Simply Delicious

I was at Costco the other day stocking up on Almond Breeze and hummus when this caught my eye. It’s not a granola bar…
It’s a protein bar called the Simply Bar!

You see, I don’t usually eat protein bars because:

1. They are high in calories, carbs, and sugar.
2. I like to get my protein from minimally processed/natural/”real” food.

But I bought a pack of these because of their amazing nutritional stats. 160 calories, 16g of protein, 3g of sugar, 4g of fibre, 4g of fat, and made from only nine ingredients! Wow.So far, I have tried the Peanut Butter Chocolate, Caramel Peanut, and Lemon Coconut. (More posts on those later!) My favourite is the Lemon Coconut because of the intense coconut and lemon flavours. The tartness of the lemon cuts out the sweetness, making it light and balanced, while the coconut on top gives it a nice texture.

I highly recommend these because they are the best protein bars I’ve ever had. See if your Costco carries them. If not, many health and wellness stores might have them in stock. And if you just can’t find them in stores, shop online at http://www.thesimplybar.com.

Have a wonderful weekend!

❤ Jessica

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich

I haven’t posted in a while.

Three days to be exact.

I know, I know…

If you guys are wondering where I’ve been… the answer is Jasper! My family and I have been there many times before, and we love everything it has to offer – the wildlife, scenery, tours and excursions. Believe me, it was a much-needed mini vacation after going through the busy month of June. I will be posting some of the many pictures I took throughout this week, so keep your eyes peeled!

Okay… movin’ on! The weather has been extremely hot recently, which means I have been surviving off of salads, sashimi, watermelon, popsicles, ice cream, and ice cream sandwiches. I picked up some oatmeal chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches last week, and I kinda just forgot about them. That is, until today.

I’m not a big fan of oatmeal cookies, even if they contain a crazy amount of chocolate chips; however, I am a firm believer that everything tastes better in ice cream form. Nine times out of ten, I’m right; unfortunately, this time I was wrong.

First off, I just want to say that these ice cream sandwiches taste nothing like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. The wafers taste like concentrated graham crackers and completely overpower the vanilla ice cream. There was nothing spectacular about the vanilla ice cream, and the bits of chocolate in it were lame. They need to add around three times more of chocolate in order for it to even be noticeable. Overall, I’d rate this 2 stars out of 5.

Have you tried Lucerne’s new Oatmeal Chocolate Chip ice cream sandwich?

P.S. Happy Canada Day to all of my Canadian followers!

❤ Jessica

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Hola.

Do you ever feel like having just one brownie/cookie/slice of pie/dessert?

I do. All the time.

If you tapped into my head, this is what you would hear:

Damn it, Jessica! You don’t need to bake a whole batch of brownies!

Why not? Homemade brownies are a million times better than store-bought.

Yeah, but what are you going to do with all those brownies?

I’ll eat them! Wait no… not all of them! I’ll… uh… give them to my family! 

Yeah right… 

Okay, fine… maybe not. But still, it’s not a sin to indulge in brownies once a while!

I know! You can buy some Fiber One brownies – the ones that come in a box of five.

Hmm… well, I’ve never had them before. Sure, I’ll give them a try! But what if they aren’t as good as I expected them to be? I don’t want to be disappointed.

Well, you will never know until you try.

Ugh, fine. I’ll try the Fiber One brownies this time.

And so, I ended up buying a box of Chocolatey Fudge Fiber One brownies. (I’ve seen other stores carry a different version of the same thing called “Chocolate Fudge”; the packaging is different and the brownies are slightly lower in calories.)I generally like stuff by Fiber One. Granola bars, not so much. But their cereal is really good.

These brownies weren’t all that bad. But they weren’t all that good either.

Pros:

• Low in calories (110 or 90 depending on which version you buy)
• High in fiber (5g)
• Chocolatey
• Chewy
• Soft
• Chocolate chips imbedded in the brownie added a nice texture
• Perfect for when you don’t want to bake a huge batch of brownies.

Cons:

• Too small, too thin.
• High in sugar (9g)

Overall, I’d rate these 3.5 stars out of 5.What are your thoughts on Fiber One brownies?

❤ Jessica

Nail the Look

I used to paint my nails twice a week.

And then, I got busy with blogging. So now, I’m painting my nails once a week, or once every two weeks.

This week, I settled on Nicole by OPI – Kendall on the Katwalk. I’ve been wanting to try it out ever since I bought it last week! It is a gorgeous blue and purple combination that really glitters.Overall, I’d rate this polish a 10 out of 10.

How often do you paint your nails?

(It wasn’t until after I took and edited the photos that I realized my hands are really dry. Sorry!)

❤ Jessica

Battle of the Bars

I’ve been eating a lot of granola bars lately. Fiber One granola bars.

Yesterday, I bought one box of Oats & Caramel and one box of Chocolate Caramel & Pretzel.

I intended on eating one.

I ended up eating one…

of each.

First up: Chocolate Caramel & Pretzel

Evaluation: This bar was soft and chewy. In fact, it was softer and chewier than any granola bar I’ve ever had. The puffed wheat and pretzels gave the bar a fun texture and added some crunch. The chocolate dipped bottom, chocolate chips, and caramel drizzle provided just the right touch of sweetness – present, but not overpowering. Overall, I’d rate this bar 3.5 stars out of 5.

Next up: Oats & Caramel

Evaluation: One of the worst granola bars I’ve had, period. Granola bars are supposed to be soft and chewy, but eating this was like eating oats stuck together with Super Glue – way too sticky and chewy. The texture was boring, and it was sickly sweet. Overall, I’d rate it 1 star out of 5.

Conclusion: I will not be buying the Oats & Caramel bars again simply because I found them disgusting. Nor will I be buying the Chocolate Caramel & Pretzel bars in the future, even though I enjoyed them. I was absolutely shocked when I read the ingredients list; both of these bars contain high maltose corn syrup. Does that sound familiar? It should. Hint: HFCS… high fructose corn syrup.

So… what is HMCS aka high maltose corn syrup?

In a nutshell, it is a processed sugar that is the cousin of high fructose corn syrup.

Yikes.

Although there isn’t a lot of extensive studies on high maltose corn syrup, I’m guessing it is far from healthy. And for this reason, I will not be buying Fiber One granola bars in the future.

To read more about HMCS, check out this site.

What are your thoughts on Fiber One and their choice to add high maltose corn syrup to their products?

❤ J