The Primal Pantry Paleo Bars Review

I first came across The Primal Pantry Raw Paleo snack bars at a health food show in London. Little chunks of them were on offer to taste, and I kept going back for more. They’re truly delicious.

If you love nuts and dates, you’re bound to like The Primal Pantry Paleo bars. There are five varieties available (at the time of writing) and you don’t have to be a Paleo follower to enjoy these little beauties.

The five varieties are:

Brazil Nut & Cherry Paleo Bar

Ingredients: Dates, Brazil Nuts, Cherries, Almond Oil.

195 calories

 

Brazil Nut & Cherry Paleo Bar

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Coconut & Macadamia Paleo Bar

Ingredients: Dates, Coconut, Cashews, Macadamia, Almond Oil

208 calories

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Hazelnut & Cocoa Raw Paleo Bar

Ingredients: Dates, Hazelnuts, Almonds, Organic Cocoa, Organic Vanilla, Almond Oil

192 calories

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Apple & Pecan Raw Paleo Bar

Ingredients: Dates, Almonds, Organic Apple, Pecan Nuts, Cinnamon, Almond Oil

199 calories

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Almond & Cashew Raw Paleo Bar

Ingredients: Dates, Almonds, Cashew Nuts, Almond Oil

206 calories

Almond & Cashew Raw Paleo Bar

All bars are 45g in weight.

I love health bars, but don’t tend to buy them because they’re so nutritionally dense – aka high in calories. Many have extra syrups and the like which are added to make them sweeter. But even those such as the Primal Pantry which only have natural whole ingredients, are high in calories because they’re literally crammed with dried fruit and/or nuts, both of which are high in calories.

They’re by far a healthier choice than a regular bar of milk chocolate as you’re getting all the nutrients from the nuts or fruit. But calorie wise, they often contain as many or even more calories than a choccie bar. So don’t think they’ll help you lose weight, just because they’re healthy!

My personal favourite is the coconut & macadamia but they’re all gorgeous. They are such a satisfying snack. Very chewy, dense and moist with loads of crunchy nuts. It’s almost a small meal. I only eat half at a time and save the rest for the next day because I’m a bit obsessed with sticking to my 100 calorie snack allowance. It helps with keeping weight in check and these bars are very filling.

They are high in fat and sugar, which all sounds really bad. But the fats are the ‘good’ sort from the nuts and the sugar all comes from the dates (not necessarily great but at least there are nutrients and fibre in dates).

Fortunately, nutritional health bars are no longer exclusively found in health stores as you can find them springing up in all major supermarkets too. This is useful if you’re not near to a good health food store.

They cost around £1.49 per bar and the ingredients are all natural.

Here's what The Primal Pantry say about their bars:

100% NATURAL GRAIN FREE ENERGY

• Our grain-free bars are made with 100% Real Food. Food you were born to eat.
• We don’t use dried fruit that contains vegetable oils, sugar or sulphites as commonly found in other snack products.
• All our bars are made with 4-5 Real Food ingredients. They are hand made and cold pressed (not heated) here in the UK.
• All the bars are gluten, grain, refined sugar, soya, dairy, GMO and vegetable oil free.
• We only ever use ingredients that you are likely to have in your cupboard at home!
• We have managed to source organic cherries that are free from vegetable oil and sugar -as commonly found in other dried cherries.
• We also use an organic coconut which doesn’t contain sulphites (preservative) which is commonly used in dried coconut products.
• Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans (and Cavemen)!
• Gluten free

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Related Posts


Nakd Soya Crunch Protein Bars Review: Read Post
Nakd Raw Fruit, Oat and Nut Wholefood Bars: Read Post

© Diets and Calories

Marks and Spencer Eat Well Snacks Review

While browsing around Marks and Spencer recently, I thought it about time I took a look to see what sort of ‘healthier’ type packet snacks they have these days. It turned out there were quite a few.

Under the M&S ‘Eat Well’ logo, there is a new selection of alternative crisp snacks, most with less than 100 calories per packet. I purchased a few for review purposes and made a note of the others on display.

