Whole Fruit Smoothie’s

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Team 101

Our newest review is for Whole Fruit Smoothie’s, of which is a fairly new product that you can find in the frozen section of your grocery store. The smoothie’s come in three different flavors: Strawberry Banana, Pineapple Mango, and Mixed Berry. You may have seen Whole Fruit products prior to this review in the form of Fruit Bars or Sorbet; however, we’re pretty sure you’ve yet to read up on the newest addition to their Whole Fruit line. J&J Snacks says, “Whole Fruit Smoothies are made with chunks of real fruit and bursting with a refreshing taste. Get all the taste & quality with better-for-you benefits”. We were excited to try out these little smoothie cups, because they sound and look refreshing, in addition to only have 100 calories per cup. To learn more about Whole Fruit, be sure and head to their web-site for more information on their existing line of products, as well as their brand new line of Whole Fruit Smoothie’s.

The first flavor we tried out was their very refreshing sounding Strawberry Banana smoothie, which actually does contain bananas and strawberries in it. As you can see from the picture below, the smoothie is quite thick and more along the lines of Italian ice. If we’re just talking about the flavor though, this smoothie simply tastes like strawberries and bananas with just a bit of milk mixed in to make things a bit richer. We were afraid this smoothie would be too sweet, but it’s actually right in the middle on the spectrum of being too sweet and not sweet enough. Being frozen, it allows you to take your time eating this smoothie, making for a nice afternoon snack. Next, we tried out their Pineapple Mango smoothie, and our testers thought this flavor was equally as tasty as the first one we tried out. The pineapples and mangos are the only ingredients you taste, but in the case of a pineapple mango smoothie, that’s a good thing. Lastly, we tried our hand at their Mixed Berry concoction, which contains mostly blueberries, strawberries, and a few ingredients we didn’t really care for. The flavor was good, just like the rest of the flavors we tried out, which means you should to expect to find the same quality with this flavor. The texture of all the smoothies is the same, so just expect to find that Italian ice aspect running throughout each of the three flavors from this line of Whole Fruit Smoothies. If you’re a stickler for healthy ingredients, than a few of the items in these smoothies might not be for you; however, if you’re strictly looking for a great tasting frozen smoothie, we recommend you check out these new Whole Fruit Smoothies. Overall (4 out of 5).

The pros are that they have 3 flavors to choose from, you can find them at grocery stores nation-wide, the flavors are good, the textures are good, and it’s an overall decent product.

The cons are that they have a bit of added sugar in them.

Nutritional Information For 1 Banana Strawberry Smoothie:

Calories 100
Fat 2.5g
Sodium 20mg
Carbs 18g
Fiber 0g
Sugar 16g
Protein 1g

CLIF BAR Review

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Team 101

We’ve mentioned in previous reviews Clif specialize in various nutritious products that all have to do with nutrition bars: Luna, Clif, Clif Kidz, Kit’s Organic, Mojo, Clif Builder’s, Clif Shot, and Clif Crunch bars. You can find Clif products at your local grocery store, major chain stores, and online, as well as larger warehouse stores like CostCo or Sams Club. For our review today, we’re going to take a look at their Coconut Chocolate Chip and Peanut Toffee Buzz bar, and hopefully be able to recommend them to you for whatever reason, be it for sustained energy or good taste. To learn more about the Clif Bar company, be sure and head to their web-site for more information on their line of products. Also, be sure and check out the Food Review 101 Facebook page

The first flavor we sunk our teeth into was their Coconut Chocolate Chip bar, of which you can see looks pretty amazing in the picture below. One of the things we’re always nervous about with anything that’s supposed to taste like coconut, is whether or not it’s going to taste like sun-tan lotion and have a fake coconut flavor to it. Happy to say that this bar doesn’t have a fake coconut flavor. The coconut and chocolate chip combination works well together, and surprised a few of us in the process of this review. The texture of all the Clif bars are the same, so just expect to have a semi-hard bar that doesn’t take much effort to bite down on. Their Peanut Toffee Buzz bar is perhaps one of the bars that doesn’t get as much attention as their other flavors for whatever reason, but this bar tastes like its name, so we were pretty happy with it. This bar has some caffeine in it, but it wasn’t like eating a bar made of Red Bull or anything–happy to report. The bar has a few peanut pieces and peanut flour in it, making for a fairly peanuty bar. The toffee aspect of this bar comes in the form of toffee pieces, which give this bar a somewhat caramel and chocolate duo that makes for a decent bar. Both of the flavors we tasted today were good, but our testers prefered the Coconut Chocolate Chip flavor because it was somewhat more refreshing and uplifting than the Peanut Toffee Buzz bar. Overall (3.5 out of 5).

