True North Pecan Almond Peanut Cluster

Another brand of delicious nut clusters. Nuts are the way to go if you want a substantial snack that satisfies. Nothing like some good old healthy fats to keep the hunger monster at bay. I like that these are not that sweet. This particle combination is the Pecan Almond Peanut Cluster. The clusters are small little cubes. A little bit “dusty” from the nuts. Brown syrup holds the nut combination together, but does not glisten with syrup like other brands I’ve tried. Not overly sweet so the fresh flavors of the nuts can really be tasted. Love the combination of peanuts and almonds in here. The pecan flavor was lacking a bit in my opinion. The bag is supposedly resealable like a zip-lock bag, but maybe my bag is defective, because it does not close properly. True North cluster comes in a few varieties,  Pecan Almond Peanut, Almonds, Apple Cinnamon and Citrus Burst nut cluster. Aside from nut clusters, True North also makes Nut Crisps and have a line of whole nut snacks as well. Delicious and healthy. Two thumbs up.

These crunchy nut clusters combine roasted pecans, almonds and peanuts with a surprising hint of sweetness.

100% natural, no preservatives, no artificial flavors, no added clusters, and good source of protein.

One serving (28 grams) is 170 calories, 4 WW, 13 grams of fat (2 gram saturated, 3 grams PUFA & 8 grams MUFA), no cholesterol, 75 milligram of sodium, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 5 grams of sugar and 5 grams of protein.

Ingredients: Peanuts, Almonds, Brown Rice Syrup, Pecans, Organic Sugar and Sea Salt.

Don’t you love it when ingredient lists are nice and simple? Check out a $1.00 off coupon of their site if you are interest.

Retails: MSRP: $3.29 per 5.5 ounce bag
My Cost: Free (won Slim Shoppin’ giveaway)
Calories: 170 per ounce
WW: 4

P.S: Check out these amazing giveaways:
Nutritionist & 101th post

Nutland Foods

Hope you guys were able to sign up for a free sample on Nutland Foods‘ website before they ran out. After reviewing the 3 bite sample they sent over (signed up online), the kind people over at Nutland Foods sent over their other varieties for me to try out too.

Berries and Cherries Crunch: Love the combination of nuts. The berries stuck to my teeth and molars which made them a little annoying to eat. The sweetness in here makes me like to end my meals with it. A nice nutty and sweet end. Visually, I see mostly almonds, then cashews, pistachios and then the dried fruits (cherries, cranberries, and blueberries). The cherries add a bit of a tart taste to the whole combination. Previous review here.

Cashews: Love the cashew goodness. The sugar flavor was pretty prominent, but not as much as the varieties with mix nut in it. The buttery-ness of the cashews shone through easily. My favorite variety of the bunch.

Almond: Lots of almonds– duh. About 5-6 almonds per bite. Yum. Fresh tasting like all the other varieties.

Pistachio Crunch: Pure pistachio goodness. I counted about 10 pistachios molded together per little square crunch. A tad sweet, but nevertheless, really good. The nuts are fresh  and each bite is pure pistachio goodness.

Pecans: Pecans are naturally higher in fat content than other nuts so I was not surprised to see that 6 pieces came out to be 170 calories. Each bite has about 4 dry roasted pecans molded together. The pecans tasted really fresh with sweetness added to it. I swear I could taste a faint hint of cinnamon in there too, but cinnamon was not on the ingredients list. Maybe it is hidden under “spices”. Not as sweet as candied pecans, but I think these will serve well on top of salads to add your healthy fats.

Trail Mix: If I did not look at the bag, I thought I was eating the Berries and Cherries Crunch variety. Those two are very similar, but the Trail Mix lacks a little tartness the cherries provide. This and the Berries and Cherries variety are noticeable sweeter than the other single nut varieties. Also, maybe because those varieties are “stickier”, the pieces tend to stick to each other, but you can easily break them apart. The sugar gloss that molds the nuts and berries together are clearly visible. Sweet, but not sickeningly so. Did not even noticed the pecan in here until I looked at the ingredients list.

