Bamboo and Larabar Review

Aww. Lily in the morning.

I am not a morning person. Even a little bit , but this makes me want to get out of bed .

She is just so mellow,cuddly and cute in the morning.

What I do not love is her appreciation for tennis balls. She looooves them. She has a million other toys but is content destroying a tennis ball bit by bit. She usually kills it in a day and when she doesn't kill it she spends her time pushing it under couches and crevices and then crying for us to get it back out. Hate tennis balls.

What I did not hate , was this Larabar.

Shocking , I know . Considering I hated the other three Larabars I tried I really didn't have high hopes for this one.

I googled reviews before unwrapping and Tina's review convinced me.

It really does taste like a macaroon!

Other things I do not hate , include these awesome Bamboo Cutting Boards I was gifted with from CSN stores to review.

I used to think that my knifes sucked but after using these boards, I realized it was the plastic ( or whatever material it was made of , not wood of any kind and defintely not bamboo) that was making chopping and cutting difficult.

These made prepping spinach , amongst many other things since I recieved them , a breeze.

And the best part, well maybe second best part, EASY to clean . They do not stain or absorb very much . Warm water, a bit of soap and you're done.

Thanks CSNstores.

Best I Ever Had

This week is going by pretty fast for me. Although during the day when I'm trying to get stuff done , I feel like the minutes are hours.

My lecture ended early today so I got home early enough for breakfast.

I took these two ,

And turned it into this :

In the bowl :

Bob's Oats of course

Tbsp of Organic Peanut Butter

1/2 of a crumbled Peanut Crunch Clif Bar ( i had the other half with my coffee mid-lecture)

splash of water

Coupled with a glorious mug of green tea.

Ok so it's not so much glorious as it is a tea bag with some hot water. But it's warm!

I finally tried this bar on the weekend. I have to say it is my favorite bar EVER!!!!

Unfortunately it is 4 dollars a bar!! I said to bf when I bought it , watch this will be my fav because it's 4 dollars and look what happens. He really liked it too .

So banana-y and loads of whole nuts. So fresh and yummy. It really tasted like something a family member or bakery made.

LOVED IT!

I might even say it was the best I ever had. Also I might even say that I'd like to look at mr Drake all day long

BUt keeping on topic , I'd buy it again but not for a daily bar because of the price.

Bf's birthday is on Friday. Big 2-8 ! He's not thrilled about it but I doubt I would be either. Birthday plans ( as per the birthday boy's request) are dinner with his parents tomorrow , a day off for him on Friday and hightailing it to the cottage Friday afternoon after my class.

What's your most memorable birthday celebration ?

Best gift ever ?


-A

REVIEW : Kashi Dark Chocolate Coconut Bar & Protein 2 Go

Protein 2 Go in Caramel

The bf and I split this bar last night. As soon as I unwrapped it , I realized it was totally not what I pictured.

I had imagined a chocolate coated bar with gooey caramel . What i got was a caramel colored bar with no gooey-ness at all.

Flavor wise it tasted like butterscotch. It was fine while biting but after chewing it kinda had the consistancy of sand or sawdust.

Verdict : not going in the to buy pile :(

Kashi Dark Chocolate Coconut Bar

This bar looked amazing on the box and it was just as amazing unwrapped. Beautiful bar !!!

I loved this bar . The chocolate was almost fudgey ontop and the bar portion was oat-y but not too chewy .

Verdict- TO BUY AGAIN PILE!

Pop and Crunch - Pop Chips Review

Wow these Pop Chips were a long time coming! I can't even count how many contests I entered trying to get my paws on these guys.


I gave up on my chance at glory and when I saw these on sale for 2.49 at Shoppers Drug Mart the other day , I had to get some.

I was tempted to get a flavor but ended up getting Original because to be honest I am a plain jane. My absolute favorite chips are Lays Original but I try to healthy it up a bit and go for the Baked variety. Hea-ven!

The bag of Pop Chips tells me that they are not fried OR baked. Intriguing.



Upon first crunch , I was very surprised. I was expecting something similar to Crispy Mini or Quakes for the Americans ( i think ! ) , Snack A Jacks for the UK-ers. What I got was a chip that reminded me of a Muncho if you 've ever had one.

Incredibly salty and full of flavor. They also are kinda greasy.


The Pop Chips weren't greasy but they had the flavor of a chip that might have be fried. I kinda wished I had gotten BBQ or something because I am not a big fan of Munchos and these REALLY reminded me of it.



All in all though , if you're looking for healthy alternative to chips for dip related purposes I would snag a bag of these. If you want to eat them on their own and you adore Munchos , also buy them. If you do not enjoy the food that is Munchos , no.



