Raising the Bar

Happy Saturday! I hope that the weather is as nice where you live as it has been here today. :)

Over the past few months, several companies have sent me some of their particular bars to try. I thought it would be fun to do a round-up of the ones I have sampled and share my thoughts on them.

– Raw Revolution – 

Description: “Organic Live Food Bar” | Gluten Free • Vegan • Wheat, Corn, Soy, Trans-fat, Cholesterol and Refined Sugar Free  

Pro: Some of the bars have green powder for extra nutrition; they are made mostly of nuts and dried fruits—though some have agave or other ingredients in them.  

Con: Some bars are very calorically/fat dense. Not bad, just something to be aware of. 

My favorite flavor: Of the ones I tried, I liked the Lemon Dew. Some of the chocolate flavors are also really tasty. 

– Cavewoman Bars – 

Description: “Let Mama Nature gather you a snack” | Vegan, Soy-Free, Gluten-Free and Refined Sugar-Free.  

Pro: They are made only of dried fruit, nuts, and spices. These are moderately low in fat for a nut-based bar (consequently, they contain a bit more sugar from the dried fruit).  

Con: They are quite expensive—about $3+ per 2 oz. bar.  

My favorite flavor: Easily the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake! This was incredibly delicious.

  

–  ProBars –   

(I sampled bars from the “Sweet & Savory” and “Art’s Original Collection” lines.) 

Description: “Simply Real” | Delicious meal replacement | Certified Organic, 100% Vegan | Rich in Raw foods – 70% Raw | Good source of Omega 3 and 6 | 8-12 g of plant based protein.  

Pro: These have a nice amount of protein, a good source of Omega 3s, and some flavors are really delicious. I gave most of them to my brothers for snacks at school. These would definitely come in handy if you were very active (like my brothers) and trying to get a calorie boost that is still made from wholesome ingredients.  

Con: These are marketed as meal replacement bars, meaning that they have quite a few calories, fat grams, and proteins. They are good-sized, though, and quite filling. (But I don’t think I would ever actually replace a meal with one.] I wasn’t crazy about all the flavors, but my family really enjoyed them. These are also a bit more expensive (but they are bigger and heartier, too).  

My favorite flavor: My hands-down favorite was the Cran-Lemon Twister. This bar was REALLY good. I also liked the Whole Berry Blast and Superfood Slam. Oh, and my chocoholic 8-year-old sister raved about the Koka Moka. ;)

   
– Larabars – 

 

Description: “Simple. Pure. Delightful.” | Gluten Free, Vegan, Kosher, some bars are Raw.  

Pro: They are easy to find and come in a lot of flavors (I haven’t even tried all them!) The chocolate they use is Fair Trade Certified.  

Con: Again, some bars are very nutrient/calorie dense. Though they are mostly made of whole fruit and nuts, occasionally an ingredient like “blueberry juice concentrate” sneaks in. This company was bought out a while ago by General Mills. I don’t boycott Larabar because of this, but it is kind of sad that all small companies seem to inevitably get gobbled up by corporate conglomerates. But that’s another topic for another day. :) The flip side of it, of course, is that perhaps General Mills is seeking to provide healthier options…um, right?  

My favorite flavor: Of the ones I tried, my favorites were the Cherry Pie and Lemon Bar flavors. (By now you have probably  figured out that I like lemon flavored stuff!)

That’s it! Have you tried any of these bars? What did you think? Or, do you plan on trying any of these?

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were sent to me free of charge for the purpose of reviewing on this blog. I received no monetary compensation for this review.

7 Quick Takes Friday — 6/24/11

Hello! As promised, here are this week's quick takes…

— 1 —

I saw this post at The Happiness Project, and one part in particular caught my interest:

I started asking my friends, “Do you have an area of weird, crazy knowledge? Where you know far more than most people, without making a special effort to study? A limitless curiosity about a particular subject?” A surprising number of people answer “Yes.” How about you? Do you have an area where you have an intense desire to learn? And that subject could be anything -- baseball statistics, song lyrics, anything.

Yes, I definitely have one. I certainly don’t know as much as some people, but I think I know more than the average person about old Hollywood movies, actors, and actresses. It’s a topic that fascinates me to an extent so I naturally just found myself soaking up stuff about it. I’m not sure if this is the best use of my brain capacity, but oh well. I’m just grateful for the Internet; my family has no idea how to relate to my fandoms. Haha. I actually have a blog and a Tumblr about classic film. So, what’s one topic you know more about than the average person?

— 2 —

Despite the fact that I don’t know how to sew, rarely wear dresses, and have a size that keeps changing, I’ve been thinking lately how much fun it would be to make some retro-inspired dresses. I really love the style from the 50s and 60s, and I wish people still dressed like that. I might have to do a separate post on this… In the meantime, here are some things that are inspiring me. The trick, I think, is to take the best from that era and use fabric and cuts that still look contemporary enough to wear today. 

