u/Mindless_Ad4552

Considering the macros of these (35g of protein for only 220 calories), I’d say they were pretty good taste-wise. They’re definitely not as good texture-wise as regular pasta or mac & cheese, but that’s to be expected for a high protein product, and they were still pretty decent.

My issue with these comes down to volume. You really don’t get much, so it’s not very filling at all. And for $5 each cup, I don’t think it’s worth the price considering how little food you get. I’d eat them again for sure if they were cheaper though.

This is 100% for people who like a sweet & salty snack. I’m not really one of those people though, so I didn’t really like this bar and wouldn’t get it again.

It does have a bit of a corn taste and crunchy corn texture in the crispies, but the caramel and chocolate flavors do also come through.

FYI I got this in a 4-pack at Target for $10

I enjoyed the taste & texture of this new flavor, and I’d definitely buy again. It’s not my new favorite Barebells bar or anything, and I wish the macros were better, so it’s not an absolute staple to me.

FYI I got this in a 4-pack at Target for $10

Excuse the melted candy, they were sitting on my doorstep for a while in the sun unfortunately.

I honestly thought all 3 were good, and I’d definitely buy them again. Not sure why people are giving these lots of hate. Of course they don’t taste 1:1 like their counterparts (real Reese’s cups or m&ms), but they’re still good. Then considering each entire pack is only 70 calories, they’re amazing.

Now I’m not a fan of David bars or ice cream, the texture and price of both suck. But these candies are genuinely solid and much cheaper in comparison to David products.

The rice cakes, cookies, and ice cream pints were great! The ice cream sandwiches were a let down though. The pumpkin sandwich is fine but bland, and the caramel apple one tasted like soap for some reason.

-Overview / TLDR:

• The Royal Kludge A72 Alice-layout keyboard is a really good value pick. At just $90 retail (and currently $67.50 with the coupon code "GAME25"), it has a lot of good aspects that come stock while also providing the ability to mod it to your liking. I would definitely recommend this to someone looking to try an Alice layout for the first time or for someone wanting a good stock bang-for-your-buck keyboard in this form factor.

-Stock configuration:

• This board comes stock with pre-lubed Royal Kludge switches, either linear cream, silent violent, or tactile beige. I chose the silent violet as I wanted to use this ergonomic layout as my work keyboard in the office, and these silent violet switches surprised me in a good way. They don't feel too mushy like a lot of silent switches, and they still offer a good typing experience. They are definitely quieter than most switches on the market but still have some audible feedback at bottom out (so don't expect absolute silence... this is a mechanical switch at the end of the day). The board also comes stock with 5 layers of dampening foam (yes... 5) in addition to being gasket-mounted, so it is a relatively quiet/soft board all things considered. The case is plastic, which is expected and totally okay for this price-range.

-DIY Experience:

• This board is hot-swappable (with 5-pin switch sockets) and pretty easy to mod. I did have a little difficulty pulling switches out and reinstalling them the first time, but I think that's just due to some tight tolerances. It's nothing that alters your ability to mod. The switches come pre-lubed, but you can of course hand-lube them yourself or replace them with other switches as desired. I normally add foam to my boards in some capacity, but since this came with 5 layers stock (including an IXPE switch pad layer), I didn't feel the need to add any here. Overall, the DIY experience is pretty standard and I had no problems with my experience in comparison to other boards.

-Software:

• Unfortunately this isn't VIA compatible as Royal Kludge uses their own software to drive and configure this board. Thankfully they have an online web version, so you don't have to install a new software program. As far as the user experience on this web app, I think it is honestly pretty solid. It's intuitive, easy to use, and very similar in layout and features to other drivers and even VIA. No complaints from me here (other than just wishing it used VIA instead).

-Other key features and things to note:

• The form factor / size of this board is a lot wider than a standard 65% due to the split Alice layout and the extra 2 rows on the left side for the M macro keys and the media controls. I also have a Tofu 65, and this A72 board is 3 inches wider.
• The RGB is quite bright (but dimmable to your liking) and has a lot of customizable effects. The LEDs are north facing so just keep that in mind if you plan on replacing the keycaps, but I didn't notice any interference with my cherry keycaps.
• There are 3 connectivity options: Bluetooth 5.0, 2.4 GHz, and UCB-C. The battery for using this wirelessly is 7500 mAh, and I didn't have any problems with battery life while testing this for 2 weeks. The USB dongle for 2.4 GHz also stores conveniently on the back side of the board, so you don't have to worry about losing the dongle when its not in use. There's a simple switch on the front of the board to change modes between the 3.

-Suggestions for improvement:

• Make the switches a little easier to remove and install.
• Make the volume dial knob also be able to be pushed in as a button (for a function like mute).
• Include an optional add-on for a wrist wrest that follows the shape of the bottom edge. I like using a wrist wrest but found it difficult to use a straight one with this board.
• Add a 2nd "B" key on the right side of the split layout like some other Alice keyboards have.
• Offer a barebones version for even cheaper for anyone who wants to choose their own switches/keycaps.

*Disclaimer: This keyboard was sent to me for review, but my review is in no way sponsored. All thoughts and opinions are completely my own.

Finally got to try the Grenade Oreo and white Oreo protein bars, and they were just alright. Taste was good (really sweet) but texture was only decent (pretty soft, no crunch). They’re pretty pricey bars, so I wouldn’t really buy them again as I still prefer most Barebells over these as far as higher-priced bars go.