-A

Presents and Luna Bars

Hi :)


I can't beileve it's been almost a week since I lasted blogged. I can happily say that I have no class until January 4th :D I also have little to no homework which is an awesome Christmas bonus.

I got all my shopping done . My purchases included a super amazing cookbook by this lovely lady. Seriously buy one. So many yummy recipes and a-mazing pictures. I will defintely be borrowing this one from the gift-ee.


I got a lot of other less interesting presents too, mostly clothes. But my favorite present is one that was given to me , of course.


My incredible bf got me an HP Mini . I love it. It's so cute . Best bf ever.


Luna Bars Review

First Impression:

It looked delicious . Very similar in appearance to a Dipp 'granola bar'. I thought the size was pretty average and was intrigued that it was marketed towards women .

After Eating /Overall:

The chocolate tasted funny. It was an odd flavor that I neither liked or disliked. I didn't think it tasted anything like smores as I didn't detect even a hint of marshmellow. Definately not one of my favorite bars. It was just like an odd chocolate "bar".

First Impression:

I was persuaded to buy this one because of the name. Nuts over Choclate just sounds decadent.

Appearance wise it looked beautiful. Like a decadent treat or brownie.

After Eating:

I liked this bar better than the Smores bar but still felt the chocolate tasted off. I would likely try this bar again though. The Smores one is a definate no though.

Well, that`s all I`ve got for right now. Making what I hope will be a delicious dinner of chicken parmesan with a sauce that has been simmering all day . I used a base of PC Spinach and Cheese Pasta sauce, added up 4 tomatoes , garlic , onions and a handful of spinach. Hope it turns out !

-A

A Quick One

Hola,

Today's been a whirlwind of computer staring-homework doing-intervention marathon watching , apple turnover/berry turnovers/herbed cheese filled turnover baking- big salad eating-and after i post this entry -Big Bang watching and couch sitting ,filled day.
But because I didn't finish my homework in the middle of the night for once I thought I'd spit out a quick one.

The larabars that I was super excited to find , well either you people are lying to me or it's just me.

Cashew Cookie Larabar

I tried this one first because I love cashews. The cashew bits I adored. The sweeteness factor or lack there of . well maybe it was sweet just oddly sweet. I found it almost sour but I guess that's the natural sweeteners used ? I don't know. I had two bites of this and while I wanted to like it I passed it along to the bf who said that he prefers Clif bars. He should prefer them , he's been eating them all before I can try all the flavors.
I think I would only try this particular bar again only if I eliminated other sweeteners and sugars from my diet. I figure thats why it tasted so odd to me.


Cocoa Coconut Chew Larabar


I just grabbed this flavor randomly because there weren't many flavors there. I liked this one better than the cashew cookie but it still had the " sour" factor for me. The bf agreed. Again , I would only try it if my diet changed.

What do you think about Larabars? Yummy? Not your thing? How Come?

P/S Booze Cruise Dock-age count 3/3

-A

It Will Have To Do

Hey ,

It feels like all I manage to have time for lately is the Friday 5 and unfortunately this post isn't to say that the end of busy-ness is over and I'm B-AAAACK. Nope its going to keep up . At least for a few more days.

While the weekend brought a lot of good things it also brought some bad stuff. My grandfather died early Saturday morning and while I was not close with him by any means , it still was not a happy weekend.
The funeral is Friday and I 'm taking the day off school , to drive downtown to go with the bf.

Tonnes of school stuff and shopping to do . T'is the season so to tide you over until I can get a block of time , my review of the Maranatha Almond Butter.


Maranatha's Almond Butter

What the people at Maranatha say about their Almond Butter :

Almonds never tasted so good. Slice up some apples and say yummm... The 8 oz. jar is the ideal size for trial, gift giving or travel. Bring your own spoon.

What do i say about it?

Initially , I wasn't sure. My first taste was off a spoon straight from the jar and to be honest I found it really really salt. My second taste was spread on a piece of well Apple loaf I guess I 'd call it . I altered a banana bread recipe to incorporate apples and cinnamon . It was delicious, thinly spread on top. So yum . It is definitely an accompaniment item and not something I'd eat straight out of the jar like regular peanut butter.

Luna Caramel Nut Brownie

I wasn't sure what to think of this bar from the get go. A bar marketed towards women?
I figured they would know how to do chocolate right then . To be honest I loved 3/4 of this bar. I loved the caramel layer and the nuts but the brownie part was so dense, almost dry and tasted like coffee to me. Defintely not going in the to buy again pile.

On a shopping exercusion today I managed to find LARA BARS!! I've heard of these and seem them on blogs EVERYWHERE but I never saw them before until today. In a Good Health store of all places. Go figure :D

I got the apple pie one, coconut cocoa chew or osmething of that nature and cashew cookie which I am most looking forward to :)

Off to take care of unhappy family matters. Hoping to get my fashion post with my recent purchases and christmas gifts up soon. Maybe in the friday five?
In the mean time , here's a to do list for you.

