Degustabox - June

Another month, another mystery box of goodies from Degustabox. I get these boxes for free so I can tell you all about them.

This month's had some items I liked a lot, along with a few I passed along to some very appreciative friends and neighbors. (Don't you want to be my neighbor?)

I get a lot of free samples (ain't it great to be a food blogger?) and I know it makes no sense for me to sample things that I know I won't like (for example, anything with coconut) or things that I know that someone else would appreciate much more than I would (gluten-free or high-caffeine foods, for example).

If I know I won't like something (hello, coconut), there's no way I could honestly say nice things about it. It would be a waste to open it. And in the case of gluten free products or others that just don't fit my food agenda, it simply makes more sense to give them to someone who will love them, instead of me eating a bite and saying, "yeah, it's okay but just not my thing."

There were quite a few things in this box that I like, a few I tried before ... and some that I passed along to other deserving folks.

So ... here we go. 

Amazon links are included for products or companies, where available, so you can find more information on individual items.

Nativas Naturals
This is another nutrition bar, this time minimally processed, organic, and plant based. Since I work from home, there really aren't a whole lot of times when I want an energy bar to fill the food gap. There's pretty much always something here I can eat. So ... this one I passed along.

Briannas Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing
Honestly, I don't buy a lot of bottled dressings, but I might seek this one out. It was good on salad, but I also drizzled some on half of an avocado that I devoured. This would also make a lovely sauce on top of poached or roasted chicken.

Ritz Crisp & Thins
Sort of like a cracker and sort of like a chip, these were great for snacking. Or they'd be good next to a bowl of soup. These are good as-is, but they'd be great with a dip or some cheese. Since they're baked rather than fried, they're lower in calorie that fried chips and crisps.

Hodgson Mills gluten free muffin mix
I passed these along to a gluten-free friend. I've tried a lot of Hodgson Mills products and they've all been high quality. I'm betting these are darned good, too. The mix can also be used to make pancakes, so it's not a one-trick pony.'

Brooklyn Organics ginger ale
I'm a sucker for ginger ale, so I liked this. It's sweetened with stevia and organic. There are several different flavors of this ginger soda. I got to sample one of them, but I'm sure they're all pretty tasty.

Julian's Recipe Waffle Thins
These are cracker-like waffle-textured snacks that come in both sweet and savory flavors. I got the meyer lemon, but there are also cheese-flavored and herby ones. I'm going to look for the cheesy variety because I love cheesy crackers. The lemon was good, but wouldn't be my first choice if a cheesy one was within reach.

Popcorners Salt of the Earth Bean Crisps
I loved Popcorners snacks that tasted like popcorn, so I was pretty interested in this version with beans along with the corn. I haven't actually opened it yet since I had other open snack foods and there's only so many crispy snacks I can shove into my maw in a given week. But if you're looking for a new snack, I think this one would be a good bet.

Entenmann's mini apple snacks
I used to work near an Entenmann's bakery and the smells coming from that place were intoxicating. I had a few favorites among their offerings, but this seems to be a new one. They're little hand pies, about the size of the bottom half of a slider bun. I loved these. They'd be too sweet for me if they were larger, but this was a perfect little dessert.

Bibigo Go-Chu-Jang Barbecue sauce
I haven't opened this one yet because I had two other kinds of barbecue sauce already opened, but I'm seriously looking forward to trying it. It's described as bold, smoky, and spicy. I'm betting it would be awesome on wings, which are now on the shopping list.

Sir Kensington's Ketchup
Another interesting ketchup. If your idea of ketchup is the sweet stuff we all grew up with, maybe it's time to venture into new ketchup territory. I suggest slathering this on a burger or using it as a topping on a meatloaf.

Viter Energy Mints
This was an added "gift" in the box. These are little breath mints with 40mg of caffeine and B vitamins. While I tend to keep my caffeine intake fairly low these days, these would be awesome to tuck into a purse for those time when someone is out and about and feeling a little tired, particularly when there's a boring drive home on the agenda. Probably also good before a test at school or a before a business meeting.

Thanks to Degustabox for supplying these fun boxes (at no cost to me).