Jala Vanilla Pomegranate Swirl Bar

I happen to really like yogurt. I like most styles, I like it in smoothies or those yogurt drinks, and it goes without saying that I like it frozen. So, being the spoiled brat that I am, my mother -- knowing that I like both vanilla frozen yogurt and pomegranate -- got me this box of bars.

I have never seen Jala local to me at home (as I write this I am in Atlanta), but according to their website, each bar has only 110 calories, contains antioxidants and probiotics, is low fat and might make me less grouchy... OK, it doesn't claim that last part, but my mother was hoping.

Anyway, so I have this rather generously sized bar in front of me (I am kind of a size queen with my frozen goodies) and so far, so good. It's a snowy white and the pomegranate swirl in the center adds a nice esthetic touch. I let it soften a bit before trying it.



And, well...honestly, I was kinda underwhelmed. It's not that the bar tasted bad -- it's just that it really didn't taste of much at all. It was as if I tried really really hard, I could kinda maybe sorta pick up a hint of vanilla, but the main flavor was simply "cold." The pomegranate swirl was somewhat pleasant, but it tasted more like pom-flavored syrup than the actual fruit -- and looking at the ingredient list for the swirl confirmed that pom-flavored syrup is pretty much what it was.

The texture was reasonably smooth but a little grainy. But that seems to be the typical way of the yogurt bar, so I would place the Jala bar at about average on texture.



I really wanted to like the bar, and it's not that I disliked it -- I just felt like I'd eaten 110 calories of "cold air" flavored stuff. But I would love to give their Lemon Sweet Tea Swirl flavor a go, so I will defiantly be giving Jala a second chance. This one, however, was a big disappointment.



PURCHASED FROM:
Found in my mother's freezer, where it will probably remain.

CALORIES:
110 calories per bar

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains milk and soy. Processed in a facility that uses tree nuts & peanuts.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE
jalabars.com

V8 V-Fusion Pomegranate Blueberry Juice

Thanksgiving has come and gone, it's less than 3 weeks to Christmas, and there is a lot of decking the halls still to do. I also work a lot this time of the year, and it gets harder to have time to have "real" meals. Yeah, sadly, many of my December meals start with Mc-something. But it's still important for me to keep getting all my veggies -- even if I don't have to cook or eat them.

That's right. Thanks to the folks at V8, I can drink them instead. One 8-ounce glass of V-Fusion is like eating a full portion of veggies -- and there's extra vitamins and antioxidants!

Alright, let's be fair. Nutrition is cool and all, but my main motivation here is...does it taste good? Let's find out...



The juice itself looks like a darker version of cranberry juice. It smells kind of like cranberry juice, too. If you didn't know it, you would never guess that there are vegetables hiding in there.



Both the blueberry and the pomegranate play nicely together -- but if you are hoping for a strong, assertive "grown-up" juice experience, you aren't going to find it here. This version is quite mild. The berries taste sweet, the pom adds some tartness. According to the V8 website, the product also contains the juices of carrots, sweet potatoes, purple carrots, tomatoes, apples and white grapes in addition to the main two flavors. I can pick up the carrot (which is fine, as I really love carrot juice), but the other flavors are pretty well hidden.

Personally I prefer my pom juice bolder than this, but that did not stop the bottle from going mysteriously empty quickly. (Of course, I do have juice gnomes in my fridge...). I think that this could also be a good flavor to use to get kids (or other people who dislike change) to try different flavors.

Overall, very nice.



PURCHASED FROM:
Sample From Company

Pom Wonderful: Pomegranate Kiwi Juice

It's nice to know that the good people at Pom like me enough to give me the inside track on the newest Pom flavors! Woohoo!

The first of the two flavors up is Pomegranate/Kiwi.

I love kiwi. But sadly, you next to never see things flavored or made with kiwi. I actually tried to make kiwi ice cream a few months ago...because doesn't that sound good? Yeah, that's just it. It sounded good, but in reality it was a really dumb thing to do. The kiwi actually curdled the cream and...well, the less said, the better. It was quite a traumatic experience.



Kiwi, of course, has a great taste that is best described as a strawberry/banana hybrid. And happily, that combo paired perfectly with the strong tartness of the pomegranate juice.

When you first sip the drink, what you notice the most is the sweetness. It's strong on the banana side...but at the same time, it's definitely not banana. It never gets so sweet that you think you're drinking something that was purposely made super-sweet -- like, say, Hawaiian Punch. (Actually, that's an unfair comparison, because Hawaiian Punch -- while delicious in its own right -- is not 100% juice, and is intended to be super sweet, but you get the idea.)

The pom flavor comes in at the end of the sip. Probably because of the sweetness of the kiwi, the pom doesn't seem as tart as it does on its own; nor as in some of the other flavors available (such as the Pom Blueberry or Pom Cherry). Normally, I would have been disappointed by that fact, because I happen to really like the strong flavor of pom -- but it just tastes so good along with the kiwi that I don't care.

Because this flavor is so mild, I think this would be a great flavor for first-time Pom drinkers or for kids.

Really, really good!




PURCHASED FROM:
Sample From Company

Jack In The Box Pomegranate Berry Smoothie

Marvo over at The Impulse Buy actually beat me to reviewing this (read his review HERE) and because I am feeling lazy I have used the same stock photo he did (yeah, sometimes Googling for myself is just too hard)
Since Pom is a wonder fruit will it make me less lazy? probably not- and even if it could the smoothie is so weighted down with sugar that my bloated (from the dairy) yet hyper (from the sugar) self will probably just choose to ooze myself onto the couch with some knitting.

The smoothies are a mix of frozen yogurt, raspberry, blueberry, cranberry and Pom juices (least you think an actual piece of fruit made it any where near your smoothie). Maybe it was just the combo of all the berry juices but to me it tasted the most like Cran-Raspberry juice. The yogurt added a little thickness and a vague creamy value. I think the easiest way to sum it up would be to imagine taking store brand cran-raspberry juice that had been opened and started to get that stale taste old juice get and mixed that with some milk.

I should have just stayed with the 2 for 99 cent taco's (hey at least you get to play guess the meat!)

PURCHASED FROM:
Jack In The Box

Pom Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice

I have been a big fan of Pom Wonderful since they started
One of the houses I lived in growing up actually had Pomegranate tree's in the back yard. It was always a nice treat to crack a big pom open. My Grandmother used to like to put the seeds in the freezer for a little bit and eat them ice cold.

I love Pom Wonderful Juice! I have tried all of the flavors but the one I like best is still the oringinal 100%. What's great about it is it's so many things at once. It's tart, not quite as bitter as a blueberry but not as sweet as a raspberry. It's sweet, not as sweet as apple juice but but more complex then grape juice. I just find it really refreshing. AND do I even have to tell you guys how good Poms are for you? It's antioxidentlious! (because everything sounds better with 'lious' added to the end!)

There really need to be more pomergranate flavored foods.

PURCHASED FROM:
Sample From Company