Junk Food Nation, yesterday on the way into work, the Metro (subway) was running slow.  REALLY slow.  Turns out, at one of the stations in front of me, the train there had malfunctioned and needed to off-load.  That took some time, as you would expect, and left a ton of people standing on that platform at that station.  So naturally, when my train pulled into that station, the crowd of people that flooded onto my train was overwhelming.  Thankfully, I had a seat.  People were being crushed up against one another, and squeezing in to try not to get clipped by the doors.  And this is what it looked like:

You’ll notice a few things in this picture.  First, although it doesn’t seem like it, the people on the other side and near the plexiglass divider are being CRUSHED.  I mean, the lady peering between the bar and the glass was being shoved from behind repeatedly until she was full-pressed onto that bar.  If I had turned more left, you’d see that the aisle was completely full.

But what else do you notice? THE SEAT RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME IS EMPTY.  Yes, next to the woman with the bright blue ruffly shirt.  EMPTY.  Yet, in all this choas, did anyone even attempt to sit down?  NO.  Everyone was too proud to sit.  WTF.  And not only that, but to the side and behind me were one or two additional empty seats…with people standing cramped as all hell, rubbing their crotches on one another, trying to not to fall down, RIGHT NEXT TO THOSE EMPTY SEATS.

I’ve blogged about this before, twice, and it still never fails to irk me.  I get it: you don’t wanna sit because you’re young, spry, whatever.  Or maybe you just wanna prove that you’re not too old yet, or that you’re not a wimp that doesn’t need to sit.  IT DOESN’T MATTER.  YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS. By NOT sitting you are making everyone else suffer too – so sit the EFF down, free up more standing room, and just suck up the pride, will ya??? YEESH. It’s not conceding weakness, it’s POLITELY GETTING THE EFF OUT OF THE WAY.

Today’s junk food: Rickland Orchards All-Natural Greek Yogurt Bars: Orchard Peach, Toasted Coconut, Cranberry Almond!

Yesterday, I reviewed three previous flavors of Rickland Orchards All-Natural Greek Yogurt Bars, and today I have three more: Orchard Peach, Toasted Coconut, Cranberry Almond.  They were all mighty tasty, but I feel like I’ve been stuffing granola bars down my gullet for days now.  See what I do for you, Junk Food Nation? It’s because I care.

Rickland Orchards All-Natural Greek Yogurt Orchard Peach Bar tasted of peach right away, which was nice.  Not super sweet, but actually like the type of subtle peach taste you get when you eat peach yogurt. Like all the other bars, this one was soft to chew but plenty crunchy with the almonds inside.  The sweet honey was there, but honey flavor did not dominate this bar.  The juxtaposition of the subtle sweet taste of the dried peach and the nuttiness of the almond was a nice combo that I surprisingly enjoyed. This is the first time I’d even seen peach as a flavor in a granola bar, and I was pleasantly surprised.  This was one of my favorite flavors.

Next: Rickland Orchards All-Natural Greek Yogurt Toasted Coconut Bar!

As SOON as I bit into this Rickland Orchards All-Natural Greek Yogurt Toasted Coconut Bar, I felt like I was eating a pina colada!  This was REALLY good, and it makes sense – the flavor profile, IMO, lends itself quite nicely to a granola bar.  I’m used to the flavor of coconut in this setting, since I’ve had trail mixes before that contained dried coconut.  Add in the immediate bright taste of chewy dried pineapple to supplement the sweet familiar taste of coconut.  The balanced pineapple-coconut flavor was enhanced by the yogurt flavor that brought a mild creaminess to it all.  The combo of honey, almonds, and granola made it very hearty, and all in all, this was by far my favorite bar of all six.

And finally, Rickland Orchards All-Natural Greek Yogurt Cranberry Almond Bar!

BAM! Rickland Orchards All-Natural Greek Yogurt Cranberry Almond Bar hits you in the face with cranberry RIGHT AWAY.  Unlike yesterday’s cherry almond bar, the cranberry flavor here did NOT start faintly and then grow – these cranberries tasted like they were loaded up with sweet, and ready to be noticed immediately.  The rest of the bar was pretty standard, like all the rest. This bar, of all six, had the most immediate fruit flavor.  It was almost too strong for my liking…but if you like super fruity, super sweet granola bars, this is the one for you.

And we’re done!  Thanks again to Rickland Orchards for giving me a chance to sample their line.  My final ranking for the bars would go:

1. Toasted Coconut

2. Apples & Honey

3. Orchard Peach

4. Cherry Almond

5. Cranberry Almond – Blueberry Acai (tie)

PURCHASED AT: Mailed to me, but can be found online.

COST: Free for me, but can be purchased in bar or box for a variety of prices.

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Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy