Posts Tagged ‘Dairy Free’

Protein Bar Review #21: Simple Squares Coffee Nuts and Honey Snack Bar

Posted: August 13, 2015 in Bike Culture, Burning Man, Cooking, Science
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Post 21 - Simple Squares Coffee

Brand: Simple Squares

Product: Coffee Nuts & Honey Organic Snack Bar

Weight: 1.6oz / 45g

Cost: $2.49/per from manufacturer

Stats

Calories: 230

Total Fat: 17g, Sat. Fat 5g

Cholesterol: 0g

Sodium: 95mg

Total Carb: 16g

Fiber: 3g

Sugars: 10g

Protein: 6g

Protein per ounce: 3.75g

Protein, Cost per gram: $0.41

Carb to Protein Ratio: 2.6-1

Vit A: 0% DV

Vit C: 0% DV

Calcium: 4% DV

Iron: 10% DV

Organic, gluten free, wheat free, kosher, no refined sugars, soy and dairy free.

Not made in a gluten free facility.

Flavor:

It would seem I spoke too soon when I said the Daily Mocha Mantra bar, from my first post, was the only one made with real organic coffee; now that I have had the coffee Simple Square I know my error. It would seem there are two made with coffee (if any of you readers know of another one let me know). The flavor was similar to the ginger Simple Square, but with hints of coffee instead of ginger. It was not nearly as tasty as the coconut Simple Square I started with, but hey, it had coffee in it so that’s pretty cool, right? The mouth feel of all of these Simple Squares is the same, as the ingredients are virtually identical in all of their products. Simple Square created one template to rule them all, and then made a bunch of flavors to apply to that template. The nutrient content is not very good and the protein ratio is also lacking, the major win for this bar is that it is made with coffee and is still kosher.

Another win for the entire Simple Square family of products is that they have nothing in them to melt in high heat situations, making them all great for Burning Man. I picked up a few Simple Squares and other bars that seem Burn-friendly to bring out with me this year to test them first-hand in the desert heat.

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Protein Bar Review #14: Kit’s Organic Fruit + Nut Bar – Peanut Butter

Posted: July 5, 2015 in Bike Culture, Burning Man, Cooking, Science
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Post 14 - Kits Organic

Brand: CLIFBar

Product: Kit’s Organic Fruit + Nut Bar –  Peanut Butter

Weight: 1.8z / 50g

Cost: $1.50/per from manufacturer

Stats

Calories: 200

Total Fat: 11g, Sat. Fat 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat 4g, Monounsaturated Fat 5g

Cholesterol: 0g

Sodium: 95mg

Potassium: 320mg

Total Carb: 25g

Fiber: 4g

Sugars: 15g

Protein: 6g

Protein per ounce: 3.33g

Protein, Cost per gram: $0.25

Carb to Protein Ratio: 4.16-1

Vit A: 0% DV

Vit C: 0% DV

Calcium: 2% DV

Iron: 4% DV

Organic, gluten free, soy free, dairy free, and vegan.

Not made in a gluten free facility.

Flavor:

Much like the Simple Squares I reviewed for posts three and eleven, the Kit’s Organic bar is amazingly simple and manages to have even fewer ingredients. This bar is nothing but dates, peanuts, almonds, and sea salt. The peanuts and dates take over the front half of the flavor profile and the almonds and salt round it out and give this very simple bar a lot of complexity. While the protein wasn’t all that high compared to most of the bars I have reviewed it is well costed and comes from macrobiotic sources (though the product isn’t labeled as such). The Kit’s Organic bar has a high amount of potassium which is good for people like me who are prone to cramps and need lots of potassium in our diet, especially around working out.

I like CLIF bar because they tell you how much poly and monounsaturated fat is in the bar; most of the other bars I reviewed contained comparable amounts but few brands actually record it. Poly and monounsaturated fats are the so-called good fats, though there is some debate over how good a diet high in monounsaturated fat is; to simplify things, it depends on your lifestyle and demographics, talk to your doctor for a better description of the various types of fats.

This would be a great protein bar for bringing to Burning Man because it has nothing to melt and every ingredient is self-stable, meaning this will never need refrigeration ever, even in the crazy heats of the Black Rock Desert. While this bar itself isn’t anything terribly special it would make a great base recipe for making your own protein bars (a teaser of things to come on this blog).

Protein Bar Review #3: Simple Squares Coconut

Posted: June 12, 2015 in Bike Culture, Burning Man, Cooking, Science
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Post 3 - Simple Square

Brand: Simple Squares

Product: Coconut, Nuts, and Honey Organic Snack Bar

Weight: 1.6oz / 45g

Cost: $2.49/per from manufacturer

Stats

Calories: 230

Total Fat: 17g, Sat. Fat 5g

Cholesterol: 0g

Sodium: 95mg

Total Carb: 16g

Fiber: 3g

Sugars: 10g

Protein: 6g

Protein per ounce: 3.75g

Protein, Cost per gram: $0.41

Carb to Protein Ratio: 2.6-1

Vit A: 0% DV

Vit C: 0% DV

Calcium: 4% DV

Iron: 10% DV

Organic, gluten free, no refined sugars, soy and dairy free.

Not made in a gluten free facility.

Flavor:

While this is labeled as a “snack” bar not a protein bar like the others I am reviewing, it still packs roughly the same protein per ounce into the bar. I love the simple square for it’s simplicity, only 6 ingredients and they are all things your grandma would recognize. Not only was it simple it was also delicious! It didn’t have any of the chalky powdery feeling that many protein bars do, this tasted and mouth-felt like eating a hand full of granola slicked with honey and vanilla. It didn’t taste like a candy bar the way the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle bar did but it was quite tasty.

I’ve been giving these posts a Burning Man tag because protein bars are a must-have out there on the Playa. That said, it is a very bad idea to bring chocolate out there because it melts. This Simple Square has nothing in it to get melty in the ridiculous heat of the desert sun, making it the best bar I have reviewed so far to bring out to the Burn.