Uli Mana Truffles

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Team 101

UliMana is a special little company that makes a vast line of organic, raw truffles. They make a decent line of truffle flavors and varieties; however, this review will only focus on four different flavors that they offer. They have two different sizes you can choose from, so if you’re a bit nervous about trying out these gourmet truffles for the first time, perhaps go ahead and start with the smaller box. Many of our reviewers haven’t had truffles prior to this review, so a few of them wouldn’t really qualify as experts—a few of our testers would beg to differ though. We’re not sure you can find them at a store near you, so we recommend you just check out their web-site for more information on how you can get your hands on your very own organic truffles.

Their Dark Cacao truffles were first in line, and UliMana describes them as “Smooth and creamy…rich with cacao powder, butter and nibs, and are delicately sweetened with vanilla beans and agave”. Our first bite was filled with nothing but pure chocolate, and a positive reaction from our judges. The inside of the truffle is somewhat dense, as you can see in the picture, while the outside is smooth and delicate. If you’re a chocoholic, then we think this review will be one of your favorites—for obvious reasons. The next truffle we tried out was Peppermint, which our testers would best describe as a simpler version of a York Peppermint Patty—we know we use that a lot. The peppermint wasn’t overwhelming or underwhelming, rather, it was right in the middle and played a nice balance with the true star of these truffles—the chocolate. Next, we headed for their Cacao Nibs truffle, an interesting looking treat to say the least. As you would imagine, this truffle was exploding with chocolaty goodness, with the cacao nibs on the outside giving this truffle a delicate crunch that the others didn’t really have. This is the only truffle we tried from UliMana that really had the added crunch, and is probably one of the reasons we preferred this one to the previous truffles we’ve tried out. Lastly, we made our way to their Coconut truffle, and the one thing we were hoping this truffle had was real coconut. Too many times it seems that companies try and replace real coconut with a fake imitation, and it just doesn’t work, because it often ends up tasting like suntan lotion. UliMana used real coconut in this truffle, which is what made it a success in the eyes of our tasters. Their chocolate and coconut combination worked well, and we would gladly recommend it to anyone that loves the rich taste of coconut. Overall (4.5 out of 5).

The pros are that they have a nice line of flavors to choose from, they’ll ship the truffles to your home, the texture of the truffles are smooth and creamy, it’s chocolate paradise, they’re organic, vegan and raw (if you care).

The cons are that they have some sugar and saturated fat in them—obviously.

Nutritional Information For 1 UliMana Dark Cacao Truffle:

Calories 70
Fat 4g
Sodium 90mg
Carbs 8g
Fiber 1g
Sugar 6g
Protein 1g

Protein Bakery Mini Cookies

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Team 101

We previously wrote a review about The Protein Bakery’s brownies, and we promised that we would write another review about them, with the exception that this one would focus on their protein cookies. The Protein Bakery says: “We chose the name Protein Bakery, for a good (and healthy) reason. Muscle-building protein is a huge component in all our delicious cookies, brownies and blondies. Every delectable, guilt-free bite is high in dietary fiber, low in gluten, and delivers up to 5 times more protein than the average baked treat”. We’re going to break up our review of The Protein Bakery into a couple different articles, allowing us to focus on their brownies and cookies without getting too distracted by either one. They also say: “Our trans-fat free, preservative free, and wheat flour-free recipes are also nutritionally balanced. We combine natural ingredients like heart-healthy rolled oats, light brown sugar, and the finest chocolate”. To learn more about The Protein Bakery, be sure and head to their web-site for more information on their line of products.

OK, so the first cookie we tried out from The Protein Bakery was their Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookie, which as you can guess from its name, is loaded with chocolaty goodness. The cookie is made with a decent amount of cocoa powder in addition to the liberal amount of chocolate chips that are scattered throughout the cookie, making it quite an indulgence to say the least. Texturally, it isn’t hard or tough like you think it would be, it’s actually soft and chewy as if it came straight from the oven. Moving on to our next protein packed treat, we headed for their Peanut Butter White Chocolate Chip cookie. This cookie was heavy on both peanut butter and white chocolate chips, giving it a somewhat sweeter and bolder flavor than we expected. If you love peanut butter then we think you’ll be a fan of this cookie, simply because peanut butter is the main flavor. The white chocolate chips add a touch of sweetness and texture to this cookie, both of which we think you’ll really enjoy. Continuing with our peanut butter trend, we thought we would try out their Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookie. All we were hoping for with this flavor was strong notes of both peanut butter and chocolate, simply because it’s a great flavor combination–as everyone is already fully aware of. This cookie delivers on both peanut butter and chocolate chips; however, it wasn’t like biting into a Reese’s PB Cup or anything. Lastly, we took a look at one of the safer flavors they have to offer, but their Oatmeal Cranberry cookie is nothing to complain about. This cookie has a more traditional flavor to it, but if you’re looking for a cookie that’s heavy on oats and cranberries, this cookie is all you’d ever want. Our testers loved every cookie that had peanut butter or chocolate in it, so they would tell you to try those out; however, everything we’ve reviewed for The Protein Bakery has been pretty tasty overall. Overall (4 out of 5).

