There's nothing I love more than a mystery parcel arriving at the door. As Julie Andrews famously sang, "Brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favourite things" !
We excitedly opened the box to discover a bundle of goodies from 9bar, designed to help give our mornings a boost. As well as some very useful accessories such as an umbrella and a coffee mug, there were a selection of 9bar Breakfast bars, including Almond & Raspberry, Cashew & Cocoa, Apricot & Strawberry and Peanut & Raisin flavours.
I reviewed the Breakfast Bars earlier in the year (click through to read that review) and they're lovely - the perfect natural energy boost to get the day off to a great start. Every 9bar is made with a unique blend of wholesome seeds including sunflower, pumpkin, poppy, sesame and hemp, and many of them also add delicious crunchy nuts such as cashews, hazelnuts and peanuts or dried fruit.
Breakfast isn't the only time of day to indulge in a 9bar though. As well as the Breakfast range, they sent me some of their classic 9bars and also a not-very-naughty-but-nice Indulge bar.
Can you guess which one I started with ? Yep, you got it ! But as the packaging says : "Indulge ! With a bar this nutritious, you really can !"
Unlike most chocolatey snacks that you'll find in the supermarket, 9bar Indulge doesn't just provide empty calories, unrefined sugar and saturated fats. Its mixed seeds make it "oddly nutritious" (as it says on the wrapper). That doesn't mean it's low in calories but, as my FitBug homepage keeps telling me, you shouldn't just look at the calories but also they type of food that's providing them.
9bar explain on their website : "Seeds are high in calories, which means 9bar is too. [...] One comment we sometimes receive is about the amount of fat in a 9bar. However, the fact, and indeed the fat, is that there’s such a thing as “good fat” and “bad fat”. Seeds, you’ll no doubt be pleased to hear, have a high proportion of the “good” variety. It’s been a bit of a truism for three decades or more that healthy eating is simply all about calorie-counting and avoiding fat. These days, however, it’s widely acknowledged that we need a whole range of nutritional substances in our diet that comes from selecting foods that have a high nutritional value, in other words foods that are full of a wide range of nutrients such as protein, minerals, vitamins and, yes, you guessed it, the “right” kinds of fat!"
When I tucked into the deliciously gooey and chewy Fruity bar (packed with seeds including sunflower, sesame and pumpkin, plus dried apricots and dates), I was convinced it was topped with chocolate but it's actually carob.
A 9bar Breakfast Bar contains about 220 calories but it's filling enough to keep you going until lunchtime. I love the chewiness of the bar and the crunchiness of the seeds, as well as the taste, like a denser, less sweet cereal bar. I also love the fact that they're totally portable so I can pop one into my pocket to eat at the bus stop when I'm in a rush.
for more information : http://www.9bar.com
Disclosure : I received a hamper of 9bar goodies in order to write an honest review.
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These look really tasty, perfect for lunchboxes or grabbing on the way to work. Will have to look out for them
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