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Always on the lookout for a healthier chip snack alternative that actually tastes good, today I'm reviewing Cauliflower Potato Chips made by Simply Nature.

Simply Nature, an Aldi brand, offers a wide variety of organic and non-GMO foods, including chips, crackers, fruits, nuts, and drinks.

According to the packaging of the product I'm sampling today, the chips are NonGMO Project Verified, gluten-free, and contain only vegan, all plant-based ingredients.  On the nutrition front, one serving has 130 calories per serving, 6 grams of total fat (compare to Kettle Brand Sea Salt chips with 9 grams and Lay's Simply Sea Salted at 10 grams), and just 1 gram of sugar, but the sodium count is high at 240mg (compare that to Kettle Brand at 110g and Lay's at 160g).  Simply Nature has 30 fewer calories than Kettle, 40 vs. Lays and the sugar content was negligible.  Ironically, the Kettle Brand Sea Salt Chips are perhaps the healthiest overall.

The chips are quite a bit darker in color than the package pic.  'gotta love marketing...

On the flavor front, these chips have a bit of a roasted vegetable flavor to them.  You get a nice note of sea salt with each crunchy bite followed by the roasted notes of carrot, beet, tomato, and shitake mushroom.  Cauliflower is a very bland veggie, so the others have to carry the day.  It's a very dry chip however with an almost baked quality to them, but they're not.  You definitely need a dip to go with these chips.  They do hold up decently to a soft dip like those that are sour cream based, but these chips will break easily trying to dip into anything heavier or with some density.

On sale at Aldi for $1.99 for a 3.5-ounce bag, I'm giving Simply Nature Cauliflower Potato Chips 3 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  More of a veggie chip rather than a cauliflower chip (marketing), they have a good crunch and a robust sea salt flavor, but these aren't stand-alone tasty chips, they NEED a dip.  The sale price makes them a borderline repeat buy.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

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This is an up-and-coming name-brand chip

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When I buy chips now, it's usually a bag of chips cooked kettle style.  They have a superior crunch and a more robust flavor than traditionally prepared chips.

Today I'm reviewing Uglies Kettle Chips, Bar-B-Que flavor.  I've never sampled them before but I've seen them on the shelves at Walmart and they're also available at Sam's Club and on Amazon.com.  Chip flavor options are Sea Salt, Salt & Vinegar, Bar-B-Que, Cheddar & Sour Cream, Jalapeno, and Sweet Potato, packaged as, "Sweets."

Aldi too has recently added Uglies to its chip section and I grabbed a bag on my latest shopping trip.  Uglies is an up-and-coming chip maker that uses 'ugly' potatoes that have been rejected by farmers, potato brokers, and even other chip makers because of the potato size, shape, color, or slight imperfections.  Here's the rundown from the company website:

It’s not easy being ugly, but our lacking in the looks department is more than made up for in taste!

Uglies® Kettle Chips are crafted from potatoes with slight imperfections—potatoes that are too large or too small; have varied colors or the wrong sugar content. Some of the potatoes are slightly blemished and, of course, some are just farmer surplus. (Hey, just to be clear, the potatoes we use are NOT diseased, rotting or unripe.)

Some of us in the bag may have browner edges and some of us may be darker than kettle chips with less character—but beauty is in the eye of the chip holder!

A little rough around the edges, Uglies are more than a great tastin’ snack…we support farmers, reduce waste and fight hunger!

According to Uglies, 26% of U.S. produce gets discarded for cosmetic reasons, with 6 billion pounds of produce going unharvested or unsold for aesthetic reasons annually.

These chips have character! Variations in chip size and color, but they all pack good flavor and crunch.

These are good chips!  In taking that first bite I got robust BBQ flavor and that great crunch that you're looking for in a Kettle style chip.  The non-uniform appearance, a.k.a., the imperfections were negligible, with the only real obvious distinctions being variations in chip size and color.   I don't care that the chips aren't uniform in that way, the taste is there!

