Health Warrior - Chia Bar - Chocolate and Peanut Butter - March 9, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Health Warrior
Chia Bar - Chocolate Peanut Butter
Good - Good +
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) in total bar
Calories: 100 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $ (lost info)
Purchased from: (lost info)

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Peanut Butter Theme Week.

Health Warrior (Richmond, VA) products include chia seeds and chia bars/snack foods, including today's Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Bar.

The chocolate and peanut butter flavors were subtle. It was a great bar for a hike. Not too sweet, but satisfying and natural tasting. One bar at lunch helped power a hike up Ring Mountain (Tiburon, CA) this afternoon to see the Miwok Indian Petroglyphs. Thanks Health Warrior founders (Dan Gluck, Nick Morris, and co.).

Little chia seeds are naturally nutrient dense -- offering a good source of protein and fiber, antioxidants and Omega-3 fatty acids. (This small bar contained roughly 1,000 mg of Omega-3s.)

Chia seeds have been enjoyed by humans, as far back as 3,500 years ago) -- and, by inference, Aztec warriors. Today's health and fitness "warriors" might also benefit.

Those Chia Pets* and heads are great fun, but chia seeds are also a great healthy food. Maybe there needs to be a "chia warrior?"

*What are Chia Pets? Joseph Enterprises, Inc. (San Francisco, CA) created them and still sells them. These figurines made their debut in 1977. Moistened chia seeds are spread on small, animal or head-shaped terracotta figures. And if watered and cared for properly the seeds sprout and grow "fur" or "hair." (The company also sells chia seeds for consumption.) 

Skout - Chocolate + Peanut Butter bar - March 8, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Skout Natural Foods
Chocolate + Peanut Butter Organic Trailbar
Good
Weight: 1.8 oz. (50 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $
Purchased from:

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Peanut Butter Theme Week.

Being a hiker I'm always interested in trying convenient, relatively healthy snacks that incorporate chocolate. I found a few items that incorporated both chocolate and peanut butter for this theme week.

The first was today's Chocolate + Peanut Butter Organic Trailbar from Skout Natural Foods (Portland, OR).

"Organic, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Non-GMO, Dairy and Soy Free" with no refined sugar, this dark, almost-glossy pressed bar kept it's shape with the help of organic dates (the #1 ingredient).

Wild Friends - Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter - March 7, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Wild Friends Foods
Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.5 oz. (32 g.) in total packet
Calories: 190 calories in 1 packet
Cost: $1.19 for 1 packet
Purchased from: Sprouts Farmers Market, Mountain View, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week, and a lead in to Chocolate and Peanut Butter Week.

Conveniently packaged in a "knead and squeeze" single-serving packet, this Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter is part of a line of flavored nut/seed butters (peanut, almond and sunflower) from Wild Friends Foods* (Portland, OR).

Like regular peanut butter, this flavorful spread was good by itself, or I imagine it could be spread on cookies, toast, ice cream sandwiches, or other items, and likely would be fine for cooking or baking as well. Unlike many other nut butters, it was not too sweet. The peanut butter, chocolate and coconut were balanced nicely and tasted authentic.

What else did I like about this Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter? It was made with only 5 ingredients: roasted peanuts, coconut, organic agave, unsweetened dark chocolate, and sea salt.

*Founders Keeley Tillotson and Erika Welsh, started this business when they were University of Oregon students.

MaryJanesFarm - Pinnacle Coconut Milk Chocolate, Almonds bar - March 6, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

MaryJanesFarm
Pinnacle - Coconut Milk Chocolate and Almonds
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total package
Calories: 159 calories (estimate) in 1/2 package
Cost: $2.93 for 1 package
Purchased from: REI, Mountain View, CA

Decades ago, hiking snacks were largely DIY -- bags of homemade granola with chocolate chips or MandMs tucked into a rucksack or backpack were popular. Today, if you don't have time to make your own hiking or climbing snack, there are a wide range of interesting packaged, chocolate choices available.

