Snack Review: Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Vanilla Unsweetened Almond Milk

As a child, my mother had a very difficult time getting me to drink milk. Whole, 2%, nonfat, or even chocolate - you name it, I disliked it. My life seemed content without milk, until I started bodybuilding.

Though the average person needs only around fifty grams of protein a day, it has been suggested that someone training in a high-regimen exercise program consume up to four grams of protein per pound of body weight. In my case, that would be consuming over seven hundred grams!

Now, I can eat a lot (I might have successfully completed the Vermonster challenge… in thirteen and a half minutes), but seven hundred grams of protein? That’s like… like… like eating a baby cow. And frankly, eating a baby cow every day seems rather unappetizing.

So how do I remedy this problem? Well, like most bodybuilders and athletes, I take a variety of protein supplements. Though the bulk of my consumption comes from textured vegetable protein flakes, about a hundred grams is derived from whey protein, which is produced as a byproduct of cheese manufacturing.
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Snack Review: Fiber One Honey Clusters Cereal

Whenever I speak to people who monitor their dietary lifestyle, they seem knowledgeable about the major components. They track their carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake religiously; however, when I inquire about their fiber intake, I get met with blank stares.

Despite its lack of popularity in dietary discussion, it’s a vital component of maintaining homeostasis. For those who aren’t familiar with what fiber is, it’s a generic term given to the portions of plants that when consumed are not digestible. It can be anything from cellulose to chitin to lignin. Why is this good? Well, for starters, since our bodies lack the enzymes to digest fiber, we cannot convert it to sugar, and thus it has no caloric effect (this is why a piece of celery has so few calories in it, aside from it being mainly water).

Within fiber, there are two delineations: soluble and insoluble fiber. Essentially, soluble fiber conforms to a gelatinous state in liquids, while insoluble remains intact. Each in turn has varying effects on your body from preventing colon cancer (insoluble) to lowering LDL cholesterol (soluble).

Part of the reason I feel fiber is not generally consumed in its recommended dosage is because of the foods that contain them. Since it is a component of plants, you’ll only find them in various grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds. And let’s be honest, how many of us snackers out there munch on kidney beans or flax seeds when there are cookies available?

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Snack Review: The Cheddar-tastic Michael Season’s Taste Test

I’ve got to credit the snacksmiths at Michael Season’s - they’re incredibly generous. I was grateful to the homegrown Illinois company already for sending me some of their Baked Multigrain Chips to review a few weeks ago. Apparently, Michael Season’s was satisfied with my review - I was pleasantly surprised, this morning, to discover a second box of Michael Season’s goodies, larger than the first, waiting at my door.

In eager anticipation, I peeled away the industrial tape and cardboard to find… Cheetos, Michael Season’s style. Not only did the “Natural Gourmet” gift me with its “Ultimate Cheddar Cheese Curls” - oh no. The Midwestern proponent of “Feel Good Snacking” also threw in its Cheddar Cheese Puffs in both Original and White Cheddar. To top this all off, they decided it would be a great idea to also include the healthier “baked” incarnations of the Cheese Curls and Cheddar Puffs. I laid the selection across my kitchen counter, feeling a bit daunted - being a lone reviewer, I had my work cut out for me!

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Snack Review: Michael Season’s Baked Multigrain Chips

A few weeks ago, the snacking Goddess herself, Caitlin, asked if I’d be interested in reviewing baked multigrain chips. Naturally I accepted. When it comes to crunchy, salty snacks, Sun Chips are at the top of my list. That’s right - when it comes to chips, I’ve always preferred the multigrain variety to the potato- and tortilla-types. Pretty healthy, right?

Well, not really - Sun chips may be a lesser evil among our beloved sinful, salty snacks. But when it comes to being good for you, they have nothing on the Baked Multigrain Chips produced by Michael Season’s. The Addison, IL.-based company’s motto is “Feel-Good Snacking.” This seems to suggest that either you should feel good about eating such wholesome foods, or that the products taste so amazing, they’ll make you “feel good” with every bite. I’m guessing the PR department at Michael Season’s was going for the former interpretation.

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Snack Review: Barry’s Bakery California Almond French Twists

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that, if you’re reading Snackerrific, you’re probably pop-culture savvy enough to have heard “Seasons of Love,” the finale from a little-known musical called “Rent.” (For those of you who aren’t musical theater dorks, “Seasons of Love” is the song that your gay nephew sang at his high school talent show last month. With me now? Super.)

As you’ll recall, “Seasons” asks us to measure our lives in love, rather than hours, minutes, or “cups of coffee.” And while recently blasting this song out my car speakers listening to it on iPod Shuffle, I realized something profound: I could measure my life in pastry.

Awesome, right? Each chapter of my epic suburban existence has been marked by a significant pastry event. For instance, when I was 11, my dad dropped his job as an environmental chemist and moved us across the country to open a Cinnamonster shop. Hauling ass from Colorado to Massachusetts was a massive, life-changing journey – and it was all done for the love of pastry.

Four years later I landed a job at our local bakery, Cakewalk, where I worked throughout high school in order to scrape up some gas money. Couple this doughy employment with my Cinnamonster saga, and you’ve got a girl who knows her baked goods.

So believe me when I tell you that Barry Bakery’s “French Twists” are the real deal. Having spent the better part of my youth spreading butter over croissant dough, I recognize a well-made layer pastry when I see one. To achieve such fluffly, melts-in-your-mouth deliciousness, the dough of these Twists must’ve been folded over many, many times. My biceps ache just thinking about it.

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