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Archive for the ‘Yum’ Category

Bar Review 4/5 and a bonus!

Today’s Bar: Bumble Bar Organic Energy in Cherry Chocolate

Package Goodies: Gluten Free & Vegan. There is also a random picture of a pretty cute little kid’s head floating on the back of the package and it says “Abby Adores Em!” and “Abby les adore!” for those French speakers out there. “BumbleBar is a delicious blend of organic, simple, whole foods. Made only from certified organic, gluten free, dairy free, ethically sourced ingredients, BumbleBars are the purest form of energy!” Pretty neat! Ingredient List: Organic agave syrup, Organic sesame seeds, Organic cherries, Organic non-dairy chocolate, Organic flax, Organic almonds, Organic coconut, Organic cocoa powder, Organic cherry flavor, Organic chocolate extract, Sea Salt, Tocopherol. Our bookstore only had regular chocolate and cherry chocolate flavors, but looking at the website, they have a ton of different choices! The Verdict: Wow! This is like the healthy kid’s no bake cookie. This is not a cookie bar or anything like that…it’s basically the seeds, nuts and fruits that are listed in the ingredients, smooshed together with some dark chocolate and rolled flat. I loved it! At first, it was a bit strange, since it was pretty different from the bars I’ve had the rest of this week so far. But after I tried a little more, I was completely hooked. Each bite tastes a little different because you’re getting a different bite of fruits and seeds and things. Some bites are sweeter, while others have a sour punch from dried cherries. Some are more chocolatey than others. Overall, it has a very clean chocolate taste, with nice pops of the different things that make up the bar. I would totally recommend this to people who love chocolate, seeds/nuts, OR chewy things! I want to try more flavors now for sure! I hope I can find these at Whole Foods where they have more of a selection!

Bonus Review!

Today with my lunch, I was feeling the need for juice over my regular water. I went for something new: Bossa Nova Superfruit Açai Juice! They had a few different flavors to choose from, and I went with Raspberry. Bottle Claims: “highest antioxidant fruit”, “Rethink Juice! Choose superfruits. Meaningful nutrition. Vital performance. Reject empty calories. No apple, grape, pear or cane juice fillers.” “Not all fruits are created equal. Superfruit: Açai (ah-sci-ee). Taste: Lush, tropical dark berry with a blueberry note. Superpower: Highest antioxidant fruit. Benefit: Reduces free radicals linked to premature aging, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and certain cancers; anti-inflammatory benefits; supports recovery after exercise. Profile: About 60% more antioxidants than pomegranates with about 40% less sugar; sustainable harvesting helps preserve rainforest ecosystems.” “Naturally Occuring Nutrients: Antoyanins (powerful antioxidants), Vitamin A, Magnesium” What a mouthful! For a tiny bottle, this was PACKED with random claims and exclamation points! Ingredient List: Wild-harvested Açai Juice, Organic Agave Nectar, Raspberry Juice (from concentrate), Natural Flavors* Nice and short…sort of. See below for some interesting ideas about “Natural Flavors.” The Verdict: Yum! This was a very powerful juice. Lots of flavor, so it’s a good thing it came in a little bottle, because otherwise I probably wouldn’t have finished it. It went really nicely with my lunch (leftover Italian wedding casserole) and was a great sweet break from my many cups of water throughout the day. I may try some of the other flavors, but these little guys cost around $3! Definitely a special occasion…free water from the office is my drink of choice on a daily basis!

* A note about natural flavors: I haven’t done a tone of research, so don’t use me as some expert witness to this, but in one of my grad classes a couple years ago, we read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation. Really really interesting. He has a lot to say about flavors (natural and artificial), and the way that flavors are manufactured in giant factories. Schlosser does a pretty decent job of citing the claims that he makes, so while I’m not going to throw him out there as an irrefutable scientific resource, his concerns in this area are ones that I tend to have as well. Here’s a brief excerpt (which I snatched from a random website in order to avoid having to type it all)…there is a lot more interesting stuff in the book. I’d definitely recommend it.

