Cookie Comparisons

Newman-O’s

I know I’ve been slow with the Newman’s Own Organics reviews; although, I could have stopped at the chocolate bars and you would have already experienced the best. However, these Newman-O’s merit special attention.

The line-up includes chocolate-on-chocolate, mint-on-chocolate, and ginger.

There’s my youngest brother enjoying the chocolate crème.

The NOO website explains their source of organic cocoa and palm fruit oil—basically, the company strives for environmental protection and fair trade for workers when they source ingredients.

Personally, I thought the full-on chocolate cookies were a bit too much. The mint crème was excellent, but my favorite by far was the Ginger-O’s. I love all things ginger, so it’s really up to your individual taste.

This brand also comes in original, peanut butter crème, and wheat-free.

Newman-O’s rating

  

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Joe-Joe’s

If the price of Newman’s Own Organics does not attract you, but the Oreos are still out of the question, try Trader Joe’s brand Joe-Joe’s. This cookie has vanilla bean crème—now that’s good filling. Compared to the usual Oreos and other Oreo stand-ins, these taste less artificial. And they’re actually cheaper! (12 cents/oz. for TJ’s cookies compared to 24 cents/oz. for Nabisco according to Tracking TJ’s in 2006)

Joe-Joe’s rating

  

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Oreos

The problem with Oreos—or rather, the reason for the above crème sandwich cookies—is the hydrogenated vegetable oils and high-fructose corn syrup. And do you really want vanillin (an artificial flavor) more than real vanilla bean? But as far as taste goes, real Oreos are probably better than…

Dunksters (distributed by ALDI) (Bi-Lo)

Dunksters rating

 

But, remember, there’s more to life than chocolate and cookies…

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first things first: chocolate! [review]

Back in March I received a box of Newman’s Own Organics’ finest organic snacks and sweets.

Please note that the products mentioned in this post were sent to me, free of charge, for the purpose of reviewing on this blog. I will attempt an unbiased analysis.

Chocolate tops the list—and with good reason! The line-up includes milk (38%), mocha milk, dark (58%), espresso dark, orange dark, and super dark (70%).

More Than Just Chocolate

The company was founded by Nell Newman as a shoot-off from Newman’s Own, which gives all profit to charity, so it’s almost a given that their chocolate is USDA Certified Organic and Rainforest Alliance certified. From GreenAmerica:

• RA standards prohibit the use of forced labor, child labor, and discrimination. At least 30% of the primary ingredient needs to be certified in order to earn this label.
•   This label means that at least 95% of the ingredients of the product are certified organic.

How is it?

This Signature Series is excellent. Don’t just take my word for it—reviewers include my mother, my little brother, and my best friends. Everyone agrees it is remarkably smooth and comparably better than main chocolate brands—it’s an indulgent piece of work. I think the word I heard was, “divine.”

   This is truly the best chocolate I’ve ever tasted.

My favorite from NOO, of course, was the super dark chocolate. I recently bought some Lindt dark chocolate that, as excellent as it is, lacks NOO’s balance of sweet and bitter creaminess. Both were 70% cacao, but that’s not always the best indicator of quality.

By the way, I enjoyed the “N’” imprinted on each square—I could almost pretend they’re for “Newton” (my name) instead of Newman… And check out that gold foil!

Where to buy

The most frequent question I’ve received when talking about Newmans’ Own Organics is Where can I buy this?!

On their website, one can find a list of stores carrying their products by region and online.

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Related articles

• The 20 Calorie Chocolate Fix (girl-heroes.com)
• Vegan Chocolate Citrus Muffins! (kblog.lunchboxbunch.com)
• Chocolate Counteracts Depression (scrapbooklady.typepad.com)
• A Chocolate Outrage I was passing through the… (tercessociety.com)

Reviews coming: Newman’s Own Organics

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting reviews of the company’s snack foods and sweets. The PR coordinator (Sally) has been pleasant to correspond with concerning the product reviews, and she even took the time to read some of my posts, like about my experiences in China. According to the company history (download pdf), the company was started in 1993 by Paul Newman’s daughter, Nell, when she developed a passion for organic food. Like Newman’s Own (the first generation), all profits go to charity.

