November Degustabox | Winter Box

Well this week has been a long week. I booked the week of work for a chance to relax and get all my Christmas shopping done and instead I've been busier than ever. Last Friday - Monday I spent a relaxing long weekend in a rather nice cottage in North Yorkshire. Although with 7 other girls was anything but a quiet weekend. Wednesday I was in Manchester for the day as I went to watch Ben Howard at the 02 Academy, I would defiantly recommend going to see him live if your a fan. Then Thursday until today I've been away in York. So returning home to another arrival of a Degustabox was a lovely treat. That and of course sleeping in my own bed. 

The Degustabox is always something I look forward to receiving, a box full of homely goodies and a chance to try new foods. My friends have pointed out to me over the past week that I am rather a fuss pot when it comes out eating out and if I'm honest I love home cooking. I've been looking at houses a lot recently and creating Pinterest boards of my dream home and I defiantly visualise a future in a country kitchen cooking up dinner parties for friends and baking at the weekends. Although that will defiantly be a few years away at the moment. This months box as always was a mix of products of snacks, drinks and items for delicious home cooking. 

Kettle chips
Everyone loves Kettle chips. There crunchy, tasty and up there in the world of crisps. I'd never heard of the flavour salsa & mesquite. They taste a little like you would expect salsa to taste like and the only way I can describe these is a cross between tomato ketchup crisps and smokey bacon. 

Cool Dawn Recovery drink
A detox drink to prevent hangovers. I best get stocking up before Christmas. This did have an odd flavour though a kind of citrus taste with an after taste of liquorish. It was a lot more pleasant than it sounds and hey if it helps me keep on partying over the festive period, I'm a fan.

Lindor melting moments
What is there to say here. Lindt. Chocolate. Melting centre. Heaven. 

Kent's Kitchen flavour shots
Flavour shots have been a around a while now. Although I've not seen BBQ flavour ones yet. I've used these before and find them an easy way to add flavour to a lot of dishes. I've not used the BBQ flavour yet but thinking of cooking up something easy like chicken fajitas with these. 

Branstons caramelised onion chutney
Onion chutneys always seems to come in handy at Christmas time. Prefect to go with cheeses and all kinds of party foods. I've already bought in some ingredients and think I'm going to make some mini goats cheese tart type things using this. 

PIP Organic cloudy apple juice
PIP Organic is a family run business based in London producing organic juices. No added sugars or preserves just pure juice. The cloudy apple was refreshing and tasty. I did think the bottles look a little small but there actually a nice size to go with breakfast on the go. 

Montano cider
I've not yet  tasted this. Shocking right. I'm not actually a cider fan unless there the fruit ones so I'll pass this on to my dad. It's said to be a medium dry crisp cider so I suspect he will actually really enjoy this.

Holy Cow cooking sauce
Holy Cow is a brand making authentic Indian sauces. I'm sure if your like me, opening a jar of sauce and adding this to meat qualifies you as a chef. I do like cooking but lets be honest after a long day we all want an easy option. I'm hoping the taste will actually be authentic, often too many cooking sauces taste a little too sweet and processed so I'm hoping by using these I can promote myself to Head Chef. 


Sample present (Drink me chai tea)
Chai tea on a cold day is always a favourite. I'm not just awaiting the snow to fully feel all cosy. 

Have you tried Degustabox?

Sammie

October box | September Box | August Box 

Receive a discount on your Degustabox order with the code 76N79

Degustabox review (discount code) October

The year is going so fast, last weekend I actually purchased the most amazing, holidays are coming coca-cola t shirt and on Friday considered wearing it to work. It was only when I kind of though it's still only November and I best save it for the 1st December did I stop myself. Luckily when I got home it turns out Christmas had in fact arrived early and the October Degustabox* had landed on my doorstep. Obviously one little fella was also intrigued, Douglas always seems to love having a peek in the boxes too. 

This months box seemed a good mix of cooking items, nibbles and store cupboard staples. 

