Let's Go on a Savory Journey!

I run. And therefore, I eat a lot of bars. Every morning, before I hit the pavement, I have a "first breakfast" of an energy bar, a smoothie, or a vegan yogurt. But while I love the latter two, it's easier to rip open a bar and down it quickly at 6 a.m.

Now, this is gonna sound a little cray. But I prefer savory treats over sweet ones 99 percent of the time, especially in the early morning. My sugar cravings don't come until 2 p.m.-ish. Unfortunately, most all bars are sweet, whether they're naturally fruit-sweetened or sweetened with evaporated cane juice. Or at least that's what I thought ... until I met Journey Bars!

Journey emailed me asking if I'd like to sample two of the vegan flavors in their line of savory bars. When I read "Pizza Marinara" and "Rosemary," I shot back an emphatic "Hell yes!" All of the Journey whole grain travel bars are savory, soy-free, gmo-free, fiber-filled, and free of artificial preservatives. And while not all are vegan, the above-mentioned flavors are (and they're clearly marked "vegan" on the front of the package). It also appears that the Hickory BBQ flavor is vegan too, but I didn't get a sample of that one:

I couldn't wait to tear into these, but I made myself wait until a planned run. That meant holding on to these babies until I returned from Atlanta VegFest. That was tough. But I succeeded. And these were well worth the wait.

The Pizza Marinara Bar is a soft bar, reminiscent of a tender focaccia. It's seasoned with tomato paste, onion and garlic powder, and red pepper. And the base is made from organic whole grains, such as buckwheat, brown flax seed, amaranth, and millet. It was like eating pizza for breakfast, which is truly the best way to start the day (yea, I should have been a Ninja Turtle):

The Rosemary Bar is a crunchy bar, quite different in texture than the pizza bar. It's more like a thick, herbed cracker. It too has onion and garlic powder, as well as rosemary of course. It has the same whole grain base and just a hint of apple for a touch of sweeteness. But not too much sweetness!

I loved that the these bars contain amaranth. I've found that amaranth-based bars are always my favorite. There's something about that crunchy texture that I really adore.

How would Journey bars stack up to others I've tried (and I've tried just about every bar out there)? BEST THING EVER! Maybe I'm biased because I love savory stuff, but I'd choose these over sweet, fruity bars all day long. I haven't seen these for sale around here, but there's a store finder on their website. And you can order samplers or 12-bar packs there too.