Super Simple Snacks for Healthy Eaters on the Go
Super simple snacks. Say that six times fast. Super. Simple. Snacks. By the end snacks starts to slur into sacks and simple goes turns into snimple. At least for me and my Oklahoma transplanted in Michigan accent.
To those who follow me on Instagram, I apologize. This is a bit of a repeat for you. A few weeks ago I was contacted by the PR for Nature Valley and Fiber One products. They were getting ready to launch some new snacks and was interested in hearing my thoughts. As I went through each one I tried to capture the moment on Instagram. Now that I have made my way through the eats, I am ready to share my thoughts.
So let’s get that pesky disclosure out-of-the-way; shall we? I was given samples of these products for free in order to facilitate my review. I’m not being compensated for this post. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and I hold all rights to them.
Now, to the fun stuff.
I admit, I am not the biggest fan of prepackaged food. When I do, I tend to think about all the chemicals and processing my curiosity gets the best of me. I *try* to make as many things as I can on my own; but lets face it, there are only so many hours in the day. Sometimes I want a snack and I don’t want to drag out all of my baking materials and get going. By the time I am done, I no longer want it. And, it never fails that when I try to preplan and make something thinking I will want it in the week – I don’t eat it. Or, I feel like I have to force myself to eat it when I don’t want it.
There are times when I do get a few things that are premade/prepackaged. I applaud those who eat raw or are 100% clean eaters because at some point in time they squashed their food cravings or found an alternative.
Either way, if I am going to get something that’s made for me I try to pick something that has a little bit of nutritional value to it.
That’s where these Nature Valley and Fiber One goodies come in.
Nature Valley just release these fun little Nut Crisp Bars. I did a (what I think is) good review on my Healthy Food channel. They come in Salted Caramel Peanut and Almond Dark Chocolate. I do have a little experience with Nature Valley products as I used to get their oats and honey granola bars all the time.
Salted Caramel Peanut – if you enjoy dark chocolate with sea salt or salted caramel than these Salted Caramel Nut Crisps Bars are the perfect combination of salty caramel paired with roasted peanuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.
This bar was a balanced blend of salty sweet with added nut crunch. Often, prepackaged bars have too much sweetness for me or they have that overly processed taste. I didn’t really find that here. The nuts are at the forefront of the taste palet. These bars come in at 140 calories, 9 grams of fat, 170 grams of sodium, 10 grams of carbohydrate, 2 grams of fiber, and 4 grams of protein.
My only hang up was that the caramel is said to be ‘caramel flavor,’ whatever that is. Why not just use caramel?
Almond Dark Chocolate – if you like to walk on the dark side of the chocolate spectrum then the Almond Dark Chocolate Nut Crisp Bar is the perfect option for you. One side of this bar is dipped in dark chocolate flavoring paired with almond pieces, roasted peanuts and sunflower seeds.
This bar had no salt flavor for those who might be curious. There was no bitterness to the dark chocolate. The dark chocolate held no chocolate sweetness just as it should. These bars come in at 130 calories, 9 grams of fat, 160 grams of sodium, 11 grams of carbohydrate, 2 grams of fiber, and 3 grams of protein. This Nut Crisp Bar also contains flax seed for those looking to add a little flax to their diets.
I liked the salted caramel better than the almond dark chocolate. I felt the dark chocolate (again with ‘flavoring’) had a weird aftertaste to it. It wasn’t horrible, but I did prefer the other flavor better.
Ok, now on to the Fiber One goodies.
Just like the Nature Valley, I did a ‘limited edition’ 🙂 LOL review on my Healthy Food channel.
It seems like every time I roam down the supermarket isle I see a new product that Fiber One has put out. I have tried their Fiber One 80 cereal and it’s actually quite good. I have also tried the 90 calorie chocolate fudge brownie. It was a little too sugary tasting for me. I’ve also tried the 90 calorie chocolate caramel and pretzel. I liked the crunch of the pretzel, but again, I felt it had too sweet of a taste. So, I was a little unsure of how I was going to like these Fiber One products. But, I’ll try anything once! You just never know.
Chocolate Chip Crunchy Cookies – Yup. I started with this one first. I mean, a cookie I didn’t have to bake that had some extra fiber? Yes, please. I’ll take 2. The crunchy cookie is a new line. I was worried that these would have that too sweet taste, but I am happy to tell you that they were not overly sweet at all. As a matter of fact, they were quite enjoyable. I enjoyed mine with some hot tea.
This cookie come in at 110 calories, 6 grams of fat, 125 grams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrate, 5 grams of fiber, and ,< 1 gram of protein.
90 Calorie Mint Fudge Brownies – The brownie line is not new, however the mint flavor is. To squash your brownie craving, this is so much easier than trying to bake. Who wants to be stuck with the whole pan? Well, we might. But I know when kiddo and hubs aren’t here I certainly don’t want to be left with a whole pan. It can get rather dangerous. The brownie was good. The mint was pretty minty. It was like a chocolate peppermint patty smashed into my brownie. While I enjoyed the mint, the overall product did have a little too much sweetness for me.
The brownie comes in at 90 calories, 3 grams of fat, 90 grams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrate, 5 grams of fiber, and , 1 gram of protein per serving, which is one brownie.
