fell flat in terms of taste.  It was with that introduction to La Chocolãt that I dove into this second review with expectations that were fairly low due to my first experience.  Like last time, I picked this up at Kroger for $0.99 and each cup of La Chocolãt Strawberry with Dark Chocolate Chips Lowfat Yogurt comes in at 6.0 ounces.  That cup full of yogurt is then packed with 190 calories and seven grams of low fat protein.  It's also gluten free, kosher and loaded with probiotics.

Review: La Chocolãt Mint with Dark Chocolate Chips Lowfat Yogurt

Not to get all philosophical and deep here, but sometimes I walk through the supermarket and am just amazed by the product selection and the thought/effort that goes into getting so many products into a store.  Granted, distributors make it easier by selling things in bulk and coordinating a fair portion of the logistics, but it is still amazing.  I mention this because upon a recent perusal of one of my many local Kroger stores, I noticed yet another new (to me) product that had made its way to the refrigerator section with this cup of La Chocolãt Mint with Dark Chocolate Chips Lowfat Yogurt.  This 6.0 ounce cup was on sale for $0.99 and it packed in 200 calories and seven grams of protein.  It also had 1% milkfat, so I guess that just shows that there's going to be a bit of fat in this one.  On another note, it's also kosher and gluten free if you are interested in those types of things.

Review: KIND Nuts & Spices Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond Bar

Today's review subject presented me with quite a dilemma.  First of all, I'm not the biggest fan of dark chocolate.  That doesn't mean that I hate it, but out of all the types of chocolate, dark chocolate is my least favorite.  Secondly, my feelings about mocha are mixed.  I very much like coffee and drink it most mornings, but coffee-flavored food products are not high on my list of desirable things.  That said, I was willing to give another KIND product a shot, despite my reservations, when I picked up this KIND Nuts & Spices Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond Bar at Kroger for $1.25.  It's 1.4 ounces and has 200 calories and six grams of protein.  As with most, if not all, KIND products, it's all natural, gluten free, etc.

Review (#1000!): Skinnygirl Dark Chocolate Pretzel Bar

Today is a big day for the blog and if you didn't notice from the title of this post, this is review number one thousand in this blog's history, so if you'll indulge me for a few moments, I'm going to spend a little time dwelling on the milestone before I get into today's actual review.

Honestly, I can't believe I've written that many reviews and I've done it in a little over three years time.  That's not epic, non-stop production like some blogs out there, but it's still a lot for one guy to take on (excuse me while I break my arm patting myself on the back) AND EAT.  When I started this blog, I figured it would be something that I'd do sporadically for a few months and then move on with my life.  Over three years, one thousand reviews, over 2.5 million page views and over 500,000 unique visitors later, I'm still here kickin' it.  This blog has never been a super successful or overly read blog as those statistics show, but it's chugged along just enough to keep me going for all these years and reviews.

I'd be remiss if I didn't thank everyone that has gotten me this far because if it weren't for the fans whose visits generate revenue via the obnoxious display advertising that clogs and slows down the site, I would have given up this blog a long, long time ago.  I realize that I've mailed some reviews in, not really given my best effort at times and I've even accidentally reviewed some products twice without even knowing it, so there have been times where it perhaps hasn't been worth visiting.  Regardless, that just shows how awesome all of you are and I do want to say THANK YOU (again) for all your visits and support throughout the years.

Since this is the milestone one thousand, I figured I would call my masculinity into question (this is called Crazy Food DUDE) and review a product that is specifically targeted toward women as I've done many times before with LUNA bars.  Still, despite the fact that I'm not female, I think it's okay for me to eat this...well, I'm going to declare that it's okay for me to try out this Skinnygirl Dark Chocolate Pretzel Bar that I picked up at Marsh for $2.49.  Skinnygirl is kind of famous and maybe it's going to her head as she's put two mildly annoying taglines on the wrapper of this bar.  First, this is referred to as a "Tasty Nutrition Bar" on the front of the wrapper.  Should the judgment of whether something is tasty or not be at the discretion of the person eating it?  Also, on the back/side of the wrapper, there was another tagline that said "Treat Yourself Healthy."  Again, if I don't eat this bar, am I not treating myself healthy?  And yet another thing, is a bar that is part of a company that was founded based on Skinnygirl alcoholic cocktails really able to decide what is treating my body healthy or not?  And another thing...the founder of said company is a Real Housewife of New York (Bethenny Frankel), so that doesn't exactly make her a model citizen.  Okay, I'm complaining in a ridiculously long diatribe about things that don't matter again, which is something I've done many times over the course of one thousand reviews, so I guess it's nothing new.

Anyway, this bar is 1.4 ounces and has 160 calories and six grams of protein.  It's also gluten free (isn't seemingly everything now?) and also kosher, if you are into knowing that kind of information.

Review: Balance Bar Dark Dark Chocolate Coconut Bar

After an extended absence, the blog has started a slight run on Balance Bar reviews as today's review takes another look at one of their other product lines.  With that very brief introduction, I'll dive in and report that I was able to pick up this  Balance Bar Dark Dark Chocolate Coconut Bar at Meijer for $1.00 and it comes in at 1.58 ounces and has 180 calories and thirteen grams of protein.  It's also gluten free and kosher, so it's showing a lot of balance in terms of all the audiences it can reach.  Ha, ha...get it?  What a witty writer I am.  Okay, false egotism aside, I suppose I should actually get down to the business of the review.