The varieties I purchased included:

M&S Eat Well Thai Red Curry Air Popped Corn: 86 calories

Thai Red Curry Air Popped Corn

M&S Eat Well Sour Cream & Black Pepper Air Popped Corn: 82 calories

Sour Cream & Black Pepper Air Popped Corn

Sour Cream & Black Pepper Air Popped Corn (inside the bag)

M&S Eat Well Beetroot Vinaigrette Crisps: 92 calories

Beetroot Vinaigrette Crisps

Beetroot Vinaigrette Crisps

M&S Eat Well Spicy Chorizo Flavour Sweet Potato Snacks: 85 calories

Spicy Chorizo Sweet Potato Snacks

Spicy Chorizo Sweet Potato Snacks (inside the bag)

Spicy Chorizo Sweet Potato Snacks (a single crisp)

And the packets I didn’t buy:

M&S Eat Well Lightly Salted Pitta Chips: 152 calories

Lightly Salted Pitta Chips

M&S Eat Well Piri Piri Pea Snaps: 89 calories

Piri Piri Pea Snaps

M&S Eat Well Smoked Salt & Mixed Pepper Pea Snaps: 87 calories

Smoked Salt & Mixed Pepper Pea Snaps

M&S Eat Well Bacon, Tomato & Worcester Sauce Potato Snacks: 102 calories.

Bacon, Tomato & Worcester Sauce Potato Snacks

M&S Eat Well Multiseed Tortillas: 155 calories.

Lightly Salted Multiseed Tortillas

The two packs of popcorn were shared around the family. All agreed the Sour Cream & Black Pepper was the tastiest. They had an almost creaminess to them which was nicely offset by the black pepper. I thought I might like the Thai Red Curry, but the popcorn wasn’t well covered and the spiciness was a bit too sweet for me.

I loved the Sweet Potato snack. These are a baked potato snack, really spicy and quite chewy which I found made them filling and satisfying.

The Beetroot crisps are dehydrated and reminded me at first of the Beetroot snacks I reviewed from Morrisons. While they look and sound like the Morrison’s brand, they didn’t taste like them.

Yes, you can hear them! Shake the bag and they sound like a bag of counters. They’re very crunchy and have quite a tang to them. This is from the vinegar. Again, I found them filling and satisfying. The Beetroot crisps are high in salt and sugar, however this isn’t from any added nasties. Beetroot are naturally high in sodium, so in dehydrated form, it’s concentrated. They’re also a sweeter veggie, like carrots, so have a higher natural sugar content.

You can find these snacks in branches of Marks & Spencer Foodhalls.

Ingredients

Ingredients Beetroot Crisps: Beetroot, vinegar, cider vinegar, concentrated lemon juice, black pepper extract, dried garlic.

Ingredients Sour Cream Popcorn: Popcorn (78%), rapeseed oil, maltodextrin, salt, dried soured cream (milk), dried onions, sugar, dried garlic, dried yeast extract, dried whey (milk), dried parsley, dried skimmed milk, spiced (cracked black pepper, ground cayenne pepper) dried buttermilk, flavouring citric acid, herb extracts (parsley, dill).

Ingredients Sweet Potato Crisps: Sweet potatoes, sunflower oil, ground spices (cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper), rice flour, dried yeast extract, salt, sugar, dried garlic, dried onions, flavouring, smoked salt, dried oregano, colour: paprika extract, dried chillies, rosemary extract.

Ingredients Thai Red Curry Popcorn: Popcorn (77%), rapeseed oil, sugar, dried whey (milk), salt, ground spices (coriander, cayenne pepper, cardamom, cumin), rice flour, dried garlic, dried onions, dried yeast extract, dried herbs (bay, parsley), acid: citric acid, flavouring, colour: paprika extract, curcumin.

Ingredients Piri Piri Pea Snaps: Marrowfat peas (72%), rapeseed oil, rice flour (8%), dried onions, salt, dried garlic, firming agent: calcium carbonate, sugar, ground spices (Jalapeno pepper, cayenne pepper, cumin), acid: citric acid, yeast extract, maltodextrin, flavouring, dried oregano, dried thyme, colour: paprika extract, capsicum extract, cumin extract, Jalapeno pepper extract, lemon oil, antioxidant: E392.