Costing $2.49 for a 6-ounce bag at Aldi, I'm giving Uglies Bar-B-Que Kettle Chips 4 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap Stars.  They are repeat buy worthy.  Reasonably priced, they have good flavor and a nice Kettle chip crunch.  I would put them on par with Lays and a notch below Kettle Brand.  Compare the Uglies price to an 8-ounce bag of Lays Kettle Cooked BBQ chips priced at about $4 at the mainstream grocery store.  A 7.5-ounce bag of Kettle Brand BBQ chips will also run you about $4 shopping mainstream.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

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If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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I recently reviewed Bratwurst Flavored Potato Chips from Clancy's, an Aldi brand.  The chips are a novel flavor worthy of a repeat buy.  Sitting next to them on the chip display were Beer Flavored Potato Chips.  I opted for the brat chips, with a promise to review the beer-flavored chips at a later date.

So in fulfilling that promise...

Exclusive to Aldi, Clancy's makes a full line of snack foods, with over 40 varieties to choose from.

The brand is kind of hit-and-miss though. While their regular classic potato chips are good and in my book a smarter buy than over-priced classic Lay's, some of the other Clancy's chip options are less-than-stellar. I've found their stackable chips, a.k.a., "crisps" to be greasy, the Cheddar & Sour Cream chips to be visually disappointing, and Clancy's knock-off of Nacho Cheese flavored tortilla chips come up short in flavor, texture, and crunch. No knock-off measures up to Doritos when it comes to Nacho Cheese Chips.

Clancy's Beer Flavored Potato Chips is one of their "Miss" varieties, they need to go back to the drawing board.  While the beer flavor is kind of there in the initial bite, the aftertaste is funky.  And it's not a stale, flat beer kind of funky, but a, not-really-tasting-like-beer-at-all, funky.  It's tough to describe, but the funky aftertaste overpowered the initial kinda-like beer flavor and chip crunch.

I was disappointed, as overall, the chips had a good crunch, they were evenly sized with minimal imperfections, and there was negligible breakage in the bottom of the bag.  The beer flavor just isn't right.  Clancy's needs a "do-over."

Costing me $1.99 for a 9.5-ounce bag, I'm giving Clancy's Beer Flavored Potato Chips 2 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  They're reasonably priced but are NOT worthy of a repeat buy.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Related: Clancy's Bratwurst Flavored Potato Chips

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If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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Taste comparison, Kettle Brand original vs. air fried

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You've probably seen the TV commercial, Kettle Brand Chips, the top-shelf brand with arguably the best chip crunch out there, has come out with an air-fried version.

Kudos for the marketing savvy, Kettle Brand has picked up on the trend of air-fried foods and the concept of making fried foods a bit healthier to eat using the latest kitchen gadget.  The tagline for the product is, "We've got an air fryer."

Kettle's new line of air-fried chips comes in a variety of flavors and are stated to be kettle-cooked and air-finished.  The current flavors available are Himalayan Salt, Salt & Vinegar, and Jalapeno. 

Kettle-cooked chips are WAY better than standard chips in my opinion, delivering more robust flavor and a far superior chip crunch.  For this review I went with the jalapeno variety, I love jalapeno-flavored chips, the tasty heat plus a great crunch is an addictive flavor and texture combination.  I've sampled Kettle Brand's Jalapeno Chips before, and loved them, they are definitely repeat buy-worthy.   The air-fried version is also quite good.  Kettle Brand has done a nice job with their new product, it's damn close to the original, with the crunch factor only slightly better in the original chip, very slight.  Both chip types had robust jalapeno flavor.

But is the air-fried version really any healthier?

Marginally.

Label comparison, the air fried are only marginally healthier

I mean seriously, we are talking potato chips fried in oil after all, not a healthy thing to consume to begin with...  

Per the bag, “We batch cook them in kettles, then air fry them for a light & crispy crunch with 100% bold kettle brand flavor.”  The company also states the chip has 30% less fat than the original version.

