Graze Box Openings and Review

Graze is a new healthy snack subscription service that delivers a box of 4 different snacks to your home or office once a week. Each box costs $5 and when you try the service you get your first and fifth weeks for free. It's so new that right now it's invitation only. There are lots of invitation codes out there but each member is limited to how many invitations they can give out. I think I have one left at my invitation code: 9V1G62J

What I like about Graze is that you can customize your boxes. They have over 100 different types of snacks in categories such as Dips & Dippers, Flapjacks (Granola bars essentially), Savory Snacks, A Touch of Chocolate, Healthy Treats, Pure Fruit, Whole Nuts, Pure Fruit Nuts & Seeds and Super Seeds. You can vote on each snack by choosing Trash if you don't want it, Try if you want to try it, Like if you think it's okay and Love if you adore it and want it again.

I went through all of the snacks before I got my first box and trashed anything I knew I didn't want to try. For example, I don't like Pistachios so I got rid of any Pistachio treats. I tried to keep an open mind and want to try as many as possible. As I get each box, I go back to my box's page (yes each of your boxes has it's own page, sort of like Birchbox) and I rate if I Liked it, Loved It or don't want it again, aka Trash. So far I have Liked or Loved everything I tried.

You can also customize your deliveries by choosing a Nibble Box or a Light Box. A Light box would only include low calorie treats whereas a Nibble box could include everything. If you are Vegan or have allergies to Gluten or Dairy, you can also customize based on your diet. Each box is a surprise but the customization helps for sure.

Below I am sharing my first boxes and each of the snacks and what I thought of them. I hope you'll give Graze a try! I am NOT sponsored by them and I only got some discounts based on their starter promotion and getting $1 off a box for each person I invite who joins the service. So basically these opinions are my own.

My only complaint about these boxes is that they take a while to arrive and there is no tracking because they are shipped via USPS ground. They are packed over the weekend and you have to set your ratings by Friday if you want to Trash anything and don't want it showing up in your next box. I usually get them on a Thursday or the following Monday.

 This is how the boxes arrive. I peeled off the label with my address for privacy.

My first box!

 Each box comes with a nutritional pamphlet, invitation codes and a 100% recycled napkin!

 Summer Berry Detox: Blueberries, Goji Berries, Golden Raisins and Cranberries

LOVE!

Cookies and Cream: Mini chocolate cookies, Roasted Hazelnuts, White Chocolate Wafers and Sunflower Seeds

LOVE!

 El Picante: Jumbo salted corn, hot chili peanuts and mini paprika breasticks

LOVE!

 Fruit & Seed Flapjacks

I almost trashed all the flapjacks as I assumed they would they would be dry and bland granola bars. To my surprise they are really moist and quite decadent in flavor and texture! These are my favorite. The sealed boxes help keep the snacks fresh.

LOVE!

 My second box

 

 Herby Bread Basket: Mini Garlic Croutons, Mini Basil Breadsticks and Oregano Rice Crackers

LOVE!

Garden of England: Mini Strawberries, Blackcurrants and Apple

LOVE!

I was skeptical but ended up loving this one. It's such a deliciously tart mix of dried fruit.

Hot Cross Yum: Mini Meringues, Cinnamon & Honey Almonds and Orange Infused Raisins

Like 

This one was okay. Wasn't too terribly impressed. I might try it one more time and trash it.

Natural Vanilla Seeds: Vanilla Sunflower and Pumpkin Seeds

LOVE!

I was convinced I would hate this one but the vanilla coating made them crunchy and sweet and delicious!

 My third box!

 

My Thai: Sweet Chili Sauce and Baked Soy Bites

Like or possibly Trash

It was tasty and spicy but not worth the money in my opinion. Too much dip too few bites.

Nacho Libre: Salsa Almonds, Cheesy Sombreros and Jumbo Chili Corn

LOVE!

 Apple Cinnamon Flapjacks

My favorite of all the snacks I have tried!

LOVE!

 Honeycomb Crunch: Milk Chocolate Coated Honeycomb, Raisins and Plain Almonds

Like

It was way too sweet with the raisins but the honeycomb and almonds were a good match.

My fourth box

Cheddar Gorge: Cheese Cashews, Baked Herb Bites and Salsa Corn Sticks

LOVE!

 Marvellous Macaroon: Amaretti Drops, Almond Slices, Coconut Flakes and White Chocolate Wafers

LOVE!

Perfect mix of crunchy and smooth!

Mango Lassi: Yogurt Coated Peanuts, Pumpkin Seeds and Dried Mango

LOVE!

My favorite of the snacks are the ones that aren't too sweet like this one!

