Monday, January 31, 2011

Gina's Granola Bars??

I turned 28 yesterday. Like I do every year, I devoured an entire piece of cake;




Ok, I lied, that was a birthday card.



This is the real cake...lots of chocolate! I asked Nick to buy one piece, not an entire cake (for obvious reasons). This is from a local cafe called The Chocolate Cafe.


But of course before the cake we (Nick, my parents, my brother and I) went to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, called Third and Hollywood. I ordered the seared tuna with a side salad. The salad had fingerling potatoes, goat cheese, hericot vert, beets, hard boiled egg, and a delicious vinaigrette dressing. I think I could easily recreate this at home.

Overall my birthday was perfect! Even though I had to work, I love my job so I can't complain.

I haven't updated you on my life for a while. I'm still working on my e-book, which I hope to have finished by next year at this time, or sooner. Nick and I have been working on our house lately, and planning ahead for our Fourth of July party. We hope to have our living room and bedrooms finished, plus our exercise room (did I mention we bought a new elliptical?!).

I've been working hard in the lab (aka my kitchen) to create a granola bar worth selling at a local grocery store, and online. I have been letting my co-workers be the taste-testers and I finally created a winner!


This is like a meal in a bar, seriously. I have met many people who tell me they really have little time to eat healthy (or to eat at all). While I have a hard time believing this, I have to remind myself that my job/schedule really is more flexible than most people's. I can eat whenever I want, and nothing comes between me and a healthy meal. This is not the case for many people with whom I work, as they have scheduled breaks that are only a certain amount of time. This bar is meant for those busy people with little time to eat, but also for people like me who love healthy snacks and healthy convenient foods.



Would you pay $1.25 for a bar (or $15 for 8 bars via UPS, free shipping) with these nutrition facts;




- 15 grams whole grains (almost one full serving of whole grain!)

- 1/2 cup of fruit (most people need two cups per day)

- A day's worth of essential fatty acids

- Only 3.5 grams of added sugar (most bars have between 8 and 20)

- 6 grams of fiber (excellent source!)

- 10 grams of protein

- All Natural ingredients (meaning nothing is artificial!)

- Inherently gluten-free ingredients, but not a gluten free food (I can't guarantee the ingredients haven't been contaminated with gluten, as I do not have a gluten-free kitchen)

- Loads of delicious taste!


QUESTION: Can you think of a good name for my bar?? I can't think of one!! I came up with "Balance" only to realize that bar already exists. And obviously "Gina's Granola Bars" is way too boring.

28 comments :

  1. Happy Birthday belated!!! The real cake piece looks AMAZING-- love that icing swirl!

    I can't wait to see what you name your bar!

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  2. Glad you had a good birthday! Your dinner looks great! I make a very similar salad. You can totally recreate it at home! And I really like the idea of only buying one slice of birthday cake. There is always WAY too much of it in our house...

    How about GinaBar?

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  3. those look great! best of luck selling them. as for the name....there's gotta be a cool word out there that starts with a G....generous...GG's (Gina's Great) Granola bars....

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  4. Well Happy Belated Birthday Miss Gina!

    The granola looks like it's coming along fabulous. It looks like it has a great consistency to it!

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  5. what a funny nutritional label of that cake! It made me laugh~~~ :D

    great bar meal..... name? you know me, I'm lack of creativity... but anything that says how nutritious and healthy is for you would be nice :)

    you got a Elliptical machine? wooo..... can't wait to see the pics of your new house (or improvements of it).

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  6. what a funny nutritional label of that cake! It made me laugh~~~ :D

    great bar meal..... name? you know me, I'm lack of creativity... but anything that says how nutritious and healthy is for you would be nice :)

    you got a Elliptical machine? wooo..... can't wait to see the pics of your new house (or improvements of it).

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  7. Happy belated birthday! That cake and dinner look amazing!!! Glad your day was wonderful :)

    The stats on the bar are fabulous! I would certainly pay $15 for 8 including shipping, or $1.25 each.

    Name...hm. I am not creative, but I'm anxious to see what others come up with!

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  8. Happy birthday! That birthday cake looks DIVINE! As for the granola bars, what about the name Ceres (goddess of agriculture & grains) or Vesta (goddess of bakers). Names from mythology tend to go over well.

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  9. The bar looks so good!
    the Cluster Bar

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  10. the Chunky Granola Bar

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  11. Happy birthday! That cake looks so good!

    Sure I'd pay 1.25. For a name, well, I'm bad at thinking of names. My first thought was Crunch bar, but that's already taken.

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  12. I would definitely pay $1.25 for your bars—very affordable considering the quality. Ummm in terms of a name how about NutriLicious? It was the first thing that popped in my head. PS: Happy bday! We are very close in age :0) best of luck with all the projects you have coming up!

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  13. Your Gina bars look so good! I am so bad at coming up with names.

    Happy late birthday girl! Glad you had an awesome day.

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  14. Glad you had a great birthday! That cake looks like heaven. Those bars look tasty as well and I think that 1.25 is a reasonable price. How about something focused on the fact that it has all the nutrition for those on the go like 'Complete' or I do like Andrea's 'GinaBar: complete nutrition on the go' I'll keep thinking . . .

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  15. Happy birthday. Planning for the Fourth of July, way to be on it! I'm just counting down until the first day of spring. Anything to stay positive :)

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  16. Happy Birthday! Love the cake and all the gooey chocolate!

    I would definitely buy the bar.

    How about something like "Full Granola Bar" or "Whole Granola Bar" to emphasize how balanced it is?

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  17. Yeah, I do think they'd be worth $1.25 per bar. Most bars are around that price anyway. Go for it!

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  18. Happy Birthday! I like the GinaBar idea.

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  19. gahhhhhhhhhhhhhh I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS YOUR BIRTHDAY!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! i'm such a horrid friend for not knowing. but i hope you had a wonderous celebration :)

    hmmm bar names hmmmmmm

    busy bar
    grab n granola bar
    ummm
    let me continue to think
    hmmmm
    harv's bars..

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  20. Yay I'm glad you had a great birthday :) The cake looks delicious.

    So does the granola, though I can't eat granola, it hurts my tummy :( I'm excited for you to sell it though. I may buy it as gifts for friends haha.

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  21. The Candid Bar - a wholesome, nutritious, granola treat!

    Not good with names, but it really does look delicious. Would love to try it! And surely would buy it. : )

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  22. Glad you had a fun B-Day! Your bars looks delicious (I LOVE bars!), and perfect for people who tend to reach for convenience foods. I would pay $1.25 for a yummy, nutrient-packed bar like that.

    NourishBar? "Complete nutrition, developed by an RD"? ;) I like the CandidBar idea, too.

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  23. I can't believe that I forgot to say:
    happy be-lated birthday!!! :D 28 is a great age!

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  24. Happy Birthday! That cake looks heavenly. Glad you got to enjoy it.

    The granola bars look awesome (and yes, a little like my fig cheese). As for a name, I am thinking something using your name, like G.I.N.A and have each stand for something. So maybe Granola I Need Always or Granola Inspires Nourishing Ability, ok, this is harder than I thought, but I think you could use GINA for something clever.

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  25. wow that cake looks like the perfect bday present!! glad you had a nice day and YES those granola bars look perfect!!!

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  26. Happy birthday! I can't say I have any terrific names for your meal in a bar, but I'm impressed with the nutrition information.

    Kristi

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