In reviewing the labels, a serving of the air-fried version has 20 fewer calories, 150 calories for the original, and 130 calories for the air-fried.  And yes, there is less fat, 9 total grams of fat in the original vs. 6 grams for the air fried.  But Kettle has added more salt, sugar, and oddly enough - carbs, to their new product recipe, which kind of negates the reduced calorie count and grams of fat.  The amount of sodium per serving goes from 170 grams (7% of the recommended daily intake) in the original chips, to 220 grams (10% of the recommended daily intake) in the air-fried chips.  So while there's 30% less fat with the new chip, the sodium level has been increased by about the same percentage.  The original chip recipe contains less than 1 gram of sugar per serving (1% of the recommended daily intake), vs. 1 gram in the air-fried recipe (2% of the recommended daily intake.  It would be alarming to state they've nearly doubled the amount of sugar, that's not an untrue statement, but 1 gram isn't a big deal.  The elevated sodium levels and added sugar were done I'm sure to enhance the flavor profile, but here's the odd thing, where do the extra carbohydrates come from?  It has to be the added sugar.  The original chips have 15 grams of carbs per serving, the air-fried version has 18.

Again, kudos to the Kettle Brand marketing folks for picking up on the air-fried foods trend.  They're going to sell many bags of those air-fried finished chips.  The taste and crunch are oh-so-close to the original version, but frankly, I'm sticking with the original chip.  It's a chip, neither version is a healthy eat.

Costing me $7.00 for the two bags in a "2 for $7" deal at Dillons, I'm giving Kettle Brand Air Fried Jalapeno Potato Chips 4 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  The air-fried version is good, just not quite as good as the original.  The health benefits are negligible and here's another reason not to buy the air-fried, it's a smaller bag, making the chips more expensive per ounce, a.k.a. not as many chips you can consume.  The original version bag of chips I bought as part of that deal comes in a 7.5-ounce bag.  The new air-fried product comes in a 6.5-ounce bag.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Related: Food Review: Miss Vickie's Jalapeno Kettle Cooked Potato Chips

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or a monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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Introduced in 1932, just 5 cents each

Out and about running errands the other day and hungry enough for a snack but not a meal, I pulled into QuikTrip to satisfy the snack urge.

I wasn't in the mood for chips, alternatives like popcorn or pork rinds sounded kind of ho-hum and I guess a crunch factor wasn't what I was really looking for, because it hit me when I browsed the candy bar area - PayDay! 

It's an old-school candy bar consisting of salted peanuts rolled over a sweet caramel nougat-like center.  First introduced in 1932, it was actually marketed as a meal replacement because of its densely packed peanut layer.  It's a very tasty sweet and salty combo that packs 7 grams of protein. 

Packed with peanuts

It's been a while since I've had a PayDay and it really hit the spot at a time when chips weren't appealing and chocolate sounded too sweet.  Peanuts and caramel was the perfect solution to my snack craving.

Costing less than a snack-size bag of chips, packing some protein, and providing a perfectly sweet yet salty snack craving satisfaction, I'm giving the PayDay candy bar 5 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  I honestly had forgotten just how good this bar is and will be buying it rather than a snack bag of chips much more often.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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Searching for that healthier savory snack that delivers some crunch without the carb load, I'm going on a bit of a nut binge.

Today's review, and the start of this binge, are some lightly roasted whole almonds from Nut Harvest.

Nut Harvest is a Frito Lay product, with a lineup of nuts and trail mix designed for "on-the-go" snacking. 

The lightly roasted almonds are good, delivering that nut crunch with a bit of salt.  It's a solid snack nutritionally, packing 6 grams of protein and just 6 grams of carbs per serving.  Most of the almonds were whole, there was some breakage however, but they're nuts, not chips, so not a big deal.  Despite some minor breakage, it wasn't dust, the nuts were still quite easy to eat and the packet allows you to directly deliver a mouthful if desired.

