Fit-Food: New Snack on My Rack

KIND bars are my new favorite snack. I discovered them while in Portland last October (thanks Nike) when they were sitting in a snack basket being picked over for Larabars and cookies. They sat like yesterday's leftovers--the stuff no one wants to touch. Why, I wish I knew, because once I picked one up, I was hooked.

I snacked on the Almond and Coconut bar and instantly regretted chowing it down way too quickly. It was just the right combo of coconut laced with whole almonds, not super-sticky to touch and soft to bite into. My brain thought I was eating a candy bar, the best kind of trickery my junk-food craving heart could ask for. And the best treat yet was what I read on the label. While I was semi-splurging in the calorie-count at 190 calories per bar (I had already eaten breakfast, lunch and a huge cookie, and didn't count my 4-mile run as able to burn those meals), at least I wasn't snacking on junk. KIND bars boast all natural ingredients, low glycemic index, a good source of fiber and free of gluten, wheat and dairy. A food-allergy victim's dream.

Now the only problem was finding it. In Portland this was tough...I couldn't even track them down at the Whole Foods downtown. But when I got back to Chicago, I found them among the boxes of snack bars, health bars and the like at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and even Jewel-Osco. Retailing at roughly $2 or less, depending on a store sale, KIND offers a flavor rainbow with 10 varieties in its Fruit and Nut line. Two are drizzled with yogurt and the other eight combine nuts and fruit in tasteful concoctions. Yum, except sometimes it's hard to eat just one, especially when it comes to my other fave, Walnut and Date. And I guess I must be onto something because these snacks even appeared on The Today Show last month. Posted by Kate