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She Says: Bride Wars, Baking Bug, Bumble Bars
I had my friend date last night and it was really fun. The girl I went with is super nice and easy to get along with. Bride Wars was silly and entertaining. Id read in People that Ann Hathaway was much better, but I really liked Kate Hudson in it. Some parts were almost like one of those parody movies, like it should have been called “Wedding Movie” like Date Movie or Scary Movie. But at the same time, I did shed a tear because it is touching. Definitely something to see with with girl friends unless you want you boyfriend to say, “Brides are crazy,” and really, who wants that?
When I got home I had … the Friday night baking bug. It’s been too long since my last baking excursion and I needed to create! This was quite challenging considering I have no flour or butter, but luckily my niece gave me Rocky Road Brownie mix in a jar for Christmas.
All I had to do was add 2 eggs – had those, a T of vanilla – had that and butter – oooh, no butter. I thought about my baking audience, Mark, and decided to use two cap fulls of Extra Virgin Olive Oil instead. The result was a dense brownie that certainly satisfied my baking bug!
You were only supposed to sprinkle the marshmallows and jimmies on top, but I couldn’t really separate the ingredients that well and ended up putting a little bit of the brown sugar on top, too.
Oh and I am Still Lovin the Soy Milk
I had it in cheerios this morning before I hopefully avoid the predicted snow and go to the gym (and maybe some free yoga at a new studio in the area thanks to a tip from a blog reader!) and I am really impressed. It has a good taste. I think I will continue to buy cow’s milk, too, but now I now I am okay with the Soy Milk when it’s cheaper at the market.
Bumble Bar Review
Right before Christmas I received a present from Bumble Bar …
An assortment of their beautifully packaged bars! As I promised, here is what I thought about them.
Nutrition as Explained on the BumbleBar Website
Bumble Bars…
- are gluten-free, wheat free, dairy free, and ceritified organic
- contain 1/2 T of flaxseed and sesame seeds, which contain an abundance of life-enhancing Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids
- contain calcium-rich organic sesame seeds to help build strong bones
- range from 240 calories and 16 g fat (Original Flavor with Hazelnut) to 180 calories and 11 g fat (Awesome Apricot)
Impressions: I’ve enjoyed eating the Bumble Bars and sharing them with friends and family. Mark and I agree that BumbleBars should be divided into two categories: Nut and Non-Not. Everyone I gave them to enjoyed them, give or take a flavor. Taste testers included: me, Mark, my mom, my aunt, my 8 year-old niece Isabella. Overall, people strongly favored the Non-nut variety.
In the nut category is the Original bar alond with other take-offs on the original such as Almond, Hazelnut and Mixed Nut. In general the “Nut” bars are slightly hard, crunchy and all pretty much taste the same. They are not sweet and taste like nuts and seeds. Mark and I both kind of liked all the flavors (but I definitely prefer the Non-Nut), but we can’t say we would buy them. Neither my mom nor Isabella liked the Original when then tried it. Isabella gave it back to me.
Cashew
In my opinion, the Non-Nut category is where it’s at. Admitedly, a bar made entirely of seeds and nuts is not going to be for everyone. The flavored bars are more mild on the seeds, strong on the flavor. The flavors include my two favorites, Lushsus Lemon and Chai Almond; Mark’s two favorites, Chocolate Crisp and Chocolate Cherry, and other great flavors like Tropical, Cherry and Peach. Overall, the texture is much more pleasing. They are not hard or crunchy like the Nut flavors, but rather, soft, firm and chewy!
I loved the Chai Almond and Lushsus Lemon, which is not surprising because I am generally in love with chai and lemon flavored items. I would definitely buy these flavors! The spices were fantastic. They wasn’t fake tasting and it wasn’t sweet. Best of all, there was no fake frosting like on many other bars.
Mark loved both chocolate varities. I tasted the Chocolate Crisp and I can definitely see how it would make a great chocolate bar replacement! Mark noted that the cherry and chocolate combination is not one he usually likes, but worked well in this particular bar.
Chocolate Cherry
Chocolate Crisp
My mom and Isabella loved the Chunky Cherry! Isabella noted that it is “fruity.” My Aunt loved the Tasty Tropical, noting that it satisfied many food cravings at once: salty, sweet, crunchy and chewy.
Tasty Tropical
Bumble Bar is very different from most bas I tried, which was a pleasant surprise. Have you ever had a Bumble Bar? What’s your favorite different bar? Got any new or undiscovered ones for me?
I’ve never tried a Bumble Bar before.
I saw bride Wars last night too. I thought it was a cute, good laugh. Its definitely a movie to see with a girlfriend.
The brownie looks yummy! I think the brown sugar on the top like that makes it look kinda pretty, too.
So good that the friend date went well. I’m looking forward to seeing that movie:)
OMG i love the goose cup/bowl!
I want to see Bride Wars too – thanks for giving us a “review” – those brownies sound awesome, and I totally never would have thought of adding EVOO – nicely done!
thanks for all the great reviews in this post! i’ll definitely buy a bumble bar (but not the original, haha) next time i see them and let you know what I think!
I want to see Bride Wars too! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
And great reviews on Bumble Bar!
whoooaaa!! those bars look SO good! where can I find them?
and a brownie with e.v.o.o? sounds interesting!
OHMIGOSH that is absolutely the cutest dish I have ever seen, hands-down! Wherever did you get it?
Hooray for friend-date nights, brownies, and bars!! Thanks for the reviews
I’ve been sooo hesistant about Bride Wars, it just looks too gooby for me, haha but maybe, just maybe I’ll see it with some girlfriends
What a cute gift – love all the layers!