The pros are that both flavors tasted like their namesake, the texture of the bars are good, you can find Clif bars almost anywhere food is sold, they’re made with mostly organic ingredients, and they taste good.

The cons are that they’re a bit high in sugar and calories if you don’t need the extra nutrition.

Nutritional Information For 1 Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bar:

Calories 240
Fat 6g
Sodium 180mg
Carbs 42g
Fiber 5g
Sugar 22g
Protein 10g

To Be Young And In Luna…

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Team 101

As you can see from our previous reviews, we’re on a quest to try out and review every single bar that Clif and Luna makes. Luna says, “Created by and for women, LUNA bars were the first bars just for us, with the vitamins and minerals our bodies need to stay healthy. Wholesome nourishment and delicious indulgence, they are 70% organic and just plain yummy”. We have a few men on our panel of judges, and they weren’t too frightened by the fact that they’re made specifically for women, all they really care about is whether or not the bars taste good. So for this review, we thought it would be fun to review their Peanut Butter Cookie, Nutz Over Chocolate, S’mores, and Blueberry Bliss bar.. To learn more about Luna bars, be sure and head to their web-site for more information on their line of products. Also, be sure and check out Food Review 101 on Facebook!

The first bar we tried out was their Peanut Butter Cookie bar, which should taste great based solely on the name, we think. On the bottom of the bar, Luna added a thin layer of icing, of which adds a bit of sweetness and vanilla to the bar. If you’re just looking for a peanut butter nutrition bar, this is perhaps one of the better choices you could make. The sole flavor of the bar is peanut butter, so if that’s all you’re looking for then we think you’ll be pretty happy with your decision. Texturally, the bar has a bit of crunch to it, but is also just a bit of dense thanks in part to the vanilla coating on the bottom. Their S’mores bar was next on our list, and all we were hoping to find with this bar was a strong chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker influence. As you can see from the picture below, the chocolate coating on the bottom of the bar takes care of the chocolate aspect; however, we’re somewhat happy to say that the marshmallow flavor is somewhat there. It isn’t like eating a S’mores sandwich by the fire, but it still does a pretty decent job at recreating a classic treat. The Blueberry Bliss bar is one of the more different bars that we’ve tried from Luna, simply because it has a unique topping. On the top of the bar you have a blueberry Pop-Tart filling, while on the bottom you’re treated with a nice layer of vanilla icing. It’s a fairly decadent treat, and even more decadent when you remember that it’s a nutrition bar. Lastly, we tried our hand out their Nutz Over Chocolate bar, which is somewhat like their S’mores and Peanut Butter cookie bar. The chocolate coating on the bottom covers the chocolate portion of this bar, while the peanut butter and peanuts cover the nutz portion of the name, leading us to believe that this is one tasty bar. Overall (4 out of 5).

The pros are that they’re portable, they’re made with 70% organic ingredients, they taste good, the texture is good, you can find them anywhere they sell food, and it’s got a decent amount of vitamins and minerals.

The cons are that they’re a tad high in sugar.

Nutritional Information For 1 Nutz Over Chocolate Bar:

Calories 180
Fat 5g
Sodium 190mg
Carbs 25g
Fiber 4g
Sugar 10g
Protein 9g

Old-School Clif Bars

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Team 101

We apologize if you’re not a huge fan of Clif Bar’s, because we’ve been reviewing them like they’re going out of style. We’ve mentioned in previous reviews Clif specialize in various nutritious products that all have to do with nutrition bars: Luna, Clif, Clif Kidz, Kit’s Organic, Mojo, Clif Builder’s, Clif Shot, and Clif Crunch bars. You can find Clif products at your local grocery store, major chain stores, and online, as well as larger warehouse stores like CostCo or Sams Club. We’ll be talking about their Blueberry Crisp, Chocolate Brownie and Chocolate Chi Peanut Crunch bar for this review, and we’ll just be honest and say that we have pretty high hopes for this flavor assortment. To learn more about the Clif Bar company, be sure and head to their web-site for more information on their line of products. Also, be sure and check out the Food Review 101 Facebook page!

