Bars

Bars... you know, granola bars, cliff bars, power bars, etc.  There are at least a million different bars offered today.  My relationship with bars has been a long, love / hate adventure.  Back in my college days, a Big Gulp Diet Coke and a chocolate Power Bar from the Kangaroo in Athens would be my breakfast and sometimes repeated for lunch.  Then the arrival of Cliff bars, I thought these were super healthy, so I switched my diet to those and subsided for quite sometime.  Now, I am not dissing any one brand, anyone who eats any type of bar day in day out for a long period of time will a) get stomach aches and b) get completely sick of that type of bar.  I went through a few more brands and finally woke up one day and decided I needed to eat real food instead of bars for breakfast and lunch.  Real, whole, healthy food.  So, I gave up bars completely. (And, yes, diet cokes were eliminated a long, long time ago.)  I had great success with this decision - more energy, less stomach aches, felt more satisfied, etc. 

But, are bars all bad?  No, and sometimes bars are extremely convenient.  This past weekend, we went up to the Nantahala Outdoor Center to go white water rafting and hiking with another couple.  -I digress here, but have you been to the NOC?  SO much fun.  What a great place, I can't wait to go back and take the girls. 

Ok - on to bars.  I was not sure what the food would be like, so I packed a lot of gluten free, vegan snacks, and I went down the bar aisle at WholeFoods.  I was shocked by how many new bars there are.  I found several vegan, gluten free, and even raw bars.  Bars, are sometimes, the least perishable and most convenient snack one can bring on an outdoor adventure.  Several brands went into my basket.  And, my friend whom we went with, also brought up some bars for us to try.
All of these are gluten free and dairy free:

1) Nutty Goodness - raw, simple, good - I will buy this again. The girls enjoyed this one as well-
2) Go Free - we did not like this one, chalky, and hard
3) Two Degrees - I enjoyed this one, especially because it was chocolate and peanut butter.  Added benefit- the company also donates a nutritional packet to a hungry child for every bar bought. http://twodegreesfood.com/
4) Kind Bar - cant go wrong with this bar.  I have tried several flavors, and enjoyed them all.  I particularly like the almond coconut.  Yum.

My two favorites are Two Degrees and Kind Bars.  I do not plan to start eating bars everyday - hopefully ever again.  But on road trips, or just to have in my purse for times when I am not sure I can find GF/ VG food these are great to have on hand.

Circle back to the NOC - I was able to get a vegetarian / GF meal for lunch and dinner!  Yay.