Love With Food March 2016 Review

Well, Love With Food offered a very nice discount on their 3 month subscription which brought the cost down to around $5 a box... so of course I jumped on the deal. Love with Food is my favorite subscription box. It offers three boxes - 

Tasting box - 8+ snacks, 1 donated meal, 10 points for your account each month, and it can be as low as $7.99 a month.

Deluxe box - 16 to 20 snacks, 2 donated meals, 20 points for account each month, and it can cost as low as $16.50 a month.

Gluten Free Box - 10 - 12 gluten free snacks, 2 donated meals, 20 points for your account each month, and it can cost as low as $19.99 a month. 

I feel like this box is very affordable and offers a great range of snacks. If you're seriously looking for new snacks - this is the box to try. I've gone on to purchase many items I've received in LWF boxes. You also earn points for each box you receive and for each product you review after trying it. You can use those points to purchase snacks in their online store. 

What I received this month:

Horizon Organic Fruit Snacks - these were good. Nothing too special about them, except that they are organic. 

Olympos Pitted Green Olives - I'm not a fan of green olives so I give these to my dad who says they're really good.

Dolcetto Lemon Wafers - Holy cow. I love these things. And I don't even like lemon flavored stuff. They're very good, flaky, and the cream is amazing. They also make really good cookies and cream wafers.

Almond Roca - meh. This was okay. Nothing spectacular. 

Salty Road Peppermint Salt Water Taffy - oh I am not a fan of peppermint taffy, but others enjoyed this.

Nature's Bakery strawberry fig bar - It was okay, moist and not dry at all. I'm not a huge fan of fig bars either. 

Stonefire Naan crisps - these are a great little snack that you can pair up with some cheese or meat. 

Pork Clouds fried pork skins - *gag* Another thing I literally cannot stomach. My boyfriend loved them though. 

Overall this was an okay box. I love the Dolcetto lemon wafers and will continue to buy them online after discovering them through LWF. It's also nice to have things in here you might be able to find in stores more easily if you like them - like the naan crisps or the Horizon products.

Click Here if you're interested in Love With Food. 

Munchpak March 2016 Review

So I gave a new snack box a try! Munchpak is a snackbox subscription that will send you snacks from around the world. They offer:

Mini box (5-6 snacks)           $9.95

Original box (10+ snacks)    $19.95

Family box (20+ snacks)      $39.95

The shipping is free if you are in the USA, but the box can ship internationally for an additional charge. You can subscribe to receive your box weekly, biweekly, or once a month. I opted for once a month and also had a $3 off coupon for the Original box. You can also customize your boxes for an additional charge. Onto the snacks and my opinions!

Cream Collon - A product of Japan, this was definitely pretty tasty. It was like cream inside of a wafer of sorts. It really reminded me of those E.L. fudge cookies taste, but more of a vanilla flavor. Wafer was thin, flaky, and good.

Yummy Gummy fizzy cola - Upon opening the package, I could definitely smell the cola. They're pretty good. Nothing to get overly excited about, but I could definitely munch on these absentmindedly until the bag is all gone. May be a product of Turkey?

Sour Punch - You can get these right here in the good ol' US of A. And I've honestly never had Sour Punch before. They're okay. It's a nice flavor combination, and not too sour. 

Yep. This picture is upside down. Whoops. 

??? (Product on the far right)- Product of Japan and I don't know what it's called. Or what it is. Upon eating it, I still don't know what it is. It's like some sort of taffy cube that has a liquid center that fizzes a bit. It definitely reminds me of cola, which is what I can guess the flavor is based on the soda cup on the package. Anyone know what this is? Name? 

ChocoTreasure Madagascar - A chocolate egg with a plastic one inside that contains a small toy or puzzle. These types of treats used to be banned in the USA. Not anymore!! I got a cute little penguin figure in mine. Chocolate was okay. Pretty much breaking apart upon unwrapping it, though. 

Zozole Musss- Product of Poland, another cola flavored candy. I'm starting to see a trend here. Otherwise, other countries sure do love making cola- based candy. This one is a hard candy that has some sort of powdery? center that creates the fizz taste/sensation that you'd get when drinking a cola. Not all impressed with that compared to other soda fizzy candies I've had, at least from Japan. The overall flavor, though, is really good. 

