Peeled Snacks: Organic Go Figure Snacks

Here we go again with Peeled Organic Snacks! Not your usual fair when it comes to dried fruit mixes as we have gotten a little lost with the chocolates, candies, and clusters added to them by manufacturers. Yes, variety is wonderful and welcomed but so many dried fruit mixes have lost their healthy factor. I much prefer adding one square of good quality dark chocolate than trying to find the fruit in a field of waxy colored coated “chocolates” that can’t even be legally called chocolate by law.

Go Figure has Apricots, Figs and Dates….that is all. I love apricots and figs but must admit that the dates……okay, I usually push them over with a tooth pick and won’t even try them because their texture is usually sticky with that odd softness followed by super sweet goo that just turns me off. Some are even sort of bitter. I swore I would never be fooled by trying a date again. It was up there with the things I would get offered and definitely politely decline. Okay, I think you got my Date Hate established 🙂

Taste & Texture:
I gave Peeled Snacks dates a try because I literally grabbed one and squeezed it…..no goo and they smelled good but were not super sticky and soft. I forget that all their fruit is “gently dried”, so you don’t get some flash dried fruit that does not resemble what it was when it was “alive and well”. I bite thinking I am so going to regret this with even a napkin in hand but not only did I continue chewing, I like it. Maybe it was a lucky date but I hunt and find another one and find that I like dates. Like them enough that I even counted to see how many dates I had left so I could measure myself and not eat them all at once. I felt I was maybe in an odd mood that evening so I try another one the next day and I get why people like dates. The have a nice honey flavor to them and because Peeled Snacks does not kill it’s fruit, the texture is pleasing and I bite without fruit getting stuck in my molars. I actually crave these dates! I start thinking of adding them to my yogurt with honey and I see myself having a future with……dates.

The apricots and figs, since I sort of over focused on the dates are just as pleasing and satisfying. No rubbery texture and even though the trio is in the same bag, each fruit tastes as it should. This was actually my favorite blend even though of it not so traditional mix. I like being able to grab a fig and these are whole pieces of fruit, not slices so they are moist and not over seedy. Great quality fruit was used and thank you Peeled Snacks for showing me dates are kind, friendly and delicious.

Please check out Peeled Snacks and their Clusters at:

• Available at you favorite retailer, from Amazon.com to Starbuck’s, so you can get your Peeled fix at anytime
• Save 10% on your first order if you sign-up for their Newsletter, so you can keep up with Peeled Snacks adventures (also savings); http://peeledsnacks.com/
• The Fruits at Peeled Snacks also tweet, so check them out on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeeledSnacks
• Very social fruit and even have a Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/Peeled
• Maybe you are into pictures and Peeled Snacks are not shy, so check them out on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/peeledsnacks/

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Peeled Snacks: Apple Clusters in Cinnamon Crunch

Apple Clusters in Cinnamon Crunch

Peeled Snacks came up with their own version of delicious clusters because we all have had that craving that can only be satisfied by something crunchy. This snack is 0% in fat and preservatives. I love the simplicity of the ingredients, as you have Organic Apples, Organic Apple Juice concentrate, Organic Potato starch and Organic Cinnamon. That is all! No fillers or fats to interrupt that apple munching. Each bag comes with 4 servings, which comes to 1/4 cup for each serving and only 60 calories. That is snacking without the penalty!

Taste and Texture:

Each ball is made up of these little squares that are made from the potato starch (as a binder) and just absorbed the apples and juice, with just a hint of cinnamon. The apple clusters come in Cinnamon and I like from the start when you open the bag, you are not overwhelmed by the spice and the cinnamon is used as it should be, to compliment the apple not drown it. The clusters are shaped into these bite size balls that are just fun to pop in your mouth. The apple flavor is intensely real and there is no “faux” anything in your mouth when you eat these clusters. I could not believe the amount of apple flavor that came from them and it was delicious and balanced well, not super sweet. You get tartness and the crunch imitates well the idea of biting into apple pieces. I liked that the balls were not hard and broke apart with one bite. No oats or grit left behind because again no fillers that get in the way of your snacking.

I would definitely buy these because I found myself popping and indulging in them as I typed this review. Most times I behave and try a product and then type but because these left my hands clean and I craved more, I sort of caught myself going back to the bag several times. The snack is very low in calories for what I now refer to as my simple apple pie bites! As with all Peeled Snacks, the product is USDA Organic, Gluten free and zero grams of fat. You get only 10 grams per serving of sugar and 0% sodium. I can already imagine this being my movie night go to snack and on Saturday these clusters will be saying, “Hello” to my yogurt and I call that having my apple pie a la mode!

Please check out Peeled Snacks and their other Clusters at:

• Available at you favorite retailer, from Amazon.com to Starbuck’s, so you can get your Peeled fix at anytime
• Save 10% on your first order if you sign-up for their Newsletter, so you can keep up with Peeled Snacks adventures (also savings); http://peeledsnacks.com/
• The Fruits at Peeled Snacks also tweet, so check them out on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeeledSnacks
• Very social fruit and even have a Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/Peeled
• Maybe you are into pictures and Peeled Snacks are not shy, so check them out on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/peeledsnacks/

 

I received the above product free of charge from Peeled Snacks.  I am not obligated in providing a favorable/positive review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the products, which may differ from yours.

Peeled Snacks: Paradise Found Fruit

As a few of you may recall, I tried the Peeled Fruit Mango Snacks and wrote a not too favorable review. I felt bad because going by everything the company advertised, the product was below my expectations and obviously not the common experience, so my guilt made me reach out when I launched my review.

Just like I expected the Mango to taste, is just like how the people at Peeled Snacks treated me, NICE! I received a very kind response and they sent a beautiful array of snacks for me to share with you.