Overall, Nutland Foods are very tasty snacks that are easy to take along with you in their resealable packaging. I wouldn’t be afraid of the fat content since we all know nuts are good for all their MUFA which I find helps satisfy the body a lot longer than a fat-free/low fat diet. What I would be mindful about is the sugar content. If you enjoy snacks like Mareblu Naturals and Mrs. May Trio nut snacks, you will find these enjoyably. Comparing the three brands, I find that the individual nuts as well as the “nugget” size in Nutland Foods are bigger. Maybe it is because they do not mold the nuts together as tightly as the other brands.

Berries and Cherries Crunch: One serving 1 oz (28g/about 6 pieces), is 140 calories, 3 WW, 9 grams of fat (1.5 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 95 milligram of sodium, 12 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 7 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein. Ingredients list: dry roasted cashews, dry roasted almonds, evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup, dry roasted pecans, dried sweetened cranberries (cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil), dry roasted pistachios, dried sweetened cherries (cherries, sugar, sunflower oil), dried sweetened blueberries (blueberries, sugar, sunflower oil), sea salt, natural flavor.

Cashew: One serving 1 oz (28g/about 6 pieces) is 140 calories, 3 WW, 10 grams of fat (2 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 100 milligram of sodium, 12 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 grams of fiber, 6 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein. Ingredients: dry roasted cashews, evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup, sea salt, natural flavor.

Almond: One serving 1 oz (28g/about 6 pieces) is 150 calories, 3 WW, 11 grams of fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 95 milligram of sodium, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 6 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein. Ingredients: dry roasted almonds, evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup, sea salt.

Pistachio: One serving 1 oz (28g/about 6 pieces), is 140 calories, 3 WW, 10 grams of fat (1 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 95 milligram of sodium, 11 grams of carbohydrates, 2 gram of dietary fiber, 6 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein. Ingredients: dry roasted pistachios,evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup, sea salt.

Pecan Crunch: One Serving of 1 oz (28g/about 6 pieces) is 170 calories, 4 WW, 16 grams of fat (1.5 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 95 milligram of sodium, 8 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 5 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein. Ingredients: dry roasted pecans, evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup, sea salt, spice.Trail Mix: One Serving of 1 oz (28g/about 6 pieces), is 140 calories, 3 WW, 9 grams of fat (1.5 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 95 milligram of sodium, 12 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein. Ingredients: Dry Roasted cashews, dry roasted almonds, evaporated cane juice, dried sweetened cranberries (cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil, brown rice syrup, dry roasted pecans, dry roasted pistachios, sea salt, natural flavor.

Retails: $3.99 per 5 oz bag @ Whole Foods
My Cost: Free
Calories: 140 to 170 per serving
WW: 3-4

Wonderful Pistachios

Pistachios are one of my favorite nuts. I love the toasty aroma and the natural buttery taste of it. I always pick these up with shells because they are way too easy to munch on without them. It is sort of like built in portion control. Wonderful Pistachios are very easy to open.  One in about 20 pieces I had a hard time opening. The nuts are pretty big in size.  A couple of nuts are enough to stop my hunger. Perfect snack to hold you over. The thing about snacking on these is that they can get messy. Since these are salted and roasted, your hands inevitable gets dirty. Nothing a little soap and water won’t get out. We all civilized people, we wash out hands before AND after eating. Right? Doing a little weighing and measuring, I found that 10 shelled pistachios weights about 6 grams. Taking my time shelling and eating them, about 20 pistachios is a good size snack for me. Let me do the math. My snack turns out to be only 68 calories and nuts really do stop hunger in it’s tracks. I’ve been snacking on these Wonderful Pistachios everyday.

Did you know that pistachios are: the most nutrient dense, highest in antioxidants, and lowest in calories among all nuts, plus they are high in fiber, and  hearth-healthy. Over 50% of the fat content in pistachios are from monounsaturated fat which is the heart-healthy fat that helps lower LDL levels (“bad” cholesterol) and also contains oleoylethanolamide, which is an appetite suppressant found in MUFA.  That is why pistachios are also dubbed as the “skinny nut.” Find out more here. Pistachios are such a wonderful nut that there is a website all dedicated to them — Pistachio Health (@pistachiohealth on twitter). I had no idea that my favorite nut is actually so good for me.