Available for $2.68 for a 2.25-ounce package at the mainstream grocery store, I'm giving Nut Harvest Lightly Roasted Whole Almonds 4 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  It's a tasty nut eat that is indeed ideal for on-the-go snacking.  But they're not the cheapest lightly roasted almond snack out there.  Compare that per ounce price of $1.19 to Planters and Blue Diamond.  Essentially the same product - roasted almonds - both those brands come in 1.5-ounce packages for around $1 an ounce.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

~ Mike

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate this recipe and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or a monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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When is the last time you snacked on Funyuns and for the younger crowd, have you ever tried them?

First introduced in 1969, it's an old-school snack that has perhaps gotten a bit lost among all the new chip snack options available today.

Made by FritoLay, the aptly named snack is fun to eat, providing a crunchy texture and a zesty onion flavor.  The recipe changed in the early 2000's, with the rings getting downsized a bit but given a firmer bite.  They still pack that zesty onion flavor and the update better emulates fried onion rings, even though a baked product. 

I haven't eaten Funyuns in a while and I had forgotten how tasty they are.  With the use of whole grains in the recipe and at just 100 calories per serving, this is an old-school chip you don't have to feel as guilty about when eating compared to other chips. 

Available at Walmart for $6.48 for a 10-count box of 3/4 ounce single serving bags, I'm giving Funyuns 5 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  They're better than I remembered and don't add very much to the daily calorie count.  They're repeat buy worthy.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate this recipe and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or a monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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In my continued pursuit of cleaner eating and healthier snacking, today I'm reviewing a possible alternative to my favorite snack chip of all time, Nacho Cheese Doritos.

Nacho Cheese Doritos taste fabulous, they're delicious on their own but also excellent with salsa, queso dip, and fantastic as a base for walking tacos - Doritos even makes a special bag just for that purpose!  But my favorite chip is not healthy, even in moderation.  Aside from the high carb count and sodium level, it's loaded with artificial flavors and coloring which I was aware of.  What I wasn't aware of until fairly recently, research indicates some of those artificial ingredients may be linked to a higher risk for chronic disease to include cancer.

Are PopCorners a healthier option?

According to the company website, PopCorners are air-popped, never fried, don't have any artificial flavors or colors, and are darn tasty coming in Sea Salt, Spicy Queso, Sweet Chili, Sour Cream & Onion, Kettle Korn, and White Cheddar flavors.

I sampled the Sea Salt flavor for this review.  They're light and while they do provide some crunch factor, come off as a bit "styrofoam" in the chew.  The sea salt flavor is present, but it's subtle.  Sea Salt Popcorners are definitely a wholesome snack, not a flavor bomb.  They're not "darn tasty" like the website claims, but they're not totally boring either.  They're good enough that I'm willing to try the other flavors and test some with salsa and dips.

In a health comparison, this variety of Popcorners per serving contains 14 grams of carbs, 1.5 grams of fat, 120 grams of sodium, 1 gram of protein, and just 70 calories.  In contrast, a 12-chip serving of Nacho Cheese Doritos contains 18 grams of carbs, 8 grams of fat, 210 grams of sodium, 2 grams of protein, and 150 calories along with that boatload of artificial flavors and coloring.

No chip snack is a nutritional-savvy thing to do, but PopCorners is a smarter chip option that can satisfy biting down on something crunchy.

Available at Walmart, you can purchase a 28-count variety package of PopCorners (Sea Salt, Spicy Queso, Kettle Corn, White Cheddar, 1-ounce bags) for $26.25, or get a 7-ounce bag for $3.50.  A reasonably priced healthier chip snack option, I'm giving PopCorners Sea Salt Popped Corn Snack 3 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  They deliver some crunch and a bit of salt, but it's not a "Wow" snack.  Trying the other flavors is on the agenda, it's too early to rate them a repeat buy.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

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If you appreciate this recipe and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or a monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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Cleaner eating isn't just some passing fad, it's become mainstream from snack food options to full-course meals at fine dining establishments.