Ingredients Smoked Salt & Mixed Pepper Pea Snaps: Marrowfat peas (72%), rapeseed oil, rice flour (8%), salt, yeast extract, ground spices (Cayenne pepper, fennel seeds, white pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, star anise), maltodextrin, firming agent: calcium carbonate, tomato powder, dried garlic, dried onions, flavouring acid: citric acid, smoked salt, sugar, black pepper extract, capsicum extract, pink peppercorn extract, vinegar, antioxidant: E392.

Ingredients Pitta Chips: Wheatflour contains gluten (with wheatflour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), rapeseed oil, dried yeast, salt, sugar.

Ingredients Multiseed Tortillas: Maize flour, rapeseed oil, golden linseeds (2%), salt.

Nutritional Details

Nutrition per 30g bag: (Beetroot crisps): 92 Calories, less than 0.1g fat, less than 0.1g saturated fat, 15.4g carbs, 15.4g sugars, 6.6g fibre, 4.1g protein, 0.50g salt. Suitable for vegetarians. 1 pack = 1 of 5 a day.

Nutrition per 23g bag: (Sweet Potato crisps): 85 Calories, 1.9g fat, 0.2g saturated fat, 13.6g carbs, 8.5g sugars, 3.2g fibre, 1.9g protein, 0.28g salt. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Nutrition per 20g bag: (Thai red curry popcorn): 86 Calories, 2.7g fat, 0.2g saturated fat, 11.3g carbs, 0.6g sugars, 3.0g fibre, 2.7g protein, 0.25g salt. Suitable for vegetarians. Not suitable for nut allergy sufferers. Gluten Free.




Nutrition per 20g bag: (Sour Cream popcorn): 82 Calories, 2.3g fat, 0.2g saturated fat, 12.0g carbs, 0.5g sugars, 2.9g fibre, 2.0g protein, 0.25g salt. Suitable for vegetarians. Not suitable for nut allergy sufferers. Gluten Free.



Nutrition per 21g bag: (Piri Piri Pea Snaps): 89 Calories, 3.1g fat, 0.2g saturated fat, 10.3g carbs, 0.3g sugars, 2.6g fibre, 3.7g protein, 0.17g salt. Suitable for vegetarians. Not suitable for nut allergy sufferers. Gluten Free.



Nutrition per 21g bag: (Smoked Salt and Mixed Pepper Pea Snaps): 87 Calories, 3.0g fat, 0.2g saturated fat, 9.9g carbs, 0.2g sugars, 2.6g fibre, 3.7g protein, 0.18g salt. Suitable for vegetarians. Not suitable for nut allergy sufferers. Gluten Free.



Nutrition per bag: (Pitta Chips): 152 Calories, 4.6g fat, 0.4g saturated fat, 12.2g carbs, 0.8g sugars, 3.0g fibre, 4.2g protein, 0.28g salt. Suitable for vegetarians.




Nutrition per 35g bag: (Multiseed Tortillas): 155 Calories, 5.4g fat, 0.5g saturated fat, 23.0g carbs, 0.3g sugars, 2.5g fibre, 2.5g protein, 0.30g salt. Suitable for vegetarians. Not suitable for wheat allergy sufferers or coeliacs.

© Diets and Calories

Stevia Sweeteners from Canderel and Morrisons

Artificial sweeteners have had a lot of bad press, with some studies leaving many of us understandably concerned about their safety. For those who are looking for a ‘natural’ alternative to sugar but without the calories, it looks like Stevia may be a healthier good compromise.

The number of Stevia based sweeteners on the supermarket shelves has been steadily increasing as different sweetener brands introduce their own version of Stevia.

Here are a couple of new Stevia sweeteners recently spotted on the shelves of a Morrison’s supermarket.

First is a tablet sweetener from Morrisons called Sweet & Light. This form is suitable for hot drinks with each tablet having a sweetness equivalent to 1 teaspoon of sugar. Calories per tablet = 0.

I already use a Morrison’s tablet sweetener, their own brand based on sucralose which I find very similar to Splenda’s own tablets. However, I find the stevia version isn’t nearly as sweet. As a compromise, I've been using one stevia and one sucralose table in my coffee and tea which works fine for me.

Ingredients: lactose, sweetener (29%) (steviol glycosides); anti-caking agent (crosslinked sodium carboxy methyl cellulose), corn starch, leucine. Suitable for vegetarians.