Don’t worry, these babies are safe.  Luckily, Wonderful Pistachios was not part of the recall according to Pistachiorecall.org.

One serving 1/2 cup with shells or 1/4 cup without shells (30g) is about 170 calories, 4 WW, 14 grams of fat (1.5 grams saturated, 4 grams PUFA, 7 grams MUFA), zero cholesterol, 160 milligram of sodium, 310 milligram potassium, 8 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein.

Retails: $9.99 per 24 ounce bag @ Paviliions
My Cost: Free
Calories: 170 per ounce (shelled)
WW: 4

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Clif Bars & Larabars

Oh Nuts! Turkish Pistachios, Medjool Dates, & Chocolate Drizzled Pecans

Oh Nuts offers a huge variety of nuts, candy, chocolates , dried fruits and with over 2,000 varieties to choose from Oh Nuts is an online foodie heaven. Order in bulk and you get wholesale prices too. Perfect for those of you who like to make your own peanut and almond butters. I got to pick 3 items I wanted to try out the most. My head was spinning from all the choices to choose from, but I knew I wanted to try some delicious Medjool Dates since I’ve seen them on the blogging world so much and I’ve never had the pleasure of trying them myself. After a LONG deliberation with myself, I finally ended up choosing: California Medjool Dates, Turkish Antep Pistachios, and Chocolate & Caramel Drizzled Pecan Clusters.

Turkish Antep Pistachios: Don’t worry, I checked the recall list and Oh Nuts’ pistachio is not part of the recall. Pistachio and pistachio flavored anything are usually a hit for me. If you have never tried pistachio gelato, you HAVE to try it. One of my favorite frozen treats. Yum. I never knew there were so many different kinds of pistachios until I visited Oh Nuts. Turkish Antep Pistachios? Salted Israeli Pistachios? Shows how much I know about my nuts. I am clueless over here. Some people value flavor above all else. Those people will love our top-quality, Turkish pistachios. Smaller and less open than California-grown pistachios, Turkish pistachios feature a richer, more distinctive taste. Consider these the Rolls Royce of Pistachios. Rolls Royce of pistachios? Well, I have to try it or else I can’t call myself a pistachio lover, right? Indeed, these Turkish antep pistachio are less open and smaller than normal California pistachios. It made it harder to get into. The appearance of it is slightly darker as well. You can’t judge a book by it’s cover because although they do not look as appealing they are delicious. Slightly salted, but not overly so which made the true flavor of the pistachio shine through. The flavor is very rich and buttery. Oh, and I make sure I take the skin off the pistachio because when it mixes in your mouth, it takes away from the real flavor of the nut. Although the flavor is good, I still prefer the larger California pistachios because I get more satisfaction eating the bigger nuts AND I don’t have to break my nails trying to get into them. Ouch! One ounce (28g) is 170 calories, 5 WW, 13 grams of fat (1 gram saturated), zero cholesterol, 190 milligram of sodium, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein. Simple ingredient list of just pistachio and salt is a plus. No nasty oils or preservative. This is the kind of filling snackage I’m talking about. Not bad for $6.99 a pound.

California Medjool Dates: The only experience I’ve had with medjool dates is in the bone based soup my mommy makes. This may sound weird to some of you, but my family has been using medjool dates in soups for ages. Then all of a sudden, medjool dates got popular and the prices started to soar. The soup kind (dried and not sticky) and the snacking kind ( moist and sticky) are different so it wasn’t like I could start popping medjool dates from my mom’s cabinet into my mouth. Naturally, I was super excited to try out the REAL snacking medjool dates. These babies are huge. No wonder 2 of them is already 140 calories. I actually measure it and it was about 5 inches long, 1 inch wide and 1/2 inch tall. One big satisfying, uber sweet date. With peanut butter in the middle, it was better than going out on a real date. Grown in sunny California, the brown and saccharine date is probably man’s oldest cultivated fruit. There are many grades of Medjool dates: Jumbo Medjool Dates are the largest, sweetest, juiciest and are the cream of the crop. Only 5% of the entire crop makes this grade. Large Medjool Dates grade are the same quality, delightfully sweet and moist as the jumbos, only smaller size. Extra Fancy grade dates contains mixed sizes of fruit. These dates may have minor skin imperfections and will have some loose or broken skin. They are still very good but didn’t make the Jumbo or Large grade. Any of these dates can be used for cooking, baking and snacking. 20-21 PIECES IN 1LB. Can’t imagine how much bigger a jumbo medjool date can get, these are already very big in my opinion. Dates checked, nuts, checked, homemade Larabar here I come!! At $6.99 a pound, these are not a bad deal. I’ve seen them go for more expensive. Two dates is 140 calories, 2 WW, no fat, no cholesterol, 10 milligram of sodium, 36 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 29 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein. Ingredient list: just medjool dates.

