Results tagged “natural”

Skippy Natural Peanut Butter

By: Caroline Yoder | Jul 31, 2007

In recent years peanut butter has gotten some mixed attention. Many have lauded its abundance of healthy unsaturated fats, protein, and fiber. However, others have criticized the commercially prepared varieties of peanut butter for its trans fats. Skippy Natural Peanut Butter has eliminated the trans fat from its products. Partially hydrogenated oils no longer appear on the ingredients list but there is palm oil, which is highly saturated.

Skippy Natural comes in the two essential textures: creamy and crunchy. I personally prefer the creamy for its spreadability on items with crevices, like rice cakes, but the crunchy variety seems to be more widely available and is just as tasty. Skippy Natural tastes just like the original, and there is no need to stir it as it doesn't separate.

See more on: Condiments , natural, peanut butter

Cascade Fresh Fat Free Yogurt

By: Caroline Yoder | May 10, 2007

A few months ago, I decided that I had had a few too many liquidy, fruit-flavored concoctions that call themselves "yogurt." After so many dairy disasters, I decided that the artificial sweeteners were to blame. Granted, some brands manage to make artificially-sweetened yogurt quite delectable, such as Yoplait Light [read the review], but most however, fail miserably (ahem, take note Dannon Light N Fit). So I resolved to find a yogurt that was not only nonfat and fruity, but also palatable and naturally sweetened.

After considerable deliberation, I settled on Cascade Fresh Fat Free Yogurt.Cascade Fresh offers the standard flavors such as blueberry and strawberry, but also produces a few unexpected variations, such as apricot-mango and my personal favorite, orange Creamsicle. Cascade Fresh yogurt is all natural, free of additives and artificial colors; the milk used is even derived of cows that are not treated with rGBH hormones. The website boasts that their yogurt contains 8 active cultures and, most pertinent to my search, it is sweetened with natural fruit juice - precisely the kind of yogurt I was looking for. All the flavors were quite delectable; they were still sufficiently creamy for being nonfat and maintained a nice consistency after stirring. The only drawback was that the flavor is concentrated on the bottom so be sure to combine well before eating.

See more on: Dairy , Gluten Free , Vegetarian , natural, yogurt

Nancys Nonfat Blueberry Yogurt

By: Tanya Patrice | Apr 29, 2007

Nancy's Yogurts puts a twist on this whole yogurt thing that I love: the fruit - 100% real fruit - is in a container on top of the yogurt. The yogurt itself - well, the ingredients are simply skim milk, nonfat dry milk, honey and the yogurt cultures - all natural, nothing artificial! I bought the nonfat blueberry variety, and at first I tried the yogurt without adding the fruit. It was not sweet at all - reminded me of Fage [read the review], which I thought was inedible. When I added the fruit and mixed it together, the taste was still not as sweet as most other yogurts, but just as delicious. You can taste the rich, creamy thick yogurt and the plentiful fruit pieces. .

See more on: Dairy , natural, yogurt

LaraBar Cherry Pie Bar

By: Tanya Patrice | Feb 18, 2007

This is the last bar to be reviewed in Snack Bar Review Week, and I think I saved the best for last - unknowingly. The Lara Cherry Pie Bar tastes delicious . I love it, Love it, LOVE it! I don't think anyone can accuse this of tasting like a candy bar. The ingredients are simply dates, almonds and unsweetened cherries. That's it! The bar is chewy, moist, heavy on the dates and cherries and an added crunch from the almonds. It's a good source of fiber (18% of the RDA), gluten free, dairy free and soy free AND (as if that wasn't enough), you get 1 serving of fruit from this bar. Did I already mention that it's delicious?!

See more on: Bars , Gluten Free , Vegetarian , natural

Kashi GoLean Chocolate Peanut Crunchy Protein and Fiber Bar

By: Tanya Patrice | Feb 16, 2007

The Kashi GoLean Chocolate and Fiber Bar is an all natural bar made with crispy whole grain cereal and a bottom layer of chocolate. GOLEAN Crunchy bars are designed for an "optimized glycemic response" with slow release carbohydrates to balance blood sugar, and protein and fiber to help you stay satisfied.

The bars actually taste more like real peanuts rather than peanut butter, and since I don't like peanut butter, that was a good thing. They are sweet and crunchy - maybe a little too sweet. The bar weighs 50 grams which is the perfect size for snacking. I did have a bit of a candy bar /peanut brittle 'vibe', but this has less calories, less sugar and less fat than any candy bar this size would.

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Naturally More All Natural Peanut Butter

By: Ann H | Nov 27, 2006

I consider myself a simple girl, taking joy in the small pleasures of life like sunsets, summer breezes, fall foliage, and ... peanut butter! My love for peanut butter started at a young age when my 2 year old self and the rest of my little toddler-friends would be given our 3 o'clock snack consisting of apple juice boxes and Ritz crackers sandwiches made with JIF Creamy peanut butter. These days, you won't find me spreading the sticky stuff onto any Ritz crackers; no, instead I prefer to put it on apples, carrots, celery, and use it to make my absolute FAVORITE snack in the entire world: the peanut butter, honey, and banana sandwich!

In the past couple of years with the growing popularity of all things natural and organic, peanut butter manufacturers have been following suit in attempts to capitalize on the health craze by creating "all natural" peanut butters. Upon initially opening most of these butters, you are greeted with a shiny layer of oil on top of the dense peanut butter to which you are instructed to "stir to combine" the oil and underlying butter. Now this is fine and dandy; I don't mind having to stir like a madwoman, breaking out into a sweat if it means that I will be rewarded with some tasty peanut butter, but I have not been successful in finding a natural peanut butter that measures up to my favorite JIF Creamy.

I had just about given up the hope of finding a natural P.B. that satisfied me when Naturally More "All Natural" Peanut Butter caught my eye because of the tagline: "What peanut butter should be." I decided to replace the regular JIFCreamy PB that was already sitting in my grocery cart and give Naturally More a try.

When I opened the Naturally More jar, I was skeptical to say the least; there was the usual layer of oil, but this oil also had multitudes of little seeds floating around in it which I discovered were flax seeds. The Naturally More was A LOT easier to stir than the other natural butters I had previously tried; it combined quite easily and smoothly. I was eager to try it so I got out my baby carrots and went in for the dip: "Hoorah!" I was tempted to shout, for this peanut butter was simply divine! It definitely has a unique taste and consistency: slightly sweet but with a permeating "nutty" flavor. The flax seeds are an awesome ingredient, in addition to providing the Naturally More with an amazing texture and gusto, they are UNBELIEVABLY NUTRITIOUS making the Naturally More leaps and bounds better for you than your standard peanut butter.

See more on: Condiments , natural, peanut butter