Graze.com

I posted last week about a new food sub in the US called Graze. I got my first Graze box this week, so I thought I'd post an update!

Graze ships weekly, a selection of four snacks. Each snack is a perfect single portion, roughly the size of a deck of cards. They offer a pretty wide selection, about 90 options including nuts, dried fruits, and various mixes.

I received:

Bonnie Wee Oatbakes - Cheese and chive oatbakes with onion marmalade. This was GOOD. The oatbakes are crisp and hearty. The marmalade is sweet and tangy. A good combo!

Toffee Apple - Dried granny smith apple with toffee sauce. Mmm, the toffee is super rich and awesome and the apples are a nice, subtle dipper.

British Barbeque - This is a mix of fiery seeds, basil breadsticks, and rosemary crostini, and smoked almonds. This was a tasty mix, though I wished for more nuts!

Apple Cinnamon Flapjack - These were just okay. They're soft oat granola bars, but I wanted more apple cinnamon flavor. The texture was nice and chewy though.


In all, I am loving this sub and can't wait for my weekly snacks!

Graze is still invitation only, but if you're interested, you can sign up using my invite code. Your first box will be free! Enter DFN9NYY at Graze.com.

the goodies company taster's box - November

A couple of month's ago, I started seeing people pop up talking about a new company called "The Goodies Company".  They are a monthly subscription that sends out a box of snacks each month! The current price is $7 a month, and beta subscribers lock in that price for the length of their subscription. They are currently in beta mode, so after signing up, I waited for over a month before I finally got in. This morning, I got my first box!

The first thing that struck me was how BIG this box is! If you have subbed to Love With Food, this is at least 3 times the size of those boxes!

For size comparison, here it is with a Wii-mote on top.It's also about twice as deep as the Wii-mote.

Presentation is really nice! The card says this month's theme is "Entertaining Made Simple" and it comes with foods great for parties, movie nights, and game nights. The back of the card lists the items received.

This month, they included a bonus - a canvas farmer's market bag! This seems nice and sturdy and it's a good size. Happy to get it!

This is chocolate soufflé mix by Flourless Bliss. This comes with enough mix for two soufflés. I've never had one, but I love chocolate, so I'm excited to try these!

I'll admit that I already ate these! Bobbysue's nuts in original. These are amazing! It's pecans, cashews, and almonds with a sweet spicy coating. Super addictive. I will be buying more of these!

I love tea and pumpkin things, so I know I'll love this Pumpkin Spice tea by Bigelow. I'll have it after work tonight!

This is Lotus Bakeries Biscoff Spread. I have had this before, and it's SO good! It looks and has the texture of creamy peanut butter, but it tastes like cookies! Yum. 

These are American Vintage Wine Biscuits in White Wine, Shallot, and Cayenne flavor. These are my other favorite item in the box...they have a nice hearty crispy texture, and you can really taste flavors! I love the wine and shallot combination. Really interested in trying more of these.

This is a Dark Quinoa chocolate bar by Alter Ego. Pictured with the Wii-mote because it's huge! I love crunchy bars, so I'm excited to try this.

And finally, Oogies White Cheddar popcorn. I am a popcorn fanatic, and how can you go wrong with white cheddar? This will be my after work snack tonight!

In all, I am super happy with this box! For $7, I got a lot of things to try, and I love that there's a combination of salty and sweet things. This sub is a great value. If you like trying new snacks, I recommend you sign up for their beta at their website!

Newman's Own Organics review

I was recently given the opportunity to sample some Newman's Own Organics products.  As I am trying to incorporate more natural and organic products into all areas of my life, I was extremely excited to do so!  I received the items and was absolutely shocked at how many products they sent me!  I was also surprised and excited at the ingredient lists - all things pronounceable, natural, and organic.

Newman's Own Organics is actually a separate company from Newman's Own.  It started as a part of the Newman's Own line by Nell Newman and her business partner in 1993, but it branched out on its own in 2001.  The idea of the company was to make great tasting products that just happened to be organic!

I received 7 packages (the full line) of their organic licorice, three packs of Newman-Os, two packs of Fig Newmans, two bags of other cookies (Vanilla alphabet and chocolate chip), two packs of dried fruit, five packs of chocolate cups, two types of pretzels, and four tins of mints. Wow.

The first thing I tried were these cookies.  The Alphabet Cookies are nice and crunchy. They have a light flavor and they aren't too sweet. They remind me a lot of animal crackers!  These would be great for a toddler - perfectly bite sized and the alphabet letters would be a fun way to work on spelling!

The chocolate chip cookies are good as well, I crunched some up on top of some ice cream!  These are small and great for packing in my lunch.

I received Newman-Os in Ginger n Creme, Hint-o-Mint, and Chocolate Creme.  These are reminiscent of the popular name brand sandwich cookie, but I think they are better!  I love the Ginger-Os...they aren't too sweet and have just a bit of ginger flavor.  I've never had anything like them before.

