Pure Fruit and Nut Bars

When I was at Whole Foods this weekend, I picked up some fruit and nut bars made by a company called Pure. I'm always looking for this kind of food because it's a more healthy, all-natural way of snacking. Today, I tried the Cherry Cashew Pure bar. Yum!

image from the official website
The ingredients are: organic dates, organic cherries, organic walnuts, organic agave nectar, organic almonds, organic cashews and organic brown rice protein. There are 190 calories in the bar, which makes it comparable to a typical granola bar. Other flavors include Chocolate Brownie, Wild Blueberry, Apple Cinnamon and Cranberry Orange.

I'm looking forward to trying all of the varieties. Hopefully, they'll all taste as good as this one.

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Mariani Honey Bars

I gave up on granola bars because of how many artificial ingredients they contain, but I do miss them. I'm always looking for a good snack alternative. I think I may have found that in Mariani Honey Bars.

Pictured: granola bar (oats, nuts, raisins, crisp rice and honey) and cranberry bar (nut, fruit and honey)
These aren't low in calories, but they aren't that much higher than a regular granola bar. The cranberry bar has 180 calories and the granola has 160 calories. Trail mix and sesame bars are also available.

According to the website, all of the bars are vegetarian, wheat and gluten free, kosher, preservative free, free of artificial flavors, cholesterol free and all natural. I tried the trail mix variety and I can also add that they taste great and are very filling. I plan to stock up on these and make them a regular part of my less processed diet.

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Sun Rype Fruit Snacks

I'd like to start switching some of my highly processed foods for unprocessed foods. I like to snack a few times a day, but I find myself eating too many granola bars. I like fruit, but it's not always convenient to carry. I think I've found a good alternative: Sun Rype Fruit Strips and Fruit Source Bars.

Sun Rype Fruit Source Bars are 120 calories. The ingredients for the mango strawberry bar are: apple and mango and strawberry puree concentrates, apple and pear and carrot and elderberry and lemon juice concentrates, natural flavor, citrus pectin, apple fiber.

Sun Rype Fruit Strips are 45-50 calories. The ingredients for the strawberry banana strip are: apple and strawberry puree concentrates, apple and pear and carrot and elderberry juice concentrates, citrus pectin, natural flavor, banana puree, lemon juice concentrate.

Additional nutrition information is available online for all of Sun Rype's products.

I like that the ingredients are all natural. What I like even more is the taste. It's nice to have a treat that doesn't contain ingredients better suited for a science project and tastes great, too.

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Etsy Will Be the End of Me

I spend too much time at Etsy looking at lollipops. In addition to VintageConfections, I've now bought lollipops from TheGroovyBaker. Below is my first purchase.

Pictured: Winter Solstice lollipops
The description from the site sounds heavenly: "Think warm gingerbread with toffee sauce.... Pure Vanilla, Orange Zest, Pan Toasted Almonds, Pecans, Chopped Apricots and Dates. A splash of Brandy, a bit of ginger and a sprinkle of Vietnamese Cinnamon round it all out.... Topped with a bit of 23K edible gold dust for a bit of fabulousness."

What's not to like about that? I'll have to make these last a very long time.

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Recipe: Ranch Style Pretzels

Recipe is from my own collection. I don't remember from whom I received it.
Picture from CopyKat Recipes: http://www.copykat.com/2009/03/27/ranch-pretzels/

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg. Ranch Style Hidden Valley Dressing (dry)
1 c. peanut oil
1 tsp. lemon pepper
1 tsp. dill weed
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 bag (broken) pretzels

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PREPARATION

Mix first five ingredients in a bowl. Dip the pretzels into the mixture and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes. Spoon the rest of the mixture over the pretzels and bake again for 10 more minutes.

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NUTRITION

Yields 14 servings for a 14 ounce bag of pretzels. Approximately 250 calories per serving. This will vary based on what kind of oil and pretzels are used.

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Oh Lolli, Lollipop

I crave candy, but I'm trying to cut back as much as possible. One of my favorite treats that I still allow myself to have is the occasional lollipop. But not just any kind of lollipop. Here's an example of the kind I enjoy.

These handmade lollipops are from VintageConfections, a shop I discovered on Etsy. The shop owner told me that the lollipops are about 50 calories each, so they taste great and don't break my calorie budget.

My favorites: coffee/caramel, mint chocolate chip, apple cinnamon, pumpkin cheesecake and many more!

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