The Food and Drug Administration does not require companies to disclose the ingredients of their color or flavor additives so long as all the chemicals in them are considered by the agency to be GRAS (“generally recognized as safe”). This enables companies to maintain the secrecy of their formulas. It also hides the fact that flavor compounds often contain more ingredients than the foods to which they give taste. The phrase “artificial strawberry flavor” gives little hint of the chemical wizardry and manufacturing skill that can make a highly processed food taste like strawberries.

A typical artificial strawberry flavor, like the kind found in a Burger King strawberry milk shake, contains the following ingredients: amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone (10 percent solution in alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, g-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.

Although flavors usually arise from a mixture of many different volatile chemicals, often a single compound supplies the dominant aroma. Smelled alone, that chemical provides an unmistakable sense of the food. Ethyl-2-methyl butyrate, for example, smells just like an apple. Many of today’s highly processed foods offer a blank palette: whatever chemicals are added to them will give them specific tastes. Adding methyl-2-pyridyl ketone makes something taste like popcorn. Adding ethyl-3-hydroxy butanoate makes it taste like marshmallow. The possibilities are now almost limitless. Without affecting appearance or nutritional value, processed foods could be made with aroma chemicals such as hexanal (the smell of freshly cut grass) or 3-methyl butanoic acid (the smell of body odor).

The 1960s were the heyday of artificial flavors in the United States. The synthetic versions of flavor compounds were not subtle, but they did not have to be, given the nature of most processed food. For the past twenty years food processors have tried hard to use only “natural flavors” in their products. According to the FDA, these must be derived entirely from natural sources — from herbs, spices, fruits, vegetables, beef, chicken, yeast, bark, roots, and so forth. Consumers prefer to see natural flavors on a label, out of a belief that they are more healthful. Distinctions between artificial and natural flavors can be arbitrary and somewhat absurd, based more on how the flavor has been made than on what it actually contains.

“A natural flavor,” says Terry Acree, a professor of food science at Cornell University, “is a flavor that’s been derived with an out-of-date technology.” Natural flavours and artificial flavors sometimes contain exactly the same chemicals, produced through different methods. Amyl acetate, for example, provides the dominant note of banana flavor. When it is distilled from bananas with a solvent, amyl acetate is a natural flavor. When it is produced by mixing vinegar with amyl alcohol and adding sulfuric acid as a catalyst, amyl acetate is an artificial flavor. Either way it smells and tastes the same. “Natural flavor” is now listed among the ingredients of everything from Health Valley Blueberry Granola Bars to Taco Bell Hot Taco Sauce.

A natural flavor is not necessarily more healthful or purer than an artificial one. When almond flavor — benzaldehyde — is derived from natural sources, such as peach and apricot pits, it contains traces of hydrogen cyanide, a deadly poison. Benzaldehyde derived by mixing oil of clove and amyl acetate does not contain any cyanide. Nevertheless, it is legally considered an artificial flavor and sells at a much lower price. Natural and artificial flavors are now manufactured at the same chemical plants, places that few people would associate with Mother Nature.

Iiiinteresting, no? I am definitely not one to condone anything for being not completely healthy, but I like bits of info like this that make me think about food labels and ingredient lists differently. Makes me feel like I am not so swayed by all of the marketing gimmicks that are out there.