Protein Cookies and Creme – The protein bars are not a new line, but the Cookies & Crème is a new flavor. Cookies & Crème fans have a healthier option to battle their hunger and cravings with the extra protein paired with the fiber. Many, many, years ago I was a fan of Cookies & Creme. I wanted it all the time. Well, mostly just the ice cream. Then, everything started to come in that flavor. Only, it was things that should not be made into that flavor. This is one of those things. I know protein bars tend to be heavy and its more about the protein, but they still have to have some sort of flavor for us to want to eat the heavy bars. While these weren’t super sweet, the cookies mixed with the creme and then the mild heaviness of a protein bar just wasn’t working out for me.
The bar comes in at 140 calories, 6 grams of fat, 105 grams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrate, 5 grams of fiber, and , 6 grams of protein per serving, which is one bar.
Are you a Fiber One fan? What’s your favorite product? Let me know if you are excited for the new products. Love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
I need to get my hands on those Fiber One Mint Fudge Brownies! I love their brownies, but haven’t seen those in the store yet. NOM!!
Me too Robin! Those brownies do sound amazing!
This is a coincidence -I saw and bought one of the Fiber One Chocolate Chip cookies that I saw at the counter at Walgreens just the other day. I was headed for the doctor and knew I would hungry since I had not eaten breakfast. I absolutely loved it!! I will definitely be getting those again and may just try some of the other Fiber One items as well.
I would totally be a fan of there were any gluten-free items in Fiber One’s lineup 🙂
Looks like you found a good snack for yourself. I try to stay away from packaged foods because they upset my stomach, but I think we all need something simple to take on the go.
I pretty much eat EVERYTHING on the go, so the Fiber One bars are perfect for me, too!
I have purchased these products – but not these flavors – I am going to look for these now that I have more info on them also – thank you 🙂
I love all of these. My favorite ones are the Fiber One bars, and they have a few different flavors. Love them for my daugher’s lunch box also.
That is so cool! I love General Mills products too!
I’m going to have to find the Nature Valley ones. We love their bars but haven’t tried these yet.
My daughter is in love with the nature valley bars and I always stock up on them for the kids to walk with as snacks.
I love Nature Valley products and Fiber One. I have never seen these products but am now super excited.
I love Nature Valley granola bars: healthy and filling. I have yet to try the caramel salted ones. They look delicious
Fiber One makes it so much easier to keep up on my fiber intake. Everything they come out with is delicious.
When you find a good snack or two that works for you. Stick with it.
Wish they had these gluten free as I can’t eat this but the concept is good for those looking to eat healthy
These are great snack options. I love having snack options to keep me healthier.
I love all of these for my breakfasts. When I’m taking the kids to school it’s the only thing I have time for.
I love the Fiber One dessert snacks! I keep some in my purse for when I get hungry while running errands.
Fiber is so important in a healthy diet! I love fiber one bars!
we have these at our house. I love them! The Fiber One bars are my fave.
I love Fiber One bars and cookies! They taste so good! I have to stop myself from eating more than one
Mint fudge brownies you say? Yum. I’ve tried a fiber one brownie and they were good, I forget which it was but not mint I need that in my life! Yum
Oh these all sound like wonderful snack options especially the mint brownie!
Girl I love Nature’s Valley!! Thanks for introducing these new products yum to the cookies!!
The cookies are really, really good!
I’m a HUGE fan of those Fiber One snacks. Those cookies are amazing!
These all sound like great products. I need to try a few of them I could use some healthy snack options.
These are all really great snack options. I’d like to tuck a few of them in my gym bag for a quick after workout snack!
The Fiber One bars are a good deal. I find myself wanting to snack but not always grabbing something healthy. This would help keep me satisfied without breaking my diet.
I do like Fiber One, but often they have a lot of sugar. I love the sound of Cookies and Creme (my FAVORITE flavor for anything). I’ll need to check out their stats. Thanks for letting me know to check them out!
I am a big snacker and these would be way healthier than some of the junk I’m eating now. They look delicious.
I have not tried the Fiber One bars yet. That is about to change. I am so excited to try the 90 Calorie Mint Fudge Brownies. They look delicious.
Agreed. It is better to make homemade, but time really doesn’t allow for it always. We like Fiber One. Hubby likes to take a bar to work for his mid-morn snack a lot of times too.
I don’t do these bars too often but I have been meaning to buy some so that I have something to eat when we have to leave the house early on weekends. These would be perfect.
These sounds so good and I love Nature Valley snacks because they are so close to home made. We eat a lot of their products in our house, but I hadn’t seen these yet. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for them at the grocery.
These are awesome snacks, I usually stick to fruits and nuts!
Glad you found some good snacks for yourself. Finding a snack that is tasty can sometimes be hard.
I recently saw Fiber One lemon treat bars. I have been very tempted to purchase them. May have to get them next time I am at WalMart.
I always have one of those Nature Valley Granola Bars in my bag when I travel. It’s great for those times when I don’t have time to stop and eat.
These are great ideas. I really need that cookie!
Almond and dark chocolate is a favorite flavor of mine. This is one I will look for & gravitate towards every time.
Great snacks. I need to try the Salted Caramel Peanut
I always keep healthy granola bars with me in my purse!
I never leave the house unless I have a few snacks like this stuffed into my purse. I’d rather bring food from home than pay to eat out.
Fiber one has the most aesome chocolate bars that taste like bronies Mmmm I love those!
I love those fiber one cookies. They are actually really good.