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.

| | |

A Close Second, Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Peanut Butter Crunch Time Snack Bars Satisfy!

The Good: Very healthy, Tastes amazingly good.
The Bad: Very expensive.
The Basics: Slim-Fast 3-2-1 has another real winner with their Peanut Butter Crunch Time snack bars which deliver a lot of chocolate taste to health-conscious consumers!


Slim-Fast continues to surprise me. After knocking my socks off with their 3-2-1 Chocolate Mint bars (reviewed here!) and being utterly unimpressed by their 3-2-1 Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz snack bars (reviewed here!), which failed to live up to their promises, I was feeling remarkably neutral when my wife brought home the Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Peanut Butter Crunch Time Snack Bars. Slim-Fast managed to go 2-1 with this product, as I am once again on the bandwagon praising the healthy snack.

In fact, it is worth noting that my biggest gripe about Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Peanut Butter Crunch Time Snack Bars has to do with their expense. These bars are comparatively ridiculously small. At $4.99 for only six bars, I could never justify the expense of these if they were not on sale. My wife and I got these buy one, get one free and even then they seemed pricy. Sure, these are wonderful, but they are small and expensive.

Basics

Slim-Fast is the company that merchandises its specialized diet plan for those who are trying to lose weight by eating healthier, but more controlled portions. The 3-2-1 plan is a new 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 Peanut Butter Crunch Time snack bars are part of that program, but may be enjoyed just the same outside the program.

The Peanut Butter Crunch Time come in a .81 oz. chocolate bar (reminiscent of a Heath bar) that is foil-wrapped. Each bar represents a single serving and Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Peanut Butter Crunch Time bars are 3 1/2” long by 1” wide by 3/8” deep. They look like a flatter chocolate bar. These snack bars come in packs of six and locally, we have found them for $4.99, though they do seem to go on sale frequently and have coupons fairly regularly as well. At full price, these are thoroughly underwhelming in appearance and the box even makes them look bigger than they are!

Ease Of Preparation

Eating Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Peanut Butter Crunch Time snack 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 healthy candy bar. This is an entirely ready-to-eat food!

Taste

Opening the wrapper on the first Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Peanut Butter Crunch Time Bar, one is instantly overwhelmed with the scent of chocolate and peanut butter. This snack bar smells like a slightly less salty version of a Butterfinger bar and it perked me up the moment I opened the wrapper!

On the tongue, the hopes and dreams of every dieter is realized through this chocolate! Yes, there are chocolate bars you can eat while working to get healthy! Flaky and buttery, the peanut butter flavor comes out as the thin milk chocolate layer melts delightfully away. The flavor is reminiscent of toffee as the chocolate disintegrates and the nutty flavor of peanut butter gives way to a sweet, buttery taste. This is delightful and the taste, more than the portion, made me want more.

Nutrition

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Peanut Butter Crunch Time Snack Bars are intended as a supplemental food, not a full meal. These .81 oz. bars represent a single serving and they have a boatload of nutrients in them. Made primarily of sugar, corn syrup and dry roasted peanuts, the ingredient list does becomes a list of 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 milk, soy, wheat, eggs, sesame, almonds, cashews, coconut, walnut, pecans, and peanuts.

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan's Peanut Butter Crunch Time have only 100 calories, 30 of which are from fat. A bar represents 10% of one's RDA of saturated fat, though they are cholesterol free. As well, they are nicely low in sodium, having only 70 mg per serving. They also have a gram of protein and ten percent of ten different vitamins and minerals! This is a surprisingly healthy snack!

Storage/Cleanup

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Peanut Butter Crunch Time are good regardless of when they are eaten or how they are stored. Unopened, they have a decent shelf life around six months. We purchased a box on the first day of February (2012) and they have an expiration date of June 2012. 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 snack bar.

Overall

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Peanut Butter Crunch Time Snack Bars are exceptionally good, and good for you, but Slim-Fast makes you pay a premium for that goodness!

For other reviews of healthy foods, please check out:
Quaker Chewy S’mores Granola bars
Peeled Organic Apple-2-The-Core
Atkins Advantage Peanut Butter Bars

8/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my index page on the subject! That is available by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

| | |

A Good Snack, Slim-Fast’s 3-2-1 Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz Snack Bars Are A Fun Alternative To Granola Bars!

