Manbake

Protein bars make up a very big part of my diet.  Maybe a little too big of a part...but that's not important now... I just love them! Convenient, portable, easy, prepackaged, high protein, and if you find the good ones, healthy and tasty!

I was seeing some bars by a company called Manbake all over Instagram and knew I had to try some!

I was very excited when they send me 10 bars to taste and review!

Before the tasting party can begin, I had to check out the nutritional stats.  

I like my bars to have around 20 grams of protein.  Check! 

The macros vary slightly but the bars are 160-190 calories 5F 24C 20P.

Doesn't hurt that they are also gluten free and paleo friendly!

I would absolutely consider these a healthy protein bar.  Most of Manbake's recipes contain chia seeds, flax seeds, and hemp.  Super foods! They also use lots of different nuts and seeds instead of sugars and preservatives.  

They even have a vegan friendly bar! I decided to try the Mocha Fudge first.  This bar also contains some caffeine for an extra energy boost!

As soon as I tore through the wrapper I smelled chocolate and coffee! I checked in the ingredients and they even use real coffee. 

I was pleasently surprised to find whole almonds throughout the bar.  The bar was slightly soft and chewy.  This bar was not very sweet at all.  I could really taste the coffee.  I am not a huge fan of coffee flavored things, but if you are, this might be a good flavor for you to try. 

Let's try something a little fruity!

I must warn you...I am not a huge fan of fruit flavored things...I love fruit, but I usually don't really like fruity flavored things like yogurt, ice cream, granola bars, candy, cereal...

I went into it with an open mind! 

I actually kinda liked it! Same soft, chewy texture.  There were tiny bits of strawberry swirled throughout.  I like that there wasn't huge chunks of strawberries, but some strawberry essense.  Strawberry essence?? Ya, sure... 

Sticking with the fruity-ness...

Apple Pie is quite delicious! It is one of the fruity desserts I actually like.  Can't go wrong with cinnamon and apples.  

It smelled fantastic!! Just like apple pie from the oven.  

Loved this one!! The bar was pretty smooth.  No real chunks or anything.  I don't know how they got so much apple cinnamon flavor in there, but they did real good with this one!

I took the other Apple Pie bar to the soccer fields.

Let it sit in the sun for a few minutes to get really soft...heavenly!! It really was like warm, gooey apple pie!

I decided to have some fun with the Double Chocolate Chip bar.  

I see little chocolate chips hiding in there!

The texture of this bar is cookie dough-ish I figured...

Why not turn it into actual cookies!!

I microwaved the bar for 10 seconds, broke it into little pieces, formed tiny cookie dough balls, and baked them at 350 for 5 minutes.

Ta-Da!! Itty Bitty Cookies!!! These were not quite as sweet and chocolatey as I would have liked, but still pretty tasty.  I have baked other bars into cookies before and is my absolute favorite way to eat them!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough was up next so I HAD to try more cookies!

This bar was much softer than the Double Chocolate Chip.  

So they spread a lot more when baked. 

Next time I need to use a bigger baking sheet and spread them out.  

But they tasted amazing!! Slightly crunchy and then just melted in my mouth!

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough bar was by far my favorite!

I tried the other one right out of the wrapper.  Literally tasted like the raw slice and bake cookie dough you buy at the store.  Only this is good for you!!

I work as a nanny and sometimes it can be hard to always sit down and eat when and what I want. 

These bars are a perfect snack to toss in my bag for when hunger strikes! 

Would I recommend Manbake bars?!

Yes!! With all the different flavors, I am sure you will find one that suits you!

You can buy right from their website or check and see if they are sold in stores near you.  Manbake also carries a line of nut butters that all sound fabulous.  

Be sure to check out Manbake on your favorite social media sites!

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Zing Bars

I am on a mission to try all the different brands of protein bars! Next up - Zing Bars. 

I got to choose four different flavors to try and review.  It was not an easy decision! There are flavors like Chocolate Coconut, Dark Chocolate Hazelnut, Coconut Cashew Crisp, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Double Nut Brownie, Cranberry Cashew, and more!

I chose Chocolate Coconut, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, and Dark Chocolate Sunflower Mint.

They have 3 flavor profile of bars which include chocolate covered, soft cookie, and fruit & nut.  They also use 3 different protein sources.  These include brown rice protein (vegan), pea protein (vegan), and whey protein.  They are all gluten free, with no preservatives and no synthetic vitamins and minerals. 

I have said it before and I will say it again...it is easy to make a "healthy" protein bar...

Making it taste good too is the real challenge! 

 First up was the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip.  This is considered one of the soft cookie bars.  

I loved the texture! Soft and slightly chewy with lots of chocolate chips and oatmeal pieces.  

The taste was really great! It had the perfect sweetness without tasting artificial.  The sweetness comes from all natural ingredients like pecans, sunflower seeds, and cinnamon.  

This bar comes in at 210 calories 9F 25C 10P.  

Let's switch it up with a bar covered in chocolate! 

Dark Chocolate Coconut contains 210 calories 10F 25C 10P.  

If you like coconut, and you like chocolate, you will love this bar!

The chocolate has a great flavor and the bar is nice and soft.  My favorite so far!

You really can't go wrong with Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, right?!

Soft cookie texture again.  Very very good!! I could really taste the peanut butter and it had just enough chocolate chips throughout the bar.  Similar macros here with 210 calories 9F 25C 10P.  

Dark Chocolate Mint was saved for last.  Covered in that smooth chocolate once again.  

I could really smell the mint and was hoping for an Andes Mint or Thin Mint Cookie taste.  