The Hint-o-Mint cookies are awesome, as well.  The mint flavor isn't too strong, but it is nice and refreshing.  I love the texture of these.

My mom's favorite item was the Chocolate Creme Newman-Os! They are tasty and chocolately, without the weird artificial flavor that other sandwich cookies tend to get in the filling.  All in all, we loved all of these and they will be going on our shopping list on a regular basis.

It's fairly obvious what cookies these are similar to. I received the low fat and fat free varieties, which made me happy - these are a great cookie for a healthy diet.  Not too sweet, soft and chewy.  I found the amount of figs in these cookies to be impressive!  I'll admit that I didn't share these! :)

I love dried fruit, so I was happy to get these.  The raisins were plump and juicy, and the apples were sweet and not too tough.  These make a great healthy snack and would also be awesome in some trail mix.

I had no idea what a hermit was. Well, I fell in love with these! They are old fashioned soft cookies. They are square, in bar form.  And these ginger ones are AWESOME.  They remind me of a cross between gingerbread and oatmeal raisin cookies!  They're soft and chewy with lots of raisins and lots of ginger and spice flavors.  These are another thing I didn't share!

These are the three "regular" licorice flavors.  They come in pomegranate, strawberry, and black.  I'm not a huge fan of black licorice, so I tried one piece and gave the rest to a black licorice loving friend.  I will say that the piece I tried was pretty good! It's not an overwhelmingly strong flavor.  The pomegranate ones are good and different.  The first bite reminded me a little of medicine, but it passes quickly and it's just a nice, fruity flavor. The strawberry ones are AWESOME.  They taste like real strawberry. They are good and chewy, and don't have a fake plastic-y taste like many brands.  I will be buying these!

I also got the four sour flavors! These were my favorite products of all and I can't wait to get more! I shared them with coworkers, and they loved them too!  The sour cherry tasted like black cherries, a very strong flavor and not too sour.  The mango were so good and different! They tasted very tropical.  The apple were surprising!  They were red and tasted like real apples! They were the favorite of my coworkers. I adored the sour strawberry - same real strawberry flavor as the regular, with just that little bit of sourness. Mmm!

These are the strawberry - love the natural flavor and coloring.

I got spelt and high protein pretzels. Both had a great flavor and crunchy texture, perfect for dipping!  We dipped them in mustard, in caramel, and in peanut butter. Yum.

I also got four tins of mints. I lost the picture of them, sadly, but I LOVED the tins!  I got them in peppermint, cinnamon, ginger, and wintergreen. The tins featured animals and are very cute - the cinnamon had a tiger (I LOVE TIGERS).  My favorite has to be the ginger mints...they are unique and taste very strongly of ginger!  They are great for soothing an upset tummy.

I also received five packs of different chocolate candy cups. These were devoured before I could photograph all of them, but I did get a quick cam shot of the dark chocolate peppermint cups. YUM.  I also received caramel cups in both dark and milk chocolate, and peanut butter cups in both dark and milk chocolate.  These things were amazing!  The caramel cups were soft and flowy and SUPER rich.  The peanut butter cups had that real natural peanut butter flavor that you don't find in the popular mainstream brand.  The peppermint ones were smooth and tasted of real peppermint!  The chocolate on all of these was rich and smooth and creamy.  These put the other candy cups to shame! They come with three cups to a package.

I was blown away by the taste and quality of these products. I definitely recommend them to anyone interested in trying more organic foods. I had no idea they offered such a large line of products, and now that I know, I will be buying them regularly.  They also make pet food and treats - as I have a dog and two cats, I'll definitely be looking into those products as well.

What are your favorite organic snacks?

Xan Confections chocolate review!

I freakin' love chocolate. So I was super excited when a friend gifted me a box of Xan Confections chocolates! I had never heard of the company before.  They are awesome! They're based in California, and they focus on sustainability and responsibility.  Many of their products are vegan. Those that do include dairy use milk from local cows not treated with harmful chemicals.  Their products use all-natural ingredients, and they use recyclable materials in their packaging, as well.  Basically, they're the kind of company I love to support.

I received a sampler box of the "Signature/Sins".  It includes 12 pieces - 2 each of 6 of their popular selections.  3 are from the Signature Collection, which are some of their most creative, indulgent chocolates. The other 3 are from the Saintly Sins collection. The Saintly Sins chocolates are all vegan, all gluten free, and have a low glycemic index, and they have only 29 calories each - basically, they're pretty darn healthy for chocolates. YAY.

When opening this box, the first thing I noticed was how cute the product is.

Love the packaging. I'm a sucker for anything tied up with a bow.  It included a little pamphlet that shows each of their gorgeous chocolates.

How cute are these?  Seriously, I almost hated to taste them.  They're so much prettier in person, too, with several being shimmery.

