Graze Box #14
I am even behinder on other things, but let's at least try to keep up on the snack reviews. I'm noticing that Graze reformulates snacks more than I had expected, so even repeats aren't always quite the same.
Snack #1 - Chinese Shiitake (repeat): Mushroom broth with corn, shiitake mushrooms, and rice noodles made a reasonable light supper for a day when I had been to a fairly extravagant luncheon. It’s only 90 calories and is tasty. There’s a good mix of textures, too.
Snack #2 - Creamy Ranch Kern Pops (repeat): This consists of half-popped corn kernels with seasoning that mostly tastes of sour cream and onion. It has 140 calories. Both the flavor and the crunchy texture are quite good. It’s not the most nutritious snack Graze offers, but it’s not particularly bad for you either.
Snack #3 - Herby Bread Basket (repeat): This consists of miniature basil breadsticks, garlic crostini (i.e. croutons), and oregano rice crackers. It has 90 calories. It’s got a lot of crunch and a lot of flavor. In particular, the oregano rice crackers are strongly flavorful, which is good - assuming, of course, that one likes oregano. Overall, a good savory snack.
Snack #4 - Garden of England (repeat): This consists of miniature strawberries, soft apple slides, and black currants. It has 80 calories. I find this mixture particularly delicious and, at least of snacks I have gotten so far, it is my favorite of the pure fruit ones.
Snack #5 - Caramel Apple (repeat): This consists of soft apple slices with caramel sauce. It’s 80 calories. I feel like I get this fairly often, but I’m not complaining, because it is thoroughly delicious. It’s one of the best sweet snacks Graze offers.
Snack #6 - Peaches and Cream (new): This is a mix of Belgian white chocolate, peach drops, coconut flakes, and vanilla cookie drops. It has 150 calories. I found it very tasty, with the peach drops and the white chocolate being especially good. There’s somewhat more coconut than I’d prefer, but that is mostly because the peach drops are so very tasty that I'd like more of those.
Snack #7 - Pumpkin Spice Flapjack (repeat): This is a soft granola bar with dates and pumpkin spice. Well, actually three small bars, with a total calorie count of 230. While I like it well enough, I do have to wonder about Graze’s algorithm, since I have this rated as "try" but have gotten it far more often than other flapjack varieties which I have rated as "like" or "love." Maybe that will change as we move out of pumpkin spice season. Or maybe they are trying to manipulate me into stocking up from the Graze store, instead of just getting the random snack boxes.
Snack #8 - New York Everything Bagel (repeat): While this was technically a repeat, it’s been reformulated. In addition to the poppy seed and onion sesame sticks, it now has cheese cashews and pumpkin seeds, too. It’s 200 calories. I still like it, though I preferred the original version, with just the sticks. On the plus side, this does have more protein.
Snack #1 - Chinese Shiitake (repeat): Mushroom broth with corn, shiitake mushrooms, and rice noodles made a reasonable light supper for a day when I had been to a fairly extravagant luncheon. It’s only 90 calories and is tasty. There’s a good mix of textures, too.
Snack #2 - Creamy Ranch Kern Pops (repeat): This consists of half-popped corn kernels with seasoning that mostly tastes of sour cream and onion. It has 140 calories. Both the flavor and the crunchy texture are quite good. It’s not the most nutritious snack Graze offers, but it’s not particularly bad for you either.
Snack #3 - Herby Bread Basket (repeat): This consists of miniature basil breadsticks, garlic crostini (i.e. croutons), and oregano rice crackers. It has 90 calories. It’s got a lot of crunch and a lot of flavor. In particular, the oregano rice crackers are strongly flavorful, which is good - assuming, of course, that one likes oregano. Overall, a good savory snack.
Snack #4 - Garden of England (repeat): This consists of miniature strawberries, soft apple slides, and black currants. It has 80 calories. I find this mixture particularly delicious and, at least of snacks I have gotten so far, it is my favorite of the pure fruit ones.
Snack #5 - Caramel Apple (repeat): This consists of soft apple slices with caramel sauce. It’s 80 calories. I feel like I get this fairly often, but I’m not complaining, because it is thoroughly delicious. It’s one of the best sweet snacks Graze offers.
Snack #6 - Peaches and Cream (new): This is a mix of Belgian white chocolate, peach drops, coconut flakes, and vanilla cookie drops. It has 150 calories. I found it very tasty, with the peach drops and the white chocolate being especially good. There’s somewhat more coconut than I’d prefer, but that is mostly because the peach drops are so very tasty that I'd like more of those.
Snack #7 - Pumpkin Spice Flapjack (repeat): This is a soft granola bar with dates and pumpkin spice. Well, actually three small bars, with a total calorie count of 230. While I like it well enough, I do have to wonder about Graze’s algorithm, since I have this rated as "try" but have gotten it far more often than other flapjack varieties which I have rated as "like" or "love." Maybe that will change as we move out of pumpkin spice season. Or maybe they are trying to manipulate me into stocking up from the Graze store, instead of just getting the random snack boxes.
Snack #8 - New York Everything Bagel (repeat): While this was technically a repeat, it’s been reformulated. In addition to the poppy seed and onion sesame sticks, it now has cheese cashews and pumpkin seeds, too. It’s 200 calories. I still like it, though I preferred the original version, with just the sticks. On the plus side, this does have more protein.