Guest Post on Dori’s Shiny Blog

Click over to Dori’s blog to read my guest post about my Italian Wedding Casserole! Lots of pictures and the Sage Parmesan Meatball recipe! This is a really fun meal that Matt and I made together and has lasted through several rounds of leftovers…yum yum yum!  Here are the instructions for putting the casserole together (you’ll have to head over to DSB to get the meatball recipe!):

• What You Need:
  • Pasta (We used Rotelle, but any curly or spiral pasta will work)
  • About 1/3 of the sage parmesan meatball mix
  • Chicken stock
  • 1 Tb Flour
  • 1 Tb olive oil
  • 1 Tb Minced garlic
  • 1 Diced onion
  • 1 bunch fresh spinach, washed, drained, and chopped. (Or frozen spinach, defrosted, drained, squeezed as dry as possible)
  • Ritz crackers
  • Butter
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Basil, parsley, sage, cayenne pepper

 

• What You Do:
  • Cook pasta, as directed on package, drain, and set aside.
  • While pasta cooks, mix your meatballs and pan fry.
  • Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels — if there is a ton of grease in the pan, pour off or soak up (with a paper towel) most of it, leaving about 1/2 a teaspoon
  • Sprinkle flour around pan, stirring to coat with grease in the pan and let it cook for a couple minutes on medium heat (this will take away some of the floury taste)
  • Add salt, black and cayenne pepper, basil, parsley and sage and slowly add stock, stirring constantly and mixing completely with the flour after each bit is added.
  • When all the stock has been added to the pan, keep stirring so it doesn’t burn or stick. Bring it to a simmer and let it cook for 5 minutes. This will get it just a little bit thick.
  • While sauce is cooking, heat olive oil in pan over medium-high heat.
  • Sauté onion and garlic in pan until very soft and translucent (caramelized a bit if you want that extra sweetness).
  Add spinach to pan and stir. As the spinach cooks it will wilt down quite a bit. It might seem like you have a TON of fresh spinach, but it will result in a lot less cooked than you think.
  • Cook until spinach is wilted and tender, stirring constantly. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, mix pasta, meatballs, spinach, stock mixture and a handful of parmesan cheese until well blended.
  • Pour into large, greased casserole dish.
  • In small saucepan, melt 1 stick of butter. Crush 1 tube of Ritz crackers (you can really use any kind of crackers you want, but Ritz are super buttery and have the best taste as far as I’ve found so far)and add to the melted butter (along with a small handful of parmesan cheese), stirring to coat.*
  • Top the casserole with the deliciously buttery cracker mix.
  • Bake this in 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly and hot in the middle. The time will vary based on what size/shape casserole dish you use. You’ll want to watch the crackers, because they could burn if the oven is too hot or they’re in there too long…if you see them starting to get too dark, just cover with aluminum foil. Since everything is already cooked, you’re really just aiming for it to be heated and bubbly all the way through and for the cracker topping to get nice and brown! 

*It should be noted that the topping on this casserole comes originally from a broccoli cheese casserole side dish I learned from my greasy friend from KY, Bob…while we were Undergrads, we spent a LOT of time topping things with butter and crackers.  It’s delicious.

Thanks to Dori for letting me guest post! 4th bar review later today after my afternoon snack! (The last of the leftover italian wedding casserole for lunch today, so that will probably hold me over for a while!)

Apple Bread & Bar Review 3/5

Today’s Bar: White Chocolate Macadamia Luna Bar (also by Clif Bar)

