naturebox review three

this review is long overdue-- as are many of the entries i have lined up in my head.  i've been unfortunately plagued by back to back sickness for the past month and just haven't had the energy to post! 

this was the last box in our subscription, and it was time to decide whether or not to continue the service month-to-month, buy another package, or nix it altogether.   

i was going to let bffbf pick the contents of this box, however, he totally forgot, and i ended up choosing them all right before our box was shipped out.   i opted for one repeat item and four new ones:

oat bran dippin' stix 

toasted cheddar stix

lemon tea biscuits

honeycomb sunflower kernels

guacamole bites 

the oat bran dippin' stix was the repeat item, so obviously we liked it a lot.   the toasted cheddar stix actually taste just like the oat bran dippin' stix with a slightly cheesy flavor, and really salty.  too salty.    the lemon tea biscuits were pretty good, and taste like tiny lemon shortbread cookies. a few were more than enough to satisfy a snack craving.   the honeycomb sunflower kernels were lightly sweet and tasty as well (although not as good as the praline pumpkin seeds from our previous box).   i really enjoyed the guacamole bites, but it had the same issue as the toasted cheddar stix-- wayyyyyyy over-seasoned.   

ultimately, we decided not to continue the service.  i was more on the fence about it than bffbf was, but in the end, the snacks just weren't good enough to warrant a box every month.   while i mostly liked the snacks that we received,  they were often overpowering in flavor or totally under-seasoned.  and really, most importantly, even with bffbf's help, i have trouble consuming all the snacks every month.  i'm just not that big of a snacker, and i found myself snacking more just to get through them to clear out the pantry! 

although this wasn't the right service for me/us, i definitely think it's a good one overall.  

naturebox review two

it was raining demonically when i came home and discovered several sopping wet packages on my doorstep, two which were from nature box.  two?  yes, two.  

mystified, i brought them inside and immediately peeled away the mushy cardboard and found six identical snack packs in both boxes.  six? yes, six.  we randomly received an extra snack (normally a box comes with five) without explanation.   both boxes came with a slip with my name and the same order number.  it appears they may be having some processing issues.  lucky us.

this time we received the following:
homestyle cheddar mix
praline pumpkin seeds
seaweed rice pops
lemon meringue waffles
bbq kettle kernels
honey crunch crisps (the bonus pack)

the hands down winner in this box was the praline pumpkin seeds.  these were really delicious and pretty addictive. we almost finished an entire bag in one sitting.  the honey crunch crisps also ended up being really yummy, so i definitely appreciated it's mysterious appearance in our order.  

the rest of them were fairly good, although i felt that the bbq kettle kernels could use more bbq flavor, and the homestyle cheddar had a strange consistency.  we also wished that the seaweed rice pops were completely savory-- they had a slight sweetness to them that we didn't expect or want.  the lemon meringue waffles were very light but a decently strong lemon flavor.  

we have one more box coming and then we'll have to decide if we want to continue the service.  i'm generously relinquishing my reign of control and allowing bffbf to choose all five snacks for our final shipment.  so kind, i know.

naturebox [stay away from the chickpeas]

i stumbled across a groupon for naturebox a couple weeks back, and thought it'd be fun to give it a try.  the deal was $35 for a 3 month subscription, each box containing five snacks of my choosing.  pretty reasonable as it works out to less than $2.50 a bag.

the box came surprisingly quickly--  based on my account information, i thought it would be well over a month before we received our first shipment, but it turned out to be more like a week.  i was pretty excited when i saw it sitting on my doorstep.

for our first shipment, i chose the following:

flax fortune coins

chili lime pistachios

baked sweet potato fries

praline pumpkin seeds

citrus chipotle chickpeas 

but wait...  when i opened the box, i found that the praline pumpkin seeds had been replaced by oat bran dippin' stix because they were out of stock.  this put a frown on my face since i would have preferred to have been notified so i could make another choice!

i was the most excited about the citrus chipotle chickpeas, which i tried immediately...  and i found myself frowning again because they were the chalky and so NOT good.  

DID I MAKE A MISTAKE? was this going to be a box full of yucky snacks?!

luckily, within two days i had opened every package to do taste tests (i could barely exercise more patience than that) and happily discovered that i liked ALL the other ones, particularly the oat bran dippin' stix, so naturebox gets a pass for throwing that in the box in lieu of the praline pumpkin seeds (that i have requested for box two).   bffbf isn't a fan of the flax fortune coins, but i definitely am.   if given a redo, i would order any of the others again with the exception of the chickpeas.

generally speaking i'm pretty happy with this shipment.  it's always fun receiving packages and in this case, trying new things.   it's particularly nice for me to have small-ish sized snack bags in the apartment, as i'm not a particularly huge snacker-  often snacks go bad before i have a chance to polish them off, unless i have the help of bffbf (in which case they'll disappear in a matter of minutes).   i am confident that we'll be able to finish most of box one by the time we receive box two.   i also value that they're 'healthy', and i've enjoyed how they've added some variety in our work lunches.

i'm definitely looking forward to our next shipment. have you tried any routine delivery subscription services like naturebox before?