The pros are that the cookies have a decent amount of protein in them, the texture is soft and chewy, the cookies taste like their namesake, you can buy them online, and it’s a safer way to have your cake and eat it too.

The cons are that you might eat more of these cookies than you normally would, simply because you think they’re much healthier for you, and they have a decent amount of sugar in them.

Nutritional Information For 1 Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie:

Calories 100
Fat 6g
Sodium 60mg
Carbs 10g
Fiber 2g
Sugar 4g
Protein 4g

Amazing Grass Nutrition Bars

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Team 101

Amazing Grass creates an interesting line of products that mainly focus on energy bars and powders that you can add to your next shake to make them extra healthy. This review will focus on their line of energy bars, mainly because that’s much easier to talk about then their other line of products. Amazing Grass says: “Bring the good stuff with you on the go. Amazing Grass Green SuperFood Energy Bars pack all the nutrition you need in a portable and affordable bar. We combine fruits and vegetables with our organic Green SuperFood drink powder for a treat that’s Mother Nature approved”. You might think that these energy bars are just for people that visit the gym; however, we think they would be a great addition to anyone’s diet. You can visit Amazing Grass as their handy web-site, where you can learn more about their company and products they make.

They have 4 flavors to choose from that we’re going to talk about today: Berry, Peanut Butter, Chocolate and Original. First, we started off with their Original bar, which they describe as a combination of nature’s super foods like wheat grass, barley grass, and a bunch of other ingredients that we don’t think we’ve ever heard of prior to this review. The picture of this bar doesn’t do it much justice, but what we did enjoy about this bar was the fact that it made us feel better about eating it. If you’re looking for a decadent tasting nutrition bar, we would tell you to look for another flavor from Amazing Grass or another company. Texturally, the bar is right in the middle of soft and hard, giving it a pretty standard texture in terms of nutrition bars. Their Chocolate Peanut Butter was one of the flavors we were looking forward to simply because it’s enrobed in a layer of chocolate, and we’re happy to report that the peanut butter and chocolate combination won our judges over. It tastes like a much healthier version of a Reese’s peanut butter cup, but it still pretty tasty nonetheless. This bar was tougher when it came to texture, mainly because it has a layer of chocolate on the outside of the bar. The Berry bar looks similar to their original bar; however, this flavor tasted like actual fruit. One of the things we enjoyed about this bar was the fact that it actually tasted like real fruit, and not some processed fake flavor that was created in a laboratory somewhere. Lastly, we tried out their Chocolate flavor, which tasted like a combination of chocolate, almonds and cashews. This was another winner with our panel of judges, and could perhaps be one of the flavors you try out the next time you’re looking to upgrade your nutrition bar. Overall (3.5 out of 5) for Original and Berry. Overall (4 out of 5) for Chocolate and Chocolate Peanut Butter.

The pros are that they have 4 flavors to choose from, the bars with chocolate in them are great, the texture of the bars are decent, you can find them in stores and online, and they’re loaded with the healthiest ingredients that we’ve ever seen in a nutrition bar.

The cons are that the original and berry bar are just OK.

Nutritional Information For 1 Chocolate Whole Food Energy Bar:

Calories 230
Fat 9g
Sodium 25mg
Carbs 37g
Fiber 4g
Sugar 27g
Protein 5g

NuGo Nutrition Bars

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Team 101

It’s the time of year where everyone tries to become a healthier person, which could perhaps be the reason why we’ve had an influx of nutrition bar reviews lately. NuGo is a nutrition bar company that has been around long enough for you to have already heard about them, but we would still like to give you a short introduction about this company that prides it-self on using real chocolate in its nutrition bars. They say: “NuGo has created many lines of bars: Family, Organic, Dark, FREE, Slim, NuGo 10 Raw, and Crispy Cat. In keeping with NuGo’s core principles, we don’t use hydrogenated oils, trans fats, or vegetable fat compounds instead of REAL Chocolate. Brown rice and REAL chocolate are combined to create a texture that’s crisp and delicious. We never use high fructose corn syrup”. To learn more about NuGo, check out their web-site for more information on their line of delicious looking nutrition bars.