Package Goodies: High in Calcium, Folic Acid, AND Antioxidants. 70% Organic, Entirely Natural (again, this means nothing…in some cases, things that are allowed by the FDA to be listed as “Natural Flavor” are more toxic than some “Artificial Flavor”). 6g Fiber, 3g Protein, Low Glycemic. Ingredient List: LunaPro (Soy Rice Crisp [Soy Protein Isolate, Organic Rice Flour], Organic Toasted Oats, Organic Roasted Soybeans, Organic Soy Flour, Organic Flaxmeal), Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Coating (Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Organic Palm Kernel Oil, Organic Soy Flour, Organic Soy Lecithin, Organic Vanilla), Organic Macadamia Nuts, Inulin (Chicory Extract), Organic Macadamia Nut Butter, Vegetable Glycerin, Organic Oat Syrup Solids, Organic Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt, Natural Flavors. Very similar list of ingredients as yesterday’s bar. Chock full of nutrients and good-for-you stuff. The Verdict: Was this actually nutritious? Because it tasted like dessert! White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies are one of my favorites, so I knew I had to try this flavor bar. So delicious! I really liked the texture of the puffed rice type bar, with the layer of white chocolate on the bottom (and swirled across the top!). Sometimes I need a more fruity snack, but this is perfect for that chocolate/sweet craving I get some days. I had a Luna Bar with Matt the other day at the gym…I think it was something with peanut butter. It was equally as satisfying. I can see why these are getting such rave reviews across the blogs! I will definitely be stocking up on these anytime I see them on sale!! I have noticed with both yesterday’s Clif Energy Bar and this Luna Bar, that I am completely a sucker for nice packaging. Pretty colors, interesting designs, feel-good statements about the product philosophy…this stuff absolutely works on me. (I think it’s interesting that the Clif Bar company has an entire bar spawned off of it devoted to natural energy for women…this seems a bit sketchy, but I’m still a sucker, so I’ll buy into it for now) I’m a marketing team’s dream. Does it affect whether I enjoy actually eating it?? I’m not sure…probably a little, but I also know that I’ve had bars in hideous packaging that I’ve loved, and bars in really cute, promising packaging that have been horrible. Either way, yum for Luna Bar! There are a bunch of flavors, so I can’t wait to try more!

Even though I was really busy on Monday night, I managed to make some yummy apple bread for breakfast the next day! It’s from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, and it was super easy! We doubled this batch because we had a giant pile of apples leftover in the fridge that weren’t good enough for eating out of hand, but perfect for shredding into some bread!

Apple Bread

• 1.5 cups AP flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 1.5 cups finely shredded, peeled apple
• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted (I didn’t toast them because I was lazy…it was 100% fine)

1. Grease your loaf pan (I used about 6 mini loaf pans for my double batch) and set aside.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg.  Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.
2. In another medium bowl combine egg, sugar, apple, and oil.  Add apple mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).  Fold in nuts.  Spoon batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes (our oven is wonky and vacillates in temperature a lot, but all my mini-loaves baking at once took about this long to cook…I’d recommend checking on them at 30 minutes or so, just to make sure you don’t burn them!) or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan.  Cool completely on a wire rack.  Wrap and store overnight before slicing (HA! This did NOT happen.)

I’m really glad I took the time out of editing to make this. It was really easy and everyone here, at my work, and at Matt’s work loved it!  Fruit breads like this (very similar to bananananana bread) are so easy because there is no special folding or sifting or straining or anything to do….mix the dry, mix the wet, throw ‘em together and you’re good to go! I grew up with Shed’s Spread Country Crock spread, and it is the PERFECT smooth flavor for this kind of bread, even though we go for regular butter most other times.

If you’re not a big baker, this is a good kind of baked good to start with (probably why I love it so much!).  Now, back to editing!! Tomorrow, guest post on Dori’s blog!

Bar Review 2/5

Blah Tuesday! I called it!! I am exhausted and had a super long day.  Thankfully I had an energy bar to give me a kick in the butt this afternoon! Tomorrow: Bake Sale update, Apple Bread, and maybe some other random fun things. 

If you’re looking for some additional reading in the meantime, check out Santana’s review of her new Kong toy…she loves it!

