Product reviews: Wrap bread x2, and the peanut butter of doom

This post may give an insight into my vulnerability to supermarket specials. Hopefully, it will also give some insight into the following three products. One of the three is likely to become a bite-sized household staple...I wonder if you can guess which?

'Goodness Superfoods' wholegrain barley wraps

These wraps are marketed on the basis of their high fibre content. They contain 30% rolled barley flakes, along with wholemeal wheat flour and a reasonably long ingredient list beyond that (including things like canola oil, white vinegar, apple juice concentrate, baking powder, and the normal string of presevatives and added vitamins).

Each 45g wrap has 437 kilojoules / 104 calories, 5.4g protein, 2.2g fat, 10.6g carbohydrate, and 10.4g fibre. That is quite a lot of fibre, as the following picture highlights!

I really liked the taste and texture of these wraps. The barley makes them slightly chewy, and they have a mild nutty taste that I enjoyed. They were great with salad and hummus, with a spread of tahini, and even with honey.

In the end, though, the fibre content was a disadvantage for me. When you consider that fibre guidelines are in the range of 20g - 30g per day, one wrap can almost give half of your daily requirements. This might be good for people who eat a low fibre diet, but for people who eat lots of fruit, grains and vegetables, it's fairly easy to get to 20g of fibre without trying. Moreover, I quite often eat multiple wraps a day. Doing that with these wraps might, I think, end in some discomfort!

I also found these to be quite expensive, at $6 for a pack of 5 (at Woolworths). I bought them when they were available at 2 for the price of 1, but I'm not sure I would be able to justify them at their regular price.

All in all? I really enjoyed these in terms of how they are to eat, but they are probably too high in fibre and too expensive for me to consume regularly.

Mountain bread with chia

Mountain bread wraps are probably the wraps I buy most regularly. They are wraps you can happily eat two of - they are light and versatile, enjoyable at lunch or for snacking, and plain or with fillings. Mostly, I buy the rye or barley varieties for regular use, and enjoy the slightly harder to find spinach and tomato and basil flavours for variety.

When I saw the chia seed version, there was no doubt that I would buy them. These wraps are also quite reasonably priced, at $4 for a pack of 8 (or $2.50 if you buy packets in bulk from the Mountain Bread website).

The ingredient list is simple, albeit wheat based (for those that are bothered by that) - simply wheat flour, chia seeds, water, and iodised salt.

The serving suggestion is also for 2 wraps, something that makes me feel better about my tendency to eat that many in one go. A single wrap has 160 kilojoules or 75 calories, 2.8g protein, 0.5g fat,  13.7g carbohydrate, and 0.8g fibre. It also provides 110mg of Omega-3 fatty acids and 240mg of Omega-6 fatty acids (a fish oil tablet would give 300mg of Omega-3, as a point of reference).

In this instance, slightly more fibre and 'density' to the wraps would have been nice, but I did greatly enjoy the chia seeds. They gave a slight crunch and made the wraps fun to eat.

I note that the Mountain Bread website also refers to a new spelt flavour, so I will be keen to try that too at some stage. In the meantime, I will be adding this chia seed variety to my Mountain Bread rotation.

Kraft Whipped Peanut Butter

I didn't want to buy this. In fact, I really, really didn't want to buy it.

I reminded myself that I don't like regular commercial peanut butter. I reminded myself that it tends to make me feel sick, because inevitably I eat it off a spoon and regret it. I reminded myself of the odd sweet-salty nature of commercial mixes, that contrasts so poorly with the much nicer and much simpler 100% peanut versions.

I held out for several months. I knew I would probably give in eventually. After all, it was a commercial peanut butter, but it was whipped. Fluffy! Like peanut butter in mousse form...and we know I have a weakness for anything in mousse form.

And then it was on special for half price. $3 instead of $6. I gave in.

I am nothing if not predictable.

This really was fluffy, and mousse-like, and all the things I'd hoped for. It also made me feel a bit sick, and it was too sweet and salty.

I guess Kraft is predictable too.

The ingredient list on the whipped peanut butter is pretty similar to that for regular commercial peanut butter - there is sugar, and salt, and oil - so the main difference is in the whipping. I don't know how they do it, but this pictured jar is 375g, and a jar of the same size with regular peanut butter is 500g. Spoon for spoon, the whipped variety is thus slightly lower in calories and fat, although I wouldn't say it is any better for you.

I'm glad I tried this, though, because I have now got it out of my system. I'll stick with the 100% peanut versions from now on!

Any new product discoveries in your world recently?

Or have you tried any of those pictured here?

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