 — 3 —

I received an email this week from an author seeking to promote his new Catholic fiction book. I’m not sure that this is a book that I personally would be interested in, but I said I would mention it on my blog for those interested in this genre. I haven’t read the book, obviously, but I admire the author’s initiative. Here is a brief synopsis of the story: “Guided by a mysterious old friend, forlorn Catholic professor Fred Sankt unlocks the hidden truths of the past two thousand years, and struggles to achieve a heavenly reprieve from the deep and dark troubles that mercilessly haunt him.” You can learn more by visiting the author’s site, GoodReads, Amazon, or CatholicFiction.net. From these sources I gauged that it is faithful to Catholic teaching (I wouldn’t support it otherwise), though I admit that the premise does sound a little strange to me. If you’ve read it, let me know what you think!

— 4 —

I thought this was a really great article at The Modern Mrs. Darcy about “How to Graciously Accept a Compliment”. This is not something I am very good at but the post gives some very practical tips for responses.

 — 5 —

I have heard some debate about whether soy is healthy or not. This article (found via Mama Pea) does a great job at putting things in perspective and providing the research to back it up. I generally still try to eat soy in moderation, though, and avoid soy isolates when I can.

— 6 —

I’ve had this Cuisinart ice cream maker for about a year and have only used it twice (oops!). The thing is, I can’t really get it to work! Both times I have used it nothing has happened. The mixture is still just as liquid-y when it comes out as it is when it goes in. I think the base is not freezing completely or something. Does anyone have one of these and can offer some tips? I think it’s a fairly common model (I did some research before I got this one). It does annoy me that it doesn’t work but I can’t complain too much considering it was free (I got it through a CSN stores blogger promotion). :)

— 7 — Yesterday was my feastday—that of St. Etheldreda (aka, St. Audrey). I was actually named after my great aunt but I guess St. Etheldreda is my patron (one of them; I suppose my confirmation saint is also my patron. I’m not sure how that all works). I never really connected much to Etheldreda’s story (it’s kind of an odd one) but I’m sure she was a very holy woman. And…I have no idea why I’m writing this. I guess just for those of you who always wondered if there was a St. Audrey. {P.S. Congratulations if this paragraph made any sense!}

***“7 Quick Takes Friday” is hosted by Conversion Diary***

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“Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical.”  ~ Sophia Loren

Impatiently Waiting

Hi! I hope everyone is having a very lovely summer. We have had really nice weather for the most part this month and I am loving it—June is one of my favorite months! :)

I can’t believe I am going to be turning 20 soon. Totally not ready. After my 16 birthday or so I started feeling not ready to move on to the next year…basically because I did not accomplish anything tangible in the previous 365 days. If I was in college, had a job, doing sane-normal-20-year-old things I think I would be okay with getting older. But as is, I’m not moving forward (it seems). Only the clock is. And it’s a horrible feeling to feel like I’m wasting my life.

Waiting is so hard. Waiting to feel better, waiting to be better. Waiting. I am not patient.

^Linda Darnell^. I really love screencaps. Expect to see more of them.

I’m really, really, really, REALLY (etc.) tired of having this…this ‘thing’. I am SO ready to move on. This past month was actually a lot better. It was a good month were I was really doing a lot of stuff to try to get myself feeling better. I was exercising, going to sleep at a more normal time, eating super healthy, etc. And I was feeling better. In fact, I was actually thinking about writing a blog post on what I was doing that was helping me and how much more confident/in control I felt…yaddy-yadda-ya. But after about 30 days of avid self-improvement, something cracked and I found myself reverting to a lot of my old destructive and frustrating behaviors.

Despite all my attempts to get back up and keep going, I don’t seem to be able to. I’m back to groveling and surviving rather than improving. And there are few things worse than knowing what one should do but not being able to do it. I can deal with failure, discouragement, and set-backs as long as I plan how to get back up and keep going. But when that motivation evaporates, when I am unable to apply myself…I don’t know what to do. It came so totally out-of-the-blue. Do I only have so much willpower? Did I just use my quota up for awhile? Why does my body work against me this way? To not be able to change is really hard. It feels like there is no hope. But I guess I should not be relying on myself so much for hope. I should just trust in God. But meanwhile, time is ticking.

Story of my life, Alice.

Okay, well, I hope this post wasn’t too depressing. I don’t like writing a lot of depressing posts, and I don’t think that they are much fun to read either. It’s not like I want everyone feeling sorry for me, but it’s just nice to sort things out sometimes, you know? I really hope that someday I can just write a lot of happy, bubbly, joyous posts. But, hey, at least I haven’t been really, really down lately.

I should be back tomorrow for 7 Friday Quick Takes.

 
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“When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will.” – Pollyanna (1960)