Cranberry Orange Nut Bread Clif Bar

I was really excited to see that my grocery store started carrying the seasonal Clif bars, after seeing other bloggers with them for a couple weeks now, I was wondering whether or not my store would get them at all. The first one I decided to try was the Cranberry Orange Nut Bread, which I had pretty high hopes for. I love the tart taste of cranberry bread and was hoping to get the same taste in this bar. Unfortunately, this bar was pretty disappointing. There was a lot more orange flavor in it than I would have liked, and the cranberry taste was hardly noticeable. It wasn’t a “bad” tasting bar though, so if you’re a fan of orange flavored foods you’ll probably love it, just don’t buy it expecting it to resemble traditional cranberry bread.

Full nutritional information is available here.

Cool Mint Chocolate Clif Bar

This is another one of the “default” flavors that seems to be carried everywhere Clif bars are sold, and it’s also one of the better flavors available. The naming is dead on – they managed to get an almost perfect chocolate/mint taste and if it was just a bit crunchier it could pass for a giant Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie. Since the name is so accurate, there’s not really much more to be said about this bar. The nutritional aspect is the same as the other Clif bar products, and like their other bars it’s one of the most convenient snacks to take on-the-go with you. If you find yourself craving Girl Scout cookies but don’t want to eat 60 calories per tiny cookie, you can pick this bar up to satisfy both your sweet tooth and stomach.
Full nutritional information here.

Kashi TLC Trail Mix

From my experience with their products, Kashi can do no wrong. Their bars are mostly made with healthy and natural ingredients but still taste amazing. Their Trail Mix TLC bar is no exception, and rivals Peanut Peanut Butter as my favorite. I love how you get giant chunks of nuts (almonds in this case) instead of the barely noticeable shavings in other granola bars. The cranberries and raisins also add some sweetness that the two other flavors didn’t have (even if most of them were on one end). Overall this (and all the other Kashi TLC bars) are a great choice for a quick snack.

Full nutritional information can be found here.

25 Days of Oats, Any Takers?

The temperature is starting to drop below freezing in the mornings, and a warm bowl of oatmeal is not only extremely comforting, but also delicious and economical. Since every blogger seems to have their own favorite method for making oats, I thought it would be fun to have a “25 Days of Oats” series where (ideally) 25 bloggers would make their own seasonal bowl of oats and feature them here and on their own blog starting on December 1st and going up to December 25th. If you’d be interested in making a “holiday oat bowl” just leave a comment or send me an e-mail (startinghealthy@gmail.com) and we can try to get something organized in the next 2 weeks or so. Be sure to let anybody else who may be interested know.

On another note, I got a package today from Gnu who sent me a box of their fiber bars to try out! I’ve been wanting to try these ever since I saw them online but none of the stores in my area seem to carry them. I’ll be putting up reviews for them in the upcoming weeks.

Edy’s Limited Edition Pumpkin Ice Cream

If you’re the type of person who has a hard time controlling themselves around ice cream, stay far away from this one. Edy’s Slow-Churned Pumpkin ice cream has a great, creamy taste despite only having 100 calories per serving. The pumpkin is noticeable, but isn’t overpowering and doesn’t taste fake as you might expect a low-fat ice cream would. If you plan on buying this, be sure to check the label carefully if you want the 100-calorie version. There’s a “fun flavor” and a “slow churned” version of it, with the latter having 100 calories per serving and the former having 120. Go ahead and pick up this limited edition ice cream before they take it off the shelves.

Full nutritional information available here.

Kashi TLC Honey Almond Flax

I can’t really complain about the taste of this bar because it pretty much tasted like the name describes it. With that being said, it’s a pretty boring granola bar. It tastes like oats and almonds with a hint of honey, and “healthy” is the best way I could really describe the the taste. I’d rather have the peanut butter version, if only because it has a more distinct flavor.

Full nutrition information can be found here.

Special K Peanut Butter Chocolate

This was the first time I’ve bought a Special K meal bar, but it was the only decent looking thing I could find in the gas station I stopped at. This bar tasted surprisingly good, I was expecting it to be extremely fake tasting, but it was actually somewhat like a peanut butter buckeye. It was far from a satisfying peanut butter/chocolate replacement though, both flavors were fairly weak and still had a somewhat fake taste. The texture itself was alright, but it was a bit too “airy” for me, I like it when bars are chewy/dense. It kept me satisfied for around 1.5 hours, which was a bit disappointing. The nutritional stats are similar to a Luna Bar, with 10 grams of protein and 180 calories per bar but with a worse ingredient list. Overall, I doubt I’ll be buying this bar again, I’d much rather have a Luna bar over this, which are unfortunately not carried in as many convenience stores.

Full nutritional information available here.

Computer Issues…

I might not be able to post for several days, my computer decided to die on me at the worst possible time. Does anybody have any recommendations for new computers (I’m hoping it doesn’t have to come to that though).

Be sure to check out Fit and Fabulous’ Amazing Grass giveaway!

Chocolate Chip Clif Bar

I don’t know if it’s just my area that does this, but it seems like every convenience store carries 3 “default” Clif flavors (peanut butter, chocolate brownie, and chocolate chip), leaving the other flavors pretty hard to find at times. Out of those easy to find flavors, Chocolate Chip would probably be my favorite. It’s quite a bit denser than a cookie, but I thought it tasted a lot like a chocolate chip blondie. I’ve read that microwaving them for 10 seconds makes it much softer, so that might have to be next on my “to try” list. Like all Clif Bars, it’s pretty filling and is easy to eat on the go.

Full nutritional information here.

Are there any foods in your area that are hard to find? For me, there aren’t any stores that carry Gnu Bars, Clif Nectar bars, and the Jocolat Larabar flavors, all of which I’d really like to try.

Where Do You Get Your Recipes?

Browsing for recipes online became a “hobby” of mine once I decided that I would start eating healthier. Finding recipes that are 1) healthy 2) fairly simple and 3) cheap can be pretty challenging. The best resources I’ve found are:

1) Food Blogs – These are great because they are often more detailed than traditional recipes, with tons of photos and descriptions. You also get feedback about the recipe from both the poster and anybody who leaves comments on the post.

2) Recipe Databases – The main ones I’ve had success are RecipeZaar, All Recipes, and Epicurious. These are by far the most convenient, simply type in what you feel like and you’ll get hundreds of different recipes. Many of them include the nutritional information, and there’s usually at least several reviews of the recipe. A negative is that many recipes can be hit or miss, especially is there aren’t any reviews to go off of. As far as photos go, the more popular recipes usually have at least one photo, but often times it’s just a small thumbnail of the final product, not any of the actual cooking process.

3) Visual Databases – The “food porn” websites, such as TasteSpotting, FoodGawker, and PhotoGrazing. These are photo walls of different recipes that link back to a food blog that usually contains the recipes. The only bad things about this would be that they aren’t necessarily the healthiest of meals, and that if you weren’t hungry before going to the site, you definitely will be before leaving.

4) Cookbooks/Magazines – Cookbooks and magazines are great sources for recipes, they’re usually by professional chefs who apparently thought they were good enough to sell. The biggest drawback is that unlike the previous sources, they cost money. Nutritional information may or may not be included however, and in most cases photos won’t be given for every recipe.

So, how do you find your recipes, if you use them at all?

Also, jump on over to Danica’s Daily and check out her Nature’s Path giveaway!