Van's Simply Delicious Gluten-Free Snack Bars, Cranberry Almond, 5 Count

So, if you ever try to go to a gluten-free diet for yourself, or if you need to switch one of your kiddos to one (which is what was the case in our house), one of the things you will quickly notice is that the texture of many gluten free products is dreadful. That soft, melt in your mouth texture you've come to associate with breads? Gone. And the taste? Often there's something slightly off-putting in the commercial products.So, if you've ever run across any of my food reviews you know, sugar and I aren't exactly best friends. We broke up years ago, and I don't see a day when we're ever getting back together again. So I also have to speak on the side of truth...is there more sugar in here then I would eat for my own self? Yes. Would I ever eat one of these? Sure, if I were stranded on a desert island and needed it for survival, but then I have health reasons for my position, so as long as I have access to my normal food sources, this isn't something I'd personally choose because of the sugar amount. But have I seen sugar amounts much worse? Yes.But this is a product I support strongly because it is a product my son loves, and the texture is actually pretty good for a gluten free product. Because yes, I've actually tasted it. I spent an enormous amount of time keeping weight on this kiddo during the second year of his life, because his sensory issues were so bad he was always vomiting. And the switch we had to make to gluten free products was a struggle, because most of the breads alone would make him puke or gag from the texture alone. Commercial gluten free breads, except for a couple of Udi's, are pretty awful. The texture on this product, is awesome for a gluten free product, and the taste isn't all that bad, because everything we try to get him to eat I take a big taste of first and make a big deal about how tasty it is (if it's actually tastes decent, and you know what, this one is pretty good), to show him I think it could be desirable as well.And at least, this has some fiber, it's not too high on the calories. Yes, it could have less sugar, but I've definitely seen worse in that regard. I respectfully disagree with another reviewer about the bark taste. And my son loves it so much it became an issue this past week because we ran out, everyone was sick, and he kept requesting it on his computer, but we had none, so I ordered them from Amazon. Interestingly enough, they looked fresher then the ones we've been picking up from our grocer when I took it out of the package. But he was so happy when they came today he yanked the box out of my hands and said "o-en". He can't make the "p" sound, and it's rare he'll initiate any attempt at a word without a prompt from me, so it speaks heavily as to the love he has for these. So for me, it's pretty hard to find things my son is even willing to eat, much less that he loves this much. And that makes it a 5 star product.

So, I was ordering my little guy, who has to be gluten-free, some more of the Van's Chocolate Chip Snack bars, which he's very, very fond of, and I noticed this pop up as a recommendation once we put them in the cart. And, they don't have these in our local store, and I thought it might be cool to see if we could expand and stretch his willingness to try new things by using these. He struggles with new things, especially food items. But there is enough similarity between appearance on these and the chocolate chip bars I thought it might make him more willing to try them, and he did, right out of the box!!! He did give the different color of the packaging the once over and a very dubious "I'm not sure about this expression" but after the first bite, the rest quickly followed, and he even clutched another one to his chest to try and take on our evening walk last night. So, he's non-verbal, but let me tell you. Taking to it that quickly is akin to "I love it and you better keep my supplied, mom!"One of the things I like about these is that the texture is similar to the foam textures he's always trying to eat in non-food items (soft with just a small amount of resistance), which allows me to give him these as an appropriate item to eat and still allow him the sensory input he's wanting. They also have a great texture for gluten free products, and that also matters, because he has issues with the textures, and often times gluten-free textures are pretty unpleasant, even for me, and I don't have his sensory issues. I'm not as big of a fan of how much sugar is in these, and I did taste a piece myself. To me, they are too sweet, but they don't have as much sugar as a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie, and they have more fiber, so I still consider them to be a better choice then that. Because I value these for him for reasons other then nutritional and healthful awesomeness, I still consider this to be a 5 star product. Seeing how well and how quickly he took to these and then watching him actually take his shoes off and run through the woodchips at the park last night were the happiest moments of my day yesterday. Progress is a beautiful thing.

I ordered these Van's Simply Delicious Sandwich Bars (PB&J Blueberry) via Subscribe and Save and am back to order more...I figured we'd like them since we're already fans of anything peanut butter and love Van's choice of crackers. My husband and I both loved them right off and they didn't last long in our house (hence I forgot to take an actual photo of a sandwich bar; next time).These reminded us quite a bit of the Nature's Bakery Blueberry Fig Bars also delicious and available here, except without the wheat flavor. Very tasty.  Nature's Bakery Whole Wheat Fig Bar, Blueberry, Vegan + Non-GMO, 12 Count Box These are short and wide bars but average size I'd say, at 1.4 oz per bar. I wouldn't say they're a steal here but I haven't shopped around for them yet locally (I'll update after I do). After the added savings for subscribing, they were four dollars and change for the five bar box.Usually I chop protein bars up into quarters or so and put them into our trail mix snack bags for lunches. These were so tasty, not one made into our snack bags, lol. The texture is soft and the PB&J/ blueberry filling reminds me of the cream filling in a doughnut. Almost like a piece of pie melting in your mouth.They definitely don't taste like a healthy snack but rather more like a dessert type treat. Only 3 grams of protein but I love that they're non GMO and don't have any HFCS or preservatives. These are also gluten and dairy free but they do contain peanuts.Ours arrived with an expiration date that was seven months out from the time of our delivery. Uploading some photos of the box we received. I'll be searching for these here in bulk, for a better value if available. Smile. Yum! Enjoy!