Pecan Clusters (Dark Chocolate & Caramel Drizzled): With so many temptations on Oh Nuts, I had to splurge on something. Fresh Roasted Pecans clustered in a Delicious gooey caramel glaze drizzled with the highest quality dark chocolate. These dark chocolate drizzled pecans looked so heavenly on the website. The package came, in a clear plastic tub, Oh Nuts marked, and wrapped in plastic. I was disappointed that there is no nutritional information on the package or on the website, but I ate it anyways. Gooey caramel and dark chocolate drizzles are what hold the pecan clusters together.  High quality pecans with high quality dark chocolate and I did not find that these are overly sweet.  At $13.99 a pound, this is a very nice treat. Can’t say that these are healthy, but they sure are good.

Retails: $6.99 & 13.99 per lbs @ Oh Nuts!
My Cost: Free
Calories: 120 & 170
WW: 2-3

Kopali Organics: Mango, Mix & Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

Kopali Organics has a wonderful array of organic and delicious products. I got to try out their organic mango, organic mix and their organic dark chocolate covered espresso beans. I have to say that I am really impressed with Kopali Organics.

The Organic Mango is 100% real fruit with organic mango listed as the one and only ingredient. No added sugar and no preservatives, but these are naturally sweet. The one portion size package is great for a grab-and-go snack without having to worry about overeating. The entire bag is 140 calories, 2 WW, no fat, zero cholesterol, zero sodium, 39 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of dietary fiber, 34 grams of sugar (natural fruit sugar), and no protein, but also packed with 35% vitamin A, 2% vitamin C, 10% calcium, and 8% iron (based on a 2,000 calorie diet). They are better than any dried mangoes I’ve ever had because they tasted so natural.  These are so wonderful that I am tempted to just slice up some mangoes and stick them in the oven right now!! (T_T very unsuccessful)

Organic Mix includes superfoods like goji berries, mulberries, wonderful nuts like pistachios and tasty treats like cocoa nibs. Blended into a trail mix-esque package, they pack quick a punch in the nutritional forefront. Only those four ingredients are required to create this delicious mix. One serving is 120 calories, 2 WW, 6 grams of fat (2 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 37 milligram of sodium, 13 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, and 4 grams of protein with 25% vitamin A, 35% Vitamin C, 4% calcium, and 10% iron (based on a 2,000 calories diet). Love the mix and it taste wonderful in my yogurt mix.

Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso beans are a great pick-me up in the middle of the day when you have no access (or too lazy to make) to a cup of coffee. Coffee beans are normally grown with tons of pesticides, so I like to go organic with coffee whenever possible. I like how big the coffee bean are. Good quality dark chocolate with good quality coffee beans makes a heck of a good chocolate covered espresso bean. One ounce  is 120 calories, 2 WW, 7 grams of fat (4 grams saturated), no cholesterol, no sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.

Koplai organics is a great company. All of their products are organic, sustainably harvested and fairly traded with a lot of them being gluten free and vegan friendly. Their resealable portion sized package is great for the ladies to keep in their purse or stash in your gym bag. Their ingredients are all natural as well as short and simple. Like their motto, their products are “Good for you, good for the farmers, and good for the earth.” Check out their website for more exotic products. With 4 organic dried fruits, 5 chocolate covered superfoods, and 1 superfood mix to choose from, there is bound to be one that suits even the choosiest eater.