Special K Cracker Crisps - £1.89
After checking out the content of the box these were the first thing I tucked into. I dipped them into the sweet chilli sauce and sat and nearly munched the whole bag. Despite been a healthier version of crisps I doubt devouring the entire bag counts...that's right my Friday nights are wild! 

Blue Dragon, Sweet Chilli Sauce x 2 - £1.39 each
Kind of a store cupboard staple, chilli sauce. Handy for dips, with meals, and adding to any delicious recipes you may wish to create. 

Get Buzzing Flapjack - £1.30
100% natural flap jack bars. A nice snack for a balanced diet. For 10% of visit www.getbuzzing.co.uk and use discount code newbuzz10. 

Enhance Drinks - £2.49
I kind of didn't get the purpose in this at first. I'd seen the concentrated drinks around the supermarket the past few months, but there actually kind of handy. For example camping trips they don't take up much room in your luggage as a large bottle of juice would and buying water is cheaper than juice when your on the go so this is kind of handy to keep in your bag. 

Kents Kitchen meal kit - £2.50
The idea of these is great, actually a meal kit which makes you feel like a chef. Although opening a can of sauce and adding it to some chicken makes most of us feel like a chef these really are aimed at making home cooking, well actual cooking again. Examples of the kits include, Thai green curry, Brazilian feijoada and chilli con carne. Each kit includes curry paste, spices and an oil all designed to cook up a delicious meal in 20 minuets. Genius. 

Solo Marshmellow Creme - £1.99
Open lid, dips in finger, mmm, tasty. No words needed here, this is so fun and really does taste like toasted marshmallow. Although there's so many ways to eat and cook with this my suggestion would be adding into ice cream sundaes or making marshmallow fudge with. 

Dr Oetker premium 90% extra dark chocolate - £2.49
A new product on the marker. The premium dark chocolate is great for adding a luxury taste to your baking treats. 

Bear Paws fruit snack - £0.55
Perfect for the kiddies pack lunches these pure fruit snacks with no added sugar. 

Dr Oetker fine dark coco powder - £1.89
A new product again, perfect for cooking and complete with recipe cards. 

Brioche Pasquier sliced brioche loaf - £1.69
Brioche bread somehow seems to remind me of holidays. The sweet tasty loaf is great for toast, sandwiches and great for cooking and I may try making a brioche bread and butter pudding. 

Brioche Pasquier pain au lait with chocolate chips - £1.60
I love these, I'm usually seen running for a bus with one in hand on a morning, there a perfect breakfast or snack item. 

Jelly Belly jelly beans - £2.50

Well I would like to comment on taste but unfortunately my dad has beat me too these and eaten them all. It seems at no matter what age you are, everyone loves jelly beans. 

If you would like to check out degustabox, you can use discount code LUX17 for a £3.00 discount. 

Sammie

August Degustabox | September Degustabox

Degustabox review September

It's that time of the month again...I should defiantly rephrase that! What I'm talking about is this month another Degustabox arrived. I had no idea it was coming so it was a very nice surprise. I honestly get more excited about this arriving than I do any other highlight of the month, yep it's right up there with pay day, comedy night at Hirst Yard, weekend trips and nights out. 

Despite this been my second Degustabox (you can check out the first one here) I only just realised degusta is Spanish meaning tasting. It pretty much describes it's self, that's my job done here then. 

So what was in this months box I hear you ask?

This months box contained:

Jordans Simply Granola £2.69
Despite not eating breakfast much, usually due to time rather than the fact I don't enjoy it, I'm quite a fan of granola. I was very happy to see this in this months box and will try and start getting up that little bit earlier to make the effort. 

3 x Burts Lentil Waves £0.69 each
Lentil waves as they call them, or as I call them "nice crisps" these were pretty tasty and if I spot them in the supermarket or on my lunch breaks I will be purchasing these. 

2 x Pick up! Biscuit's 5 pack £1.69 each
I'm not a sweet tooth at all so I wasn't fussed for biscuts, that said they wasn't left in the fridge long before the rest of the family consumed them (all) and from I hear they was pretty tasty. 

