Catching Up

What have I been eating snackwise for the past two weeks? Relatively speaking not much, but then again, now that I think about it, I haven't been depriving myself.

I tried these tasty sandwich cookies from Back to Nature, they're peanut butter creme to be exact. These were oh so good and tasted like the kind I used to eat (brand or brands I have since forgotten) as a child, and as a grownup. These cookies are a bit pricey, but again out with the nice coupons at the check-out counter and they became quite affordable. I have a box of these chocolate and mint cookies to look forward to - I'm sure they will be equally delicious.

A weekend or so ago, I (along with my sweet Chad) devoured a bag of Ruffles potato chips and a tub of Dean's French Onion dip...divine! We did so in two days, which is not a record by any means, for me at least. I've been known to throw down and eat an entire bag, or at least the entire tub of dip and almost all of a bag of potato chips in one day (eating nothing else, if that makes it sound less piggy). But that was when I was much younger with a much more active metabolism. It probably wasn't the best thing for my body even then, so I don't recommend it by any means. Practicing moderation is a good thing, even when it's very hard to do.


I know it's kind of laughable that I think practicing moderation is eating chips and dip in two days instead of one, but for me that is a big step forward. Saying that, I (with some help yet again) went through a bag of Spicy Doritos in two days as well. Sigh...it was a chip feast to be sure but we really needed it. And we don't do this often at all, once in a blue moon really. Justify, justify...

Currently, we are very slowly (yes!) going through a tub of Dreyer's Fun Flavors Nestle Drumstick Sundae Cone ice cream. It is just like eating a drumstick, but you eat it with a spoon! Quite yummy. At the same time, we're eating Dreyer's Mint Chocolate Chip. That's good too, very minty.

I'm sure we've eaten some other snacks along the way, which I can't recall right now. But anyway, there's more eating to be done in the next few days. I'll be making pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie from Nigella's Feast cookbook (what else?). Sweet and soothing. Just what we need. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

[Photo of Back to Nature cookies is from Back to Nature and photo of Dean's French Onion dip is from Dean's]

Clif Kid Z Bars

Our snack of choice when biking these days is Clif Kid Z Bars. When I say snack of choice, what I really mean is these are the most portable, easiest-to-grab, best source of energy snacks available at the moment. Just grab and pop into lime green backpack for quick nourishment on the bike path. What more could I ask for?

In terms of taste, these resemble Nutri-Grain bars, at least how I remember Nutri-Grain bars to be. The texture and consistency is similar, although I think these Kid Z bars are denser and have a more concentrated flavor. The flavor is a bit strong at first, but I soon got used to it. I've eaten Chocolate Chip so far, and boy are there ever chocolate chips in there! It was quite good.

The other flavors still waiting to be tasted in my pickle jar are Apple Cinnamon, Blueberry, Chocolate Brownie, and Peanut Butter. There are also Spooky S'mores and Honey Graham flavors available.

These bars are made with whole oats, and contain none of the bad stuff - no hydrogenated oils, no high fructose corn syrup, no preservatives, and no artificial flavors or colors. Plus they're USDA Organic. Sounds pretty good to me, and they taste pretty yummy too.

You feel like you're eating something substantial, even if it's in the shape of a little bar. And although I suppose they were made for kids, they satisfy adult snack needs just as well.

FruitaBu Organic Smooshed Fruit

These organic fruit rolls are reminiscent of the fruit roll-ups that I grew up with. But are they a bit different? You bet.

I bought two boxes that were on sale at Krogers, with Mambo Sprouts coupons added on top of that. The discounts made these snackeroos a pretty good deal, but otherwise, they would be pricey in my book.

The FruitaBu box that I opened first was one of my favorite flavors of all time - strawberry. In fact, FruitaBu calls it Smooshed Strawberry, providing one serving of organic fruit per roll. Their really cute website, as well as the box itself, talks about how the fruit is smooshed, swirled, and twirled. Indeed the fruit roll is rolled up in what appears to be a fairly thin, and fairly long, strip of parchment paper.

The strawberry roll itself is an interesting shade of brownish-yellowish-red. That sounds pretty blech but it actually looks better than my inept color description makes it sound. I think that they don't use any artificial coloring, hence the blander appearance than say supermarket fruit roll-ups. When you bite into it, you can tear pieces off quite easily with your teeth. Its surface is definitely tacky, sticky but not too sticky - I think denture wearers might be able to eat these...I think.


The texture is pretty soft, and while it's sweet, it's not cloyingly sweet. Plus as you chew, they don't stick to your teeth, so I feel better about my dental health in that regard [no sugary clumps hanging around my enamel for lengths at a time]. The taste is of apple first, which might seem strange in a strawberry fruit roll, but it says right on the front of the box, in the lower right hand corner - organic apples, organic strawberries and natural flavors. There is a hint of strawberry to it, but I'm not sure whether that's my imagination telling me that hey, I'm eating strawberries here!

These snacks are USDA Organic, with ingredients including organic apple puree concentrate, organic apple juice concentrate, organic white grape juice concentrate, organic strawberry puree concentrate, organic apple, organic palm fruit oil, etc. etc. If you're looking for something alittle bit sweet, a bit on the fruity side, that you can grab on the go, and is very compact indeed, these FruitaBu fruit rolls might be up your alley.

I haven't yet measured how long each roll is...perhaps on a rainy day...

A Mid-day Snack

Almost all of our candy was given away for Halloween. Almost...

There were a few gumballs, a few Sweet Tarts, and [yeehaw] a few candy bars left over, which are sitting in a bowl on my bookshelf. An orange bowl - for Halloween. Butterfingers, Twix bars [my fave out of the bunch], and Reese's. I supplemented our dwindling Reese's bars with a few more from CVS, as they were on sale and I needed to buy about two dollars worth of something to use a $3 coupon. Good, yes?

Pssst, I don't really drink out of that Juicy Juice sippy cup.


Besides the candy, I've got something else to nibble on right now to while away the time. A plateful of buttery, carb goodness in the form of thickly sliced French bread, which I picked up from Sprouts this morning, slathered with good ole-fashioned buttah. Butter can be your best friend. And your worst enemy...