Especially after participating in the 30-Hour Famine, I’m really grateful for this box of food from Newman’s Own Organics that showed up on my doorstep yesterday. It included:

• chocolate bars – milk (38%), mocha milk, dark (58%), espresso dark, orange dark, super dark (70%)
• pretzels – rods, thin sticks
• alphabet cookies – cinnamon graham
• Newman O’s – ginger, chocolate, chocolate mint
• mint tins – hot cinnamon, ginger, wintergreen, peppermint
• soy crisps – cinnamon sugar, white cheddar
• licorice – black, pomegranate, strawberry, tangerine
• hermits – original, cinnamon
• chocolate chip cookies – original, double, orange
• dried fruit – apples, apricots
• Fig Newmans – low fat and fat-free

I will link this post to the reviews as they are posted.

Where to buy

The most frequent question I’ve received when talking about Newmans’ Own Organics is Where can I buy this?! On their website, one can find a list of stores carrying their products by region and online.

Image © Newman’s Own Organics If you enjoyed this post, please

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Bora Bora!

This post has been remotely blogged.

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Time for a review of some food that I’ve actually seen in a grocery store. (My primary store, Harris Teeter, has recently started carrying the bars.)

Have you seen them?

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Please note that the products mentioned in this post were sent to me, free of charge, for the purpose of reviewing on Unusual Passions. This is my attempt to present an unbiased analysis. I did not consider cost in my evaluation.

The company:

The "spirit and purity" of Bora Bora (a French Polynesian island) inspired some people to create a company based on those principles. At least, that’s the premise of Bora Bora Organic Foods.

All bars boast the following:

• USDA Certified Organic (at least 95% organic ingredients)
• contain no refined sugars (fruit, agave syrup, honey and brown rice syrup, all organic, used to sweeten)
• no preservatives
• gluten free
• non-GMO (genetically modified organisms)
• vegan* + non-dairy
• kosher
• free of trans fats
• soy-free

According to their website, Bora Bora Ltd. donates 10% of profits back to initiatives that support sustainable farming and renewable energy resources. They pledge to minimize waste and even their corrugated packaging supports and uses wind power, through the Forest Stewardship Council.

*Two flavors, Exotic Coconut Almond and Paradise Walnut Pistachio use honey.

The goods:

Bora Bora Organic Foods kindly sent me 5 bars, a tube of Wild Pomegranate lip balm, and three stick-on tattoos (those were FUN!).

The bars are created with three different objectives—to get going, feel great, and live long. I can’t vouch for those claims, but I can for the gustatory experience! My mom reluctantly offered her opinion as well.

Now I bet they wish they sent me 6 bars! (You know, to make it even…)

As you can see, these toothsome bars are replete with chunky nuts and moist dried fruit. Most are made with puffed rice, adding to the texture profile. Despite the varying degree of sweetness (from brown rice syrup, honey, agave nectar, and dried fruits, including dates) none of the bars are saccharine or cloying.

superfood.

• Wild Pomegranate Pecan – The favorite of both my mom and I, this is a very balanced bar in terms of taste and texture. The crisp rice offers a light crunch while the rich pecans and cashews make for a firmer bite. The nuts are in perfect proportion to the dried cherries and sultana raisins. I like how Audrey described them:

When I first bit into it I was almost knocked over with the intense, chewy, fruity taste that exploded in my mouth. This bar had a pliable and toothsome consistency that was neither too squishy nor too hard. Every bite was delicious! With buttery pecans complementing plentiful dried fruit, you really can’t go wrong—BIG yum! 

• Exotic Coconut Almond – Despite my mom’s aversion to coconut (the flavor was quite present), she thought it was perfectly sweet. The whole, dry-roasted almonds and toasted coconut contributed to the excellent texture, although I must say the bar is slightly oily.
• also: Tropical Sesame Cranberry and Native Acai Walnut (coming soon)

antioxidant.

Just how much do I like this “Bora Bora” stuff?
Enough to put it on my face?

• Paradise Walnut Pistachio – This bar is definitely very colorful and visually appealing. I detected a predominant raisin flavor—it reminds me of trail mix.
• also: Tiki Blueberry Flax (they’ve got some, umm.. creative names!) and Pacific Mango Macadamia (coming soon)

energy.

•  Island Brazil Nut Almond – My mom liked it, but I was disappointed. This bar boasts brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), almonds, and sunflower seeds, but all I could taste were the peanuts. This is nuttiest bar of the bunch.
• Volcanic Chocolate Banana – Appropriately complex flavors are present in this one. Paired with an underlying coconut flavor, the tropical dried bananas are intense, along with antioxidant-rich cocoa powder. The downside? An oily mouthfeel.
• also: Tribal Cinnamon Oatmeal

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They have some new flavors coming soon—Native Acai Walnut and Pacific Mango Macadamia. That last one sounds really good—you know I like mango!

