Perfect Foods Bars Review and Giveaway!

I am often on the run with work and training, and so I eat more protein bars than I would like to admit.  I also prefer them to gels, so yeah, I eat a lot of those things in training and when I am out on one of my back country trips.  I am not really nuts about the taste most of the time to be honest, but it is better than sucking down a gel.

Another problem with most bars for me is that most of them really have a lot of crap (artificial/refined sweeteners, artificial flavors, hydrogenated fats or oils, etc) in them and are not really all that great for you or all that filling.

Enter the Perfect Foods Bar.  I was able to try one of these just over a month ago, I had the peanut butter flavor.  They were super good.  I wanted more, and I wanted them NOW!

The bonus?  First ingredient: Natural peanut butter. Second ingredient: raw honey.  I could actually pronounce and identify all of the ingredients.

The peanut butter flavor tastes absolutely amazing. Seriously. It tastes like the filling of a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup.  And it was filling - they are packed with 18g of protein and 3g fiber - so it actually stayed with me (I tested this on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th sample of the bars).  They are gluten and soy free and contain no refined sugar.  The regular bars are a little high in calories (282 calories), but the Cranberry Crunch isn't bad at 172 calories.

I immediately got online and ordered one of every flavor (there are 4, just so you know. More on that in a minute.  I am on a roll here.) and looked around on their website.

The company philosophy is:  

“At Perfect Foods we strongly believe that natural whole foods (not synthetic, artificial, or isolated “non-food” elements) are the best and most effective source of nourishment for the human body.”

One thing about these bars is that they need to be refrigerated - ‘in order to minimize natural oil separation and maintain the consistency.’ I froze mine before a long ride and they worked out just fine.  A little sticky, but a super good energy boost.

I tested all of the flavors (twice).  Here is my take:

• Peanut Butter: I already covered this one.  It was awesome. If you are a fan of peanut butter, you will be a fan of this.  The honey added the right amount of sweetness.
• Fruit & Nut: This is the peanut butter bar with raisins and nuts in it.  How can you go wrong?
• Carob Chip: I am not a lover of Carob. But I really was surprised at how much I liked this bar.  Again, it is that yummy peanut butter bar with carob chips in it.
• Cranberry Crunch (LITE): This was my favorite flavor and is their ‘lite’ (lower fat/calories) version.  I never thought low calorie and favorite would ever be in the same sentence.  There are crisps and cranberries mixed in the peanut butter yumminess.

Actually, I like them all.  So I wrote to the folks at Perfect Foods and told them so.  I told them I planned a review on my blog and they were kind enough to offer to offer a giveaway to my followers!  I was very excited.

Oh yeah - you are probably wondering what is up for grabs?  2 boxes of Perfect Food Bars (that would be 8 bars) goes to 1 lucky winner!  Lucky you!

SO to enter...do one, two, or all of these things...and comment for each one.

1. Follow my blog and let me know - or let me know if you already follow.
2. Like Perfect Foods Bars on Facebook.
3. Check out the Perfect Foods Bars website and tell me something you like.
4. Post the giveaway on your blog

Comment each time you do one of those things, each comment is an entry.  I am going to use Random.org to do the drawing this time.  No more cutting out little slips of paper for me.  Nope.  No way, no how.  Contest runs from right now until midnight Saturday September 4th.  A winner will be announced Sunday September 5th. 

Disclaimer:  I purchased Perfect Foods Bars on my own and plan to many more times.  I contacted Perfect Foods after trying the bars.  So what I am saying is this review is what I really think of the product and is not influenced by anything but my taste buds.  Thank you to the kind folks at the Perfect Foods Bar for hosting this giveaway!