This month's choice was admittedly more about frugality than it was about an actual choice. I mentioned that I was running a little low on cash due to bills and extra expenses like my replacement laptop charger, so I was on the hunt for a service that would let me get my first month discounted or free. I had a voucher for a free NatureBox, but I didn't sign up by the deadline so it lapsed. Being that I wasn't entirely pleased with my Bulu Box but was still interested in the idea of healthier eating/living options, I re-stumbled across graze.
While I was signing up, I could have sworn I'd received an email from them as well, so I checked again and lo and behold, graze had just sent me a voucher for a free box last week. I had looked at the site before but I think that was when I went with Love with Food instead. This is the third month in a row that I've ended up ordering digestibles (LOL) so I might be switching gears next month. I've begun to miss my beauty samples. lol I ordered my nibblebox on the of this month but didn't receive it until the 22nd of this month. Here's what I got:
Honeycomb Flapjack (rolled oats with honeycomb & chocolate drizzle on top)
This was the first snack of the four that I tried. It reminds me a lot of brown sugar and cinnamon oatmeal, but like if you didn't put enough liquid in there. The taste was a little raw, which was a different experience. At first if you're not used to natural oat-based snacks then the taste of the oat without all of the artificial flavorings and sweeteners can be sort of bitter. It would definitely be an acquired taste. But after eating, the aftertaste puts me in the mind of brown sugar oatmeal, and even that is a light taste that doesn't linger on the palate. The honey seems to be the dominant sweetener in this snack; I did get the hint of chocolate from the drizzle on top but it was more of a light accent than anything else. It's soft and split into 3 small portions so you can eat a bit and save some, or you can share. If you're a picker like me (someone who picks at their snacks with their fingers, sort of like a bird lol) then eating this can get sort of annoying because it falls apart pretty quickly. I let it sit for a couple of days so it would harden up a bit and it was much better after that.
First off, let me just say that when the package says 'lightly salted,' they mean it. This is right up the alley for those who are on a low to no sodium diet, because I could barely taste the salt. The bag is a mini one and I thought that was super cute. One thing I really liked about this bag was that it was completely full once I finished popping it. It didn't burn, didn't have a lot of kernels at the bottom, and didn't cheat me by giving me half a bag of air like some of the other brands of popcorn that I eat. It has a very light taste, almost to the point of being completely tasteless. Everything about it was light actually. I think because it was so tasteless but was also a little soft, it gave me a bit of a stale taste. It definitely wasn't stale because I'd just popped it, but after awhile that was the taste I got. If you try to spice it up by drizzling a little butter on it, it will immediately wilt the hell out of your kernels so don't do that. lol I'm going to finish the bag and it did answer the craving for popcorn that I'd been having the past couple of days, but I wasn't in love.
Herby Bread Basket (garlic crostini, oregano rice crackers, basil breadsticks)
I tried a couple of the crostini and baguettes not long after waking up and to my sensitive tastebuds these were extremely salty so it initially put me off. I went back a couple of hours later after I'd eaten a meal and the taste thankfully had mellowed out a lot. I like the flavor that they create when eaten all together; separately you can appreciate the different elements of each piece and I liked that as well. The oregano rice crackers did have a heavy dose of oregano but the flavor of the cracker itself helped balance it out a bit. The garlic crostinis weren't bad at all; they reminded me of the crackers you get in the Chex or trail mixes but were a bit crispier. Finally, the basil breadsticks, which ended up being my favorite, had a great balance of basil and garlic powder; they were amazing and the basil wasn't overpowering. I received enough to get a great snack out of it, even though the glutton in me would have preferred a larger portion. LOL I'd definitely recommend this for a snack.
Disclaimer: I have a pretty immature sense of humor, so if you find that you cannot read this portion with a straight face or you keep hearing a phantom of a giggle as you read, it's my fault. If you're more mature with nut jokes than I, then I'm sorry. Anyway, minus my romantical preferences, I'm not really a nuts girl. I enjoy eating them, but not for a regular snack. I keep hearing that they're healthier for me, but they're hard for my teeth, they're dry in my mouth, and they're just not my preferred snack. But I have finally realized and accepted that just because I still look (and sometimes act, judging by the disclaimer for this product) 17, I cannot continue feeding my body that way so I've been looking for healthier snacks. This particular assortment of nuts included raw almonds, blanched almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts. I failed at the healthier snack concept because since half of this container had almonds, I needed something to wash them down with so I ate those and the almonds with some brownies. LOL The hazelnuts were my favorite out of the bunch and the only ones I ate by themselves. The walnuts were good too, but they tasted better with brownies. I wasn't that fond of the blanched almonds; I preferred these nuts raw. (There I go again. SMH) But seriously, the blanched almonds seemed drier, with less flavor than the raw ones. I enjoyed this little container, but I can't see myself eating them as a regular snack. At least not without some brownies around.
Overall:
Overall, my experience with graze was a good one. Ordering my box was fairly easy and so was cancellation. One of my favorite parts of the whole experience was the narrowing down of snacks afterward. graze has the complete list of snacks that they offer, and you get four options on your opinion of the snack, which further personalizes your future boxes. If you select that you 'love' something, you'll definitely get it in a future box, which I saw when I selected that I 'loved' the salted popcorn then later received it. If you're open to it, you'll probably get it. If you select that you 'trash' a certain product, you won't get it. You're able to view your current and past boxes as well as when they'll deliver, and once you cancel you're still able to see everything. The packaging of the box was very simple, fits in the normal mailbox, and everything I received was in good shape. A small booklet with the friendcode coupons and nutritional information is included with your selected samples so you can see the value of each component in the box. I didn't need to reach customer support but the site was easily accessed and navigated so I was able to handle everything myself. No complaints with the experience as a whole at all.
Do I recommend this box?
I do! These snacks are different from the normal types of snacks I eat, the various things offered would be perfect for someone to try if they're looking to widen their horizons or change the way they snack. The variety is great; there are all kinds of snacks from sweet to salty, soft to hard. graze is affordable, easy to personalize and has a little something for everyone.
My Rating:
P.S. I'm offering a free box to first-time grazers who want to try out the box. Check out this link to get your first and fifth (if you continue your subscription) boxes for free using my graze code. I never really paid attention to gift codes and stuff before because they usually didn't amount to anything (10% off has never appealed to me for any reason) but at the beginning of the month, I was racking my brain trying really hard to find a box that I could sample for free because I couldn't afford to buy one this time around. Since I found this as a freebie, I wanted to offer the same in case anybody else wants to try out this box. *Small disclaimer: Graze is generous enough to extend this offer to everyone who signs up for the site, so this is not a sponsored advertisement or plug and there's no preferential treatment going on.* I just wanted to share my link.
Another reason I wanted to offer the code is because graze has a school of farming, where they teach Ugandan locals how to grow fruit trees. The effort is meant to increase productivity, give the citizens a sense of morale, and bring in consistent income while improving nutritional standards. I've been reading this book called No Longer A Slumdog (you should go check it out) that focuses on the stories of people in impoverished and developing communities and just finished a Bible challenge where the goal was to help those less fortunate. I thought it all came full circle a little bit when I saw that trying out the box benefits the Ugandan people, so by you taking this code, graze donates $1 to the school and then you get a friendcode of your own to pass along. I think that's purdy awesome myself so for once, I found a code and actually paid attention to it. lol If you end up taking advantage of the free box, let me know what you thought of graze in the comments once you've had a chance to try it!
