Snack Review: Chex Mix Chocolate Peanut Butter

Everyone loves Chex Mix, right? It’s been around forever, what’s not to love about it? Especially that Chex Mix muddy buddies recipe you can make from the box… whoever invented that was a genius. Well, Chex Mix can only get better when you add chocolate and peanut butter to it.

I recently tried out Chex Mix Chocolate Peanut Butter. Well, I’ve tried it out more than once in the past few days. It’s found in grocery and convenience stores because I’ve always seen them around, but never picked one up.

When I first opened the bag, I spread out everything on my table. There was an assortment of chocolate- and peanut butter-covered Chex Mix, pretzels, candies, and nuts.

Now, I could have eaten each of these items separately, which I did at first, but I wanted to see how it tasted all mixed together in my mouth.

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Snack Review: Bumble Bar

Confession: I’m a die-hard Burt’s Bees fan. I know this probably makes me a yuppie-in-training, but I just can’t resist their folksy packaging and quality balm product.

So when I saw Bumble Bars in the organic aisle of my grocery store, I knew I had to try them. It’s genius, really. Imitate the look of a product that your target demographic already loves, and watch your latest vegan creation fly off the health food shelves. I swear, even the words “Gluten Free” could not dissuade me from buying this snack.

But, as the sages have taught us, thou shalt not judge a snack by its wrapper. Just because something LOOKS like it will be folksy and traditional, does not necessarily mean it will be. Had I remembered this credo, I probably wouldn’t have gasped (literally, gasped) upon freeing my Bumble Bar from its sleeve.

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Snack Review: Emerald Wasabi Peanuts

This week has brought me face-to-face with one snacking surprise after another. First, I ran across a complex, nuanced and tasty Mexican-style pastry in a gas station’s convenience store. Next, a bag of lemon cookies which practically screamed “Cheap ‘n’ Stale” turned out to be delicious and natural-tasting.

Today, I was introduced to a third snack which turned out to be quite different from what I’d expected. I’d like to say the surprise this time was as pleasant as my last two. Unfortunately, if I did I’d be lying. My experience with Emerald Wasabi Peanuts left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth which had nothing to do with the intended flavor.

Emerald, a subdivision of Diamond Foods, is probably my favorite nut brand, and Wasabi Peanuts are among my favorite snacks. Something about the wonderfully rich, toasted little nut encased in crisp Japanese mochi and coated with sinus-clearingly hot wasabi powder really hits the spot in my book. They’re not for everyone (least of all spice-o-phobes), but I’ve been known to happily munch ‘em by the handful.

So there you have it - Emerald. Wasabi Peanuts. This snack should have been beyond perfect. Yet, it was far from. What in the name of Scovillah, Spice Diety of the Seven Chiles, went wrong here?

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Snack Review: Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Fruit & Nut Bars

I’m usually not a big fan of anything with fruits and nuts in it, but I thought I’d give these Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Fruit & Nut bars a try since I don’t seem to be that healthy of an eater.

These come in two different flavors - Berry & Almond and Cranberry, Raisin & Peanut.

At first, I thought this bar would be hard and probably crack one of my teeth when I bit into it. But that was not the case because it is a soft, flexible bar. I say flexible because I always have fun bending the bars back and forth while they are still in their package.

I first tried the Berry & Almond bar because it looked slightly more appealing to me than the other. (Remember, I dislike fruit and nuts.) When I opened it, the bar was so soft it started bending on its own and almost fell apart. The bar is actually fun to look at: it’s covered in what look like cranberries, oats, crispy rice, bran cereal and almonds.

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Snack Review: Clif’s Chocolate Peanut Mojo Bars

If you’re like me, consuming an energy bar is like eating a bar of lies. I don’t mean that they conceal their ingredients or exaggerate their benefits (although I’ve yet to find a bar that makes me float above the street, a la Marty McFly). What I mean is that I will never, under any circumstance, use an energy bar to:

A) run a marathon
B) power-hike along the Appalachian Trail, or
C) lift something 20 times my body weight, in homage to the noble ant

My lifestyle does not involve a Jeep. Nor does it include Timberland hiking boots, a Nalgene bottle, or a dog with a bandanna tied around its neck. Rather than utilize energy bars for their intended purposes, I use them to silence my grumbling stomach as I drive to work, or elevate my blood sugar levels during lectures I would otherwise sleep through. Truth be told, most of the time I don’t even buy these products, since their marketing seems specifically designed to shame my slovenly ways.

Take Clif Bars, for example. Their wrappers feature a man scaling a mountain. Legs flailing, he clings to a granite outcropping with all this might, his battered fingernails digging into the stubborn rock before him (the man has just enough energy to hold on, thanks to that 3 oz. of granola he ingested before climbing). Ah, the average Clif bar consumer! Always spending his free time dangling above certain death!

So, if you couldn’t already tell, I’m glad that Clif has come out with a less intense snack. Because frankly, some of us just can’t handle the X-tremeness of the standard Clif Bar product.

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