April 2017 Degustabox

It's Degustabox time again! Huzzah! I'm a little late getting to the box this month because we have been super busy. Of course, we were prepping for Easter, but we also have a Disney Kids Preschool Playdate coming up, a few family trips, conventions, photoshoots, cookouts, birthdays, and a beach vacation in Hilton Head. So needless to say, I've been up to a lot and now I'm a little behind on things. It happens. This is a busy time of year for us. 

I digress. I did find a little bit of time to unbox April's shipment and try out a few of the goodies. Have I mentioned how much I love the Degustabox packaging? The little food items on the box remind me of the little food doodles I use to do in my notebooks in high school. So cute! 

This month, as always, we had a box full of amazing items. For the most part, we had never had any of these before. There were brands that I already were familiar with, but not the item itself. So that's always nice. I really love trying new (to me) products. 

The first thing out of the box that I tried, was the PR Bar. It came in Yogurt Berry, was gluten free, and had 15g of protein. Perfect for me when I need a post workout snack. The flavor really wasn't my favorite, to be honest, but it also wasn't the worst I've had either. Protein bars are really iffy. You are pretty hard pressed to find a protein bar that is 100% delicious and isn't obviously healthy. This is the same way with protein shakes as well. 

We had already tried two bottles of Peri-Peri Sauce from two other boxes, but this was the first time we were trying the garlic flavor. It's fantastic and is absolutely delicious on chicken wings. It's like a spicy garlic and has a great flavor to it with a nice kick. Highly recommended for those that like a little bit of heat, but not something too spicy.

I haven't used the tomato paste yet, but my intention is to make homemade spaghetti sauce with it. Obviously that takes time that I don't necessarily have at the moment. So that will have to wait until I'm caught up on things and have a free day (I say, as I laugh at the absurdity of that statement when reflecting on my hectic life this time of year). 

I had plenty of ideas on how I wanted to try the Organic Roasted Chicken Breast by Wild Planet. Initially, I intended on making buffalo chicken dip. I changed my mind and thought about chicken tacos. The third time I changed my mind, I ultimately went with a Cajun chicken wrap. Al three would have been delicious, no doubt, but the Cajun chicken wrap was easy and quick to throw together. 

I just mixed some Cajun seasoning in with the chicken, and layered it onto a soft tortilla with some lettuce and ranch dressing, then served with a side of my favorite chips - salt & vinegar, of course. 

I am the only person in my house (possibly my entire family as a whole), that actually enjoys oatmeal. I guess I just have bland tastes, but it's my favorite breakfast food. The Steel Cut Maple & Brown Sugar oatmeal is great for my busy mornings. I can make a bowl in a few minutes and just because it's a quick meal, doesn't mean I have to sacrifice flavor. It's actually pretty flavorful and quite good. 170 calories in each bowl, in case you are wondering. That's usually a little bit more than I normally eat in the morning, but I just cut my cals down at lunch or dinner time, or cut out a snack for the day. It's worth it.  

Beverages! This is always my favorite part of the box. They don't always include a beverage, but I was lucky enough to get a few to test out this month. The tea made my day. I am a tea-aholic and peach tea is one of my favorites. I love that I can make this with my Keurig, so I get iced tea rather quickly, instead of waiting for it, like I do with my husband's sun tea. It's really good, too. I don't usually do instant coffee, because I do have a Keurig, and that's pretty instant as it is, but the Cafe Bustelo Instant Coffee is great to throw in your bag for travel. The Zenify Stress Relief was probably my favorite. It had a great taste to it and was refreshing. It is for stress relief, but doesn't make you drowsy or sluggish, which is nice, especially since I don't have time to doze off. It did feel like I wasn't as stressed out after I drank it, though, which was nice. I'm unsure if it was actually the drink itself, or a placebo effect, but either way, I enjoyed it. 

I'm not a huge Hummus person. I don't know why, maybe it's the texture, but I don't eat it. So I did pass the Bush's Hummus Made Easy and Garbanzo Chick Peas on to my cousin, who just moved into her own apartment down the street from us. She loves hummus and chick peas, and to be honest, I was impressed with how easy it was to make this stuff. All you need to do is blend the hummus mix with a can of garbanzo beans. The entire prep only takes a few short minutes, which is perfect is you are having a party or have unexpected guests and want to whip up some snacks real quick. 

The Lingonberries took me a little time to get use to. I was intrigued by the apple and cinnamon since those are two of my favorite flavors. It's good. I didn't expect the little bit of kick to it, but it was delicious once you get use to it. 

I've sampled the Lovely Candy Co. before, but this was the first time trying the caramels, which, by the way, are one of my favorite candies. They are delectable as a small treat, but I made some mug brownies and placed a caramel in the batter before sticking it in the microwave so that I had a creamy caramel center to my brownie. Best decision ever. I also drizzled the top of the brownie with the Wilton candy melts drizzle (which I somehow forgot to get a photo of - apologies). The drizzle is a great concept. You stick the little packet in the microwave until it melts and just snip off a small corner and drizzle it onto your desired goodies. The only thing I didn't like was that there was a lot of air in the packaging and it was difficult to kneed the package to get all the caramels melted. Almost impossible actually. Otherwise, it was just like melting the regular candy melts that Wilton makes, just on a much smaller scale in a manner that made it easier to drizzle it. 

I was the only one in the house that liked the Chiridos packages we received. My favorite was the Baja Ranchero. I think the texture is what did it for the rest of my family. They aren't your average chips or the like. They have a lighter texture, similar to cheese curls, but with a much lighter flavor to them, and are completely gluten free. They were decent. Probably not something I would buy regularly, but I enjoyed them.

Please note: Some items featured in this post were not available to all boxes. Items vary based on your profile survey.

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*Disclosure: This product was received 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.