Bestowed Box ~ Back to School Edition ~ September 2013

As you may remember, I recently reviewed Bestowed Box last month in August.

Bestowed Box, being the amazingly generous company that they are, allowed me to review their September box as well! I received the above box for free to share & review for my readers.

The theme for this month's box is "Back to School." It contained a variety of great snacks, that you can take on the go, or stow away in your backpack pocket, or lunchbox for a quick snack.

Bestowed Box is $19 per month, including shipping, or $209 per year (which works out to be $17.62 a month, a savings of $16.56!) Each box is curated by celebrity nutritionist & author Heather Bauer. Your assortment of 5-7, healthy & delicious foods, snacks, beverages and/or lifestyle items are sent to your home or office on the 15th of each month.

If you would like your own Bestowed Box, you can get $9 OFF your first box, and only pay $10 by entering promo code HELLOTEN094.

Here is what I received in my Bestowed Box this month!

Pearls Olives to Go ~ 4 cups ~ Retail Value $2.97

Funky Monkey Carnival Mix Freeze Dried Fruit ~ .42 oz. ~ Retail Value $1.29

Banana, Pineapple, Apple & Papaya

Popcorn Indiana Fit Popcorn in Extra Virgin Olive Oil ~ .5 oz. ~ Retail Value $.61

Nonni's THIN Addictives in Cranberry Almond  ~ 21 grams ~ Retail Value $.66

 

Happy Squeeze Super Strawberry Greek Yogurt  ~ 3.5 oz. ~ Retail Value ~ $1.82

Pacific Natural Foods Chocolate Hazelnut Non-Dairy Beverage ~ 8 fl. oz. ~ Retail Value $1.25

Somersaults Cinnamon Crunch ~ 1 oz. ~ Retail Value $ .83

Crunchy nuggets baked with sunflower seeds & toasted grains.

La Tortilla Factory White Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas ~ 8.18  oz/8 count ~ Retail Value $2.89

The retail value of my Bestowed Box this month is $12.32. Value was a little short this month, but I really liked all the products included, compared to some of the more obscure products I received last month, so it's okay. Please take a look at Bestowed Box, and pick up one for yourself!

Blue Apron ~ New Weekly Meal Preparation Service

I recently found out about a weekly meal preparation subscription service, called Blue Apron . I contacted them to see if they would like me to review their service. They generously sent me this box for free, in exchange for my honest feedback.

Each week, Blue Apron sends you a box full of per-portioned ingredients, which will create 3 delicious, gourmet meals. The only ingredients you need to have on hand are salt, pepper & olive oil. Blue Apron provides the rest! Although you don't get to choose your individual meal selections, you can choose between the meat, seafood & poultry box, or the vegetarian box. 

A colorful, easy to follow recipe card is provided for each meal. The meals can be completed in a approximately 35 minutes, and yield 500 to 700 calories per serving. Depending on which option you choose, each meal serves 2, 4 or 6 people.

The cost of Blue Apron is $9.99 per meal, including shipping. So, for 2 people, 3 meals a week, Blue Apron costs $59.94 per week. 4 people, 3 meals a week is $119.88, and 6 people, 3 meals a week is $179.82. You also have an option of several delivery windows.

I absolutely loved this service! I enjoy cooking, but don't really enjoy meal planning, and shopping. Thinking about preparing dinner gives me anxiety some nights, mostly because I have no idea what I'm going to prepare for my husband and two children. On the nights I knew that I had the Blue Apron meals waiting for me, the stress that I normally have concerning preparing dinner ceased to exist! I felt so much more freedom going about my day, because I knew that dinner was already planned out for me.  Everything is perfectly portioned. The only item that I had extra of, was garlic cloves, since they included a whole head.

The meal portions were very generous! My husband and I were able to stretch 2 of the meals for 2 nights!

All the items come packed with ice packs

Everything is individually labeled

My Roasted Chicken Demi-Glace leaked a bit, but I was able to salvage it.

 Jerk-Spiced Chicken with Rice & Beans

This meal made HUGE portions!

 Fresh Fettucelle Bolognese with Baby Heirloom Carrots

Served with Pillsbury Garlic Bread Sticks

Seared Trout with Peach and Arugula Salad

Orange Glad Sweet Box ~ September 2013

If you are new to Orange Glad, please see my additional post here.

I'm currently subscribed to Orange Glad, but decided to contact them to see if they would like me to post a review. They generously sent me this box for free, in exchange for my honest feedback.

Each month, Orange Glad sends you 5 delicious sweets, including, but not limited to, cookies, cake, brownies & candy. Sometimes, they even throw in a bonus, non-edible item as well! Orange Glad is my favorite food subscription, out of those I'm currently subscribed to, which is saying a lot because I'm subscribed to quite a few!

The only negative I've found is, a lot of the vendors included in the box, do not provide nutritional information on their products. I'm currently on the Weight Watchers Program, and have to give my best guess about how many calories & grams of fat, etc. each item contains.

The cost of Orange Glad is $21.95 a month, including shipping. If you sign up for a reoccurring 3 month subscription, you'll save $1 per box & if you sign up for a reoccurring 6 month subscription, you'll save $2 per box. Gift subscriptions are also available.

Subscribe or gift a 3-month/6-month plan and get an extra $1 off shipping every month! Use promo code: SWEETBOX8. Or use code YUMMY10 to save 10% off your first order.

Modern Bite  Designer Chai & Almond Spice Cookies ~ 2 cookies ~ Retail Value $7.00

JJ Bakery  Almond Nougat ~ 5 pieces ~ $2.66, I based this price off of Almond Nougat I got from another subscription box, since they don't have a website.

Kelley's Kookies Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookie ~ 1 Cookie ~ Their website is down, but I'm going to guesstimate around $2.00

Cinderella Cakes Lemon Sugar Cookie ~ 1 Cookie ~ They do not include prices on their website, so I'll guesstimate $3.00.

Cinderella Cakes Oreo Cookie Cake Pop ~ 1 Cake Pop ~ Again, there was no price info on their webiste, but I'll guesstimate $3.00.

The retail value of this month's Orange Glad box is $17.66. I guesstimated the price of 4 out 5 items in the box, though! Hopefully, I came somewhat close. I highly recommend this subscription to anyone who enjoys indulging in different desserts! Everything is always delicious & packed with care. Give Orange Glad a try, you won't be disappointed!