Retails: Varies @ Wholefoods
My Cost: Free
Calories: 120 to 140 per serving
WW: 2-3

Mareblu Naturals Pistachio Trail Mix Crunch

Another great impulse buy at my beloved Fresh & Easy — behold my new find, Mareblu
Naturals Pistachio Trail Mix Crunch. I know I shouldn’t be eating pistachios right now, but they are one of my favorite nuts so how can I say no when these went on sale for only $0.99. Mareblu Naturals offers ALOT of different varieties that are all natural, cholesterol free, 0 grams of trans fat, 100% vegan, gluten free, kosher, low in sodium, dairy-free, wheat-free, peanut-free, no preservatives and all made in the USA. The pouch is resealable so it is very convenient to take with you wherever you go. Nuts are naturally high in fat (MUFA) and calories so I was not surprised when 1/4 cup (28g) is 174 calories,  13 grams of fat (2 grams saturated), zero cholesterol, 39 milligram of sodium, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 4 grams of sugar and 5 grams of protein. This trail mix is very tasty and HIGHLY addictive. The pistachio trail mix crunch is composed of slowly dry-roasted cashews, almonds, pistachios and pumpkins seeds with some sea salt and then molded together with organic evaporated cane juice and rice syrup. They chop the cluster of nuts into bite size pieces, and you get chunks and chunks of whole nuts in every morsel. The nuts are dry-roasted to perfection (no oily residue) and they taste really fresh and has a big crunch factor. Judging with the naked-eye, the mix contains mostly almonds, then cashew, then pistachio and lastly the pumpkin seeds. However, I can taste all the nut flavors in here, especially  my favorite pistachio flavor. Yummy. The whole 4 ounce package contains about 4 servings, so portion control is highly recommending when you are dealing with something this tasty. The weather is getting pretty hot lately, so I like to enjoy these with a big glass of iced tea. Prefect afternoon snack on a lazy Sunday. Fresh & Easy also had the CranMango Cashew Crunch and the Cranblueberry Trail mix Crunch on sale for $0.99 as well. Go pick up some if you are one of the lucky people that live close to a Fresh & Easy.

Retails: $2.99 at Fresh & Easy
My Cost: on sale $0.99
Calories: 174 per 1/4 cup
WW: 4

Larabars

My first experience with Larabars. Yay. I’m loving them already. Small, but packed and very dense and pretty filling. As you all know, Larabars are unprocessed, fairly raw, non GMO, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, vegan, kosher with no added sugar AND contains only 5 ingredients or less!!

Apple pie: Has a hint of sour apple flavor and  all packed with chopped almonds, walnuts, raisins dates and a tinge of cinnamon. Delicious. My palette is not super sensitive, but I can guess what the ingredients are in the larabar without looking at the packaging. Truthfully, there are not that many products out there that you can do that with. Good thing about these dense bars is that I don’t have to finish the whole bar to feel satisfied.

Cherry Pie: Cherry lovers will love this cherry pie bar because it is soooo close to the real thing. The black cherries are plump and full of flavor and mixed with dates and almonds, it turns out to be a dense chewy CHERRY PIE!

Coconut Cream Pie: Another winner in the combination department. Just unsweetened coconut, almonds, cashews and extra virgin coconut oil. All the delicious flavor of a coconut cream pie without any of the the sin.

Peanut Butter Cookie: This taste just like a moist peanut butter cookie minus all the bad stuff. Delicious. There are a couple of hard bits in there, but I’m not complaining. Nuts have shells and fruits have seed and pits, its only natural that a bits get blended in. Three simple ingredients in the delicious PB bar! Dates, peanuts and salt. Larabar really knows how to do a peanut butter bar. The peanuts are in in chopped pieces that are evenly disturbed all over the bar. The dates add the perfect amount of sweetness. A really good bar all around.

Going to hit up Costco and buy their variety pack very soon. The only complaint I can think of that someone might have with Larabars is that they are not organic. Other than that, Larabars are perfect as a nutritious in between meal snack. What is your favorite Larabar flavor?

