BLATENT PRODUCT ENDORSEMENT AHEAD PROCEED WITH CAUTION I did receive a sample of these from my friend, Sean. I told him, however, that I would publish an honest review. I didn’t receive any compensation other than the sample. So there you go. I don’t do these very often, but this one was worth it:).

My friend, Sean, and his partner invented an amazing nutrition bar and started a company called ROW Bar. We’re friends from church who share a common passion for fitness and nutrition so I was pretty excited for him! I knew his heart was in the right place, that he was trying to develop something vegan, gluten and sugar free (and Paleo friendly if you’re into that sort of thing) and I was excited to see what he came up with!

Fast forward a year or so and this arrived at my house.

They had to go in the freezer right away (they recommend 30 minutes of freezing and then refrigeration if you’re using them soon but they taste fine to me right out of the freezer).

The first flavor I tried was the vanilla crunch. The ingredients are very simple (you can find all that on their website here). A serving is only one small square (about 4in square) which, initially, seemed tiny to me but there is a LOT in that tiny square.

So here’s what I thought: I LOVE the flavor. As in I think about it sometimes and start to drool. Just sweet enough to taste like a treat and one small square fills me up for a long time. As in hours. At 232 calories it’s no light weight calorie wise (in other words, only eat one;), but they’re good, dense, energy expressing calories (I made that term up;). They are similar in calories to a Cliff bar and I actually found this more filling even though it’s smaller.

There are several other flavors and they’re all good, but the vanilla is still my number one favorite. The Cocoa Cocoa Crunch actually tasted like a really good candy bar. They’ve made a great tasting product that works pre or post workout or as a meal replacement (I had one for breakfast this morning, in fact). I find they give me a great boost of energy that lasts and I’ve had zero stomach problems (even when I ate one right before a 4 mile run) which for me says a lot (EVERYTHING seems to mess with my stomach).

I LOVE how much protein they have since I’m a vegetarian and it’s REALLY TOUGH to find good tasting power bars that are high protein, gluten free, vegan AND low sugar so I’m really happy that they invented them!! The only thing I DON’T love is that they have to be refrigerated as they would be great to pack for a race but that’s the thing with products with no preservatives so you can’t have EVERYTHING, I guess:).

Thanks for the sample, Sean! I will be placing my order soon!! If you’d like to place an order or find out more about how you can help support Sean and his work through Kickstarter, go see him on his website. Tell him I sent you! And if I ask nice, he might give away some free product when I do the Big Blog Birthday give away on May 18th. (btw, you can’t be entered to win unless you go like the FB page so you should go do that RIGHT HERE.

HappyRunning!!

Jen