Crabbies Alcoholic fruits £1.50 (alcohol option)

Ahh the alcholic treat in the box. This was pretty nice and refreshing and made me think it would be the perfect refreshment for a summer garden party. Since I'm not hosting any garden parties and the fact it's raining outside I had to make do with this the TV.

Crabbies lemonaide £1.20 (non-alcoholic option)

The above but non-alocholic, you get the jist. However with very pretty packaging.

2 x Little Miracles drink £1.59 each

The saviour of my week. Since I've been very run down this week these have been a massive boost. Since there stocked in Sainsburrys I've been trying to pick these up more often in stead of my morning red bull (naughty I know). I've found they have helped perk me up a little bit and I think I will defiantly be reaching for these more.

2 x Carnations cook with it £1.65 each

I've yet to try these, but for anyone who likes cooking they look pretty fun. Not sure what they could be used for but I imagine making pasta sauce... because I'm so creative.

Elizabeth Shaw mint thins dark chocolate £2.50

Again not a chocolate lover but I don't mind the odd bit of dark chocolate and these are pretty morish.

La Vieja Fabrica marmalde £1.59

I will admit I've not tried this yet but as I've said I'm going to try and make time for breakfast more, I might swap this for the beloved Marmite for a few weeks.

Ritghteous dressings 225ml bottles £2.49

Still to test these out but blue cheese is a favourite of mine so I'm especially looking forward to the blue cheese and cider dressing.

Have you tried this months Degustabox?

Sammie

August Degustabox | October Degustabox

*product sent free of charge for review purposes, all opinions remain my own and unbiased*

Degusta Box Review August

I'd seen the Degusta Box floating about on the blogsphere for a while and it was defiantly something which appealed to me. Monthly subscription boxes are becoming more and more popular although they all still seem to be aimed mostly at the beauty market. However despite my draws full of make up I was actually a lot more pleased to be able to check out the Degusta Box. You all know I love food! 

The idea behind subscription boxes is you can pay a small amount each month or usually are able to pre pay for x number of months, then once a month (usually when you have forgot all about it) a parcel arrives and you become all excited. It's kind of like Christmas every month. The Degusta Box is a food box, so each month it gives you the opportunity to try out new foods. The boxes cost £12.99 per month including delivery as no commitment is necessary so you can buy each month as your please. 

The website also shows what each box will feature so it's pretty good to save money on a food shop. If you know there would be one or two items you would defiantly use or a few things you would love to try it makes it a fun way to cut down the food bill. I love the idea of a food subscription box over a beauty one as it's likely nothing will get wasted or unused. 

The August box featured:

Mexican Daves tortilla chips - £1.00

Berry White Organic Drink - £1.59

Schwartz flavour shots - £1.39 x 2

Caribbean Twist, Strawberry Daiquiri - £2.50 - Alcohol Option

Fever Tree tonic water & ginger beer - £1.69 each - non alcohol option

Lindt, Hello just for you chocolates - £3.49

Cawston Press apple and pear drink (sold in packs of 3) £1.89

Pasquier Brioch - £1.69

Pasquier croissants - £1.79

Dr Oetker, Edible wafter cup cake cases - £2.50

Voucher for MOMA breakfast yoghurt - £2.50

Total value of box: £25.11

Saving £12.12

I'm pretty impressed with the box, I will admit there picture of the chocolates is just an empty tin as they was too nice. The tortilla chips also went down pretty quickly and although the brioche rolls weren't something I thought I would eat, i've found myself munching on these for breakfast...well running down the street with one in my hand trying to catch a bus, but there pretty tasty. One thing I did notice is the brioche rolls and croissants had good dates on them and it was nice to have a voucher for fridge items. 

I probably the most excited by the flavour shots and it will encourage me to actually cook. Also how cool does the edible cup cake cases look, although I image they taste like the stickers you use to get in baking kits as a child to stick on the top as decoration...hold the though, nope they kinda taste like a bland thin ice cream cone maybe I need to try baking with them aye?

Have you tried the Degusta Box?

September Degustabox | October Degustabox

Sammie

*Product provided free of charge in return for my honest opinion*