Stop Scouting; Try Skout

I always used to ‘try to eat healthy,’ after all, I think most people do. I don’t ever recall anyone saying “I try not to eat healthy. I really want to get morbidly obeese.” Of course, when the kids were born, the questionably healthy foods started being left out of the shopping cart. No more granola bars. Nutri grain bars – not tasty, but easy – were left on the shelf. It’s actually been a bit of a struggle to find pre-packaged snacks that the kids would eat, I would eat, and didn’t contain all the fake sugars and preservatives.

My wife and I dabbled in making our own crackers and cereal bars. We dried out own fruit for a while, and while they were usually pretty tasty, it was time consuming, expensive, and the results with the kids were always hit or miss.

Cue Skout Organic Trailbars. I had heard about them online a few times, but never really looked into them. Finally, I took the plunge. Turns out, it was a pretty good idea. They’re based out in Oregon and make organic trail snacks aimed at the adventurous, outdorsy types. Not only are they organic, but they are verified non-GMO (to me this is almost more important than being organic), and for all you gluten sensitive folks, they’re gluten free, too. They’re also vegan, dairy free, and kosher. So unless you’re a real odd duck, there should be one for you…

The main ingredient for the Trailbars is Dates. which for my liking gives them a bit too much sugar. Though it doesn’t taste sweet. Dates are also pretty dense when blended up and smashed into a shape. However, with the dates being dense, half a bar is pretty filling, a whole bar is certainly a snack that will suffice. All the bars come in between 170-200 calories. When I give them to the kids, I give them less than half a bar each and they’re set. While the dates and the bars are a little high in sugar for me, it is natural sugar with the fiber of the date so it’s not absorbed massively fast by the body only to turn your metabolism into a mess.

Chunks of apple.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have any Cherry Vanilla in stock, so I was only able to try four of their five flavors: Chocolate Coconut, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Apple Cinnamon and Blueberry Almond. I think I liked them in that order. The two chocolate bars were quite tasty, with the PB bar only having subtle hints of PB flavor. The Apple Cinnamon bar was next. The were some chunks of dried apple in the bar which gave it more of a springy, light, chewy texture. It was good but not my favorite. My kids, however, did really like it. The same was true of the Blueberry Almond bar. I thought I was going to love it based on name. I was miserably wrong. Not sure what it was, but it was the worst of the bunch, and I won’t be trying it again.

In the end, I was really pleased with the Skout Organic Trailbars. They tasted good (for the most part), were very filling, and are made with wholesome ingredients I don’t hesitate to give to my children. I won’t be taking these on the run with me – they’re just too dense for anything quicker than a 50 miler – but will be taking them when I go hiking and foraging for sure.