Aren't snack bars just the greatest? (Wow, that sounded cheesy and lame. Forget I said that.) But really, aren't they awesome? It's like a mini-meal you can throw in your purse and munch on throughout a busy morning/afternoon/whatever. And normally it satisfies one of my major cravings--salty, crunchy, and/or sweet.
Problem: snack bars can become junk food. Why is it so many things I like are packed with junk?! Not fair!
I was recently diagnosed with an insulin-resistant disorder and was urged by doctor and nutritionist to purge my diet of excess carbohydrates. This was a huge undertaking for me, because all my favorite foods are in the carb column--sugar, baked goodies, chocolate, ice cream, pasta, potatoes, even my favorite veggie--corn--is a starch. I haven't been able to cut carbs completely from my diet yet; maybe I'll get there. At any rate, I have cut back. My nutritionist also recommended the several-small-meals-a-day plan, which is a good idea for everyone but especially for those with insulin issues, as waiting a long time before eating, then gorging, will cause blood sugar slumps and spikes. She was precious and looked at my schedule with me to determine when it would be best for me, my body, and my schedule to fit in my small meals. My planning period at the school where I teach in the mornings is right around 9am, and this is my mid-morning snack time. I've found the best (and really the only) way for me to eat during this time is to have something I can throw in my purse and munch on gradually throughout my half-hour planning. Enter the snack bar.
For me, the key to finding a good snack bar is that it's not only low in carbs but also as natural as possible. There are some carbs you're supposed to have, the kinds that come from fruits and whole grains and other wholesome ingredients. So if I'm eating something that's packed with fruit, yeah, I'm gonna have some carbs, but I also get one of my fruit servings out of the day.
I found Trio bars at Costco and got into them for a while. The tagline of these bars is "3 fruits, 3 nuts, 3 seeds." And each flavor has exactly that--3 kinds of dried fruit, 3 kinds of nuts, and 3 kinds of seeds. Plus, they've got all the right lines on the labels: "No Cholesterol, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan, Wheat Free, No Preservatives, No Trans Fats, Kosher." All sounds good to me. However, there's a big fuss in the blogosphere over the fact that these bars are made in China, which unnerves some folks (though the company has released a good bit of information to assuage their fears). Also, Trio bars contain "evaporated cane juice" (essentially sugar) and "rice malt" (puffy stuff, the consistency of Corn Pops) which serves to hold the nuts, fruits, and seeds together; for me, these just add empty carbs I could be using on something better. Plus, the abundance of nuts and seeds jacks the fat count up to 12g--about the same as a bag of potato chips. :/
Fast-forward to a couple of weekends ago. My mom brought me a large box of fruit and nut bars she had bought at a club store, saying she didn't like them and wanted to let me try them. I didn't give them a second thought until a recent morning when I was running out the door with an empty stomach (a big no-no for me, since I've now grown accustomed to breakfast) because I couldn't find Slim-fast mix in the house. I literally had my hand on the doorknob when I thought about these bars that were still in the bag in which Mom gave them to me. I glanced at them skeptically--if it's health food my mother couldn't handle, it's probably straight bird seed. The flavor names, "apple pie," "cherry pie," and "cashew cookie," were intriguing enough for me to grab one and toss it in my purse.
They're called Lärabars, and it was love at first bite for me. The ingredients in the Apple Pie bar fit on one small line on the wrapper--dates, almonds, unsweetened apples, walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon. That's literally all. And the cinnamon just makes all the difference in the flavor; it's amazing. The bar is made of a fruit puree, so it's moist and sweet and chewy (and a bit tart, just enough to be interesting), and the walnuts and almonds are interspersed throughout which give it a good crunchy element. I get my solid serving of fruit with a few less fat grams than the Trio bars, 24 grabs of carbs (not terrible considering that they come directly from fruits and nuts), and I actually enjoy the taste. Oh, and it's also got all the good taglines the Trio bars boast, in addition to "Soy Free" and "Non-GMO." The website has all sorts of info on how Lärabars work with many special diets and conditions (including celiac, kosher, low-carb, vegan, allergies, and even raw diets). There are 19 flavors (all of which I now want to try), and the best part is... the company also makes chocolate. (insert Hallelujah Chorus here) The chocolate products, cleverly named Jŏcolat, are organic and made from Fair Trade Certified ingredients (no more than 7 ingredients per bar, by the way), also with no added sugar (or dairy, soy, or gluten). I'm now on the hunt for these as well.
Update: I wrote the above two weeks ago and have since also tried the Cherry Pie and Cashew Cookie Lärabars, which are also tasty. I think Apple Pie is still my favorite so far. The cherry bars have cherries, dates, and almonds in them--that's it!--and are really, really tart, but still good. The cashew cookie bars, which actually do have a cookie sort of taste to them, only contain cashews and dates. Wow. Amazing what can be done with only two ingredients. All this to say... try a Lärabar. Odds are you'll like at least one of the flavors, and it's likely better than your current daytime snacks!