Tropical Treat Island Flavors - a product of the USA, I believe. This one was really flippin' weird. It had the texture and overall taste of compressed coconut, which now looking at the ingredients I see is what this is made out of. Was not expecting that - I thought it looked a bit like another gummy. When I try the different colors I only taste the coconut until I get to the Pineapple/Banana section which is the only one that tastes like what it's supposed to be. I kind of like the coconut concept, but not an overall fan of that Banana/Pineapple area. Very cool idea though. 

Daim - Product of Sweden. Essentially seems like one long, thin, toffee bar covered in chocolate. It was really good, I liked it. 

Troy - Product of I believe to be Bulgaria. It is a wafer covered in chocolate. Reminds me of a nutty bar, except lighter and without the peanut butter. It's pretty good. 

YoYo Taffy Bites Candy - I thought it was pretty cool to incorporate candy into a toy. However, the string is a little shorter than the typical yoyo I'm used to so that was a bit disappointing. The candy is.. odd. Not sure how to describe it. It looks like it would be hard candy, but it's quite chewing - not as chewy as taffy would be though. It's interesting, but not a huge fan of it. 

Overall I'm disappointed that Munchpak doesn't include some sort of card or pamphlet that tells you what in the world the names of some of these are if they're from Japan or something, or what the item is. Maybe even a clearer message of where they're from so you don't have to guess from the back of the package. I do like being able to receive snacks from all over the world. Even some of the USA ones (Tropical Treat) were cool to receive as they were definitely something I've never tried or heard of before. 

Flicker Box Review

Flicker Box is a candle subscription box that allows you to subscribe monthly or bimonthly and save by paying 6 months or 12, upfront. Each month they pick a theme and select artisanal candles that fit that theme. The theme for December was "Merry and Bright". A card comes with the box to tell you which company makes the candles, a little bit about the company, and their location. 

 First up are these Bayberry scented Tapers by Mole Hollow Candles. These are handmade candles from a family business that has been operating since 1969 and is located in Sturbridge, MA. I like the scent, but I might end up gifting these to my mother since I feel like they would fit in with her winter themed gazebo. Plus I don't really have any candle holders at the moment.

Next up is a Peppermint soy candle from Lighten Up Shoppe in California. I like the scent and it's I've never purchased a soy candle before so I found that to be unique.

On the right is Spice (Cinnamon & Orange) from Big Dipper Wax Works in Seattle, WA. I can't really comment on anything else about the company since it seems there was a mistake on the card and they mixed up with candle was from this company so I don't know what else is a mistake. I hate cinnamon. Not a huge fan of this candle for that reason. 

And lastly Gingerbread Man scent from Eco Candle Co. in Appleton, Wisconsin. I'm from Minnesota so it's kind of neat to have a candle made from our neighbors to the east. It smells really good - definitely like gingerbread. The box also came with a book of 20 matches.

The monthly play is $39.95 when you include shipping. If you purchase a 6 or 12 month plan you get a bit of a discount. The candles are well wrapped so I doubt they would break easily en route. 

I really love this subscription box as I love candles and am always interested in trying new types/scents/companies. I will definitely be resubscribing when money permits.

Japan Crate August Review

Japan Crate is a monthly subscription box that sends out Japanese candy and snacks (and a drink if you get the Premium box). I decided to order the Original Box with a coupon code. 

And here it is - the Original box is $25 a month and comes with 8-10 items with a DIY candy kit guaranteed. The Mini box is $12 a month and comes with 4-6 items, and the Premium box comes with 12-14 items including a DIY kit, a drink, and a revolving bonus item.

The Chocoroom DIY kit. I think the DIY kits are the main thing I'm most excited for. It's awesome to be able to interactively make your own candy/snacks. Little biscuits for the stems are included, and the flavors are white chocolate, chocolate, and strawberry. I'll show some pictures of me making them towards the end.

Shuwa Shuwa Soda candy. It appears to have a bit of a liquid center, and the whole time its in your mouth it reminds you of the fizz of soda. It's quite interesting, and I definitely enjoyed these. Comes in grape, orange, and what I assume is cola. The cola/red one is my favorite.

Chocolate Pucca - it's a pretzel biscuit shell covering a creamy chocolate. I liked these - the overall shape reminded me of Goldfish crackers. The outside isn't all that salty so it didn't remind me of a pretzel at all.

Pokemon Puzzle gum - it's basically a piece of gum, but with a sticker Pokemon puzzle included.

Crayon Shin-Chan Candy - crayon colored, "ramune" flavored candies. Ramune is apparently a soft drink sold in Japan. They were okay - not a lot of flavor at first. 