Today's 41% cocoa Pinnacle Coconut Milk Chocolate and Almonds bar from MaryJanesFarm (Moscow, ID) was self-described as "High Attitude" Organic Chocolate -- part of a line of High Attitude foods that looked very suitable for backpacking, camping or hiking trips.

This relatively substantial bar (thickness probably helps prevent meltage on a warm day) had an authentic milky flavor, and smooth mouth feel; it contained both whole milk powder and coconut oil. Small pieces of almond embedded throughout the bar offered some complementary crunchy texture.

This Non-GMO, gluten free Coconut Milk Chocolate was created with cocoa from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Askinosie - Coconut CollaBARation bar - March 5, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Askinosie Chocolate
Coconut bar ("A Beautiful Mess")
Good ++
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 76.6 calories in 1/6 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #

This coconut chocolate bar from Askinosie Chocolate (Springfield, MO) was part of the company's CollaBARation* series of bars, made with bean-to-bar chocolate + added flavor inclusions.

The bar had two sides: the back was a tiny riot of toasted golden-brown coconut shreds, which yielded well balanced, freshly toasted coconut flavor. The bar was lightly sweetened with organic coconut sugar.

The front side was comprised of the standard Askinosie smooth, dark tiled format; each of the 18 squares held one letter -- spelling out Askinosie Chocolate.

For some extra fun you can break the squares apart and play chocolate word games. And speaking of fun, I think Askinosie staff must have been enjoying themselves when they named this bar:

"Flakes of Coconut Get Toasted As Rich, Dark Chocolate Teases Coy Coconut Sugar Creating A Beautiful Mess*"

*A Beautiful Mess is the name of a Missouri, lifestyle blog -- created by authors Elsie and Emma. Askinosie collaborated with this sister duo when they created this bar. 

Coco Polo - Toasted Coconut Chia bar - March 4, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Coco Polo
70% Dark Chocolate Toasted Coconut Chia bar
Good
Weight: .564 oz. (16 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 76 calories in 1/5 bar
Cost: $5.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Fresh Market, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

The desire for chocolate with less sugar (for both health and taste preference reasons) has resulted in many different offerings over time, ranging from 100% cacao chocolate bars (with no added sugar) to chocolates with artificial sweeteners and lower-glycemic "natural" sweeteners.

Today's sugar-free, Toasted Coconut Chia bar was from Coco Polo (Highland Park, NJ). The company offers a line of bars made with fair trade cocoa and sweetened with Reb A (an extract of stevia*) -- and they've worked out a formulation where there is little or no stevia aftertaste.

The bar had a much less "sugary" flavor than most chocolate bars. Less sweet is usually good for me, as I like to taste the underlying chocolate and inclusions. And others may like the slightly lower caloric count and lack of sugar spike. The coconut in this bar was subtle and natural tasting. Added cocoa butter made this gluten-free, Non-GMO and vegan bar a little richer and smoother.

*Stevia comes from a plant native to South America. The leaves of this plant (Stevia rebaudiana) are naturally very sweet, and have been used for a very long time by the peoples of Paraguay and Brazil in teas and as a sweetener.

Charm School - Coconut Milk Chocolate bar - Mar. 3, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Charm School Chocolate
Coconut Milk Chocolate 49% bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 315 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #3 for Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

The number of good non-dairy and vegan "milk" chocolate bars has grown in recent years. These bars are made with milk alternatives, such as coconut "milk" instead of cow's milk.

Today's Coconut Milk Chocolate 49% cacao bar from Charm School Chocolate (Reisterstown, MD) was definitely one of the best ones I've tasted to date.

Charm School Chocolate specializes in non-dairy, vegan chocolate offerings, incorporating organic and fair trade ingredients where possible.

The chocolate was made from scratch, stoneground and crafted using cacao beans from Maya Mountain Cacao (farmers co-op in Southern Belize). The finished bar had a rich, almost creamy melt and tasted like great chocolate all the way through -- an experience made possible by great beans and careful chocolate-making technique. The bar also had faint caramel latte, coconut, spice (cinnamon, vanilla, lemongrass) flavor notes.

This Coconut Milk Chocolate bar earned a 2015 gold seal of approval from The Good Food Awards.