The bars we’re going to review today are: Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Trail Mix, Double Dark, Peanut Butter Cup, and Dark Chocolate Pretzel. Their Double Dark Chocolate bar was up first, and our testers thought this bar was a pretty great way to start this review. As you can see in the picture below, almost all of the bars they offer look like candy bars, and for the most part taste like them to. The double dark chocolate bars simply taste like a Rice Krispies treat that’s been dipped in a heavy amount of dark chocolate, which means that it’s pretty incredible. Texturally, you get the smoothness of the dark chocolate coating, as well as the crunchiness from the brown rice crisps that make up the core of the bar. The next bar we tried was from their NuGo Dark line, so it should come as no surprise that this is where we found our Chocolate Chocolate Chip bar. For the most part, this bar tastes pretty similar to the previous bar, with the slight exception that this bar had chocolate chips mixed in with the brown rice crisps. It’s made with real dark chocolate, so you get the added health benefits that come with dark chocolate, in addition to a great tasting nutrition bar. Staying with the Dark trend, we headed for their Peanut Butter Cup bar, and this bar absolutely lived up to the hype that our panel and NuGo set up for it. Peanut butter and chocolate has been mixed together for quite some time now, and this bar simply continues that tasty tradition. Not one flavor sticks out more, giving this bar a fairly balanced flavor profile when it comes to peanut butter and chocolate. The last bar we tried from their Dark line was the Dark Chocolate Pretzel bar, and the combination of chocolate and pretzels is somewhat of a new trend, but we’re not so sure we had ever experienced it in a nutrition bar before. With this bar, you get the rich dark chocolate flavor, as well as the saltiness and crunch that comes from the pretzel and brown rice crisps. This bar is a nice extension of their Dark line, and a nice addition to the entire line of NuGo nutrition bars. Lastly, we sampled a bar from their “free” line, which means that Trail Mix bar is free of gluten, soy and dairy. The bar is actually tastier than it looks, because the picture we have up doesn’t show how many dark chocolate pieces, cranberries, pumpkin seeds and almonds this bar has in it. The combination of sweet cranberries goes perfectly with the dark chocolate, giving you something different and interesting to try the next time you don’t feel like eating one of their nutrition bars that has a chocolate coating. Overall (4.5 out of 5).

The pros are that all of the bars taste incredible, the dark chocolate is a major plus, texturally the bars are crispy, they have a huge line of flavors and products to choose from, you can find the bars in store or online, and it’s just an awesome product overall.

The cons are that the bars are a tad high in sugar.

Nutritional Information For 1 NuGo Double Dark Chocolate Bar:

Calories 190
Fat 5g
Sodium 65mg
Carbs 26g
Fiber 2g
Sugar 15g
Protein 10g

Divine Chocolate Company

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Team 101

Divine Chocolate is a company that specializes in making bean to bar chocolate, which means that they help farmers in Ghana with the production of the cocoa bean. They receive all of their cocoa beans from a co-op, allowing the farmers that are part of that co-op to sell their own beans and therefore giving them a greater profit. Divine makes chocolate bars, baking chocolate, as well as chocolate that are special for certain events and holidays. You can find Divine Chocolate at your local grocery store, as well as their online store where you can buy their chocolate directly from them. To learn more about Divine Chocolate, be sure and head to their web-site for more information on their line of products.

For this review, we thought we would take a look at a few of the different bars they have to offer: Mint Dark Chocolate, 70% Dark Chocolate, White Chocolate with Strawberries, as well as their Coffee chocolate bar. The first bar we started off with was their 70% Dark Chocolate bar, which we think is the perfect amount of cocoa content to give you a great tasting dark chocolate bar. This bar is smooth, rich, and has just the right amount of cocoa content to give you the bold flavor you’re looking for without being too bitter. The great thing about this bar is that it’s made with high quality cocoa beans, and for us that means that you only need to eat a little bit of it to be satisfied. Next, we tried out their Mint Dark Chocolate bar, which we think can best be described as an upgraded version of a Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie. The mint isn’t too overwhelming like a York Peppermint Patty, but you can definitely sense and taste its presence. The combination of mint and dark chocolate has worked well in the past, and we think Divine has done a great job at keeping that theme going with their take on this classic duo. After that, we tried out their very interesting White Chocolate with Strawberries bar, and the interesting thing about this bar is that it actually tastes like strawberries dipped in white chocolate. We’re not sure how they were able to make white chocolate from cocoa butter, but we’re sure glad they did, because the white chocolate combines perfectly with the real strawberry pieces that are scattered throughout this decadent chocolate bar. Also, you get just a tiny amount of crunch from the dried strawberry bits in each chocolate square. Lastly, we tried our hand at their Coffee bar, described by Divine as “the mellow rich flavor of the finest Fairtrade coffee with smooth milk chocolate”. Since it’s made with milk chocolate you do have the sweeter side of the cocoa, but the coffee balances it out a little bit, giving you an interesting combination of sweet and savory. Coffee lovers will enjoy this bar, while others might find the coffee flavor to be too overwhelming in their bar of chocolate. Overall (4 out of 5).

The pros are that all of the bars taste great, they have a wide variety too choose from, you can find them in stores or online, and they’re free of: flavorings, colorings and preservatives.

The cons are that it’s still chocolate, and it’s hard to stop eating once you’ve started.

Nutritional Information For 10 Blocks 70% Dark Chocolate:

Calories 240
Fat 19g
Sodium 0mg
Carbs 12g
Fiber 5g
Sugar 11g
Protein 3g