January 2017 DegustaBox {Unboxing}

Nothing gets me as excited as when I see one of my subscription boxes come in the mail because it's like Christmas each month. Degustabox holds a special excitement especially because I get overly excited about trying new food and drinks. 

About 90% of the time I try something in Degustabox, I end up buying it again the next time I go to the store. A lot of the products I discover in the boxes are completely new to me and I have never heard of them, while others I have heard of, but never tried. And of course, there are the products that we already love sometimes as well. This month's box was a hit, as always. 

Now, these photos are as good as they usually are, because January here is dark and basically not ideal for good lighting. However, I'm sure, or at least I hope, that you'll still see why we love this box, even if mother nature didn't want to cooperate and give me some days without constant clouds. 

My kids are obsessed with fruit snacks, but honestly, I hate giving them because they are usually piled with sugar and additives. These Go Organically Fruit Snacks, were not only juicy, but they are only 70 calories and of course, organic. My kids housed this entire box pretty quickly for their snacks. They are made with real fruit and are juicy and delicious. I don't normally eat fruit snacks, but I actually enjoyed them. 

Popcorn is always a welcomed item in boxes, because we are always doing family night where we watch movies or play a game and munch on popcorn. Jolly Time is a classic, but I'm one of those mom's who is obsessed with counting calories. I guess I got that way during my healthy lifestyle change and it stuck with me. Not that it's a bad thing, but you realize pretty quickly how many things you have to miss out on because they just aren't very good for you at all. The Jolly Time Healthy Pop Butter Popcorn is Gluten Free and only 20 calories per serving. So I get the butter flavor, but I don't have to feel terrible after I eat a handful or two. I also don't feel as bad giving it to my kiddos. 

There were two seasonings...or well, one is actually a sauce... in this month's box. Okay, admittedly, I don't care for Indian food, so the curry sauce wasn't even attempted in my house. I know no one would have eaten it here. I did end up passing it along to a family I know who does, so it still got used, just not by us. 

The One & Done seasoning was a special item this month that wasn't in all the boxes. We had a hard time deciding what to put this on because it smells incredible and you can put it on just about anything. So we were like, "Do we want to try this n Chicken? Steak? Pork? Fish?"

We ended up trying it on pork chops and I can tell you that immediately we knew we were going to have to hunt down a full container of this seasoning. It's really the perfect seasoning to kick up your meat dishes, but I guess you could also use it on veggies as well. 

Ah yes, yogurt. I'm obsessed with yogurt. And even better than just yogurt is yogurt with fruit. So when I saw a box of Welch's Fruit  'n Yogurt bites, I drooled a little bit. These ones are strawberry covered in vanilla yogurt and they are juicier than I expected. The flavors come together perfectly and it's a great, healthy snack, if you can keep yourself from eating more than one packet at a time. 

I also really love cheese, which is really hard on me because like I stated, I try to live a healthy lifestyle. But sometimes you have to go ahead and have that cheese. The Cello Whisps that came in this month's box are 100% parmesan cheese baked into tiny crisps. The parmesan flavor is very bold and I tried these in both tomato soup as well as a garden salad and they really took both to a new level of deliciousness. You could even just snack on them straight from the bag, too. The bag has an easy snap closure so you can seal it up and keep it fresh, assuming it lasts that long. It certainly didn't in our house.

These two products had me screaming. I'm a pumpkin everything girl. So pumpkin pancakes out of "season"? Oh YES please!! Hungry Jack is a great brand, but I've never tried their pumpkin spice pancakes. What's wrong with me? I expected a hint of pumpkin, but oh no, they proved me so wrong. These were so incredible! I didn't think my family would eat them since I'm the only one obsessed with pumpkin everything, but they chowed down on them pretty good. Needless to say, I will have to buy in bulk next time they are released. 

The beverage is a different flavor of Alo, but I've received this brand in a past box. The first time I tried it, I was a little weirded out by the idea of drinking Aloe. I had no idea you could even drink aloe, but apparently it's actually very beneficial for you in a manner that isn't just focusing on your outside, but your inside as well. I had expected it to be greasy for some oddball reason, but it wasn't and was actually really good. So when this showed up I was so happy. This one is a different flavor and has pulp. The pulp, I had assumed, was the cantaloupe because that was the strongest flavor I got from it, but it turns out that the pulp was actually aloe. Pulp isn't for everyone, and usually I hate pulp. Why would anyone want to chew their drink, right? But it's actually pretty good. The aloe doesn't really seem to have a flavor to it and it's mostly the cantaloupe and cucumber that you taste. It's really refreshing and quite different, but in a good way.

The Smart Kids Bar wasn't a favorite, by any means. It's banana spilt flavor, but I didn't get that when I tasted it. It was quite bland to me and after two or three bites, I had to toss it. There was no way my kids were going to eat it. Now, I'm not knocking Smart Kids Bars in general, just this particular flavor. I'm interested in trying any other flavors they do have, because they are completely nut free, gluten free, and are a healthy alternative to typical snack bars. They also don't have a ton of sugar in them and would be great breakfast bars, especially before a test. Basically, if you enjoy the taste, they are really great for natural energy and "brain food". This particular flavor though, just wasn't for us. 

Entenmann's Little Bites have been around for a really long time, but they keep releasing new flavors. These are the party cakes which taste exactly like mini birthday cakes. When I say exactly, I truly mean it. 

The final item we received is this box of Ginger Honey Crystals. I'm a tea person and use it for every mood and ailment so I was intrigued by this. I like ginger ale and ginger tea, so I was interested in trying it out. This isn't a tea int he way you would think, though. There's no tea bag. They are ginger crystals with honey as a sweetener and you just add hot water to it. I figured the honey and water would tone down the ginger, because ginger by itself tends to be rather a strong flavor. Not so in this case. It's pure ginger. I'm not into the spicy kick of pure ginger so as is, I wasn't thrilled. However, I made a cup of hot green tea and added a tiny bit of the crystals to it and it was perfect! Ginger tea is great for upset stomaches so this is really great to have on hand and what I will use this for mostly. The packets will last me much longer since I will only be using a small percentage of the packet in regular tea rather than the entire packet. 

Of course, there are also coupons in this month's box as well. Coupons are always a welcomed item in these boxes because as I stated at the beginning, I more often than not end up purchasing the products we liked at the store and they become regular items in our home. I also have got back into couponing to save a little money and these really help when we go to stock up on our favorites from that month's box. 

Like what you see and want to give Degustabox a try? Get $10 off your first box (making it $9.99) When you sign up today!

www.degustabox.com

*Disclosure: This product was received as a sample in exchange for an honest, unbiased, review. The reviews and or opinions on this blog are 100% my own. No monitory compensation was received and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsement and Testimonials in Advertising.