Closeup. So pretty.

How cute is that little butterfly?! And the little cappuccino?!

The first one I tried was the Banana Saintly Sin.  At first bite, I wasn't sure how I felt about it.  The filling is very obviously made with real bananas! After a moment, I decided I loved it.  These are different than most chocolates - when I hear raspberry or fruit filled, I think of those sugary cream centers.  These are more of a jelly!  They have a bit of fresh tanginess to them! Mmmm.

Love the combo of dark chocolate and banana.  

This is the raspberry sin.  Like the banana, it is dark chocolate with a raspberry jelly-like center!  I loved this one...the filling isn't too sweet and tastes of real raspberries.  And it's freakin' gorgeous!

I loved the oozy center.

This is the Cappuccino from the signature collection.  This one is so flavorful!  It has a caramel-like center, with a  bit of coffee flavor. The coffee bean on top is a great touch.  This one was absolutely delicious.

So many layers of flavor!

This was, hands down, my favorite in the box.  The Fleur de Sel caramel. I am a sucker for salted caramel, and this one does it right - soft, real caramel, dipped in dark chocolate with a smudge of sea salt. Simple, and amazing.  I will be ordering a full box of these, seriously.

I could cry because I don't have any more of these. :(

This one wins the "cutest in the box" prize!  It's the Vanilla butterfly, and it's so cute! The finish is shimmery light purple.  LOVED the filling, it has pieces of real vanilla bean and is more of a creamy filling.

Not artificial tasting at all, yum. I love vanilla.

This is the Strawberry sin, and it's probably the most unique in the box.  Like the other sins, it has a jelly-like filling...but this one has a bit of balsamic in it! I'm a sucker for balsamic vinegar, and I love a salad with balsamic vinaigrette with strawberries on it, so this is right up my alley. And it doesn't disappoint!  Real strawberry taste with a tang.  Mmm.

So pretty.

So, yeah...as you can tell, I enjoyed these chocolates immensely, and I had the box polished off in just a couple of days!  This is definitely a company I feel good about supporting, and I recommend them.

Love With Food March box!

So, I was really excited to check the mail today and discover that I'd gotten my Love With Food box!

 If you haven't heard of it, Love With Food Best Bites is a subscription service similar to Birchbox that sends you 5 or 6 gourmet food samples a month.  Similar to BB, it has a points system to earn free credits, and each item in your monthly box is discounted 40 percent, should you choose to buy the full size.  It costs $14 a month, and offers a variety of sweet and savory snacks.

In my opinion, the BEST part is that Love With Food donates a meal to food banks for every box sold.  So you can actually feel good about snacking!  If this sounds good to you, join Love With Food by clicking HERE.  If you enter the promo code "FBFAN" at checkout, your first month is free.

Anyway, onto the box.  The box itself is small and sturdy.  It was packed full of treats!

Like many others, it came with a cute little card that lists the contents.  This month's box is supposed to be good hiking/nature snacks!

The thing I'm most excited to try is the jerky!  We got Southeast Asian Charcuterie by Little Red Dot Kitchen in Pork and Turkey.  "On-the-go savory, sweet, & smoky".  Interestingly enough, the package suggests that these are tastiest when heated!  I'll give it a try. A half a pound of this is $10.95.

Organic Popped Fuji Apple Chips by yogavive, naturally flavored with strawberry.  Each bag contains a whole apple, and they retail at $6 for 10 bags.  

Update:  I'm eating these right now, and they're delicious!  Crispy but not hard, light, and the strawberry flavor is light and not at all artificial.  I will probably buy these. Mmm.

Fig Bars by Nature's Bakery in Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon.  This is a good sized bar!  They are 100% natural fig cookies blended with a variety of fruits, and they retail for $6 for a box of 8.

73% Cocoa Dark Belgian Chocolate with Coffee by New Tree.  Rich dark chocolate infused with coffee.  These look so good!  They cost $14.50 for a pack of 20. 

Hemp Hearts by Manitoba Harvest.  These can be sprinkled on salad, cereal, and yogurt or eaten as a snack. I also got a $1 off coupon, as pictured below.  It doesn't list a price for these.

 

And finally, Organic Energy Bars by Kate's Real Food.  There are four of these little guys in the box.  Flavors are:  Peanut Butter Chocolate Trail Mix (this comes in milk and dark chocolate)

Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond, and Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate with Flax and Hemp Seeds.  It doesn't list a price for these, but they come in a box of 12.


 Update:  I tasted Griz, which seemed to be the Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate.  It was GOOD.  It didn't have that gritty texture like most energy bars do, it just tasted like a chewy, really well done granola bar. Yum.

In all, I'm pretty excited about this box, and these are all things that I'm excited to try.  I'll update with my reviews as I taste the contents.  For a free month, you can't go wrong with this!