Epic Whole Foods Bars

There's a new snack bar in Gluten-Free Town that can sustain you as an unbelievably healthy quick meal, and it lives up to some amazing claims. If you eat meat, listen up, because these bars are good.

EPIC Bars are: Paleo, gluten-free, low-glycemic, soy-free, dairy-free, nitrate-free AND have a one-year shelf life. On top of that, EPIC bars use meat from animals that are vegetarian-fed and grass-fed, antibiotic-free, hormone-free and humanely treated. They don't claim to be egg-free, but I don't see eggs on the ingredients of any of the bars.

According to EPIC's philosophy, these bars "are loaded with anti-inflammatory omega-3's, muscle-building conjugated linoleic acid, and antioxidant rich vitamins A and E." Touting a decent amount of iron, and between 11 and 14 grams of protein per bar, that's all pretty good stuff.

But the best part? These bars are really, really tasty.

It's been a long time since my husband has had a good gluten-free bar that is high in protein that he loved, so when he texted me a photo of the wrapper of a Bison Bacon-Cranberry Epic Bar someone at work had given him to sample, and expressed his love for it, I knew I'd better get on that. I contacted Taylor Collins, one of EPIC's founders, and he kindly sent samples of all three flavors as well as some information and a cute bison sticker. Needless to say, my husband was pretty thrilled.

I think my favorite flavor is the Beef Habanero Cherry, but the Turkey Almond Cranberry was a really close second. My husband's favorite is the Bison Bacon Cranberry, but he really did love all three flavors. I wish I could vouch for the bison flavor, but I'm not able to eat pork so wasn't able to try that flavor since it contains bacon. I have no doubts it's equally good. My oldest daughter loved all three flavors, and she said they were so good, she wanted one for dessert! The youngest has a more sensitive tongue when it comes to spices, so she said they were a little spicy for her.

The only thing that took a few bites to get used to was the texture, but it wasn't a huge hurdle. It's kind of a cross between a Larabar and softer jerky. Not quite what you are expecting, but it wasn't an issue for anyone in this family and once I was used to it, didn't mind it all.

Bottom line is, these bars are GOOD. Good for you, good tasting and a good "meal" to have on hand in your emergency supply kit, for trips or for your next outdoor adventure. My husband is bringing some on his desert biathlon coming up.

For more information on EPIC bars or to order or find a location near you that sells them, you can check out their site at: http://epicbar.com/

(Disclosure: EPIC provided these products for me to sample free of charge. The opinions on the bars are completely my own.)

Organic, Grass-Fed, Gluten-free Beef Snacks

When we were new to the gluten-free lifestyle and weren't familiar with the array of gluten-free products available for snacking, one constant source of frustration - especially for my husband - was the lack of gluten-free meat snacks. Jerky, in particular.

I wasn't a huge fan of meat snacks - they served their purpose and gave some quick protein and sodium for certain occasions. I did, however, find myself craving them a little more after going gluten-free - most likely because they weren't readily available.

If you pick up a package of most jerky and other processed meat snacks and look at the ingredients label, you will more often than not find ingredients such as "soy sauce" that has in parentheses "wheat" following close behind. You may even see that certain snacks have a form of "wheat protein" listed. Even the brands with ingredients that look okay are questionable unless they state "gluten-free" on the package. It's rare.

But, on those rare occasions I do know a meat snack is gluten-free, I'm probably going to buy some - especially when we are going to be traveling. My husband enjoys them. The kids enjoy them. And sometimes I enjoy them, too.

In many of these snacks you are also going to see a lot of ingredients you may not be familiar with. Preservatives. Flavorings (both natural and artificial). Colorings.

Yuck.

That's another reason why I haven't cared too much for meat snacks. They are often filled with ingredients that are bad for you. And many times they also have parts of meat I don't care to eat. You won't know it from reading the label, but yes, they are often in there.

When I eat meat, I want it to as close to nature as God intended. I don't want it processed - or if it must be, I want it minimally processed. I don't want a bunch of artificial things added to it. I don't want meat with antibiotics, steroids and hormones. I want meat that has been truly grass-fed, pasture-fed, free-range, you name it - free to eat what it was intended to eat and no genetically-modified feed, either. I don't want it caged, injected and boosted, or bulked up at the end of life. I'm willing to pay extra to buy meat with those qualities, and we don't eat meat quite as often anymore because of it.

I didn't know until recently that grass-fed isn't always 100% grass-fed. Unless it states that or says it was finished "grass-fed," it could have been switched to grains at the end of life to fatten up more.

That's why when Rod from Rocky Mountain Organic Meats recently contacted me and asked if I'd like to try some of their meat snacks, I said yes. I'm glad I did!

Rod sent us a sampling of their Organic Honey Beef Jerky, Organic Honey Pepper Beef Jerky, Organic Beef Sticks, Organic Sliced Pastrami and Organic Beef Hot Dogs.

Each and every one of the products was delicious. Let me repeat that. Delicious. Each one.

My personal favorite was the jerky.

This jerky is beyond good. The right touch of seasonings, no preservatives. Not too tough and the right amount of chewy. And the sweetness of honey, but not overwhelming. This is good stuff, my friends.

The honey pepper jerky was a little too spicy for my girls. They ate it and liked it, but they preferred the regular honey jerky, which has a touch of pepper. That was their favorite. Just right. Me? I loved both of the jerky flavors, and so did my husband.

My husband's personal favorite were the beef sticks. These are really good, as well. Great flavor, the right amount of "crunch" as you bite through the casing and a great texture overall.

The pastrami was great - I've never eaten much pastrami but this was really good - and the hot dogs delicious.

I'll pause for a moment here and admit that yes, I do like hot dogs. When I buy hot dogs for my family, I get kosher beef hot dogs. I try not to buy them too often, however, because I don't care to eat nitrites and the thought of the amount of processing bothers me, even in kosher beef ones. I've tried other nitrite-free organic hot dogs before but they really didn't taste that great to me. Yes. I like hot dogs. I like them with ketchup and cheese and even chili. Yum.

These Rocky Mountain hot dogs met my criteria for a delicious hot dog, with a bonus: They are actually longer than the bun! And these are hot dogs that tasted great without preservatives and overly processing. They don't have nitrites and only a minimal amount of delicious seasonings. I can feed these hot dogs to my family without feeling twinges of regret.

I will be ordering more of these beef snacks for my family, as well as trying out some of the other products Rocky Mountain has to offer. They have a wide range of products including steaks, ground beef, roasts, lamb and even soup bones and pet snacks. I'll also keep them in mind for gifts. Their prices are pretty comparable to other organic, grass-fed meat products I've seen on the market and you can always go in on an order with other people to split shipping costs.

I'm looking forward to eating more of that jerky!

(Disclosure: Rocky Mountain Organic Meats provided these products for me to sample free of charge. The opinions on the meat products are completely my own.)