Bare Fruit - Cinnamon Apple Chips Review

So it's no secret that I love love love love fruit. Apples are one of my favorite, but sometimes... carrying an apple around gets funny looks. And other times, you just don't have the room.... or maybe you don't want to squirt juice all over the two people sitting on both sides of you on the bus... (yes, I have done this-I was hungry and had to get to class-sorry loyal public transit commuters!) 

This is where a delicious snack of Bare Fruit dried apples come into play! I was recently given a bag of Bare Fruit Cinnamon Apple Chips to sample and blog about (the only thing given was the bag of apple chips, I was given no compensation and all opinions are solely my own).

Bare Fruit Snacks make apple chips in three varieties: Fuji, Granny Smith and Cinnamon (the kind I tried). They also make dried apricots, pears and mango. The company is based out of Washington (imagine that! :P) and they use only Washington Apples. They honestly use nothing other than apples (well and cinnamon in the cinnamon variety) in their apple chips! Amazing!

These apple chips really did taste like a chip in texture... crispy, crunchy, crazy good! I loved how sweet they were and the cinnamon touch was just right. 

The first night I opened them... yes they are pretty much gone! I (and everyone that was lucky enough to be around me when I opened my package and got to try some before they were devoured) LOVED them!

Taste: 5/5 So sweet and fresh! I loved how they still tasted just like an apple... not at all like a dried out piece of cardboard like some dried fruit can taste like.

Texture: 4/5 Great! Without using anything other than apples, Bare Fruit was able to get an amazing crispy bite to their apple chips.

Nutriton: They are just apples people! So 5/5! About 1/2 cup = 1 apple, so roughly 90 calories, and 4 grams of fiber! NICE!

Overall: 5/5 - these apples chips were great! I loved adding them to trail mix, cereal, and of course just eating them plain on the bus - I'm sure the people I was sitting beside loved not getting squirted in the face with apple juice as well. 

So if you love apples, you need to try these apple chips out! They are convenient, delicious and healthy! What's not to love?! ...other than seeing the bare bottom of the bag :(

YUM!

Chip Comparison Review

Chips.... oh chips... They could very well be blamed for a good deal of this countries obesity epidemic... (I know the chips really aren't at fault and we need to exercise will power and all that... but still!)

Anyways... Did you know that every year Americans consume about 140 lb. of potatoes per person! Most of those pounds come in the form of the potato chip (well, not mine-mine come directly from mashed potatoes!)

There are so many varieties of chips though! Tortilla, corn, multi-grain, bean (yes-crazy I know!). The chip world has expanded into a chip galaxy! There are so many flavors and textures and colors! Thankfully, many chip companies are switching out cooking methods and ingredients to create a healthier snacking option

Like the two I recently was able to sample. And today we're going to do a little side-by-side comparison review on these two very different, but very yummy chip companies!

~Beanfields - Bean & Rice tortilla chips
~Boulder Canyon Natural Foods - Potato Chips

My brother and I thoroughly enjoyed the unique texture that accompanied these chips!

My friends having a late night sampling party of the Boulder Canyon chips while watching some F.R.I.E.N.D.S.!

Yes... this would be my humble 8 foot x 5 foot home for the next few months!

You're jealous aren't you?

The verdict? Both chips were amazing! Different-yes... but both were very tasty. 

So let's go over the 'Big Three' for each, shall we? (I think we shall!)

Taste:

Beanfields: Great! I loved how many different flavors there were! Such as, Nacho (my bro's fav!), Pico de Gallo, Sea Salt (my favorite!), Sea Salt & Pepper (my mom's favorite), and all-natural

As you can see there is something for everyone! 

5/5

Boulder Canyon: The two kinds my friends and I sampled were the Canyon Cut- Sour Cream & Chives and Canyon Cut-All-Natural. Don't be fooled by the name though-these did have salt-a lot in our opinions! But we loved it.... we are all self-proclaimed salt-addicts! The Sour Cream & Chive had a good, deep flavor that we all loved as well!

4/5 - only because they were a little greasy from all the salt/flavor topping...

Texture: 

Beanfields: A little different they weren't as crispy as I would have expected from a chip-but they were stiff, if that makes any sense? It's not as if they were soggy-I just think they are thicker than most chips and therefore more on the hard than crispy side.

4/5 - may come off slightly too un-crispy for some? 

Boulder Canyon: Great! I loved the wavy cut of their signature "Canyon Cut" chips. There are other texture variety though if you don't like wavy chips-like Kettle Cooked for instance

5/5  

Nutrition:

Beanfields: 

Just take a look for yourself...

	Complete Protein: 4 grams in every serving, as much as a 4 oz. glass of milk.
	Fiber: 4 grams in every serving, the same as a ½ cup serving of raisin bran. And you get both soluble and insoluble fiber, which aids digestion. The fiber also helps you feel fuller longer.
	Allergen Specific: Beanfields is free of every one of the FDA's eight most common ingredients that trigger food allergies.
	Gluten Free
	Minerals our bodies need, including potassium and magnesium.
	Half the saturated fat and one third less sodium than most corn tortilla chips.

Not too shabby eh??

5/5!

Boulder Canyon:

Boulder did a pretty good job themselves...

• All Natural Ingredients
• Zero Trans Fat
• Zero Cholesterol
• Low Saturated Fats*
• Consistent Quality
• Great Taste
• Gluten Free (where indicated)

 5/5 as well!