They also sent me some “Wild Pomegranate”-flavored certified organic lip balm. I don’t know where (or if) you can buy it, but I like it. (It sort of makes me want a Wild Pomegranate Pecan bar.) The ingredients are as follows: cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, beeswax, simmondsiea chinesis (jojoba) seed oil, flavor, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), helianthus annus (sunflower) seed oil, stevia rebaudiana (stevia) leaf extract, punica granatum (pomegranate) extract, tocopherol. Let me know if I spelled any of those wrong—my spell checker (and brain) definitely cannot handle all that Latin!

visit the website to:

• search by ingredient
• learn specific nutritional information
• find out where to buy (psst! Harris Teeter carries these now…)
• view a detailed picture and description of each bar
• enter for a chance to win 3 free cases of bars

PS – I love doing entire posts for product reviews, but it makes me feel a tad silly because I see other bloggers just slipping the reviews into other posts. I’m not too concerned which method is more effectual, because I’m having fun eating and reviewing; I’m doing my best. However, when I get short on time (i.e. when school starts in the fall), I might resort to quicker reviews. Until then… enjoy!

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superGOOD. mango + chocolate goji

Kopali Organics

The other day I came home from school, ready for a snack (as always at that time of day). There was no second guessing about what would be consumed however; it was waiting for me in the mailbox!

Kopali Organics sent me dried mango and chocolate-covered goji berries to devour review!

Please note that the products mentioned in this post were sent to me, free of charge, for the purpose of reviewing on this blog. This is my attempt to present an unbiased analysis. Since I don’t have the budget to fork over the money for these products, I will not consider cost in my evaluation.

The company:

Kopali Organics is for those “who care about the quality of their food and the environmental and social conditions under which it was grown, produced, and traded.” They support sustainable farmers and their communities and families in nearly a dozen countries.

Their products are USDA certified organic, Rainforest Alliance certified, and fair trade certified where appropriate. (Also read my post on shopping with a conscience.)

PS – I emailed all the companies at the same time about product reviews; Kopali was the first to respond. Thank you, Kopali Organics!

The goods:

I tried the dried mango first. The chocolate was melted (from the hot mailbox) so I stuck it in the fridge; the next day I burned off my tastebuds on some tea… so, this review has been late in coming. (I wanted to wait till I could taste it as well as possible.)

Dried Mango

I consider myself quite an expert on dried mangoes! For authentic Filipino gifts, my mom would buy beaucoup bags of sweet Philippine dried mangoes for our supporters and family. I’ve had my fair share of the tropical wonder known as mango.

The Philippine dried mangoes, however, are sweetened (soaked in sugar syrup before drying), as well as sulfured (a preservative). This is not necessarily evil, but if your food philosophy leans toward fewer ingredients and less processing (i.e. more natural and whole), than you might prefer Kopali dried mangoes.

The Kopali mangoes, besides being organically grown, have no added sugar or preservatives. I think God made mangoes the perfect degree of sweet!

These were chewy, tangy-sweet, and perfect. I thought I was in the tropics again! Mmm.

The 1.8 oz. bag contained enough mango to provide 35% recommended daily amount (RDA) vitamin A, as well as 10% RDA calcium (who knew?) and 8% RDA iron. One serving has 4 grams of fiber and 34 grams of natural sugars.

Chocolate-Covered Goji Berries

Besides on the UliMana truffle, I’ve never had goji berries before. (Look how this product review endeavor is expanding my gustatory horizons!) However, I’m not sure I like goji berries that much. They remind me of raisins. I guess I can’t compare it to more common dried fruits, though.

Of course, the dark chocolate is great. I love the chocolate (it’s fair trade!). So as for the product itself, if you like gojis, I think you will like Kopali’s product.

The texture is addicting—the berries have a slight crunch while the chocolate is so smooth. Texture is really important to me. The combination is also a superfood wonder. The bag contains two 1-oz. servings, each with 25% RDA vitamin A, and a little bits of calcium, vitamin C, and iron.

The berries are actually a great snack, not just empty sugars that make you hungry again. And you don’t feel sick from chocolate, either. Those are the benefits of quality food!

Other Products

They also sell dried pineapple, dried mulberries, dried goldenberries (all organic), chocolate-covered bananas, chocolate-covered espresso beans, chocolate-covered mulberries, and chocolate-covered cacao nibs, as well as a mix (goji berries, mulberries, pistachios and cacao nibs). Every bag has a full serving of fruit.

I would really like to try the pineapple! Mmm, more tropical fruit. You would think I would have gotten enough of it when I lived in the Philippines… but, enough fruit? C’mon.