The next is a new table top sweetener by Canderel. This one is more like Truvia in that it has a crunchy texture which resembles sugar. It is supposed to be sweeter than actual sugar and states on the pack that half a teaspoon of Crunchy stevia is the same as half a teaspoon of sugar. Per teaspoon, Canderel crunchy stevia has 0 calories.

As you can see from the ingredients listed below, this sweetener contains only a tiny percentage of stevia with the crunchiness and extra sweetness coming from erythritol. This is a naturally-occurring sugar alcohol which is found in small amounts in various plants, fruits and fungi. It contains virtually no calories (95% fewer calories than table sugar), has a low GL and doesn't contribute to tooth decay. So it tastes like sugar but is about 70% as sweet.

This sweetener is certainly crunchy but it’s a finer powder than Truvia. It doesn’t taste as sweet as other sweeteners but it could be a good way to down regulate your sweet tooth if you have one.

I emptied Canderel's Sweet Crunchy Stevia into a sugar container without telling the kids. It normally contains Truvia (and they have no idea it's not sugar). Anyway, they twigged right away onto the fact it wasn't their usual 'sugar' and stopped using it. That could have been a good way to wean them off the sweet stuff, but unfortunately they just swapped to the caster sugar my daughter uses for baking.

I probably would buy this again, but right now it’s way too expensive (as is Truvia). It costs £4.50 for a 275g jar but I tend to stock pile whenever I find them on a special offer.

Ingredients Canderel Sweet Crunchy Stevia: Bulking agent: erythritol, sweetener: steviol glycosides 0.8%, natural flavourings.

Note: excessive consumption may cause laxative effects. Suitable for diabetics and vegetarians and is kosher.

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See also:

Sugar substitutes and sweeteners using Stevia - Read Post
Truvia Calorie Free Sweetener - Read Post
Sukrin Gold Stevia Brown Sugar - Read Post
Tate & Lyle Sugar with Stevia - Read Post

© Diets and Calories

Koko Dairy Free Spread with Coconut Oil Review

I was recently sent a sample of a new dairy free spread (sort of alternative to butter) from Koko, the people who make coconut milk (see review links below).

While I don’t personally use spreads like butter any more, my family still spread butter on their toast etc. and my elder daughter does lots of baking with butter. So I decided to let them be the judge. Of course, I did try some myself…

Koko Dairy free spread is suitable for anyone with a dairy protein allergy, lactose intolerance, vegetarians, vegans, coeliacs, or those simply wanting to reduce their consumption of dairy products.

Koko Dairy Free Spread - Made with coconut milk

Koko Dairy Free Spread contains pressed coconut oil (26%) and is mixed with other oils and water. It’s quite pale in colour and looks like a regular spread. I can’t say I particularly liked the smell of it. A bit plastic like. Actually, thinking about it, the smell does remind me of margarine (something I haven’t bought in years).

When spreading it onto soft bread, it tends to break up a bit and you have to squash it down to spread it. It melts like regular butter when spread onto hot toast. When eating it melted, I couldn’t really taste anything much but didn’t try it cold.

Koko Dairy Free Spread - Made with coconut milk

My daughter said it tasted oily and she couldn’t taste any coconut (which is probably what was intended). She also said it spread weirdly. However, she used it all up in her baking and it was absolutely fine.

Koko Dairy Free Spread can be found in Waitrose and Ocado online.

Ingredients: Water, Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed Oil, Coconut Oil 26%, Palm Oil*, Sunflower Oil), Emulsifier: Mono & Diglycerides of Fatty Acids and Sunflower Lecithin, Colour: Carrot Extract, Lemon Juice, Sea Salt 1.1%, Natural Flavourings, Vitamins A, B12, D2, E, *from RSPO sustainable sources

Gluten Free, soya free, lactose free, dairy free, cholesterol free, less than half the saturates of butter, a source of medium chain fatty acids, free of artificial colourings, flavourings and preservatives.

Enriched with Vitamins A, B12, D2 and E which are found naturally in dairy butter.

Nutrition Information 100g: 405 calories, 45g fat, 21g saturates, 0g carbohydrates, 0g sugars, 0g protein, 1.1g salt.

Related Posts:

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Koko Dairy Coconut Milk Review - Read Post
Koko Dairy Free Flavoured Coconut Milk Review - Read Post
Koko Dairy Free Light Coconut Milk Review - Read Post

© Diets and Calories