Sunday, November 30, 2014

More Average Than Extraordinary, Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Double-Dutch Chocolate Bars


The Good: Fairly healthy, Good flavor
The Bad: Very expensive, Not the richest chocolate flavor
The Basics: Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Double-Dutch Chocolate Bars are interesting, but hardly flawless, making them a better product to get on clearance than to seek out regularly.


Since quitting my hellish job almost five months ago, many good things have happened to me. I have stopped losing weight and gotten back into a regular sleep cycle and I’ve had something my crap job never afforded me; disposable income! The result of being able to eat well has meant that I get to try a lot of foods and I actually have put on a few extra pounds. To stop my weight gain and help me level out at a healthy weight, I have been mixing healthy foods and diet foods and that seems to be working; I am almost happy with my body for the first time in a year!

One of the foods I have been enjoying lately are the Slim-Fast 3-2-1 snack bars. While there are a number of incredible ones, I was pretty excited about the Double-Dutch Chocolate Bars, mostly because I like rich chocolate flavoring. While these bars are good, they are hardly one of the most inspired flavors and they are not all that they could be. That said, they live up to their promise of helping consumers feel more full and supplementing their nutritional needs!

Basics

Slim-Fast is the company that merchandises its specialized diet plan for those who are trying to lose weight by eating healthier, especially through portion control. The 3-2-1 plan is a program that encourages participants to have three snacks (like the 100 calorie Snack Bar), two Slim-Fast shakes or meal bars, and then have a balanced meal of about five hundred calories. The Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Double-Dutch Chocolate bars are part of that program, but may be enjoyed just the same outside the program.

The Double-Dutch Chocolate Bars come in a .81 oz. chocolate bar that is foil-wrapped. Each bar represents a single serving and Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan has bars presented as 7/8” wide, ¾” tall by 3” long solid, heavily pitted or assembled-looking chocolate bar without any adornment. One bar is one portion, so this is very easy to get into on the portion front! These snack bars come in packs of six and locally, we have found them for $4.99, though we only stocked up on them when they went on clearance at a local store for $1.50/ea. At that price it was an actual value!

Ease Of Preparation

Eating Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Double-Dutch Chocolate Bars is not a real challenge. After removing the wrapper, simply pull out the bar and stick it in your mouth. There is no particularly complicated equation to eating this chocolate bar. This is an entirely ready-to-eat food!

Taste

Opening the wrapper on the first Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Double-Dutch Chocolate Bar, one is greeted by a surprisingly powerful chocolate scent. The aroma of chocolate is rich, but familiar; the Double-Dutch Chocolate bars smell like super-concentrated milk chocolate, as opposed to smelling like dark chocolate.

The Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Double-Dutch Chocolate Bars are instantly sweet on the tongue and the chocolate flavor is rich, but very sweet. The sweetness is cut by the dry chocolate of the cookie center of the Double-Dutch Chocolate bars. The combination of chocolate flavors results in a somewhat more muted chocolate flavor than one might hope, at least for those who love dark chocolate or consistently sweet milk chocolate.

The Double-Dutch Chocolate Bars have a slightly dry aftertaste to them, which encourages one to drink more after consuming them.

Nutrition

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plans Double-Dutch Chocolate Snack Bars are intended as a supplemental food, not a full meal. These .81 oz. bars represent a single serving and they have quite a few nutrients in them. Made primarily of rice flour, sugar and polydextrose, the ingredient list does become a mess of preservatives and vitamins near the end. This is not an all-natural food product and these snack bars were produced on equipment that forces them to add a disclaimer about macadamia nuts, milk, soy, wheat, eggs, sesame, almonds, cashews, coconut, walnut, pecans, and peanuts.

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan's Double-Dutch Chocolate Bars have only 100 calories, only 30 of which are from fat. A bar represents 12% of one's RDA of saturated fat, though they are cholesterol free. As well, they are fairly low in sodium, having only 60 mg per serving. They also have a gram of protein and ten percent of nine different vitamins and minerals! This is a very healthy snack!

Storage/Cleanup

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Double-Dutch Chocolate Bars are tasty regardless of when they are eaten or how they are stored. Unopened, they have a decent shelf life around a year. We purchased a box two days ago on clearance and they have an expiration date of June 19, 2015, which makes me wonder why they were being clearance now. If they melt, they will stain, so consult your fabric guide if that happens. Otherwise, cleanup is simply throwing the foil wrapper away when you are done with the chocolate bar.

Overall

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Double-Dutch Chocolate Snack Bars are a fair addition to the line, but not an extraordinary food on any front.

For other Slim-Fast 3-2-1 reviews, please check out:
Peanut Butter Crunch Time
Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz Snack Bars
Chocolate Mint Snack Bars

5/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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