Graze - May 2015

Over the past couple of weeks I have been enjoying the first of two Graze snack boxes I scheduled for delivery in the month of May.  I subscribed to the 8-snack variety box with delivery every two weeks. Here are the snacks I got to try in this box:

Nutrition & Ingredient Information Card

 Zesty Chili Lime Cashews

 Original Three-Seed Protein Flapjack

 Salted Fudge & Peanut Cookie

 Herby Bread Basket

 Chai Latte

 Barbecue Sub with BBQ Relish

 Cinnamon Fig Roll

 Apple Cosmo

Cost of Box:  $11.99 (free shipping)
Impressions:  I really liked the variety of flavors and snacks that they included in this box.  Here is a quick run down on what I thought of the snacks:

• Zesty Chili Lime Cashews: I liked the chili seasoning but I would like this snack even better without the lime flavoring.
• Original Three-Seed Protein Flapjack:  I liked this a lot more than I thought I would.  It similar in consistency to a chewy granola bar and is slightly sweet.  I have been trying to include flax seed in my diet so I like that these include flax seed.
• Salted Fudge & Peanut Cookie:   I really like salted fudge and peanut butter cookies.  I think this would have been a great snack if the redskin peanuts had been toasted.  The raw peanut taste just masked and ruined the taste of everything else. 
• Herby Bread Basket: I thought this snack was pretty good except for the oregano rice cakes.  They seemed to have a slight sweet aftertaste that didn't quite mesh well with the savory herbs.
• Chai Latte:  I love drinking Chai lattes so I was excited to try this snack.  It does have a lot of the chai latte flavors but I think I would have liked this snack a lot more if the seeds and coconut chips were toasted for a richer flavor.
• Barbecue Sub with BBQ Relish:  Essentially pretzels with barbecue sauce as dip; not what I would call a great snack idea.
• Cinnamon Fig Roll:  I like fig newtons and this snack does taste like a fig newton but with root beer.  The little cookies are crisp, not soft.
• Apple Cosmo:  It was ok, but not great.  I like dried apples and cranberries but not so much the lime raisins.  They definitely tasted like they had been soaked in lemon-lime soda.

Out of this box, I would say the three-seed protein flapjacks were my favorite.  A couple of the other snacks were OK but would have been great if the nuts were roasted/toasted or if there was no lime flavoring.  I did contact customer service to ask why many of their snacks with nuts didn't have roasted nuts or toasted coconut and they stated that they simply didn't have suppliers to do it yet.  I hope they find suppliers soon; I think many of their snacks would be great if the nuts were roasted/toasted to enhance the flavor!  Although I didn't like all of the snack flavor combinations, I did enjoy trying them.  It was also nice having these individually packaged, pre-portioned packs to throw in my purse for snacks at work.

One thing that I did not mention in the review of my free trial box is that the "use by date" for each snack is listed on the information card.  This is handy because not all the snacks have the same shelf life.  However, I do think it would be better if the date was listed on the snack package to prevent confusion if snacks from different boxes get mixed up or if you accidentally throw away the info card.  These snacks do not last for months like some store-bought snacks and I presume it is because there are little to no preservatives in them.  The snacks in this box were listed to expire anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks after I received them but they didn't last that long!  I'm looking forward to what snacks I'll get to try in my second May box.