More Fig Bars

Some days, I put a lot of time into a post. I sit around, think analyze, take some pictures, ponder and that sort of thing. After all geek is in the title of the site. On rare days, something gets created spontaneously, without a lot of forethought. This article would be more spontaneous. Mrs. Alphageek suggested this article on a recent shopping trip, chronicled right here on this site. You can read that article at this link


Did you see the foreshadowing? I have to point this stuff out, or nobody picks up on the threads here. Speaking of threads, today's article is actually a follow on to the article at this link, about Fig Newtons and Fig Newmans.  I was at the store, getting some more Fig Newtons, and complaining about the price.  Mrs. Alphageek said to buy the cheap ones, and review them for the site.  I decided she was onto something, so here we go.

I am just going to open the package, eat one, and write about it.  Just like fig bars, nothing fancy about this review.  I did throw in some pictures, just to prove that I still have a camera.

First up are the Giant store brand of Chewy Fig Cookies.  The cookies are divided in half, in their own individually sealed sleeves.  This is a nice touch, because the other sleeve of cookies does not get stale, if you  don't eat the cookies right away. I open the package, and eat one of the cookies.  I notice that the tastes are more subtle than the Fig Newtons I so cherish.  After that initial taste, I do notice that these do not have any unusual off tastes that some bargain brand snacks have.  While being more smooth in texture than many off brands, they still are not creamy rich like Fig Newtons.  Still, I think I recommend them, especially for the budget minded.  Take a look below.

Chewy Fig Bars (click to enlarge)

Next up, are the even more generic fig bars.  Fig bars is about all the label says.  Well, I did notice it also proclaims "Guaranteed VALUE", and the term is even trademarked, so don't use that one yourself.  I have to admit, if value is the only thing this product has going for it, the "bar" might be set pretty low.  The label makes me think, "hey, it least this food will not hurt you, give it a try."

I also notice this package is twice the weight of any other package reviewed so far.  

I open the package, and  notice all 32 ounces of fig bars have now been exposed to the air.  I will need something to seal these, after the taste test is over. I take a bite and feel the label sold them short.  They are worthy of at least a name.  These have a taste similar to many of the off brand fig bars out there.  There is a heavier taste of vanilla that covers the fruit taste up, as well as a little more texture in the flour department.  However, they are not bad by any means, and I am going to eat another one.  Yes, these are a little different than the first ones, but still pleasant to eat.  Again, they lack the smooth texture that Fig Newtons have, but are a decent snack bargain.

fig bars (click to enlarge)

Is there a conclusion to be drawn? At the end of all of this tasting, I am not convinced that I would notice the difference, if someone handed me these either of these bars without being packaged. I would probably eat away, and take only a second to notice that one bar or another seems a little dry today, chalk it up to humidity, and keep on eating. So go on out, and enjoy any of these fig bars, knowing that they all pass muster.

Why not share some of your research with us? How about leaving a comment in the comment section below. Even better, why not use one of the links here on the page to follow us and all things food? The twitter feed gets everything at Follow @ageekfood, or you can try our facebook page.

SCAN IT at Giant

We stopped by the grocery store, a Giant grocery store. Well, I don't know if it is large or not, but those things can be measured, but the name really is Giant. Giant is on the sign, the receipt, and all over the store, so I am pretty sure I got the name down.


We walked in a different door than usual, and noticed that Giant is offering something new, SCAN IT. SCAN IT allows you to scan your own items, bag them, and then simply pay on the way out. Mrs. alphageek said we should give it a try, so we started out by scanning our Giant customer card. No, we did not scan it with the scanner we were going to use, there is a different scanner, just for your customer card. I am sorry if you are confused, but it makes sense when you go to use it, because the clear instructions are right there. If you can't read, well, you are not looking at this site anyway.

So the card was scanned, and the little screen said "welcome alphageek". Well, not really, but that would be cool if the screen said that. Instead, one of the scanners lit up, and we removed it from the display. The very first thing I noticed was the little device starts out by showing some coupons. I scrolled through the list of coupons using the up and down buttons. This part might be too hard for you, if you think "smart phones" are complicated. The rest of you might like getting to see what coupons have been customized, just for you.  The convenience of not having to mess with paper coupons gets the alphageek in a good mood too.

We walked around, scanning items as we dropped them into a bag, and we could watch the total as it increased.  The scanner worked very well, but it did lose communications a couple of times.  Given that I know how communications work, I tried moving a few feet, and scanning again, and the problem was solved.

While we were using the scanner, we ran into a mother and young son using another scanner.  She said it was great for little children.  Mrs. alphageek replied that a scanner was great for the alphageek too.  This way, the alphageek did not wander off and get lost while shopping.  In today's large grocery stores, it can take a while to find each other again, if a couple gets separated.

We did notice that new coupons appear as you walk around the store.  I guess the store is trying really hard to get you to buy more while you are there.  After scanning some Fig Newtons, a coupon for milk came up.  Imagine the possibilities.  You could scan ice cream, and chocolate sauce could come up. Scan some beer, and pretzels could come up.  The possibilities are almost endless.

We included a picture of the scanner below.  You will notice some fig bars.  A sharp reader might remember that the last post was about Newtons vs. Newmans.  Perhaps this is a bit of foreshadowing? The underlined text is a link you can click on to to see the post. I know most of you know this, but we have readers that really don't know.

Scanner (click to enlarge)

We went to the checkout, and scanned the checkout barcode.  Everything was entered into the checkout in about ten seconds, and a receipt printed.  We simply paid with a credit card and were on our way.  Checking out was fast because we did not need to scan everything, and the groceries were already in a bag, ready to go.

This scanner is certainly something we will use again.  We found it fast, accurate and convenient.  Perhaps in the future, one could just use their own smart phone, and speed things up even more?

Why not share some of your research with us? How about leaving a comment in the comment section below. Even better, why not use one of the links here on the page to follow us and all things food? The twitter feed gets everything at Follow @ageekfood , or you can try our facebook page.