PROBAR Halo Bars

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Team 101

PROBAR is a company that everyone has already heard of, and if you haven’t heard of them, what are you waiting for? PROBAR is an awesome nutrition bar company that specializes in making a wide array of products that are actually good for you. Their bars are made with real food, not something that was created in a laboratory somewhere. They say: “the reason for our success is simple – Integrity. Compared to other bars, PROBAR tastes better and contains high quality ingredients. From the beginning, PROBAR has remained committed to convenient, natural, high-performance nutrition. PROBAR has never strayed from the integrity of our original recipes. To learn more about PROBAR, be sure and head to their web-site for more information on their line of products, as well as how you can purchase their products online.

They have a ton of different products and lines to choose from; however, this line is going to focus on their Halo bars. PROBAR says: “Satisfying your sweet tooth with zero grams of guilt. Introducing PROBAR Halo, the delicious between meals treat that’s designed to do your body good. With natural whole food ingredients and heavenly taste, these bars have such big flavors they take on a personality all their own.” The first Halo bar we tried out was their Nutty Marshmallow bar, and the only thing we wanted in this bar was a strong marshmallow and nutty influence. We got exactly what we were hoping for, because this bar is loaded with peanut and marshmallow goodness. As you can see from the picture below, the bar literally has peanuts and marshmallows in it. Texturally, the bar is semi-soft with some bite to it from the peanuts that make this nutrition bar so darn tasty in the first place. Next, we bit into their Rocky Road bar, and with this bar all we were looking for was the classic combination of flavors that ice cream first made popular quite a while ago. This bar is loaded with chocolate chips, marshmallow and peanuty goodness, giving us no reason at all not to recommend this inventive nutrition bar to you. The texture of all the Halo bars are pretty much the same, so we’ll save you the time and not talk about each of them. Following the success of the first two flavors, we headed for their take on the classic S’mores. We won’t say this tastes exactly like a warm smores that just got off of the hot fire, but we will say that you can definitely taste the marshmallow, chocolate chip and graham cracker combination. If you’re looking for a new and inventive way to curb your craving for classic treats, try PROBAR’s line of Halo nutrition bars, they’ll save you the calories and the guilt of eating the real thing. Overall (4.5 out of 5).

The pros are that they have 3 flavors to choose from, the flavors are great, the texture is good, you can buy them in stores or online, they’re made with healthful ingredients, you can pronounce every ingredient in each bar, and it’s just an overall tasty bar.

The cons are that they might not be as big as people would like them to be.

Nutritional Information For 1 PROBAR Halo Nutty Marshmallow Bar:

Calories 120
Fat 6g
Sodium 230mg
Carbs 23g
Fiber 2g
Sugar 9g
Protein 4g

The Protein Bakery Brownies

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Team 101

We stumbled across a little business called The Protein Bakery, and we think Food Review 101 exists for the simple reason of bringing you companies like this that you’ve never heard of before. 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.

This review is going to be all about their Peanut Butter Blondie, Wicked Mint and Peanut Butter bar, simply because we thought that was a pretty decent way to start talking about The Protein Bakery. The first brownie we tried out was aptly titled, Wicked Mint. They say it has “generous portions of peppermint oil, whey protein and green mint chocolate chips make a serious trio that leaves you perfectly feeling wicked. Enjoy snacking on pure magic”, and we couldn’t agree with them more. These brownies are quite massive though, coming in at three inches long and about an inch tall, which could give a few of you more than you bargained for. We would like to say that these brownies are pure chocolate heaven, with the mint oil and mint chocolate chips giving this brownie the “wicked mint” aspect that we were looking for. Texturally, you would think it would be tough because of the added protein, but this brownie is just as tender as other brownies we’ve reviewed that didn’t have the addition of this healthful ingredient. Next, we tried out their Peanut Butter brownie, and all we were hoping for with this flavor was a strong combination of two classic flavors. Not one flavor overpowers the other in this brownie, and that’s pretty much all we were hoping to find. The chocolate and peanut butter both come out equally as strong, giving this brownie a balanced flavor that we think you’d really enjoy. Lastly, we tried one of the products from their blondies collection, which isn’t actually even a brownie, but it’s still pretty tasty nonetheless. Their Peanut Butter Blondie simply tastes like peanut butter mixed with a hint of vanilla, and we don’t think we can really fault them for anything here. The blondie tastes fantastic, and would make a perfect treat for anyone who loves peanut butter. Overall (4 out of 5).

The pros are that they have a ton of different products and flavors to choose from, they’ll ship directly to your doorstep, they’re loaded with protein, they taste great, they’re low in carbohydrates, the texture is good, and it allows you to have what you love without going overboard.

The cons are that they have a decent amount of calories and fat in them, and it’s easy to overdo it with these tasty brownies.