Unfortunately I was quite disappointed with this flavor.  At first it tasted good, but then it had almost an alcohol flavor to it.  It might have been from the natural mint oil? 

I don't always love the chocolate/mint combo, so I had my husband try it too.  Sadly, he was not a fan either :(

I really enjoyed three out of the four bars!! I absolutely want to try more flavors because I think the people at Zing are really onto something here!

Overall, I love the texture of these bars.  With the exception of the mint one, the flavors were great! I wish they had a little more protein, but 10 grams is still quite good for a bar this size.  I also love the fact that they are gluten free and have vegan options.  

I decided to have a little more fun with the rest...

I loved cutting half of the Dark Chocolate Coconut into bite sized pieces.  It seemed to last longer this way and was a perfect little chocolate treat.  

Half Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and half Oatmeal Chocolate Chip into the microwave for 10 seconds.  

It was like warm cookie dough! This was awesome!! I loved how the little chocolate chips got all melty.  

Take some of those bite sized pieces, place them into the freezer for a few minutes, and you have yourself a super tasty chocolate treat! 

This is now my favorite way to eat Zing Bars! 

Would I recommend Zing Bars??? Yes! With all the different flavors, I am sure you will find some that are perfect for you.  

I have seen Zing Bars at some local grocery stores, Whole Foods, and some specialty stores.  Try using their store locator to find them in stores near you.  You can also just order some online! 

There is one really really bad things about these bars...

Eating the last of them...

Be sure to check out Zing Bars on all your favorite social media sites! 

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NuGo

Who loves protein bars?! This girl! I have challenged myself to try all the different flavors and brands that are out there! This is not an easy task.  There must be hundreds of different bars on the market today.  I sure have been having fun with the protein bar tasting parties though.  

I have heard a lot about the company NuGo.  I actually had one of their bars before and it was amazing! It was a Sea Salt Pretzel bar from their Dark line of bars.  They have seven different kinds of bars.  Dark, Organic, Free, Slim, Stronger, Family, and Smarte Carb.  No matter what your dietary needs, NuGo has a bar for you! They are also the only company to coat their bars in REAL dark chocolate.  Other companies substitute palm oil for natural cocoa butter which can add a waxy texture. 

I contacted the company and they suggested I try some bars from the Slim line.  It was really fun because they sent me coupons so that I could go pick them out for myself.  Plus, we didn't have to worry about the chocolatey goodness melting in the back of a hot UPS truck!!

The Slim bars come in five different flavors.  Rasberry Truffle, Brownie Crunch, Roasted Peanut, Espresso, and Crunchy Peanut Butter.  The NuGo Slim bars have 15-17g of protein, 7g of fiber, and only 2-3g of sugar with no malitol. The line is gluten free and features two vegan flavors! (Espresso and Crunchy Peanut Butter) 

I decided to try the Espresso bar first.  I couldn't think of a better way to enjoy this bar other than with a cup of coffee!

Completely covered in real dark chocolate! In case you were wondering, I am a very big fan of dark chocolate.  

This bar had a great coffee flavor, but it wasn't too overwhelming.  Nice and smooth.

Little crispy pieces all throughout the bar gave it the perfect crunch.  This was a great start to my day!

Snack time.  

Since I was trying the Rasberry Truffle bar, I figured it would go great with some more fruit! 

I am not gonna lie, I am usually not a big fan of the fruit/chocolate combo...I was a little worried...

NuGo did good with this one! I could definitely taste the raspberry flavor, but it was not too strong.  I still got to enjoy the wonderful dark chocolate.  

Chocolate break time! I knew the Brownie Crunch bar was going to be extra chocolatey! 

I was right! 

This was so good, especially if you are a chocolate lover.  There were little crunchy bits and chocolate chips all covered in that amazing smooth dark chocolate.

I really love how these bars are chocolatey, but they are not overly sweet.  Simply perfect!

I was saving the two I was most excited about for last.  

I am not at all ashamed of my peanut butter addiction! 

 Crunchy Peanut Butter was up. 

I decided to munch on some actual crunchy peanuts while taking pictures.  It just seemed fitting :)

Oh goodness! This bar still had the crunchy pieces inside, but the rest was a little bit softer.  

Something about chocolate and peanut butter...such an amazing combo!  This was hands down my favorite one so far!

 I don't know...can the Roasted Peanut beat the Crunchy Peanut Butter bar?!

Ah, I just can't choose! I loved the texture of this one.  Even softer inside which I really enjoyed.  The perfect little crunch and all that dark chocolate.  I am gonna have to call it a tie!! Peanut Butter bars for the win!

These will absolutely be a new part of my diet.  I never go anywhere without at least one protein bar just in case hunger strikes.

I think these will be making a frequent appearance in my bag!

 Did I mention these are a great snack to toss in your gym bag too?!

With 15-17 grams of protein, they are great pre or post workout!

 I would absolutely recommend you give these bars a try! I am so glad I got the chance to try all five flavors from the Slim line.  I am looking forward to trying more flavors in the very near future!

NuGo bars are sold all over the US and Canada in many local grocery stores. You can also find them at Whole Foods and specialty stores like GNC and Vitamin Shoppe. Use their store locater to find NuGo bars near you! 

 Even Satchmo the cat enjoys NuGo Slim bars!

Ok...so maybe she just enjoys the sound and feel of the wrapper...either way...

 Follow NuGo on all your favorite social media sites!!

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Read and sign the petition by NuGo Nutrition to create a FDA standard for dark chocolate.