One look at their Blueberry Crisp bar and you know you’re in for a treat, the main reason is because you can see tiny blueberries scattered throughout the entire bar. This bar is incredibly refreshing, and actually tastes like a blueberry Pop-Tart. This isn’t one of those bars that relies on fake blueberry flavors or imitators, because it’s chock full of real blueberries. Almost all of the Clif bar’s we’ve reviewed have the same exact texture, so don’t expect anything different on that front. After that, we tried out perhaps one of the bars that we’ve had our eyes on for quite some time, and we were hoping that their Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch would be able to live up to the hype that we’ve set up for it. In one of our previous reviews, we talked about how awesome their Crunchy Peanut Butter bar was, now all you have to do is imagine how awesome that bar would be with the addition of some chocolate. The chocolate and peanut combination has worked in the past, which means that Clif bar merely kept that trend going with their take on this classic. Lastly, we tried out their Chocolate Brownie bar, of which didn’t really taste or look like a nutrition bar. With a name like that, it’s hard to have a bad tasting nutrition bar, which is probably why this bar tastes incredible. This bar tastes like a brownie, with the only difference coming in the form of texture. The nutrition bar is obviously going to be a bit more dense than a traditional brownie, so we didn’t think we should be too harsh on their score for that simple fact. Overall (4 out of 5).

The pros are that all of the bars taste great, the texture is good, they’re made with mostly organic ingredients, and you can find them at most grocery stores across the United States.

The cons are that some people might not need the extra and quick nutrition that these bars provide.

Nutritional Information For 1 Chocolate Brownie Clif Bar:

Calories 230
Fat 4.5g
Sodium 160mg
Carbs 44g
Fiber 5g
Sugar 23g
Protein 9g

Original Clif Bar Flavors Are Back In Style!

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Team 101

If you’ve been paying attention to Food Review 101 lately, then you’re already fully aware that we have quite a crush on Clif Bar’s. We’ve mentioned in previous reviews Clif specialize in various nutritious products that all have to do with nutrition bars: Luna, Clif, Clif Kidz, Kit’s Organic, Mojo, Clif Builder’s, Clif Shot, and Clif Crunch bars. You can find Clif products at your local grocery store, major chain stores, and online, as well as larger warehouse stores like CostCo or Sams Club. This review will focus on three of the more classic flavors from their original line: Chocolate Almond Fudge, Oatmeal Raisin Walnut, and Crunchy Peanut Butter. To learn more about the Clif Bar company, be sure and head to their web-site for more information on their line of products. Also, be sure and check out the Food Review 101 Facebook page!

OK, so we started off with their Oatmeal Raisin Walnut bar, and this seems to be one of the most classic nutrition bar flavors of all time. We’ll be honest and say the bar sounds boring; however, the flavor of the bar is anything but that. The oatmeal comes out well, but the main stars of this bar are the raisins, walnuts and cinnamon. The raisins and walnuts are plentiful, but the molasses and cinnamon really steal the show here. The texture of the bar is classic Clif bar, meaning that it sits in-between being hard and soft. Next, we tried out their decadent sounding Chocolate Almond Fudge bar, which actually sounds and looks more like a fattening treat than a nutrition bar. The bar that is actually good for you manages to taste like something you shouldn’t be eating, mainly because the chocolate aspect of it is so strong. The bar has bits of chocolate and fudge pieces in it, which combines perfectly with the chopped up almonds than are liberally scattered throughout the bar. If you’re a chocolate lover simply looking for a chocolaty nutrition bar, look no further than the chocolate almond fudge bar that Clif has presented you with here. Lastly, we took a bite out of the Crunchy Peanut Butter bar, which actually reminded us of eating peanut butter straight from the jar. The bar benefits from a strong peanut flavor that comes from organic peanut butter, peanut flour and of course, peanuts. If you’re just looking for a peanuty good time, we recommend you check out their crunchy peanut butter bar—we promise you won’t be sorry. Overall (4.5 out of 5).

The pros are that you can find their nutrition bars anywhere food is sold, everything tastes great and like its namesake, the texture is good, they’re made with mostly organic ingredients, and they’re portable.

The cons are that they have more sugar and carbohydrates than some nutrition bars on the market.

Nutritional Information For 1Crunchy Peanut Butter Bar:

Calories 240
Fat 6g
Sodium 240mg
Carbs 41g
Fiber 5g
Sugar 21g
Protein 11g