Head on over to The Inner Workings Of A College Graduate and vote for her in the Sam-E blogger contest.

Hungry? Or not sure what to make to -insert festive event /dinner here- clicky click to the lovely Itzy's kitchen. Her recent recipes are drooool worthy.

Quick Food and Review

Hey :)

Just a quick review of a post for today as I'm swimming in school work and need to stop procrastinating online. I learned one thing today, tort law may be interesting but it's also a hell of a lot of reading .

While at the grocery store yesterday stocking up on loads of veggies ( big tubs of organic baby spinach for 3.00!!! ) and the like, I also stocked up on my curious obsession. Clif Bars!! I got the Carrot Cake , Peanut Toffee Buzz ,Choclate Chip Peanut Crunch and a repeat of the Chocolate Almond Fudge ( I already tried this one and loved it so much I got it again. My thoughts on it will be up in the near future.

I had to get up incredibly early for me for my new class schedule. 6;30 am . Compared to waking at my leisure and being in class for 1 pm , I now have to be there for 8 am . I downed most of a bottle of water and grabbed the clif bar and a travel mug of a new dark roast coffee I picked up yesterday. I had some International Delight toffee vanilla creamer in it as well.

I didn't end up digging into this bar until almost the end of class when my stomach was being very loud. I didn't really feel like something snacky . I kinda wanted a sandwich but I made due with what I had.

I have to be honest and say that I didn't have high hopes for this bar initially, packaged. I bought it because I wanted to really like the peanut crunch one but didn't and I love peanut or peanut butter flavored things , so i figured I 'd take the risk again but really didn't think it would be any better.

I only had about 2 large bites towards the end of my class , of this bar but I loved it !!

I thought the texture was fantastic and I really really liked the flavor . Did I mention I really like this particular flavor?

It will definitely go in my buy again pile.


Tonight's meal is in the process of being made. I took some boneless skinless chicken breasts and made a homemade mix resembling Shake and Bake which the bf loves , stuck a rack in a casserole dish and put it in the oven to bake. I 'm making a big salad of baby spinach, mixed greens, shredded carrots, shredded cheese, garlic and cheese croutons , bacon and hardboiled egg.
'Til tomorrow.

Question ( to no one , really ) : What flavors do you like and dislike food wise? I know so many people that can't stand anything mint but I love mint flavored chocolate.

-A

A Chewy Review

Annnnd she's back. That first entry is always just a requisite. Not a real entry but has to happen none the less :)

So on to the good stuff. The food.

Yesterday after seeing nearly a sea of oatmeal bowls with crumbled Clif Bars and being probably, ohhhh the last person on this earth that has yet to succumb to any ( yes I know I'm very behind the times apparently I can however assure you that there are few chocolate bars I haven't tasted. But shh. Don't tell anyone ) of the many delicious and surprisingly helpful products, I took the jump.
I picked up this appearing little guy at the store yesterday.

I've never really been much of a bar person. In the past I've been of the calorie watching mindset and I guess I just felt like well I could have this little bar , or I could have this , this and this.My mindset has changed a lot and I am working on viewing what I eat more as fuel than focusing a lot on the eating in volume.

The bigger reason I've turned to bars is simpler though. TIME! I don't have time to go and sit down and eat something while I'm at school and we're really not supposed to eat in class. I can get away with taking random bites of something like this though , so I figured I'd give it a try.
Now I know every blog has a Clif Bar review or twelve so forgive me.

My first impression of this bar packaged was that it wasn't very big and if it wasn't small then it must be oddly shaped.I was half right.

Aside from the size the calories and protein stood out to me. I was almost alarmed that what appeared to be a granola bar ( I know. I told you I was new to "bars" ) had 250 calories. Again there's the mindset about the calories. I mean , in a calorie counting mindset I thought, that's almost a cheeseburger at Mcdonalds :O Not that I eat any of those . The protein however was impressive.

Unwrapped, I thought the bar looked a lot like formed raw oatmeal peanut butter cookie dough. I was surprised because I thought it would be more crispy , or crunchy, judging on the name. A couple bites in , I wrapped this one up and took it home for the bf.

I was really hoping to like it but it was just too chewy for me , texture wise. Taste wise it was delicious. My bf said it was " alright" and that he wished , his words not mine " that they would have used honey to make it chewy instead of whatever they used ."

Oh well. I've not completely given up on bars or even Clif Bars though. I bought the chocolate chip one today and the chocolate almond fudge one.

In other news , I'm off to see if the sweet potato I thought I spied in the fridge earlier , really does exist and read some blogs .

-A