Nutritional Information For 1 Peanut Butter Brownie:

Calories 300
Fat 23g
Sodium 180mg
Carbs 15g
Fiber 4g
Sugar 4g
Protein 12g

Noosa Premium Yogurt

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Team 101

You might not have heard of Noosa Yogurt until fairly recently, and that’s because the company actually got its start in Noosa, Australia. Noosa recently moved some of their operations over to Colorado, which is why we are now able to enjoy it here in America. You can now found Noosa yogurt lining the shelves of your local grocery store, as well as national chains like Whole Foods. They say: “We took a page from the Greeks with their famously rich yogurt. Ours is made in small batches, set and infused with honey to give it that delicious sweet-tart tang, and smooth, velvety texture that sets us apart from the throng”. Noosa has six different flavors to choose from: Honey, Blueberry, Mango, Raspberry, Strawberry Rhubarb and Peach. To learn more about Noosa and where you can find them in your area, be sure and head to their web-site for more information.

Perhaps the most normal yogurt flavor they make is Honey, which is why we thought it would be a great place to start this review. Our first bite was filled with the natural flavor of the yogurt, honey, and just a touch of sweetness from the cane sugar that they threw into the mix; however, the sugar content is surprisingly low. The texture of the yogurt is somewhat thick with a bit of velvety smoothness to it that they said we should expect, so there really weren’t any surprises aside from how awesome it was. This Greek yogurt is different from others that we’ve tried, in the sense that it isn’t incredibly thick that you have a hard time eating it. Next, we took a spoonful of their Blueberry yogurt, and as the picture below indicates, this yogurt is chock full of blueberries. The third ingredient is real blueberries, not some fake corn sugar coated blue dots that many large companies like to pass off as blueberries. This yogurt is so much better than the traditional stuff you buy at the store, mainly because it’s made with a short and simple list of real ingredients that you can actually pronounce. Continuing with the success of the other two, we headed for their Mango yogurt. Their mango yogurt is tasty and interesting, but we wouldn’t say it was our favorite in their line of awesome tasting yogurt. It definitely tastes like yogurt infused with real mangos, but it just wasn’t something that our tasters would choose over the other flavors in their line. Noosa’s Raspberry yogurt was the next in our line of flavors, and what we liked about this was pretty much in line with all of the other nice things we’ve said about Noosa’s variety so far. It has a semi-sweet quality to it that isn’t overwhelming or underdone, rather, it’s a nice balance of sweetness, yogurt and real fruit puree that Noosa has managed to get into one tub of yogurt. We can honestly say that we’ve never had Strawberry Rhubarb yogurt prior to this review, but after tasting this we can say that we’re certainly glad we did. If you’ve ever had strawberry rhubarb pie before, expect that same flavor in this yogurt—which we thing is quite a compliment. It has more of a strawberry influence than rhubarb, but that isn’t to say that you can’t taste any rhubarb at all. Lastly, we came across their Peach yogurt, and our judges thought this was a nice take on a somewhat classic combination. It tastes like an upgraded version of the peach yogurt you’ve been eating for years now, with the only difference being that this is made with real peaches, making it much healthier in the process. Overall (5 out of 5).

The pros are that they have 6 decadent flavors to choose from, the texture of the yogurt is velvety smooth, it’s high in protein, you can find them nation-wide at your local grocery store, they’re made with real ingredients, and it’s the best yogurt we’ve had to date.

The cons are that it’s high in natural sugar, which you can escape from when you’re dealing with yogurt.

Nutritional Information For 113g Of Honey Yogurt (Half Of The Small Tub):

Calories 140
Fat 6g
Sodium 50mg
Carbs 16g
Fiber 1g
Sugar 10g
Protein 9g

Marich Gourmet Chocolates

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Team 101

Marich Premium Chocolates is this company we found in Hollister, California; however, we wouldn’t be doing a review of a company unless you were able to purchase their products online. Marich has a huge collection of chocolate, chocolate fruits, chocolate nuts, caramels and toffee, as well as jelly beans and other sweets. We are going to break up our review of Marich into two separate reviews, allowing us to give you a more in-depth look at a few of the products they offer. This review will focus on their chocolate toffee pistachios, mint chip balls, bridge mix, and chocolate covered cashews. To learn more about Marich, be sure and check out their web-site for more information on their line of products.

