What could be better than an all-natural snack you can take on the go? Larabars are made with very few ingredients, often using dates, nuts, and just a few other things to create a wide array of flavors.
My favorites are Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Cherry Pie, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Coconut Cream Pie, and Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte. (Do you see a pattern here?)
Where most of the “healthy” bars I’ve tried left me feeling bloated from unnecessary ingredients or they just tasted so terrible; I couldn’t make it through a whole bar and ended up hungry for a few more hours.
These are soft, moist, chewy, and don’t taste “diet” at all. It’s almost like eating a candy bar as a mid-afternoon treat, which is usually when I have mine. I toss them in my purse before a road trip or a long string of errands.
There’s no high fructose corn syrup and the ingredients will all be recognizable and natural. They’re balanced, containing carbs, a little protein, and fat, so you stay full longer and your body gets what it needs.
Filling up on one of these relatively low-calorie snack means you’re less likely to stop at McDonalds for fries or at a bakery for chocolate chip cookies just because you’re ravenous and want whatever you can get your hands on first, at least from my experience. You don’t have to feel weird about grabbing one for your kid, too, because there are no artificial sweeteners to question.
I’ve eaten a Larabar a day for about a year without getting sick of them because they’re such perfect convenience snacks (something I need or I’ll make bad food choices out of desperation!).
I get bored with food easily, and I’m still not tired of them because of the list of available flavors. I’ve had the best luck finding the most choices at Kroger and Whole Foods, but check your grocery stores to find out what’s available in your area.
Photo credit: Larabar
