Review: Daily Goodie Box

The Daily Goodie Box has been around since about July of last year. I signed up for an account right after I heard about them and did what they said to do in order to get a Daily Goodie Box. I logged in every day for a while and checked out my messages and filled out my profile. I was not offered a Daily Goodie Box until recently and it was offered to me free in exchange for a blog review. So while it's a great box, they aren't easy to get. Hopefully more people will get them in the future. They are 100% free, you don't even have to pay for shipping. And for a free box it's a nice sampler box of products. So here's what was in my box.

RawRev - Raw Superfood Bars- While I'm not big on protein or meal bars these weren't too bad. They weren't bad tasting and are just big enough for a snack.

Herr's - Tangy BBQ Popped Chips- These had a really good taste to them. Ken and I both liked them and I like BBQ flavored chips to begin with so win win for me.

Dream Water - Sleep Powder- I've tried this before and while it didn't help me sleep that doesn't mean that it won't work for someone else.

Alsa - Energy Drink Mix- After drinking this I didn't feel like I had more energy but it has a nice flavor to it.

Natralia - Anti Itch Soothing Cream- It says this is good for bug bites, poison ivy and itchy skin. I put a little on my arm and it's not greasy and didn't irritate my skin but it does have an odor similar to Vick's VapoRub. I don't mind that but others might.

Gary Poppins - Simply Sea Salt- I've never been a fan of sea salt but this doesn't have too much on it to make it really salty. There's enough to taste the salt but it's a nice flavor. The popcorn was pretty good.

EM+Pact - Protein & Energy Bars- Ken and I shared this bar as well so we could both see how it was. For an energy bar it's not bad. It was a good taste and we both liked it for what it was. But neither of us felt extra energy.

All they ask you to do is try the products and leave reviews for the products you got in order to be eligible for more Free Goodie Boxes. As you guys already know, I'm a fan of all these types of boxes. I love all the different subscription boxes and it's really nice to be able to try new to me products for free. This is a great box to try for.

Are you ready to sign up? Here's the link. Daily Goodie Box.

Disclosure: This box was given to me in exchange for a blog review.

Review: Green Chef Food Subscription Box

I've been wondering about all those food subscription boxes that send you all the ingredient you'll need to make a few dinners each week. I wasn't sure which one to try because they are all a little expensive but Green Chef had a special going on that it only cost me $26 for the first week of 3 dinners for 2 people. This normally costs $80, which is a bit steep in price for me. 

They send everything you will need for 3 dinners and you can pick from Omnivore, Vegan, Vegetarian, Carnivore, Paleo and Gluten Free. I picked Omnivore and got 2 meat dishes and 1 vegetarian dish. It comes with the recipe cards so you know exactly what to do and what you'll need to make it. 

Even things like Red Wine Vinegar and Feta Cheese are pre packaged into little jars and you just look on your recipe card and take out what ingredients you'll need for each recipe. 

As you can see, they send all the ingredients and everything is clearly labeled. Everything was fresh and it all came in an insulated box with plenty of ice packs. Even in the 110F temperatures we were having when this arrived, everything was cold and fine. 

And of course, Falcor had to photo bomb at least one of my pictures. He wanted to see what I got and knew it was food. He just didn't understand why I wasn't giving the food to him. lol 

All in all, it was interesting to try this out and try 3 different recipes that I've never tried before. The meals I made were...

 1) Moroccan Meatball Skewers with apricot couscous and sauteed zucchini and carrots. 

2) Eggplant/cauliflower ragout with cumin spiced polenta, zucchini/roasted red pepper and cilantro salad. 

3) Herb pesto topped chicken with carrot/beet slaw, rainbow chard and corn. 

I've never had any of these dishes and interestingly enough we liked most of it with the exception of the first one. Neither Ken nor I liked it but was interesting to try something new. I love trying new recipes. 

Here's the 2nd dinner I made using the ingredients they sent. It's Eggplant/cauliflower ragout with cumin spiced polenta, and zucchini/roasted red pepper salad, topped with feta cheese. This ended up being so tasty that Ken didn't even mind that it was a vegetarian dish. 

It was pretty good. I think if I make polenta again, it'll be a different flavor though. The zucchini/roasted red pepper salad was really good. 

This was the Herb pesto topped chicken with carrot/beet slaw and rainbow chard with chick peas and corn. 

Neither of us liked the pesto but we both enjoyed the rest of it. I love rainbow chard and this was the first time I've ever had it. Who knew it was so good. Kind of had a spinach flavor to it. 

Have you tried any of the subscription meal boxes? There are several...Green Chef, Blue Apron, and HelloFresh are just a few to choose from. 

Review: Universal Yums Subscription Box

Universal Yums is a monthly subscription box that sends you snacks from all over the world. A different place each month. This is the June 2016 box. (I write my posts about a month ahead of time so that's why this is posted this month. I always have about 30-40 blog posts scheduled at any time) 

There are two box sizes to choose from. The 6 or more snacks or 12 or more snacks. I chose the 6 or more snacks box.  For my box size, it's $13.00 a month. And they sent quite a bit in my box. The other box costs $25.00 a month. 

So I was sent 17 snacks in my box. Candies, cookie, chips and fruit candies. This months box is from The USA. You would think that since I'm from the US that I would be familiar with most of these things but the only thing I was familiar with were the candies. 

I picked up the dark candy on the bottom row because I saw it said, "Praline" on it. I love pralines so when I opened it and took a bite of it and started chewing, I knew something was wrong. It was hot! So I took a better look at the package and saw it said Habanero Praline. More like burning ass hot praline.  It was hot. The hotness of the it over powered the yumminess of the praline so for me it wasn't enjoyable. 

Next thing I tried was the Chesapeake Crab potato chips. Did you see in the second picture where in the corner it said salt and spicy? I didn't because I used a pair of scissors to cut the top off. *Facepalm* It was spicy hot and bitter. Not good. I don't know who put this box together but I swear not all of us from the US like spicy foods. We're not all rednecks who drink beer, eat spicy pork rinds and drive pick up trucks. And I can say that because my family is all kinds of redneck, but not the wear my jammies to Walmart type redneck.

So next I tried the black and white cookie and that was good, tasted like a pound cake cookie with vanilla and chocolate frosting. 

The Abba Zaba candies are white chewy taffy on the outside with a thin layer of peanut butter on the inside. I used to have those all the time when I was a kid and they're still good. And of course I liked the Salt Water Taffy, I buy that and keep in the candy jar so that was a favorite for me. 

So for the most part it was a good box with a couple of spicy flops.