Saturday, November 8, 2014

UrthBox Healthy Snack Subscription Box Review, October 2014 + $10 Coupon Code!

This is my very late review of the October UrthBox.  As some of you know, I make my living in e-commerce and I'm glad to say the holiday selling season is well underway. From October through December, most retailers make somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of their annual sales and I've found that to be true of my little business as well. That means constant listing, constant customer service, constant packing and constant trips to the post office. If you work in retail, either on-line or brick and mortar, I bet you can relate! 

Anyway, I thought that UrthBox deserved a review for their jam packed October box. Every month, they send a big box full of healthy full-sized snacks. They have four box options - Classic, Gluten Free, Vegan and Diet.  All are available in Small, Medium or Large boxes.  For the complete breakdown of pricing plans, please see my September post. This review is for the Medium sized Classic box which contains 13 full size snacks and three sample packs.


There is a big welcome card from UrthBox, a card containing a 15% discount code (URTHBOX14) at Buckwah.com and a card for Cocomel's, a company that should be quite familiar to subscription box foodies!


The only thing that doesn't exactly qualify as a full size snack are two foil packs containing Justin's Maple Almond Butter and one pack of Justin's Classic Peanut Butter.  I pretty much live on peanut butter so will have no problem using that one. May try the Maple Almond Butter on apple slices. 


There is one drink in the box, an organic nutritional shake by Orgain in Creamy Chocolate Fudge flavor.  I've had something similar to this before; it's o.k., but since it's loaded with fruits and veggies, the chocolate fudge claim is a bit of a stretch.  It is definitely loaded with protein...16 grams to be exact.


For a potassium punch, there is Barnana banana coconut bites.  These are a bit of an acquired taste but they are good for you.  I can tell you they look NOTHING like either bananas or coconut....they are little brown chewy squares.


There are lots of bags of interesting looking chips in this box.  The biggest one is a 3 oz. bag of Smart Fries by Gourmet Basics.  These are air popped potato sticks seasoned with sea salt.  50 of these only have 100 calories and 2g of fat.  (Sorry for the dim photos but I couldn't use a flash with all these reflective bags!)


Next is a lavender package of Sweet Maui Onion Kettle Cooked Potato Chips by Deep River Snacks. The jury is out on these....depends on how strong the onion is.


Then we have Bean & Rice Chips in Nacho flavor by Beanfields.  Unfortunately, the contents of this bag got pretty well pulverized so it may be all crumbs by the time I get to it.


There is a caramel filled Dutch waffle called a Swoffle.  I haven't tried this yet but it looks exactly like similar waffles that have appeared frequently in other healthy snack boxes.  These are really good when you place them over a mug of hot coffee or chocolate and let them soften up.


Cheese straws are a Southern treat.  These are from J&M (Janis & Melanie).  They are made with cheddar cheese and have a light crisp texture with just a touch of cayenne heat.  


The Cocomels salesman must be doing a great job with sub box companies because I've seen these in at least a half dozen different boxes.  Cocomels by JJ's Sweets are coconut milk caramels, very good and very sweet.  The flavor in these is tempered a bit with sea salt.


Next comes a package of kettle cooked sweet potato chips from Jackson's Honest Potato Chips. (Would you consume a dishonest chip?)


I SO want to call this next one "turkey jerky"!  But the label calls it a Turkey Snack Stick by OS Trim.  This doesn't appeal to me so it will probably go to a nephew.  


What DOES appeal to me is this package of Apple Harvest Crunch Dried Fruit which is little pieces of dried Fuji apples.  These can be a bit bland so I like to add them to yogurt or salads.



The ultimate in "nuts and berries" is this Natural Snack Bar from Buckwah in "Blueberry Chia". This is made with sprouted buckwheat and sweetened with coconut nectar.  I've had similar bars from other snack boxes; they are pretty hardcore.  I need a break after eating about 1/5 of one of these.  On the other hand, if I were stranded in the Alps for a few days, I'd want a bunch of these in my backpack!


And finally, FINALLY, we reach the end with a black bag containing Parm Crisps from Kitchen Table Bakers.  These are mini crisps made entirely of aged parmesan.


As you can see, this is one hefty snack box!  I've found that having all these interesting and healthy choices around really does help me cut back on candy, cookies and chips.  I'll never give those things up entirely but these foods do help re-train one's "snack palate".

If you want to try UrthBox, use code CRUNCHWEEK to get $10 off your order.  I think a subscription to UrthBox would be a great Christmas gift for certain folks or a care package for a college student!  

As always, thanks for reading.

Cheryl

Disclosure - Views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly my own.  Product discussed in this post was purchased with my own money.  This post does not contain referral or affiliate links.

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