The first chocolate we tried out was their Mint Chip Balls, which they describe as “Crispy malt balls layered in dark chocolate and a mint-cookie confection”. As you can see from the picture below, these mint chip balls look pretty standard with what you grew up with or what you’ve seen before. What makes these different is the subtle addition of mint, and the malted milk powder that give these mint chip balls a milk shake quality to them that others don’t really have. The texture of these mint chip balls are pretty standard with what you’ve had before; however, if you haven’t had them before, you should expect a crunchy chocolate that is fairly easy to bite down on. The next product we tried out was their Chocolate Toffee Pistachios, and Marich describes this as: “Fresh California pistachios in buttery toffee and creamy milk chocolate”. The boldness of the toffee and richness of the pistachios really combine to give you a nice mix of flavor and texture, allowing us to recommend this interesting duo to anyone looking to switch things up a bit. The semi-soft toffee combines well with the crunch you get from the pistachio center, which our testers hadn’t really experienced prior to this review. Their Chocolate Bridge Mix is described as “A delightful mix of nuts, fruits, and sweets enrobed in rich milk and dark chocolates”, giving us enough intrigue to dive right in to the mix. You get a nice combination of everything Marich has to offer in one bag, and is a great reason to buy this bag, simply so you can get a sample of almost everything they have to offer. Lastly, we tried out their Chocolate Sea Salt Cashews, and the only thing you need to know about this product is that it’s their take on rich cashews enrobed in dark chocolate with a touch of sea salt. The dark chocolate was a nice touch, especially for the cashews, because it takes it from being a nice little snack to a gourmet treat that you can’t get enough of. Overall (4.5 out of 5).

The pros are that they have a ton of different products to choose from, the chocolate is high quality, the texture is good, and you can buy them directly from their online store.

The cons are that it’s still got a decent amount of sugar in it, and it might take a couple of days for your gourmet chocolate to arrive.

Nutritional Information For 9 Marich Chocolate Sea Salt Cashews:

Calories 200
Fat 17g
Sodium 60mg
Carbs 17g
Fiber 3g
Sugar 8g
Protein 4g

Larabar Dessert Inspired Flavors

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Team 101

Larabar’s are made from a “blend of unsweetened fruits, nuts and spices”, which is a fantastic thing for anyone trying to lose weight or start eating healthier. They say: “made from whole food, each flavor contains no more than nine ingredients. Pure and simple, just as nature intended”. They have three product lines–Original, Über and Jocalat–that you can choose from, all of which we will be reviewing at a later date. You should have no problem find Larabar products at your local grocery store, warehouse store or even an online retailer. This review is one that we were looking forward to doing, mainly because the flavors in today’s review are all about dessert. To learn more about Larabar and how you can get your hands on your own nutrition bars, be sure and head to their web-site for more information.

The dessert flavors we’re speaking of are: Cherry Pie, Banana Bread, Chocolate Chip Brownie, Chocolate Coconut Chew and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. If you’re a stickler for ingredients, then perhaps Larabar’s 3 ingredient Banana Bread bar will change your mind—yes we said 3. Those three magic ingredients just happen to be almonds, dates and bananas, all of which allow this bar to taste exactly like banana bread. All three ingredients amazingly taste like banana bread, and if you think were lying, try this bar and let us know were wrong in the comments section below. Larabar’s always tend to be softer and chewier, which could be a good or bad thing depending on how you like the texture of your nutrition bar. Next, we tried out their Cherry Pie bar, which is unsurprisingly made with three ingredients—dates, almonds and cherries. This bar tastes more like cherries than anything else; however, it does have some cherry pie influence coming in the form of almonds acting like a pie crust. We’re not going to say that this nutrition bar will replace your craving for a cherry pie, but we will say that it does taste pretty good. After that, we tried our hand at a few of their more decadent flavors. One of those decadent flavors was their Chocolate Chip Brownie bar, which is a combination of dates, chocolate chips, almond, walnuts, cocoa and sea salt. This bar actually tastes like a chocolate chip brownie, simply because it’s loaded with chocolate. If you’re a fan of chocolate, look no further than the chocolate chip brownie bar from Larabar. If you’re a fan of more exotic flavors, then perhaps their Chocolate Coconut Chew bar will be more to your liking. This flavor is somewhat like the previous bar we tried out with the addition of coconut in place of chocolate chips, but that’s not to say this won’t flavor appeal to a certain range of people. The coconut flavor is strong and rich, giving you a nice combination of flavors all in one little bar. Lastly, we ate our way through their Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough bar in a matter of seconds, and we think the name kind of explains why that happened. This bar only contains cashews, dates, chocolate chips and sea salt, but it amazingly tastes like cookie dough somehow. Our panel loved this bar so much that they ranked it as their favorite flavor from Larabar, and believe me when I tell you that they’ve tried quite a few of their products. Overall (4 out of 5).

The pros are that they taste great, they’re made with few ingredients, all of the ingredients are recognizable and pronounceable, texture is good, you can find them anywhere, and they taste like they should be bad for you.

The cons are that they’re a big high in sugar, of which is all natural sugar from the dates.

Nutritional Information For 1 Larabar Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bar:

Calories 210
Fat 11g
Sodium 55mg
Carbs 28g
Fiber 3g
Sugar 16g
Protein 4g