Smart for Life makes a great variety of healthy food products designed to help busy, health-oriented individuals eat healthy with the same ease and convenience of packaged junk food.
I tried several of their products and they're actually just as tasty as they are convenient!
We'll start with the
Smart for Life Protein Bars, since I'm the
Queen of Bars. I got to try four different varieties.
Chocolate Peanut Butter, Caramel Almond, Chocolate, and Green Tea. I was most excited about the Green Tea flavored bar, since that's really unusual for a protein bar!
All four bars have similar nutritional stats - about 190 calories, 10g (or less) of sugar), a whopping 20g of protein, and 2g of fiber.
Though they're made with soy crisps for protein, none of these bars (or any of the Smart for Life products, as far as I'm aware) are vegan. They all contain whey (or dairy in some other form) and/or egg/egg whites.
But that's okay, because
I'm not vegan!
So I tore right into the bars and, surprise surprise, the Green Tea bar ended up being my favorite (over the chocolate flavors, even)!
All of the bars have a similar texture - they're not like most protein bars, but rather more like a rice krispy treat (with a little bit of a malted flavor). They're not too sweet, but definitely sweet enough with their chocolate coatings (or, in the green tea bar's case) generous drizzle of icing.
In general, I prefer more traditional protein bar textures on the whole. But these are nice to switch things up!
Or if I feel like being a five-year-old with a rice krispie treat (sans sugar crash).
Smart for Life also makes pretty tasty cookies, as they ought to (they're the ones behind the
cookie diet).
I didn't try the cookie diet cookies (which seem to be more oat-y, from what I see
on the website) but got to try the
Irresistible Winner Cookies, instead.
Seriously, who can resist trying a cookie with a name like that? I like confidence in a snack.
The cookies are individually wrapped, which makes them great for on-the-go snacking, or for those of us who need to work on the portion control. The little packs are nice, because they make it easier not to tear through the whole box at once.
Ahem, I'm looking at you, Girl Scout cookies.
With only 3g of sugar and 2g of fiber (that's as much as you'll get in a slice of whole wheat bread), they're also a really great option as a healthy snack. They're also pretty high in protein (6g) so they're a satisfying snack.
I'm not sure what happened to my photos of the actual cookies, my camera must have eaten them. Boo! But they look like the picture, which is always pleasant, and are of a pretty decent size - maybe about a two inch diameter?
Of the two, the chocolate chip cookies are my favorite. Both are tasty, but they also probably aren't what you think of when you think of a cookie. They're more of a cake-y cookie, with a layer of chocolate or peanut butter (respectively) frosting over them.
I didn't think the inner part of the chocolate chip cookie tasted very chocolatey, and the chocolate chips weren't as prominent as they could have been, but the chocolate shell made up for it. I haven't tried microwaving them, yet, though. I'll have to try that!
Next up was the
Crunch, which is best described as a cake-y granola.
Just FYI - there's more in the pack than just those three pieces!
I actually really enjoyed these. They're great as a Greek yogurt topping with some blueberries and melted peanut butter. I liked that some of the pieces had dried fruits in them and, though they're liked chunks of muffin, they did have crunchy pieces throughout that I really enjoyed.
And only 3g of sugar (plus 5g of protein and 2g of fiber) makes them a great snack, or a wonderful alternative to granola, if you're looking for something a little lighter.
You get quite a bit of tasty, sweet snack there, for just the 90 calories. I'd definitely buy these again!
Last up were the Smart Bagel Chips.
One good-sized bag is a serving.
That's one of the things that I really liked about all of the
Smart for Life products - they didn't try to use
deceptive labeling or tiny portion sizes to skew their nutritional stats.
They're also whole-wheat and loaded with fiber, so they're a great snack!
I thought they tasted great on their own, or with some nut butter and jam (or cheese, or whatever else you like topping your bread or crackers with).
What's your favorite snack right now?
Which of the Smart for Life products looks best to you?
What are your favorite ways to get your protein in?
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