Whew. It’s nice to be home and able to chillax and follow my own routine, but I have been out of it! I came back very late Saturday night to the usual party (a going away party for bestie Joe, who moved to CO). I woke up with a start the next day–I didn’t know whether or not I was supposed to work! Yikes! Of course I did and had a full shift, meaning I was out of the house for almost 12 hours. Blech. Since I hadn’t been to the grocery store yet, my eats were pretty boring: granola bars and Chipotle salad. I’ll spare you the picture since I eat there every 2 days it seems…
I did try a new energy bar, Greens+ Wild Berry EnergyBar. There was a recent article in the New York Times calling for regulation of reviews on blogs. Just so you know, every item I have reviewed so far I have purchased with my own money (with the exception of the TrioPlex cookie, which I found in my house). If a company ever sends me goods to sample and review for free, I’ll let you know. I’m all about honesty, here.
Anywhoodle, the Greens+.
The website says:
We’ve combined organically grown superfoods, soy protein, high energy herbal extracts and a little bit of honey to produce the only cold-processed, alkaline-forming green food bar. The GREENS+® Energy Bar contains no processed sugar, salt, corn syrup, hydrogenated oil, synthetic sweeteners, preservatives, or genetically modified foods of any kind. Available in Natural, Chocolate and Wild Berry Burst.
The GREENS+® Energy Bar delivers low-glycemic carbohydrates, protein and essential fatty acids that supplies a steady stream of energy throughout the day. Perfect for athletes seeking an edge, students, travelers, children of all ages, and anyone in need of optimum energy, superior well being, and peak performance. Eat one bar as a healthy snack between meals, or two bars for a complete meal replacement.
I was a little unsure of the extremely long ingredients list, but everything seems to be pretty “green” even if I don’t know what it is (Siberian eleuthero root extract? Huh?).
Ingredients: Organic medjool dates, organic sunflower seed butter, organic quinoa sprout powder, gmo-free soy protein isolate, Wild Berry Burst Greens Plus powder (Hawaiian spirulina, organic apple fiber, gmo-free soy lecithin, organic barley grass powder, organic wheat grass powder, Japanese chlorella, hydroponic soy sprouts, organic brown rice bran, sprouted barley malt, alfalfa grass powder, royal jelly, Montana bee pollen, acerola berry juice, natural vitamin E, licorice root powder, milk thistle extract, echinacea root extract, Siberian eleuthero root extract, astragalus root extract, licorice root extract, organic red beet juice, dunaliella salina algae, high-ORAC fruit extracts [strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, cranberry], organic Nova Scotia Dulse, organic ginkgo biloba leaf extract, organic Japanese green tea extract, grape seed and skin extract, organic Swedish bilberry extract), organic brown rice crisps, organic organic honey, blueberry juice concentrate, strawberry juice concentrate, mixed tocopherols (natural vitamin E). Yogurt Coating Ingredients: Evaporated cane juice, fractionated palm kernel oil, yogurt powder, gmo-free soy lecithin, lactic acid, vanilla, sea salt.
The nutrition stats seem all right by me, too. The seem a little high to eat this as a mid-morning snack, but they aren’t bad at all if you eat 1/2, or have the bar as most of a meal.
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Amount Per Serving | %DV | Amount Per Serving | %DV | Amount Per Serving | %DV | ||||||||||||||||
Total Fat | 8g | 12% | Total Carbohydrates | 35g | 12% | Vitamin B6 | .06mg | 3% | |||||||||||||
Saturated Fat | 3g | 18% | Dietary Fiber | 4g | 16% | Vitamin B12 | 6mcg | 100% | |||||||||||||
Monosaturated Fat | 5g | Sugars | 28g | Vitamin C | 12mg | 20% | |||||||||||||||
Trans Fat | 0g | Protein | 6g | Vitamin E | 50iu | 140% | |||||||||||||||
Cholesterol | 0mg | 0% | Vitamin A | 2000iu | 40% | Calcium | 150mg | 15% | |||||||||||||
Sodium | 35mg | 1% | as Beta Carotene | 100% | Iron | 2mg | 10% |
The bar had a nice flavor. I wouldn’t call it “fruity,” but it did have a pleasing sweet taste. The inside looked like a brownie, and almost had the texture of one–very chewy and dense.