Soy Sauce Pretz - biscuit sticks with a tangy soy sauce glaze. These were good - not something I'd eat a lot of in one sitting, but definitely good. Finally something somewhat described as pretzel that tastes like pretzel. There are two enclosed packages of them inside. 

Crackling Cotton - grape cotton candy with an explosive pop rocks kick. I don't think I've ever had grape cotton candy before - the taste reminded me of grape gum. Definitely good. Pop rocks are a fun extra hidden within the cotton candy. I love Pop Rocks as well. 

Puzzle & Dragons x Bikkuriman Wafer - basically a wafer with chocolate in the center. Nothing too amazing. 

'And lastly - Mario Kart Gum. A long strip of 10 individually wrapped gums, each package with a Mario Kart character on it. The gum is good, but the flavor doesn't last very long. 

Here's what's included in the DIY kit.You place the tubes in warm water to melt the candy/chocolate before putting them in the mold with a biscuit in the center. 

Here they are in the molds. There were a lot of leftover biscuits, but nothing left of the candy. There was just enough to fill each one with different designs. A little hard to keep all the biscuit "stems" to stay upright... maybe I shouldn't have put them in right away. Then you pop them in the freezer for a few minutes to let them set. 

 BAM. Cute little mushroom candies I made myself. They actually taste pretty good. The strawberry reminds me of a strawberry milkshake.

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Overall, love this subscription box because I love being able to try new things - especially candies and snacks from other cultures. I'm very tempted to upgrade to the Premium box to get the drink. Plus they show you what you would've gotten in the pamphlet you receive with it, if you had purchased the other boxes. Some of the snacks I missed out on look interesting. Definitely keeping this subscription for now. 

Love with Food July Tasting Box Review

My July Love with Food Tasting subscription box has arrived! Thanks to a deal offered through them, I paid $4.99 for this box and I received 100 points to use on their website to buy more snacks when I reach 1000 points ($10). 

Love with Food is a monthly subscription box that can be ordered by you personally, or by a workplace for their employees. This company donates meals for every box you order/receive. You can check out their website to see exactly where those meals are being donated, and chances are some have been received in your local area. This food box subscription offers three different boxes - a Tasting box (8+ snacks), a Deluxe box (16-20 snacks), and a Gluten Free box (8-12 Gluten free snacks). Each box will donate 1 - 2 meals to fight hunger in America. You also get points for receiving boxes and reviewing the items inside. You can than use those points to buy snacks in their online store. 

They also come with a pamphlet describing the snacks and easily list whether they are Organic, Gluten Free, or Non-GMO. Six of my eight snacks were Gluten Free, so if you don't want to pay a bit more for the exclusively gluten free box, this would also be a good option if you have some gluten free people in the family. 

First up are two of the larger snack packages. Hawaiian BBQ kettle potato chips by One Potato Two Potato. Sounds interesting, but I'm personally not a fan of BBQ chips so I'll let someone else try these.

Bear Naked Coconut Almond Curry granola. I love Bear Naked granola products and am excited for this since it's a variety I haven't tried yet. It contains coconut, almonds, and cashews. 

Next up is Kids Organic Chews in sour citrus flavor (grapefruit, cherry, lime) by Honey Stinger. One packet provides 100% of your daily Vitamin C needs. Also in the box was a 50% off code for Honey Stinger organic chews or waffles. 

Simply Toasted Crunchy Coconut Chips by Bare Snacks. It's great that this lists only three simple ingredients - coconut, cane sugar, and sea salt. 

Organic Fruit Snack by Fruigees. It's made with 1/2 cup of fruits and vegetables and is in a beet/cherry flavor. Definitely interested in trying that flavor combination. 

Received four different flavors of True Citrus products (Lime, Lemon, Orange, and Grapefruit). You can use these to add some flavor to your beverages and get 25% of your Vitamin C for the day. I believe I read somewhere you could even add these to teas. 

One Gum Pop by Glee Gum in what I'm assuming is an orange flavor. These are made with pure cane sugar and natural citrus peels. Also in the box was a discount code for 15% off all products at gleegum.com

And lastly Lemon Almond Biscotti by Biscotti Di Suzy. 

One last thing included was a coupon for 1 FREE Lean Cuisine Entree (up to $3.99). Was very excited to see freebie coupons included in this box, and the coupon alone almost makes up the price of the box. I was definitely happy to resubscribe (temporarily stepped away due to lack of funds for the boxes). 