Overall: 

Beanfields: 4/5

Boulder Canyon: 4/5

Both these chips were a great substitute from many other varieties that have high levels of saturated fat, un-natural ingredients and trans fat!

For more info on both of these snacks check out:

Beanfields Website

and

Boulder Canyon Foods Website

Food Should Taste Good Chips

Just the name of this company: "Food Should Taste Good" says it all-food SHOULD and DOES taste good when that food is in the form of their chips! I'm not a huge chip person... I would much rather have a creamy smoothie or bowl of froyo before picking up a bag of chips-but even I was addicted to these chips!!!

I consulted my mother (the self proclaimed QUEEN of all things salty and snacks-especially chips!) to help me with this product review... Let's just say it was 'love at first bite' (oh so cheesy but oh so true!) She loved them just as much as I did-and that was A LOT!

Food Should Taste Good was gracious enough to send us 5 full sized packages to sample! I loved them all!!! :) The chips -both the kettle cooked and the regular varieties were crispy, crunchy and full of flavor.

We tried the original Sweet Potato Kettle Cooked, Sweet Potato (regular), BBQ Sweet Potato Kettle Cooked, Kettle Corn, and Chocolate (yes, chocolate!)

You can read all about their varieties and order some for yourself (I strongly urge it!) here 

All packaged up! So cute :)

Mmm Mmm Mmm!!! My favorite kind-Kettle Cooked Sweet Potato

HUGE! no dinky little chips for us!

Every chip is unique-you can tell they are all natural!

This was taken directly from their website:

 All chip varieties are gluten free, cholesterol free, have no trans fats and do not use genetically modified ingredients (GMOs). They are also certified Kosher, low in sodium, are a good source of dietary fiber and many varieties are certified vegan.

Chips that taste good AND good for you?! Get. Out.

This company also sells Brown Rice Crackers... just sayin'

Oh! And get a load of this:

We believe food can do good, so we created Food Should Do GoodTM  to funnel all our “good” efforts to give back to our communities, our employees, and the environment.  Since 2007, we’ve donated over $250,000 in monetary donations to various organizations fighting breast cancer and hunger, as well as the equivalent of over $500,000 in our all-natural chips. So in just two years, we’re proud to have donated a total of over $750,000 to various charities!

Yikes! This company is the BombDiggidy! (spelling??)

I love these chips-I mean obviously by my over-use of '!' in this post :) ...But nonetheless-this wouldn't be a Blissful review with my fast 3! You know what I'm talking about-taste, texture, nutrition!

Taste: Alright, let's not waste time here people... 5/5 

Texture: Again, crispy, crunchy, a perfect 5/5 (haha-I kinda feel like I'm at the Olympics!)

Nutrition: Well let's just pick a random chip (since the nutritional stats are all pretty similar) 

Umm-NICE! Look at all those healthy fats! And extremely low sodium, no cholesterol, fiber AND protein?! I think I know what's for dinner tonight... CHIPS!

So obviously nutrition is getting a full 5/5 as well. Just so you know-this is the first time EVER that I've given 5/5 in every area! :O Yes people...these chips are just. that. good.

So tell me: How do you spell BombDiggidy?! :)

Pita Chips

Who likes chips?! Ummm....pretty much everyone in America! But chips are not the most nutritional sound snack you can possibly have. Aside from being low in almost all vitamins and nutrients, they are usually loaded with fat, sodium, cholesterol and calories. (Because really, who sticks to only 13 chips?!)

So I set out to find a Super-food Swap I could switch out my usual potato chips with... after some looking and taste testing I found a perfect fit! They are "Stacey's Pita Chips" and these bad boys are DELICIOUS! I like them with sweet dips, salsa, savory spreads, peanut butter, you name it! (Not to mention, they are amazing on their own!) But...my limited access to Walmart and dwindling funds have led me to look for a pita chip that was still as nutritionally sound as "Stacey's" but easier on my pocketbook and that could be made at home.

Now, while I am still using pre-bought Pita Pockets...it is a step in the right direction! Soon, I will perfect my Pita Pocket recipe and be able to make these from complete scratch...But until then, I will provide you all with the technique I used to bake Pita Pockets into crispy, delectable pita chips.

You will need:
Ingredients:
-Pita Pocket Bread (Here I used Kangaroo brand, they are pretty economical and have an amazing taste-but feel free to use whatever kind you like or have on hand)
-Cooking Spray (I like to use Pam, but again-"To each his own..."

Directions:
1. Take your pita pocket pieces and cut them in half (if they are not already pre-cut)
2. Cut each of those halves into equal sized pieces (I made 4 out of each half)
3. Since they will be connected on the bottom, either break apart or slice (I now had 8 pieces out of one half of pita pocket bread) Make sense?? I hope so!

4. Arrange your pita pocket triangles on a wire rack placed atop a cookie sheet
5. Lightly spray with your cooking spray
6. Turn each triangle over and spray lightly again

7. Bake on 400* for about 10 minutes...they will start to brown around the edges
8. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes! This is vital! I don't want you to burn your tongue! :)

MMMMmmmmmm!
These are soooo good with Cowboy Caviar! (Recipe coming soon!)

Of course your nutritional information will differ based upon what type of pita bread you use and how many pieces you cut them into

Here is the nutritional facts for 1 pita pocket, which is actually 1/2 disc of the Kangaroo Brand