Retails: $1.29 @ Trader Joe’s
My Cost: Free
Calories: 180 to 220
WW: 4-5

You Trail Mix

This “customizing” your own food trend is really picking up some steam. It’s everywhere, from cereals, to granola, to protein shakes and nutrition bars. The newest addition to the YouBar and YouShake lines of customized goodies is You Trail Mix!! Now you can customize your own trail mix online and have them sent to you, or send it to someone else for a special occasion. I got the honor to try some popular You Trail Mixes: “Mix Up Your Day” has oat bran sesame sticks, coconut chunks, goji berries, dried pineapples, cashews and a few almonds. This combination has a good mixture of dried fruits, and nuts along with my favorite coconut shreds. A winning combination. The “Chocolate Trails” is made up of some pecans, cashews, peanuts, chocolate covers raisins, cherries, and semisweet chocolate bits. I feel like this is a classic combination which is easily reproducible at home, but it was still delicious. The “Best Trail Mix” is made up of almonds, cashews, walnuts, blueberries, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and some chocolate bits. For myself, I would prefer to mix up my own trail mixes in carefully measured portions. The calories do add up since the basis of the trail mix (nuts, chocolate, dried fruits) are not especially low in calories. Although I would not purchase these for myself, I have no problem sending these over as gifts to people. Very cute and thoughtful.

Retails: $1.89 to $2.19 per bag online
My Cost: Free
Calories: 220 to 234 calories (45 g bags)
WW: 4-5

Naturally More Nut Butters w/ Flax Seed

Big thanks to Tim over at Naturally More for sending me some samples. Although a peanut butter lover myself, I rarely purchase any sort of nut butters because one jar can probably last me one whole year. I am deathly afraid of the high fat content so I use them VERY sparingly. Although I know they are good fats, it is just too easy to spread a little too much.

Almond Naturally More: My first almond butter ever. I didn’t know what to expect. When I first opened the jar, there was a huge layer of oil floating on top. I know people are suppose to give it a good stir and then store it in the fridge and eat it like that, but I poured a good amount (not all) of the top oil off. Less oil means less fatty, right? I gave the jar a good stir. The almond butter beyond the top layer was thick and dry, mixed with the top oil, the texture is easily spreadable. The whole jar has whole flax seeds evenly distributed. Besides adding omega-3, the seeds has a very nice nutty flavor. I assume that they toasted the seeds beforehand, because it had a little bit of a crunch to it. The ingredient list is quite simple: almonds, flax seed. wheat germ, dehydrated can juice, and egg white. Nothing artificial, no additives, and no trans fat. One serving size is your standard 2 tablespoons and it has less calories than my normal nut butters. Only 170 calories, 16 grams of fat, 4.1 grams of omega-3, 1.2 grams of omega-6, 4 grams of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 9 grams of protein. I was surprised that there was sugar in here because it did not taste sweet at all. My first experience with almond butter is good, but I still prefer the taste of peanut butter over almond butter.

Naturally More: Again, I poured some of the natural oil off and began to stir. I thought it would be as thick the almond butter, but compared to room temperature stable peanut butters, this was pretty thin in consistency. Not runny, but not thick enough to be able to stick to a fork all and have it not run down. The ingredients are simple: roasted peanuts, egg whites, wheat germ, flax seed, flax oil, honey and salt. Two table spoons is 169 calories, 11 grams of fat, 4.1 grams of omega-3, 1.2 grams of omega 6, 130 mg of sodium, 4 grams of fiber, and 10 grams of protein. I don’t know if it’s because I poured some of the oil away, and then refrigerated it, but the peanut butter became really thick and there was no floating layer of oil on top like other natural nut butters. I love the texture even more after refrigeration. So creamy and spreadable. The taste of the peanuts is even more robust than when I first tried it. Very delicious.

Organic Naturally More:  It took my a while to distinguish the difference between the two Naturally Mores. I wondered why I was sent 2 of the same thing, just in different packaging. I finally realized that one is organic and one is not. The ingredients include organic everything: organic peanuts, organic flax seeds, and organic dehydrated cane juice. Two table spoon equals 170 calories, 11 grams of fat, 4.1 grams of omega-3, 1.2 grams of omega-6, 130 mg of sodium, 4 grams of fiber, and 10 grams of protein. Again, way better after I refrigerate it, both taste and texture-wise.