The yogurt coating was okay, it was particularly sweet though. I did notice that the bar kept me pretty full. I had about 1/3 when I wasn’t quite full after lunch, and it really did the trick. I ate the last part with the second 1/2 of my Chipotle salad, and that really filled me up from 5pm-9pm. I would buy this bar again, as it is affordable ($1.19), tasty, and has good nutritionals.
Monday and Tuesday I was really out of it with a terrible, horrible headache. As in, can’t hardly get out of bed my head hurts so much headache. I wasn’t in the mood for blogging (or sitting upright), so please excuse my absence… 🙂
At least I did manage to record my foods yesterday (8/11)…
Brunch was a PBJ with my homemade stuff from Hell’s Kitchen in Minneapolis. I also had a bowl of watermelon. I can hardly believe that it is August and this is pretty much the first and only watermelon I have had all season. Ridiculous!
Oh, did you notice that super awesome, holy-wow, neato waterbottle?? Yeah, you couldn’t take your eyes off it, right? (Me neither!) That’s the personalized Sigg bottle I won from Janetha‘s 100th post giveaway! Woo! Thanks sooo much, Janetha! I totally adore it, and am remembering to stay hydrated. Thanks also to Greensender, the nice folks who provided the bottle. I was browsing around their website, and it is really cool–you can get all sorts of nice eco-friendly products for good prices. (And they’re true to their word. The bottle I received was minimally packaged, and the protective materials were recycled.) I’m a big fan of the design-your-own bottle (have I mentioned that I love mine yet??), and coming soon, you can use your very own image for your company, your team, or whatever. MamaLi, the genius behind Kranky Kids, is looking forward to a new bottle with the Kranky Kids logo!
Most of yesterday was spent either resting or reading since I didn’t feel like I could handle much else. However, I did finish all the HP books. Now what am I gonna do with my time?! Any great book suggestions out there?
Dinner was simple and hassle-free. Soup! I used a packaged Chipotle Corn Bisque (the flavor, not the restaurant!), added more corn, frozen vegs, onion, and tomato, and sprinkled it with cumin, cayenne, parsley, and salt. Very tasty, if not photogenic.
And some more watermelon for dessert. With a few bluebers, and a couple Joe Joe’s (that bypassed the camera on the way to my tum…)
There was also a bit of pasta salad sometime yesterday, but I don’t know what happened to the picture. Hmmm.
Also, in bigger news, I am finally on my countdown until I leave for Russia. 20 days! Ai yai yai, I don’t know if I am ready for this! I think until then, I will leave you with a little tidbit of Russian knowledge each day until I leave. Sound fun? Of course it does! (haha).
Russian tidbit of the day!
арбуз (ar-BOOZ) = watermelon
When I lived there in Fall 2007, I was really surprised to see the number of fruit stands selling watermelons in September and October. Watermelons are very popular, I guess! I have always thought of them as a distinctly warm-weather food, but they do grow in Russia (although probably in the south-central areas, where it is warmer). I definitely had my fair share–my host mom once brought one home and we had almost the whole thing for dinner!
the new bottle is beautiful!!!
oh i am so glad you got the bottle! i love it! really rad design and i like that you had it say DRINK!.. so cool. great review on the greens. mmm watermelon.. craving.. now..
Welcome home!! 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comments on my blog.
Hahaha I noticed the watermelon thing too in Russia… and some other sort of weird-looking melon. I never did figure out what it is, but if you know, I would love to find out! 😉
As for the book… what type are you looking for??
❤ ❤
You have me craving chipotle with your salad you ate and then your chipotle flavored soup!! Deeeelish!
I LOVE YOUR WATER BOTTLE! I am going to go on the website now and look for one!!
ooh, Russia sounds amazing! That will be a fun trip.
i love watermelon and need to buy some more before it’s gone!
Soup looks really yummy, especially with all your lovely additions 🙂
Oooh, love the new water bottle! It’s even big enough for me, hehe my dad sometimes calls me a fish for drinking so much water…
Must be super exciting to go to Russia! Watermelon is one of my favorite fruits (and that’s saying a lot!)!
I’m leaving for Russia in exactly a week….eeek! I’m definitely feelin’ ya on the “ai yi yi”, hahaha. I love the tidbits of Russian knowledge, I need them!