Today’s Bar: Blueberry Crisp Energy Bar by Clif Bar

Package Goodies: Made with Organic Oats & Soybeans, Good source of protein, No Trans Fat, All Natural (which means zip on packaging, but still sounds nice), 70% Organic Ingredients…and a zillion other things about how great it is Ingredient List: Ingredients: Organic Brown Rice Syrup, ClifPro® (Soy Rice Crisps [Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Flour, Malt Extract], Organic Roasted Soybeans, Organic Soy Flour), Organic Rolled Oats, Blueberry Fruit Pieces (Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Blueberry Puree Concentrate, Brown Rice Syrup, Pectin, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Natural Flavor), Organic Toasted Oats (Organic Oats, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice), Organic Dry Roasted Almonds, ClifCrunch® (Organic Oat Fiber, Inulin [Chicory Extract], Organic Milled Flaxseed, Organic Oat Bran, Psyllium), Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Blueberries (Blueberries, Apple Juice Concentrate), Organic Date Paste, Almond Butter, Organic Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors, Sea Salt, Citric Acid. The list of ingredients is LONG, but they’re all pretty wholesome and nutritious. You could taste the variety of things going on in there! The Verdict: Sweet and satisfying! I needed something filling today for a mid-afternoon snack. After work I am swinging had a 2 hour training that didn’t get out until 7:30 tonight. I knew I’d be STARVING if I didn’t have a good snack in the afternoon, and this Clif Bar really hit the spot. I would have liked it just a bit better if it had a more coarse texture…bigger pieces of oats and nuts and things. Overall, though, it was really good…chewy and sticky and crunchy all at once. I did get a couple big chunks of Almonds…YUM!

Blogger Bake Sale Begins & Bar Review 1/5!

Happy Monday! I think Tuesdays are the new “Mondays” for me…Mondays I am refreshed, full of mocha, and in a pretty great mood. Tuesdays, I am dragging and not so peppy.

So there is a lot going on this week. I’m still busy editing (hopefully only through next Sunday!), I’ll have a guest post on Dori’s blog later this week, we’re planning for my parents’ visit in a few weeks, Passover starts Thursday, we need to dye some Easter eggs, the Blogger Bake Sale starts today and we have lots going on with applications at work.

To keep up my posting all week, make sure I try some new delicious things and save me from coming up with a new post idea or meal all week, I’m doing a series of bar reviews! Turns out, the blogging world LOVES bars, breakfast cookies, mini snacks…really things that come in wrappers and taste delicious. Last week, on my way back into the office on afternoon, I stopped in the school bookstore and realized they have an entire wall filled with bars! All different brands, flavors, sizes, shapes, etc. So, I spent a decent chunk of money on a big pile of different bars…the person working there must have thought I was at least a little nuts. Plus, I got a staff discount! Discount bars are my favorite!! So, I have 5 bars to try this week and the plan is to share one each day.

Today’s Bar: Oskri Coconut Bar with Mango by Oskri Organics Â

Package Goodies: Gluten Free, Lactose Free, Vega, USDA Organic, and it has some symbol that I absolutely don’t recognize. Ingredient List: Coconuts 50%, Rice Syrup, Mango Concentrate 1% Such a basic list of ingredients! The nutrition facts are not crazy wonderful for this, but it’s nice and simple, so at least I know that the calories and fat I’m getting from the bar aren’t coming from a ton of additives and other junk. The Verdict: This is pretty much what it says…Coconut. Shredded coconut packed together in a bar shape. There are little bits of mango throughout and a slightly orange tint to the coconut, but not a hug mango taste at all. At first, I thought it was a little too dry and plain flavored, but as I kept eating, the coconut was really nice (if you like coconut!) and not too sweet, which is definitely a plus. I actually nibbled on little bites of this one throughout the first hour or so of the day, because it was a little too much coconut for me to eat all at once. If I was in the right mood, I’d probably get this again…not necessarily for a breakfast bar, but more as a snack to last me through the morning or afternoon. I like things that I can consistently snack on for a long period of time…which is why chips or nuts or other bite size things are my downfall. “I’ll just have a few of these chocolate covered edamame” turns into “Hmm…how’d that entire container get empty??”

Make sure you check out Meghann’s Blogger Bake Sale. It just started today and there are a TON of amazing-looking goodies on there to bid for (plus some customizable nut butter cups from me!). The proceeds go to a great cause, and you’ll end up with some really delicious treats!