Just wanted to share the 5 builds I've done over the years after getting back into the hobby after a hiatus. I’ve hand lubed all the switches and stabs on all these boards and have played around with different foams in each depending on case material and what not. Specs of each are as follows:

• YMDK NYM 96 Pro (current board for work)
  • Case: Wood (walnut)
  • Plate: Brass
  • Switches: Gateron Oil Kings
  • Keycaps:
    • Tai Hao Carbon Black
    • Drop MT3 BOW
• Keychron Q5 (old board for work)
  • Case: Aluminum (navy)
  • Plate: Steel
  • Switches: Gateron Ink Black V2
  • Keycaps:
    • GMK Blue Samurai clones
    • Soulcat Samurai
    • Drop MT3 Camillo
    • Drop MT3 Dusk
• Wooting 80 HE (current board for gaming)
  • Case: Zinc alloy (white)
  • Swtiches: Gateron Jades
  • Plate: Polycarbonate
  • Keycaps: Glorious Aura V2 pudding (with a Ducky year of the tiger spacebar)
• Tofu 65 (old board for gaming)
  • Case: Acrylic (frosted)
  • Plate: Aluminum
  • Switches: Cherry Speed Silver
  • Keycaps: Glorious Polychroma
• Glorious GMMK Pro (my very first build)
  • Case: Aluminum (e-white)
  • Plate: Polycarbonate
  • Switches: Gateron Milky Yellow
  • Keycaps: GMK Mizu clones

I wanted to do a 96% wood build for use at work but there aren’t really many options. I’m pretty pleased with how this turned out though.

-Case: YMDK NYM 96 Pro (walnut version)
-PCB: YMDK NYM 96 Pro (hotswap / Via compatible / south facing RGB LEDs)
-Plate: Brass
-Switches: Gateron Oil Kings
-Keycaps: Drop MT3 BOW or Tai Hao Carbon Black

I like the look of the carbon black keycaps with the walnut accent ones but just prefer the MT3 profile for typing all day at work, so I stuck with those in the end.

Tried out the new coconut joy flavor from Pure Protein. It was just alright honestly. I’d eat it again, but wouldn’t buy it again. I wouldn’t even say it’s in my top 10 Pure Protein flavors, let alone comparing to other top bars. I like coconut but just didn’t love the texture of this bar.

Price was pretty cheap as far as protein bars go ($6.50 for a 4 pack at Walmart), and macros were pretty solid/standard. No complaints on those fronts.

Tried out the new-ish FitCrunch Puff N’Crunchy protein bars. Was pretty excited for these but they’re just alright honestly. I’d eat them again, but wouldn’t necessarily buy them again.

-Price:
$8.50 for a 4 pack at Walmart, so pricing was average as far as protein bars go.

-Macros:
Differed slightly per flavor, but were generally 200 calories for 18g of protein, 4g of fiber, 5g of sugar, and 7g of fat (5g saturated). Not the best, not the worst.

-Flavor rankings:
1.) Double chocolate rocky road
2.) Caramel peanut s’mores
3.) Raspberry meringue pie

Loving this s’mores creami lately! The recipe I use for the base is shown in the 3rd picture, and the mix-ins can be found in the last picture.

Calorie and protein amounts:
-Just the base: 180 calories and 24g protein
-Base + mix-ins: 330 calories and 25g protein

Notes on the base:
For the base, I use half 2% ultra-filtered milk (so that I have some fat content to help get a creamy texture) and then half water (to keep calories down but volume high). I’ve tested this against using more milk and less water, or all milk even, and have found the texture to be about the same regardless. Of course you can use whatever liquid you want based on your goals; almond milk works well too but I don’t like the nutty taste it gives personally. For the protein powder, I use an actual s’mores one to really drive home the s’mores flavor in this Creami, but you could of course use a regular chocolate base with these mix-ins and still get a solid s’mores outcome.

Steps/process I use:
I do a spin on lite ice cream, scrape down the sides, then run the respin setting. While that goes on, I mix and melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil together, which I then pour into the base after the respin (this makes little chocolate chip mix-ins throughout the creami way better than just putting the chocolate chips in by themselves). I add some graham cracker and mini marshmallows in as well, then I run the mix-in setting. Lastly I add more graham cracker, mini marshmallows, and chocolate syrup on top.

Let me know if you have any questions or additional recommendations even!

I finally saw these newer Barebells flavors at my local Target (4 pack for $9.40). It’s nice to be able to try them without committing to a 12 pack.

All 4 flavors were great and worth getting again, but my rankings would be:

1.) Mint chocolate crisp
2.) Banana bread
3.) Brownie batter
4.) Lemon cheesecake

Rating: 2/5 (would NOT buy again)

I had decent hopes for these since I love Quest chips and they looked pretty similar. They're $8 for 4 bags, compared to Quest's $9.50 for 4 bags, so they're a tad cheaper and still have great macros for chips.

But wow these were not good at all. The nacho cheese flavor was underwhelming but alright, but the texture was just awful. I'd much rather spend an extra 2 bucks to just get Quest chips. Only reason these get 2 stars instead of 1 is because they’re cheaper than name brand ones and have good macros still. But taste-wise, hard pass.

I’m a long time eater of the standard Pure Protein bars due to cost and solid enough macros. Barebells blow those out of the water taste/texture wise, but are obviously more expensive.

I had high hopes for the Ammmaze bars since they’re a similar design to Barebells with the chewy center texture and crispy bits in the coating. But honestly, Barebells are still way better in my opinion.

Macros are similar between them. Ammmaze has a little more fiber but also more calories and saturated fat. For cost, the Ammmaze bars are more expensive than standard Pure Protein bars and are almost as expensive as Barebells.

So to me it’s a no brainer to just choose Barebells over the Ammmaze. Worth a try still if you can find them individually, but I regret getting 2 whole 12 packs of the Ammmaze tbh.

TLDR: Barebells >> Pure Protein Ammmaze