RX Bar Review

I have another great Paleo, grain free, refined sugar free snack options to share with you!

If you haven’t already heard of RxBars, you should go to their site to check them out. It is a grain free, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, everything artificial- free protein/meal replacement bar.

“RxBars are handmade with a passion devoted to ensuring the highest standards of quality.  There are no misleading filler ingredients in our bars — only natural, quality ingredients that provide functional nutrition and satisfy hunger.

Each bar contains no more than 8 ingredients, all of which conform to the standards of the Paleo Diet”

They are all made of REAL, natural ingredients, so you don’t have to worry about artificial sugars and whey protein like most protein bars. Like I’ve said I used to eat protein bars, shakes and all sorts of snacks but not after I took a glance at the ingredients list. I also used to eat a lot of protein shakes with whey protein but in all reality I’d really rather just eat real food.

These bars are great when you need something whole and natural but are in a pinch, as I was when I was out shopping the other day……satisfied my hunger without a trip to the mall food court! Excellent. They taste AMAZING!! They send me four kinds: chocolate coconut, coffee cacao, apple cinnamon and blueberry. I thought I would love the coffee one, but it wasn’t my favorite. The chocolate coconut one hit it out of the park. I’m loving coconut anything lately. The apple cinnamon was a close second. I just the taste of figs, which these bars use as figs AND dates (which are in Lara bars). Not that Larabars aren’t awesome, cause they are. But the taste of figs make these bars stand out from the crowd. It was great for when I was in a pinch and needed something yummy without running to the drive through!

And that’s exactly what I would use these bars for. When I need something quality in an emergency. Unfortunately, I experienced quite a sugar crash about 30-40 minutes after eating the thing. Even though the figs and dates are natural sugars, sugar is sugar. And it affects my body negatively, as I have found out. It didn’t help that I ate the Rx Bar on THE day after my 21 Day Sugar Detox was over. So that may have had something to do with it.

All in all, I would buy these bars again because I like that they have quality ingredients, and I need things for when I’m traveling and want to stay eating clean. However, I probably wouldn’t eat them on a regular basis because of the high amount of sugar and the caloric content (about 250-300 calories per bar). They taste amazing though, I highly suggest you try them if you’re looking for a whole food option for on the go!

OH! I almost forgot- another great thing about these bars is they have this cool little re-sealable packaging! So even though they contain a lot of calories, you can eat half and put the rest back. How many times have you opened a Larabar and said “I’ll only eat half”. Yeaaaa right! These great little packages make it so easy! I actually used it the other day and ate half of one after my workout for two days in a row.

What are you favorite snacks for when you’re traveling?

Do you eat protein bars?

Review: Gourmet Grassfed

I better throw up this review before we leave for the holidays and I totally forget about it. I am so excited to share this product- it truly is quality. I would DEFINITELY buy these and plan on it in the future. I like beef jerky because it’s great for a protein fix to satisfy hunger. But protein shakes and most bars have ridiculous amounts of sugar or questionable ingredients in them.

Gourmet Grassfed is a company that makes organic, grass fed beef jerky products. This is from their website:

“Our Products are gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, MSG free, and GMO free. Pure Protein, and minimally processed. Paleo approved, and several varieties of dried meat snacks are Whole 30 approved.We believe this results in phenomenal flavor and nutrition. The less we do the better.  But please, experience them for yourselves and tell us what you think.”

I’ll go out on a limb and say that this was the best beef jerky I have ever eaten- and not just because they sent me tons of delicious samples for free. It has amazing flavor, and it’s a complete bonus that there are no terrible additives that beef jerky normally has. I’ve routinely seen MSG as an ingredient in most beef jerky at grocery stores. No thanks!

The flavors they sent were: Bold Original, Cherry Chipotle, Smokey Apple BBQ, Northwoods Berry, and Ginger Teriyaki. They also sent me some grass fed beef sticks- which were kind of like summer sausage. Also delicious. I think my favorite jerky was the apple or berry flavor- odd because I don’t generally like sweet flavored jerky.

Their standards for quality are ridiculously tight- only grass fed cows, no antibiotics, rotational grazing…everything I look for in quality meat. This jerky works when you’re looking for a quick and easy protein to feel full- instead of some crap ingredient protein bar or shake.

I didn’t get pictures of them all because I was gobbling them up too fast. You should definitely check out their products if you’re looking for a great option for beef jerky! 

Do you ever eat beef jerky?

What are your favorite protein snacks?

Paleo Apple Donuts

And so I continue with my baking experiments, as well as attempt to get as much use out of the donut pan I got for my bridal shower.

These happened in an attempt to make PaleOMG’s (do I link to that website enough or what?) apple cider donuts. After I got somewhat into it I realized I did not, in fact, have apple cider. Fail. So I decided to wing it. I’m really happy with the result. Especially since the apples I made these with are straight from our back field, that we FINALLY got a chance to navigate to yesterday. It took some climbing through thick brush and swamp, but we made it!

There were a few apple trees and after eating enough to give me a stomach ache sampling them, I shoved as many as I could into my pockets and headed out. They’re not pretty, but they’re delicious!

Since they weren’t aesthetically wonderful, I decided to peel some and do a little baking. You don’t have to use backyard apples for this recipe!

Paleo Apple Donuts

Makes about 15 mini-donuts

1/2 cup almond butter (or other nut butter)

1 cup shredded apple (about 1 large or two medium…or 5 backyard teeny ones LOL)

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/4 heaping teaspoon of baking powder

1 egg

1 tablespoon of raw honey

dash of nutmeg

1 tablespoon of coconut flour

**Pre-heat oven to 375

1. Beat your egg and mix together with the apple and almond butter until incorporated.

2. Sift in coconut flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking powder.

3. Add the honey and mix everything together.

4. Spoon small amounts into a GREASED donut pan (these would work as muffins too you just have to bake them longer).

5. Bake for roughly 10-12 minutes. Be sure to check on them. Take them out when they are turning golden brown on the top.

 

What’s your favorite way to eat apples?

Baked Plantain Chips

Just dropping in for a quick recipe I featured on my last post….the plantain chips I made for my bachelorette party.

I wanted to have some carbs since we were going a wine tour…because whenever I have alcohol in me I seem to be craving carbs and what I eat usually doesn’t make me feel he greatest the next day! I knew I would hate myself for eating a bagel….

My go-to healthy carbs tend to include sweet potatoes, bananas…which got me to plantains! The are so yummy! I’d describe them as a cross between a banana and a potato. They are really carb and calorie heavy they are perfect if you are looking for a good amount of calories for working out, gaining weight, or in my case to soak up wine from my wine tour LOL

First(after preheating oven to 425), I sliced up two plantains very thin (not see through but think banana chips) You can use as many as you want…this yielded about two cups of plantain chips.

I melted about 3 tablespoons of coconut oil in a large bowl.

I gently tossed the raw plantains with the coconut oil so they were coated. I sprinkled about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and a dash of salt and tossed them again until coated.

I placed them on a baking sheet making sure none of them overlap.

Bake for roughly 20-25 mins, flip them over, then bake another 20-25 mins.

They turn out a nice golden brown and smell delicious! Maybe I will throw up some more pictures because I plan to make them for the bridal suite for my wedding day (another time when I need to shove my face with healthy carbs!!)
Enjoy!

what are your favorite healthy carbs?