***Sad Update: This product is no longer available.
Are you a Celiac that loooves cooking, and makes each and every one of your meals with delicious, organic, from-scratch ingredients, turning recipes into fabulous, gourmet creations?
Awesome. Leave your week’s menu in the comments, and I’ll put my order in with you.
If not, chances are that you’re no stranger to The Bar…the meal-replacement bar, that is. We grab these when we’re either unable or pressed for time to obtain suitable food, forced to endure another office pot-luck lunch where we can’t eat anything, or are just so freaking hungry that we’re about to make a really, really bad choice and roll the cross-contamination dice.
Some of us eat all-whey protein bars, which may be overly high in protein–more than our bodies can process in one shot–making us feel bloated (and just burns the extra protein by using it as energy). Others eat pure soy-protein bars, which could be dryer, and have a mouth-feel that is not quite as satisfying. Both kinds are generally vegetarian; the soy is usually vegan. There is no right or wrong. However, some people prefer the qualities of both types combined for both texture and protein count.
This is where SoLo bars come in. They are a unique blend of both soy and whey proteins, are low glycemic, and bear the Canadian Celiac Association seal. They have a solid 10 grams of protein (not higher than your body can process in one sitting) and 3 grams of fiber (something that we Celiacs can benefit from) and are about 190 calories each.
I keep them at my desk, in my car, and as flight food. Before I go any further, let me say that SoLo is NOT paying me, giving me free bars, or anything else for this post. This is just me sharing stuff with you. (Because I’m a totally stellar and selfless person that way). I’m also doing this because I know that eating “real” food is the best thing, but we can’t always do that. And that a lot of gluten-free meal bars are basically a really expensive candy bar and not much else. (When we are starving for whatever reason, having gluten-free food on hand that isn’t junk is more than just a bonus).
SoLo bars are soft, chewy, and dense and take a decent amount of eating time.
This is good for the mental satiation process: if devoured too fast, your body thinks it’s still hungry. Being low-glycemic, they “stick to your ribs,” as my mother would say, as opposed to burning up fast as simple sugary bars do. This is important, as recovering Celiacs may pack on the pounds now that they are actually absorbing their nutrients and retaining their food….I swear, the only thing I liked about this disease pre-diagnosis was having the flat stomach and low body weight of an 18-year-old: I could eat anything and lose weight! Focused now on recovering my intestinal health, it’s not so fun to realize that my “fast metabolism” actually isn’t–I was just sick. But at least I’m getting healthy.
FYI, SoLo bars are also not the least bit dry or brittle–they are REALLY tasty! Here are the ingredients:
Not bad, right? You can see that the ingredients are pretty “real” and don’t require a science degree to read. This is good. There are MANY flavors, and they all pretty much look like this as far as ingredients go, which is also good news.
So the next time you want to hit The Bar, order me a Jack Daniels. Wait…not that kind of bar?
Then I’ll have a SoLo!
***This just in from SoLo! Get 10% off your online order by using Coupon Code CG10 at checkout! (It’s case-sensitive). Offer expires May 31, 2016, so why not try out a sample pack and see what I’ve been raving about! 🙂 ***