Kudos on adding the olive oil instead of butter – I would have done the same thing.
But I always have Crisco sticks in my pantry in case my butter is running low – it has a 10 year shelf life!
Hi Everyone,
The bowl is actually a measuring cup from Anthropologie, my favorite store ever in the world! They were a present from my sister.
Here is the link!
http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=4652277811398625895&id=78703&parentid=EAT_COOK_ACCENTS&pushId=EAT_COOK_ACCENTS&popId=EAT_COOK&sortProperties=&navCount=6&navAction=poppushpush&fromCategoryPage=true&selectedProductSize=&selectedProductSize1=&color=whi
Those bars look deeee-lish! And I want to see that movie. hehe.
Glad to hear you had fun at the movies! I haven’t tried a Bumble Bar yet but they sound interesting
Have a great weekend!!
ooooooo i actually never tried a bumble bar before…
those brownies look fabulous – i love all things rocky road!
I love the bowl!
Glad you had fun last night. I’ve never had a bumble bar but they look huge, so I think I’d like them!
Glad you had fun on your girl’s “date.” Thanks for the BUmble Bar review. I’ve never tried any of them. I’m not even sure I’ve seen them around here actually.
Glad you liked the movie – I might check it out.
Looks like baking was a success.
The duck bowl is so cute.
Love the goose bowl! Those brownies look outstanding!
That duck is awesome. I haven’t had Bumble Bars yet, but I was one of the lucky random winners of Amanda @ Run To Finish’s HBBC, so I’m getting some in the mail soon! Can’t wait!
I’ve been wanting to see that movie! My sister is getting married in a few months, so I think that wedding-craziness humor would go over well with me right about now.
glad you had a good time at the movie
and baking, too much fun! hehe. i’ve never tried the bumble bars…
I want to see Bride Wars. Glad you enjoyed your Girls night Out!
I love all of them except Mark’s favorite, the Cherry and Chocolate cherry almost made me sick. My personal fav has been the Lucious Lemon, Tropical and Apricot. MM mm good.
I am looking forward to seeing Bride Wars, it looks pretty good! Your bowl/measuring cup is adorable!!
Thanks for the reviews, those Bumble Bars always stare at me when we go grocery shopping, but I’ve never picked one up.
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
I saw Bride Wars too! LOVED it
plus i need to try those bars!
eeee i have those geese measuring cups too, hehe, you eat cereal out of the big one :]
Hey! I am getting some samples from bumble and cannot wait! I did finally find them at WF’s today and Josh and I split the chocolate. We really liked the flavor- VERY unique!
Glad you scratched that baking bug
I want to see that movie. I love Kate Hudson
1. that bumble bar rainbow is something else.
2. is your goose cup/bowl (?) from anthropologie?
Leigh, yes, they are measuring cups from Anthropologie.
Glad your olive oil sub worked, and that lovely little layer of brown sugar looks like the perfect topping.
Kate Hudson is one of my favorites. Even if I didn’t like a particular movie she was in, I always liked her. She’s seems like the type of person who would be impossible not to like, ya know? She’s just so cute and seems really down-to-earth.
Thanks for the BB reviews. The chocolate cherry bar looks divine. I’m going to be on the lookout for that one.
Happy weekend Heather!
Those brownies look very yummy!
That brownie looks delicious.
And those bars look really different from anything I’ve tried but they do look good.
Hope you were able to avoid the snow.
Never had a bumble bar. Sorry.
I’m proud of you for using that jar of mix. I always get several each year, and I don’t think I’ve ever made one.
Ha! I just thought, I should make the cookies or whatevs out of the mix and give it back to the person who made it!!!
I haven’t tried them, but I did see a few different varieties while I was out and about today. I didn’t even realize there were that many flavours til you had them all fanned out there to see. They look interesting, but they are a bit pricey, so I would probably buy them to try if they were on sale.
[...] Heather did a great review on Bumble Bars and when I saw them today while running errands I decided to pick up the Chocolate Cherry one since it was given a thumbs up. My verdict? I LOVED it! It was a great consistency for me–really chewy and easy to break apart. It was big too, which is a plus because I hate when I finish a bar in like 2 bites. The flavor was really good too–a great combo of tart and sweet. I’m definitely buying more of these! [...]
i’ve never tried those bars before but have def seen them and want to try them now!
and i want to see bride wars too…i’m due for a cute, laughable chick flick!
That bowl is so cute:) I’m glad you had a fun night at the movies!
I love that duck bowl! Too cute!
Eric and I were supposed to go see Bride Wars tonight but we have ahuge snow storm outside!
Maybe tomorrow….sigh….
Thanks for the BB review- I didn’t know they had a non-nut variety! I totally hated the nut variety. Something tasted ‘off’ in them.
Angela
http://www.ohsheglows.com
[...] posted here:
I had a bumble bar before and didn’t care for it too much. Too thin and sesame seed-y for my taste.
I totally forgot that people call sprinkles Jimmies until this post! It cracks me up every time because where I’m from, Jimmies are something entirely different and you do not want them sprinkled on top of anything edible.
I love your brownies! Keeping some of the brown sugar on top was a good idea, if you ask me.
Thanks for the thorough Bumble and Bride War review. I want to eat the first and watch the second after reading
I also really like the picture that you took of the bars on the chair. I think you showed it once before and I remember feeling equally impressed by it. It’s all the colors, I think.
I’m a weirdo!
Thanks for the bumble bars review! I’m definitely going to look for the the non-nut kind.
Those bumble bars look soo goooood!! i’m going to have to get some.
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