Here are my final thoughts. I love the idea and concept of enhanced natural nut butters. The 2 in 1 combo makes it easy to add flax into your diet. At first, I thought the nut butters did not taste robust enough, but after my pour oil, stir, and refrigerate process, these tasted really good. Love the thick and creaminess when it’s straight from the fridge. Creamy or smooth? With the addition of the whole flax seeds these nut butters are “in between” crunchy and smooth. Smooth nut butter with bits and pieces of toasted, crunchy flax seeds. Overall, I think these are great products for the health conscious eaters out there. You all know what I’m having for lunch tomorrow — peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a chalk full of omega-3.

Retails: $4.49 to $8.49 (not sure)
My Cost: Free from PR people
Calories: 169 to 170 calories per 2 tablespoon
WW: 5

Snacktrition Health Baked Nuts

Big thanks to Lauren over at Snacktrition for sending over these lovely samples. Snacktrition comes in 5 different varieties: calcium smoked almonds, calcium sea salt almonds, fiber salt & pepper cashews, fiber sea salt cashews, and calcium and fiber fruit and nut mix. I didn’t get to try the fiber salt & pepper cashews because I was sent 2 tubs of fiber sea salt cashews. Luckily, the sea salt cashews are my favorite.

Calcium Smoked Almonds: I describe these as raw almonds infused with a smoky flavor that is not overwhelming. These almonds are enriched with calcium. Mmmm… almonds in its natural state, slightly baked, and then infused with a smoky flavor. The smokey flavor is more apparent after a few “chew” into the nut. The salt here is very light and does not make me go water crazy afterward. The packaging for these are amazing. The 9 oz nuts come in a microwaveable and dishwasher safe tub with its own lid. The tub makes it very easy to bring these nuts with you on the go, have a few, and then close it back up. When you are done with the nuts, you can reuse the container for controlled potion snacks, such as cereal, crackers, trail mixes, etc. Nuts are so good at warding off hunger. The tubs contain about 9 servings. 1/4 of a cup is 150 calories, 12 grams of fat, 3 grams of fiber, 5 grams of protein, and about 10% of your daily calcium needs (based on a 2,000 calories diet). The ingredients list is nice and clean: almonds, sea salt, natural smoke flavor, and calcium citrate malate.

Fiber Seas Salt Cashews: Don’t judge a book by it’s cover because these are deceivingly good. From the exterior, these look bland, but these nut are full of flavor. The salt is minimal so you can really taste the true flavor of the cashews. The more I chew, the more cashew flavor came out and it seemed like the flavor changed in my mouth. I took time to enjoyed every cashew that I placed in my mouth (no mindless eating here). I think Snacktrition has rekindled my
love for cashews. Here is the simple ingredients list: cashews, inulin, and sea salt. And here are the stats: 1/4 cup is 160 calories, 12 grams of fat, 3 grams of fiber, 3 grams of protein and 2 grams of sugar. I’m loving this flavor the most.

Calcium Sea Salt Almonds: These taste just like regular raw almonds, but don’t forget that these are calcium enhanced so you are doing your body double goodness by adding these to your diet. A 1/4 cup is 140 calories, 11 grams of fat, 3 grams of fiber, and 5 grams of protein.

Calcium & Fiber Fruit and Nut Mix: I love the mix of almonds, cashew, dried cranberries, dried blueberries and yogurt bits in here. These are a very nice treat. A 1/4 cup is 150 calories, 7 grams of fat, 3 grams of fiber, 15 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein. Don’t you think dried fruit and nuts makes a wonderful combo?

Here are my final thoughts. The packaging of the Snacktrition products are great. Makes it very easy for us ladies to keep in our purses, and they won’t leave a mess. My favorite is the Fiber Sea Salt Cashews. I like the idea of enriched health foods. Making something that is good for you even better is a great idea, especially when it is hardly detectable taste-wise.

Retails: $6.99 per 9 oz tub
$3.99 per 3 oz bag
My Cost: Free from PR people
Calories: 140 to 160 per 28 grams
WW: 3 to 4