Let me start by saying that I am not on a diet and I do not normally purchase “diet products.” I bought this think Thin bar solely because I flipped out that it was chocolate covered strawberry flavored. Sounded delicious to me, so I ignored the capitalized “Thin” and the various other blurbs about how now you can have your dessert and eat it too and other marketing bullet points that alluded to real pleasure suppression as the avenue to weight loss.

:::Steps off soap box:::

If I’d have seen this ingredient list before I tossed it in my shopping basket I would have probably put it back on the shelf. Very little real food in there. There are 0 grams of sugar and 15 grams of protein and the bar clocks in a 200 calories. Those are pretty good stats…as long as it tastes good. (I think you know where this is going.)

Appearance: A nice size. Covered in a chocolate coating that appears a bit waxy and fake but nothing too alarming.

Texture: Soft, pasty, and homogenous. Reminds me a bit of marzipan with the smooth but subtle grittiness.

Taste: Oh. My. GAD. GROSS!! This is the single worst bar I’ve ever tasted so far in my life. It’s like a giant squishy metallic-tasting vitamin paste covered in colored beeswax. But what about the strawberry flavor, you ask? Nearly non-existant. It tastes a bit like if they took that thick gluey strawberry glaze you get on top of diner cheesecakes, mixed it with cherry cough syrup, diluted and aerosolized it, and then misted it around the room that the bars were made in. Faint but distinctly gross.

Overall, the one word I would have to use to describe this bar is OFFENSIVE. Not just offensive in flavor, but I am genuinely offended that anyone would have the gall to market this a satisfying and healthy dessert replacement. At 200 calories, you could probably eat 2 or even 3 real chocolate covered strawberries and be putting healthier things in your body than this fake crap. It saddens me to imagine that some poor woman might choke down this awful concoction in lieu of a real dessert because she thinks this is all she can have.

This bar was pretty cheap and I still feel like I got ripped off.

July 1, 2011 Alayna Discussion 6 comments

I am such a dork. I nearly waited until Monday to eat this breakfast just so I could fill this post with references to “Blue Monday.” You know, that song by New Order (and Orgy, which I must confess I liked better.) At least I didn’t wait until January.

That glistening blue blob on the banana (wow that sounds gross, but it’s so aliterative!) is a scoop of blueberry Noosa yogurt. I made the mistake of going to “the big Whole Foods” in my area and came home with a bunch of novelty products I’ve never seen before at “the little Whole Foods.” This yogurt was one of them.

I could not resist those plump little berries!

The yogurt part itself has a great cheesy flavor and texture that I really like. The blueberry stuff didn’t taste too much like blueberries, but it was a nice fruity and sweet contrast to the yogurt.

In other blue news…

I bought nail polish on an impulse yesterday. I am not an impulse shopper. But my blue nails make me happy every time I look at them.

What color always makes you happy?

June 30, 2011 Alayna Discussion 7 comments

Aren’t they pretty?!

Our local farmer’s market always has an amazing selection of dried fruits and nuts. I stumbled upon a bag of juicy-looking dried nectarines recently and knew I’d wanna try making a raw cookie with them.

They are delicious out of hand too though. The concentrated nectarine juices burst with their bright peachiness. It’s a great flavor for summertime!

Raw nectarine dream cookies

A summery raw cookie that is great for a snack, healthful dessert, or crumbled over yogurt like granola.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• about 6 large dried nectarine slices
• 3 tbsp. brown rice syrup
• 1 tsp. agave nectar
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Cooking Directions

1. Pulverize nuts in a food processor.
2. Add chopped nectarines and pulse to combine.
3. Add all other ingredients and combine.
4. Roll mixture into a log on wax paper and press tightly.
5. Refrigerate until firm and then slice into cookies.

I love popping one of these after an intense workout for a shot of protein. The juicy little bits of nectarine are so sweet and sticky.

It’s a total accident that these came out in the cute little teardrop shape they did. I was going for round, but I kind of like that they look like little cookie guitar picks.

And they are rockin’!

June 29, 2011 Alayna Discussion, Recipes 10 comments