Love With Food: November

It's been a while since I've posted about Love With Food, a wonderful program that for $10/month, you get a selection of  healthy food samples and a meal gets donated to a hungry person in America. And I've been keeping up with it, perhaps the one subscription that I do keep up with, just because it's been for a good cause and I don't feel bad for spending money on food, something I need to get by in life (unlike say, shoes). That said, the last few months, I wasn't overly impressed with what I got in the last few boxes. I did get to try one thing I'd seen in the store but had been to scared to try, and was pleased to find that I liked it. But I got several items of food that were flat-out unbearable, both of sweet and savory natures. I'd take one bite and not be able to go on. There were several things I just haven't known what the heck to do with them. I wish items like that came with recipe suggestions. I was losing faith, and then I got my November box.

I took my box to Kendra's to open it, and the first thing I tore into was the Sweet Potato Chips. Because for the past three years, I have hated all things sweet potato, but I know she's generally a fan. I actually really liked them, and she said they were better than ones she'd tried before. Then we warily tried the Sweet Corn Crunch. It was literally just dried corn, and it was a little weird, but it was so tasty, even Elena didn't mind sharing with us. Definitely a good snack. And lastly we tried the Tuxedo Popcorn, which I was especially excited about, as it hails from Seattle. Every bit as good as it sounds. I love sweet popcorn that's not too sweet.

At home with my momma the first thing we tried was the Rosemary & Pink Sea Salt Shortbread Cookies. They smelled very strongly, but tasted just like regular lovely shortbread cookies, and we were both pleased with them. Then we split the Apricot & Almond Bar, which she was just so-so about, but I loved it. It's so hard to eat snack bars and feel healthy, but it wasn't too sweet, and it had good flavor. Lastly, we each had a piece of dark chocolate. Not as sweet as we were used to. Good, but we prefer our Hershey's.

The Thai chicken seasoning was delicious! I was so thankful for the recipe on the back of the packet, just so I'd have some idea what to do with it. I didn't entirely follow the recipe (1/2 cup ginger? are they crazy?) and just improvised here and there, but I think I made a fairly good dish. I didn't get any complaints to my face from Brandon, Shawn, or Kendra, so hey.

The only thing I wasn't really fond of was the Maple Fudge. I sent the tea off to my darling Holly, a far truer tea connoisseur than I could ever hope to be.

Love With Food, August

Last month, I was browsing the Swagbucks homepage looking for offers I could complete to make a few quick points. I don't do this very often because a lot of offers require me making payments, and I just don't think most of them are worth it. but then I saw the ad for Love with Food, which only credited 65 points (about 70 cents, maybe), but gave half off the first month and delivered food to my door. Being a member of many, many subscription services, I knew I'd be able to cancel easily, especially with my debit card expiring this month.

It seemed like a good deal to me. Even if I did like it, I felt no qualms about spending $12/month on food, because everyone needs food (unlike clothing sites I subscribe to, where I merely want). Plus, I saw that for every box I received, a meal would be donated to a hungry child in America. So, food and charity. I signed up, and last week, my first (of many!) box was delivered to my house. Inside were several little goodies, as well as a list of what they were and more about the products, as well as a couple of coupons. 

I didn't care for the taste of the mints (I prefer peppermint to spearmint), but I liked that for every tube, the makers plant a fruit tree. The snap pea crisps were just that, but something I enjoy anyway, so I was happy to have them. The potato chips started out as bland for me, but by the end of the bag, I was craving more. My pralines, unfortunately, were all melted together (sticky sweets in the mail in August?) but I loved them anyway. I was most excited to try the waffle cookie, as I was supposed to set it on top of my tea (well, I had coffee at the time, but I'd love to try it with tea) and let it soak up all the aroma, but somehow it fell in. So I didn't get to enjoy that to it's full extent. I will definitely think about getting some when I have the funds to try it again. I haven't yet had a chance to try the salsa, but I plan to split it with my mother sometime before the end of the week; nor have I had a chance with the spice rub, but I think seasoning meat is something my stepdad will have to do. My favorite thing was the fruit and nut mix. It was strange but tasty, with its sesame taste. Definitely will want more in the future.

My favorite thing about this box was all the new stuff it let me try. For $12 a month, I can try several new things with no commitment to something I may not care too much for. It'll help me expand my tastes (and perhaps others' as well, when I'm able to share), and getting a little something to look forward to each month. I also like that these products seems to be healthier than I'd normally go for on my own. And of course, I'll be giving a meal to a hungry child.