You will notice that Peeled Snacks keep things simple and I like that. The less you mess with my food, the better it will taste to me and I seek these types of foods for my family. These fruits are described as “gently dried”, so you don’t get that dried fruit like I recall when I was a child, drenched in a sugar bath and gummy. Peeled snacks take a step further and are USDA Organic certified, Non Genetically Modified, All Natural and Gluten Free. You can see why I was lured by Peeled Snacks because the idea of food like this just tends to draw me in!

Let’s get started…..

Paradise Found

The Paradise Found features a mix blend of Organic Bananas, Organic Mango and Organic Pineapple. You look at the ingredient list and it matches the contents, just the fruit and NO SUGAR added. You can see by the picture below that the fruit slices and pieces have a pleasant look and resemble exactly what they are with no artificial anything. I call it Naked Fruit!

Taste and Texture: First, you do smell a nice fruity scent that can be described as tropical so it is properly named Paradise. The banana slices are just delicious and not mushy in texture or leathery, just soft and when you chew, the taste does satisfy the craving. Great in yogurt to even cereal. I liked the bananas so much and felt they were better than the dehydrated type you usually find in markets as “cereal toppers”, so I was glad with the large amount provided in the mix.

Next comes the Pineapple and one thing that always got to me with Pineapple in this manner, was that because it is a fibrous fruit, when they would dry and sugar them, you got this horrible crystallization crunch that drowned any pineapple that was left from the over-processing. Not with Peeled Snacks! The pineapple tastes and varies just like it does in nature. One bite may be sweeter and the other may have more of the bitter notes and I like that variety in my fruit.

The Mango is much better in this mix and I enjoyed how each fruit tastes like it’s own even though they share a bag, they don’t blend in flavors. The Mango is peeled pieces and tender when you bite. Sweet and completes the tropical blend perfectly and this is coming from someone who is not a Mango lover but more a liker:)

Stay tuned for my Peeled Snacks Apple Clusters in Cinnamon Crunch coming very soon, plus much more from this great company!

In the meantime please check out Peeled Snacks at:

• Available at you favorite retailer, from Amazon.com to Starbuck’s, so you can get your Peeled fix at anytime
• Save 10% on your first order if you sign-up for their Newsletter, so you can keep up with Peeled Snacks adventures (also savings); http://peeledsnacks.com/
• The Fruits at Peeled Snacks also tweet, so check them out on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeeledSnacks
• Very social fruit and even have a Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/Peeled
• Maybe you are into pictures and Peeled Snacks are not shy, so check them out on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/peeledsnacks/

I received the above product free of charge from Peeled Snacks.  I am not obligated in providing a favorable/positive review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the products, which may differ from yours.

Swaggable: Peeled Snacks, Much-ado-about-Mango

I enjoy eating fruits and to avoid boredom, I try to eat them dried, dehydrated, baked…..you name it and I usually will try fruit anything…but canned!

I received the Peeled Snacks product from Swaggable last week and I consider myself a Mango “liker” versus a “lover”. I enjoy the fresh fruit but if you have strawberries or pineapple, Mango loses.

The first thing that jumped out was that the product is Organic and the simple words, “nothing added”. Naked fruit as I call it, is best in my book so this is a great start. I noticed the package has a little clear window that allows you to see the product and I love when manufactures do this because how many times have I opened a package to find it was not close to how it was pictured. So again, great beginning.

I flip the product and notice some very positive nutritional facts starting that one bag is considered 1 serving and it’s a generous amount at 48 grams (1.40 ounces), with only 120 calories. You have Calcium and Iron at 2% each, 20% Vitamin C, and 30% Vitamin A. Gluten, dairy, wheat and cholesterol free. You wrap it up nicely with 2 grams each of Protein and Dietary Fiber.

I open the package and take a sniff and the product smells close to apricots mixed with a slight orange scent. Good start as it’s not off in odor or like some dried fruits, they stink of chemicals or smell like they have been in a cardboard box for half a century! The fruit looks leathery but I have purchased “leather fruit” strips in the past so I am familiar and accepting of such a  texture. The peels almost look like strips of carrots (in color) that were partially dehydrated and remained bendable. I take a shaving out and notice the remaining pieces have no uniform shape to them (nice natural look). The product was a little on the chewy side so I went from biting and pulling with my front teeth, to having to put some “oompf” with the back ones but I finally won! The fruit goes from feeling leathery on your fingers and dry when biting, to instantly re-hydrating to a gummy like texture. So gummy in consistency that the molars that helped me win my battle had Mango bits embedded all around them. Very sweet and I understand the natural pectin in fruit amps up when dried but this was so sweet and intense, that Mango was the last thing I tasted. As my mouth cleared from the gumminess, I did pick-up some Mango notes but the sweetness really turned me off. I was left…..well craving a Mango. So in some ways this snack encouraged me to add Mango to the grocery list but of the fresh kind.

Does it have it’s place?

Yes, I see maybe a tart yogurt being able to curve the sugar taste a bit but I’m unsure if it would help with the gummy factor. Maybe the wetness of a yogurt would aid or it could result in a bit of a mess. Baking with the product could be it’s only hope! I wanted to like this product because everything outside the package called to me when it came to the brand Peeled Snacks, it just was not what I desired from a Mango. I understand nothing is added to the Mango and respect that but if they could maybe find a way to take some sugar away, I maybe could accept the gummy factor better. I would still try one more time with Peeled Snacks but just a different fruit.

You can check-out the Peeled Snacks collection at: http://www.peeledsnacks.com/

I received the above product from Swaggable free of charge. I am not obligated in providing a positive/favorable review. just my honest opinion. My review is based on my experience with the product, which may differ from yours.