The Good: Very healthy, Tastes good.
The Bad: Very expensive, Not very chocolatey at all.
The Basics: While good, Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz do not taste great enough to gush over, especially given their relative expense.


Slim-Fast managed to surprise me not long ago. I tried their 3-2-1 Chocolate Mint bars (reviewed here!) and I fell heels over head in love with them (save their expense). So, when I sat down to give the Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz Snack Bars a try, I was entirely biased in favor of the bars. Sadly, this left me a little underwhelmed when I tried the Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz snack bars. They were good, don’t get me wrong, but they were not superlative in any way, save in how healthy they are.

We picked up the Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz Snack Bars on sale. At $4.99 for only six bars, I could not justify the expense of these if they were not on sale. My wife and I got these buy one, get one free and my feeling that they were overpriced, especially for their size, was confirmed when my wife – in straightening up the house – easily fit ten of these bars into the box that came with only six! My point here is that Slim-Fast could afford to deliver a lot more of these in the same amount of space and both throw a bone to consumers and help out the environment.

NOTE TO HEALTH FOOD MANUFACTURERS: If your goal was actually to help people lose weight, get into a more healthy lifestyle, perhaps offering greater value to your products would help achieve that goal and set your company apart from the many other health food companies on the market. We’re in a recession; people buy crappy food because it is cheap. My wife and I are sterling examples of how people will pay a reasonable amount to eat healthy!

Basics

Slim-Fast is the company that merchandises its specialized diet plan for those who are trying to lose weight by eating healthier, but more controlled portions. The 3-2-1 plan is a new 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 Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz are part of that program, but may be enjoyed just the same outside the program.

The Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz come in a .84 oz. white chocolate-dipped granola type bar that is foil-wrapped. Each bar represents a single serving and Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz bars are 7/8” wide by 5/8” tall by 3 1/2” long. They look like a thin tan and brown mealy bar that is dipped so that the bottom 1/4" of the bar is solid, white chocolate. These snack bars come in packs of six and locally, we have found them for $4.99, though they do seem to go on sale frequently and have coupons fairly regularly as well. At full price, these are thoroughly underwhelming in appearance and the box even makes them look bigger than they are!

Ease Of Preparation

Eating Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz snack 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 chewy granola bar. This is an entirely ready-to-eat food!

Taste

Opening the wrapper on the first Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz Bar, there is a very pleasant white chocolate scent. Like the aroma of yogurt-covered raisins, these shack bars have only a faint hint of actual milk or dark chocolate to their bouquet. Instead, these smell very light and creamy, which is pretty inviting in and of itself.

On the tongue, the Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz Snack Bars are very flavorful. Interestingly, this is a bar whose taste is entirely dependent upon its method of delivery. Placed on the tongue with the creamy side down (as they come out of the package), one gets a velvety vanilla flavor that is light and distinct. Flipped over to allow the granola-type side of the bar to hit the tongue first, one gets a dry, coconut flavor that is pleasant, but not at all chocolatey (though that side is where the chocolate flavor should be).

Nutrition

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz Snack Bars are intended as a supplemental food, not a full meal. These .84 oz. bars represent a single serving and they have a boatload of nutrients in them. Made primarily of yogurt flavored coating, sugar, and rice crisp, 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 milk, soy, wheat, eggs, sesame, almonds, cashews, coconut, walnut, pecans, and peanuts.

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan's Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz have only 100 calories, only 25 of which are from fat. A bar represents 10% of one's RDA of saturated fat, though they are cholesterol free. As well, they are nicely low in sodium, having only 70 mg per serving. They also have a gram of protein and ten percent of ten different vitamins and minerals! This is a very healthy snack!

Storage/Cleanup

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz are good regardless of when they are eaten or how they are stored. Unopened, they have a decent shelf life around six months. We purchased a box on the first day of February (2012) and they have an expiration date of July 2012. If they melt, they might stain, so consult your fabric guide if that happens. Otherwise, cleanup is simply throwing the foil wrapper away when you are done with the snack bar.

Overall

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Chocolatey Vanilla Blitz Snack Bars are good, but did not light my world on fire the way the Chocolate Mint bars did. I was much more aware of the expense of these and while they did not taste bad, they did not excite me the way some other good snacks have.

