This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of LÄRABAR for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
I was not the least bit familiar with LÄRABAR products until just recently and must admit, I was completely in awe of the simplicity of ingredients. Being a registered nurse, I do try my hardest to ensure that my family eats as healthily as possible, but that's often rather difficult when you have a 3 and almost 6 year old and a husband who craves anything and everything sweet and/or salty! I have spent a great deal of time looking at various "fruit and nut" bars at our local grocery stores, however, it's quite unsettling when you begin to read the lengthy list of ingredients. It's often hard to decipher just how "healthy" certain bars are, when you see countless ingredients that you cannot even recognize. Upon receiving 13 different flavors of LARABAR products to sample, my husband and I were shocked at the fact that all of the bars contain only 2-9 ingredients--all of which are all natural, have no added sugars or sweeteners and no preservatives, fillers or colorings. As if that is not remarkable enough, the majority of the bars are gluten free, soy free, dairy free, vegan, Non-GMO, and Kosher. I do want to note, though, that the chocolate chips in the three chocolate chip flavor varieties are made with Fair Trade Certified chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla and while no dairy is use to make their chocolate chips, they are made on a line that also produces chocolate chips that are in fact made with dairy products. LARABAR does not claim that these three varieties of bars (containing the chocolate chips) are dairy free, soy free or vegan and they do contain cane sugar, as well.
I'm not sure if any of you are fans of the show "The Biggest Loser", but these bars were actually featured on the show on Wednesday, March 8, 2011 by trainer Brett, with contestants Ken, Rulon and Justin. Just to give you a little background information on LARABAR, it was founded in 2003 by Lara Merriken. LARABAR currently produces 19 flavors and the company prides itself on producing simple, whole food products. The bars are available worldwide at not only specialty retailers, but conventional grocers, as well. The bars range in cost from $1-$2 each. When you take into account the fact that you're truly getting a very nutritious snack with all natural ingredients, it's hard to put a price tag on that! As you all know, my family is living on a budget now, with my husband being back in school full-time, but I found these bars on Amazon.com for an average of $1.30/bar. Regarding the flavors, I have to be brutally honest. I sampled quite a few of the flavors and found many to be a bit on the bland side, however, I did like the Peanut Butter Cookie variety. I asked my husband to rank his top three favorites and he agreed that the Peanut Butter Cookie was his favorite, followed by Chocolate Chip Brownie and Cookie Dough. We both agreed that the Cashew Cookie was our least favorite.
Larabar.com is currently offering a coupon for $1 off 2 LARABARS and I would recommend that you give them a try! I'll be anxious to hear which varieties you all enjoy!
I've always had an affinity for Larabars, just based on their name. ;) But I've only ever had them once or twice, based on your recommendation though I'll have to try the PB cookie variety!
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