Check out Love with Food and join through my invite which will help me earn some points. It's a very nice snack subscription box that'll let you try some new things, and some things you could eventually purchase in stores. I know through this box I found a few snacks I now buy online because I absolutely love them.  

Love with Food December 2014 Box Review

Looking for new snacks to try? Gluten free, no artificial junk, GMO free? Want to make sure you're helping to feed hungry children in America? This may be the subscription box for you!

Love with Food is a monthly food subscription box. They offer three different boxes to suit your needs and price ranges.  You can earn points on their site which you can eventually use to purchase foods and snacks on their site. You can earn points with a box subscription, writing reviews on the products you receive, and by referring friends. 

Tasting Box - $10/month for 8+ snacks. 10 points a month just for receiving the box. Every box you receive donates 1 meal to a hungry child in America. 

Deluxe Box - $17/month for 16-20 snacks. 20 points a month for receiving the box. Every box you receive donates 2 meals to hungry children in America.

Gluten Free Box - $24.50/month for 8-12 snacks. 20 points a month for receiving the box. Every box you receive donates 2 meal to hungry children in America. 

I ordered the Tasting Box with a special promotion so it was only $2.  The following is what I received:

 Honey-Acres Dark Chocolate Honey Mint (2 candies)
I'm personally not a fan of dark chocolate or chocolate candies that contain mint. I gave it to my boyfriend to try. He enjoyed them.

Bali's Best Espresso Candy (2 candies)
Ohhhh I really loved these, and I'm not even a huge fan of coffee. Maybe it's because these had a little bit of sweetness to them. It's a hard candy with a coffee flavor. These are really great and I would definitely buy them.

Liddabit Sweets (2 caramels)
These were okay. I prefer my caramels to be sweeter. The salt helped, however it seemed like the salt was situated on one side of the caramel and being that I didn't pop the whole thing in my mouth - one of my bites involved a mouthful of salt.

Nocciolata Organic Hazelnut Spread (1 sample packet)
I don't like chocolate spreads, so I wasn't a fan of it - but I could recognize that it would definitely be a good competitor with Nutella.

Olympos Pitted Green Olives

I was quite surprise to see olives in a snack box, that they found a way to package them. I wont be trying these because I'll be regifting them to my father who enjoys olives.

Next by Nature Dark Chocolate Coconut

These were really good as well. I'm not a fan of dark chocolate, but these were good. Reminded me of Almond Joy candy a bit. A great ratio of chocolate and coconut slices. 

Crunchy Cookie Chips

I've seen these in stores recently and was always curious to try them. They were good, surprisingly sweet so I could only eat a few of them at a time. It definitely tasted like a crunchy cookie. I may buy them in the future, to try the chocolate chip ones.

Oogies Gourmet Popcorn Kettle Corn

This. This right here was amazing. I normally don't like kettle corn, but boy did I munch my way through this bag right away. I will DEFINITELY be buying this product soon. It was the right amount of sweetness and crunch. Even the smell was amazing. 

Overall this box was great, especially for my $2 deal, so I wont be cancelling and will continue to receive it for $10 a month. I may even upgrade to the Deluxe one. So this would be a great site to check out if you want to give your Gluten - free friends a gift subscription to their gluten free box. 

And if you want the same sort of deal I got, click my referral link below and get your first box free, you'll only have to pay the $2 so they can ship it to you. You can very easily cancel after your first box, if you aren't impressed or if you can't afford the monthly recurring subscription.

http://lovewithfood.com/invite?m=r&ref=2cQC

TOM Swaag Box Review

This "Time of the Month" TOM box is a subscription box that can arrive at your door once a month and will include your choice of tampons or pads, jewelry, accessories, makeup and some form of candy. The cost is $16/month and you can get your first month reduced. You can cancel anytime online, through email, or by phone.

I subscribed and got this first box pictured above for $5. It included Always Infinity pads, four pieces of candy, a bracelet, Maybelline Color Tattoo (Pomegranate Punk), NYC Color Wheel, and NYC nail polish. Everything was sealed - decided this was worth mentioning since I've seen a few comments complaining that their makeup wasn't sealed when it arrived.

Overall thoughts: It's an okay box. I couldn't see myself paying $16 a month for it, so I did end up cancelling it. I sent them an email and the whole process was easy - they even asked if they could reduce the price for me so keep that in mind if you don't want to spend the $16 a month. Just shoot them an email and see what they can do. It would likely be a good gift to consider for a daughter or niece, especially if they're just getting into makeup.