What exactly is cleaner eating?  Here's a quick definition from Harvard University:  A clean diet may include whole fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats while limiting highly processed snacks and other packaged foods with added sugar and salt. It may also be associated with terms like plant-based, grass-fed, sugar-free, or gluten-free.

So with on-the-go snacking and clean eating in mind, today I'm reviewing Larabar, the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip bar. 

I've never tried a Larabar before today and I'm always looking for a healthier snack option for those on-the-go and traveling times when sitting down for a meal or an unhealthy fast-food drive-through just isn't an option.

Pieces of peanuts and chocolate are evident

A description of what Larabar is about from the company website:  

Real Life Calls For Real Food

With 100% real ingredients, you can Raise Ä Bar to what you love! LÄRABAR makes simple snacks you can feel good about eating with many gluten free, dairy free & vegan options to choose from. With our simple blends of fruits, nuts, spices & sometimes chocolate chips, clean eating just got a whole lot easier.

Packed with dates, peanuts, and chocolate chips, the bar does NOT have any artificial sweeteners, is plant-based, gluten and dairy free, and vegan.  Biting into the bar it's got a nice chew.  I suspected the bar might be too peanut butter flavor-forward when unwrapping but it wasn't, it's a nice balance with the chocolate chips and dates, followed by a subtle hint of vanilla.

Available at Walmart for $12.94 for a 12-count box, which breaks down to $1.07 per bar, Larabar is one of the more reasonably priced "clean" snack bars out there.  Compare that per bar price to competitors' Kind at $1.24 per bar and Clif at $1.53.  Prices and bar options vary, but you get the point.  I'm giving the Larabar Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip snack bar 4 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  It's a reasonably priced clean eating snack bar that tastes decent and does the job of holding off hunger until mealtime.  Larabar is worthy of a repeat buy and will become a staple in my pantry, for on-the-go snacking and travel.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

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If you appreciate this recipe and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or a monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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I love a good brat.  Beer brats, cheddar brats, brats bathed in wine, or a classic grilled brat with sauerkraut and mustard on a pretzel bun, brats are SO tasty any way served!

So when I saw "Bratwurst" flavored potato chips when picking up a few groceries in Aldi the other day, I HAD to grab a bag.

Exclusive to Aldi, Clancy's makes a full line of snack foods, with over 40 varieties to choose from.

The brand is kind of hit-and-miss though.  While their regular classic potato chips are good and in my book a smarter buy than over-priced classic Lay's, some of the other Clancy's chip options are less-than-stellar.  I've found their stackable chips, a.k.a., "crisps" to be greasy, the Cheddar & Sour Cream chips to be visually disappointing and Clancy's knock-off of Nacho Cheese flavored tortilla chips come up short in flavor, texture, and crunch.  No knock-off measures up to Doritos when it comes to Nacho Cheese Chips.

Consistent size, smoky flavor

The Bratwurst chips however are pretty good.  In taking that first bite, I was immediately hit with smoky notes, followed by a nice hint of garlic.  I wouldn't call the flavor "Bratwurst" though as much as I would describe it more simply as "Grilled."  Overall, the chips had a good crunch, they were evenly sized with minimal imperfections, and there was negligible breakage in the bottom of the bag.

Costing me $1.99 for a 9.5-ounce bag, I'm giving Clancy's Bratwurst Flavored Potato Chips 4 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  More than reasonably priced, they've got a nice smoke flavor with a hint of garlic, just not quite 'bratwurst.'  It's a novel flavor worthy of a repeat buy.  Clancy's also has a beer flavor, I'll be trying that one next.  Hmm, brat chips, chased by beer...

Related: Chip Review: Clancy's Stackerz Original Potato Crisps

Related: Food Review: Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps vs. Clancy's Pretzel Slims

Related: Food Review: Clancy's Ridged Cheddar & Sour Cream Potato Chips

Related: Tortilla chip battle: Discount brand vs. store brand vs. Name brand

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Enjoy this post?

If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or monthly donation.  Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike

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