For other reviews of healthy foods, please check out:
Quaker Chewy S’mores Granola bars
Peeled Organic Apple-2-The-Core
Atkins Advantage Peanut Butter Bars

6.5/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my index page on the subject! That is available by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Best. Diet. Snack Bar. Ever. ? Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Chocolate Mint Snack Bars Are Absolutely Incredible (And Expensive)! (My 400th Food And Drink Review!)

The Good: Very healthy, Tastes amazingly good.
The Bad: Very expensive
The Basics: Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Chocolate Mint Bars would be perfect, so perfect I would live off them if I could, save that they are so ridiculously expensive.


After my last attempt at eating and reviewing a healthy snack bar, I was very wary. That attempt was with the Atkins Advantage Chocolate Peanut Butter bars (reviewed here!) and it almost made me swear off trying new healthy snacks. But, my wife is determined to get me into shape (an effort I fully applaud . . . so long as I don’t have to work excessively hard at it), so I have been happily letting her . . . at least, I did when she decided to pick up the Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Chocolate Mint Snack Bars. I have an absolute love for all things chocolate mint (check out my review of Jelly Belly Mint Chocolate Dips candies here!) and the idea of getting something healthy that was chocolate mint was enough to make me forget about the Atkins Advantage fiasco.

We only picked up the Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Chocolate Mint Snack Bars, truly, because they were on sale. Sure, I was absolutely intrigued by them. But at $4.99 for only six bars, I could not justify the expense. Ever. So, when we found them buy one, get one free, we decided to splurge.

I am SO glad we did! These are amazing. In fact, these bars are so amazing that if they were less expensive, I would stock up on them and have one a day for the rest of my life. Seriously. I would forgo all other sweets to eat this healthy snack . . . if only they were more affordable!

Basics

Slim-Fast is the company that merchandises its specialized diet plan for those who are trying to lose weight by eating healthier, but more controlled portions. The 3-2-1 plan is a new 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 Chocolate Mint bars are part of that program, but may be enjoyed just the same outside the program.

The Chocolate Mint 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 and tall by 3” long solid, smooth chocolate bar with a green drizzle of mint frosting on top. 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 they do seem to go on sale frequently and have coupons fairly regularly as well. At full price, these are thoroughly underwhelming in appearance and the box even makes them look bigger than they are (they could probably save 20% of the cardboard from the box by making the box a more appropriate size!

Ease Of Preparation

Eating Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Chocolate Mint 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 Chocolate Mint Bar, I was absolutely shocked at how good these smelled! I eat a lot of chocolate mint items and this smelled so good! The smell was lightly slightly peppermint and definitively chocolate! I never would have guessed that a Slim-Fast product would smell so wonderfully chocolatey!

With the bold scent of chocolate in my nose, I allowed myself to get my hopes up for the Chocolate Mint Snack Bars. And it lived up! The Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Chocolate Mint Bars are like a chocolate-soaked brownie! These taste instantly like slightly dark chocolate, which is overrun by the peppy mint flavor of the coating. One almost has to strain to taste the chocolate again, because the mint is so prevalent.

This was one of the very best diet snacks I have ever had and I know when I bit into it, my face melted in delight. The Chocolate Mint Snack Bars leave no strong aftertaste (a slight mint flavor persists for about five minutes) and on the flavor front, these are truly exceptional.

Nutrition

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plans Chocolate Mint Snack Bars are intended as a supplemental food, not a full meal. These .81 oz. bars represent a single serving and they have a boatload of nutrients in them. Made primarily of sugar, rice flour 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 milk, soy, wheat, eggs, sesame, almonds, cashews, coconut, walnut, pecans, and peanuts.

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan's Chocolate Mint 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 blissfully low in sodium, having only 65 mg per serving. They also have a gram of protein and ten percent of nine different vitamins and minerals! This is a wonderful healthy snack!

Storage/Cleanup

Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan Chocolate Mint Bars are amazingly tasty regardless of when they are eaten or how they are stored. Unopened, they have a decent shelf life around eight months. We purchased a box on the first day of February (2012) and they have an expiration date of October 2012. 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 Chocolate Mint Snack Bars are amazingly good and well worth picking up. Wait until they are on sale and then stock right up! You will be glad you did.

For other reviews of healthy foods, please check out:
Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Chocolate Mocha
Peeled Organic Apricot-a-lot
Ocean Spray Pomegranate Craisins

9/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my index page on the subject! That is available by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

| | |