I heard about
Lara Bars when I was searching the forums at
celiac.com for energy bars. Any sort of energy or snack bar is suspect because they usually have oats in them or a long list of bizarr-o sounding compounds of indeterminate makeup. Also, even when I could eat those energy bars, I just didn't like them that much.
In comes Lara Bar. The ingredients are simple: nuts and dried fruit. The flavors are amazing. The cherry pie flavor, while not gooey with pie filling oozing from under a flaky crust, actually tastes like cherry pie. Because it's made of cherries. Somehow the cashews in the banana cookie bar mimics the taste of cookie crumbs. The only ingredients though are the cashews and bananas.
While the flavors are amazing and I've been buying them by the case, there's one drawback to these bars. They're somewhat high in sugar and fat. That's to be expected when there's nothing but fruit and nuts I suppose. They do give you the quick burst of energy with a shot of flavor that's better than any Balance or Cliff bar. But I wouldn't want to make a full meal out of them. I keep them as snacky treats for when I'm traveling.
I've seen Lara Bars at Trader Joe's, REI, and other grocery and outdoors stores. You can order cases directly from the Lara Bar website, but they're cheaper from
Amazon.com.
(Image from
FitSugar.com.)
Have you heard the news? At first I thought there was a mistake in the search results on Amazon.com Groceries. But then I read it on another blog and I finally saw in the store for myself. Rice Chex are now gluten-free. It's about time. There's no reason for Rice and Corn Chex and Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes to not be gluten-free, but for some reason General Mills and Kellogs insists on using malt. But that is no longer the case for good old familiar Rice Chex. It says so right on the font of the box and the ingredients list confirms it.
