Salty treats: A review

After my Cheater's homemade pita chips post, I wanted to do a review of some salty snacks that I was able to find at my local grocery store.  You will certainly find more options at Whole Paycheck or any other health food type store, but my intention here is twofold: (1) not everyone has access to a health food store and (2) you'd be surprised at how many products at Whole Foods contain items on the Restricted List.

Check the ingredient lists; you'll find all good stuff.

First up: Kangaroo Pita Chips

Tara thought these were good, if a little plain and needing a bit more flavor.  They were a little softer than some of the other ready-made pita chips we've tried; soft is important to Tara since she recently got braces.  Also, she thought they were a little "fun" when you got the square ones because they had a puffiness about them.

I don't know if I would buy them again, because, quite frankly, my homemade ones are better and cheaper.  (I recently checked the price of the Toufayan pitas and they are only $1.29; these pita chips are about $3.)  These might be good for an on-the-road snack or when making your own pita chips isn't an option.

Second: Sensible Portions Pita Bites

I mentioned these already in the Cheater's homemade pita chips post.  I gotta say that I really, really liked these.  When Tara first tried them, she thought they were glorified matzoh crackers; however, after she had a few, she realized that they were pretty good and flavorful. 

It's hard to explain why these are so good, but they just have a nice flavor - kind of like a really good loaf of plain bread.  I will definitely continue to buy these. 

Third: Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps

These were surprisingly good.  I picked these up because they were in the deli section next to all the other snacks that I bought, not even because I was looking for pretzels.  It's a good thing, though, because when I checked the ingredients of the pretzels in the regular chip section, they all had at least canola oil, if not soy oil or other things. 

We don't eat pretzels frequently, but when we get a hankering - I like to dip them in my homemade tuna salad - we'll definitely buy these.

Final notes:  You should be able to find all of these at your local grocery store's deli section.  I don't claim to have checked out all the selections in the regular chip section of the grocery store, but almost all the ones that I have checked out have ingredients on the restricted list.  Furthermore, those that are OK are undoubtedly not super healthy - think Lay's plain potato chips, Frito's, and Tostito's (plus, Tara's sensitive to corn).      

Make sure to always check the ingredients of whatever you're trying to buy.  Companies change ingredients and formulations occasionally.

Also, be wary of multi-grain and flavored selections.  The mult-grain varieties may have soy or seed flours and the flavored varieties usually have way more ingredients, often on the restricted list.

Have you tried any other salty treats that didn't have restricted ingredients and were tasty?