Tutti Frutti: Blueberry Infused Cranberries, Pineapple, Cherry Infused Raisins and Golden Raisins

Like or Trash

I'm confused by this one. I feel like infusing one fruit with another is kind of strange. The raisins seem more like filler. It was tasty though so I'm torn.

Healthy Eats

Just thought I'd share a couple of healthy dinner ideas. Above is my Hoisin Chicken, oven roasted sweet potato, steamed broccoli, cucumber slices and brown rice. It makes for a very delicious and healthy dinner. I just wish brown rice reheated better for leftovers!

Thanks to Athena for the heads up on the website and publication Clean Eating Magazine. I found this Ginger-Lime Kale recipe on there. It had Kale, ginger, lime, Butternut Squash, Chickpeas and Pomegrantes. Such an unusual combination but so delicious! It's a very hardy side so you only need to pair this with a protein for a complete dinner.

Alexia Sweet Potato Rolls Product Review

Alexia contacted me about reviewing their Sweet Potato Rolls. I've never had Sweet Potato bread before and I was really curious to try them! I've never enjoyed Sweet Potatoes but lately it's been my mission to eat them and learn to live them. I love having bread rolls with soup so I was happy to see that this was a healthier bread option with my new favorite super food to boot!

My bag had only 7 rolls which I thought was strange. The package did not mention how many sweet potato rolls were inside which I also thought a bit odd. It just said 10.5 oz and since I don't have any kind of food scale I couldn't verify if 7 rolls equaled 10.5 oz. The bag's baking instructions showed 8 rolls so I'm assuming 7 was a bagging error. If it was not a bagging error, I would definitely suggest Alexia change to an even number either 6 or 8. It's hard to split odd number of rolls between two people.

I baked these rolls in a 350 degree pre-heated oven on the center rack for 12 minutes. They came out slightly crusty on the outside and very soft in the center. These are absolutely delicious served piping hot with a little bit of butter. They are not as great cold or at room temperature. I would also have these with butter and honey as a dessert (the bag suggests that as a way to serve them too).

I thought these were to be more savory rolls so I served them with soup. They were too sweet to go with the soup I made so I'd like these more as a dessert rather than part of a main course. As a dessert they are really delicious!

Thank you Alexia for providing me with a bag of these Sweet Potato Rolls to try. They were delicious!

Zucchini Tomato Pesto Pasta Bake

This casserole is ridiculously good! I got the idea from WebMD's recipe for Pesto Zucchini Tomato Gratin. The picture shows it on top of pesto penne but didn't say anything about cooking the gratin with the penne. I decided to combine the two and turn it into a casserole. This makes a lot so you'll have plenty of leftovers.

My husband hates Zucchini and while it's not my favorite vegetable either I am determined to sneak it into as many dishes as I can. I shred the zucchini to make it more palatable. It works really well in this casserole!

Zucchini Tomato Pesto Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

1 box of whole wheat penne
1 7 oz. container of prepared pesto, divided
3 large zucchinis
3 plum tomatoes
2 cups of panko bread crumbs
extra light olive oil
1 container of Pearl Mozzarella
extra light olive oil

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. Fill a large pot with water, cover with lid and heat to a boil.

Shred your zucchini and slice your plum tomatoes into thin slices (I remove the jelly and seeds as much as I can). Set aside.

Add a drizzle of extra light olive oil to a large skillet and heat. Once the oil starts to sizzle, add the shredded zucchini. While that's cooking, add the penne and some salt to the boiling water and cook 10-12 minutes based on package instructions. While the penne is cooking, continue cooking the zucchini. Stir occasionally. You want to dry out the zucchini a bit so there is not so much water. After 10 minutes, stir in 2 tablespoons of the pesto. Set aside.

In a bowl, add the 2 cups of panko bread crumbs and about 3 tbsps of extra light olive oil and mix.

Drain the pasta reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water. Add the remaining pesto to the pasta and add the 1/2 cup of pasta water. Stir until all the pasta is coating in pesto.

In a 11 X 13 baking dish, add the pasta. Cover the top of the pasta with the shredded zucchini pesto mix. Top with half of the panko bread crumbs. Then add a layer of sliced tomatoes. Top with the pearl mozzarella balls and the rest of the panko.

Cover with aluminum foil and add to center rack of oven. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove foil, switch oven to low broil and broil for a couple minutes until the top gets brown. If you have patience, you can wait a little longer and it'll brown on top in the 375 degree oven. I am not patient so I like to brown with a quick broil. Watch the casserole closely or you can burn the top!

Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving. Or dive in if you can't wait.

Bon appetit!