Graze: Nature Delivered! Product Review

Firstly I should just point out that I was not sent any free Graze boxes or contacted in any way by Graze, I just enjoyed writing the last product review on Pelagonia’s Pumpkin Jam so thought I’d go ahead and do another one

I have known about Graze for a while now but I resisted ordering it because I thought it would just be extra money being spent on food that we don’t need. Then I realised that my snacking patterns would probably benefit from having a healthy option handy at all times – especially because I am usually starving when I get in from work and I always reach for some toast and peanut butter! Well that has now stopped and I am instead eating a handful of nuts or fruits!

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those of you who don’t know Graze is a company which sell healthy snacks such as crackers, seeds and nuts delivered once a week. They only deliver to the UK however please still have a look because some of the combinations of flavours are really fun and would be great in a home made flapjack etc! The food is delivered in a box which fits perfectly through the letter box (so none of those annoying red post office letters saying they called but you weren’t in even though you were!) and within the box are 4 punnets with a variety of treats ready to be ‘grazed’!

I signed up to receive the Graze box after buying a Groupon deal but I have since kept it going because I realised I actually do need this service in my life (I do!!!) and also you pay per week so there is no pressure if you’re feeling a bit tight for money one week! I have mine delivered on a Monday and the first week I excitedly demolished the box within a day (= an hour) but I now sensibly open one punnet at a time and so far the longest it has lasted me is 4 days!

I also assumed that it was just fruits, seed and nut mixes however the creativity of the graze box has got me hooked! Here are a few of my favourite flavour combinations which really took me by suprise:

Jaffa Cake: Roasted hazelnuts, Dark Chocolate Buttons and Orange infused Sultanas

This is seriously delicious and probably my favourite so far! Take a little bit of each element and pop it all in your mouth to get the full effect! Healthier and more filling than a real jaffa cake.

Pina Colada: Coconut, Mango and Pineapple

This was on the edge of being too sweet for me however the coconut just balanced it perfectly! It’s just missing the rum

Pear Tatin: Pear, Raspberry infused Cranberries, Yoghurt coated sunflower seeds and Almonds

Again this is a good one to eat a bit of everything all at once, although me and Scott did pick out some of the yoghurt covered sunflower seeds to munch on because they were soo good!

Here are some of my favourite boxes which have something a little different or fun:

Banana Cake with an Afternoon Tea Infusion:

I took this into work with me and felt very extravagant having a tea and cake break – although I had mine mid morning not afternoon because I couldn’t wait!

Green Olives with Basil and Garlic

When I saw I had received olives I thought “oh that’s nice but I do eat olives quite a bit so I’m not that bothered” and then when I tried them I nearly gobbled the whole lot down! I haven’t ever had basil olives before but they are delicious and so very very morish! Luckily I got them again this week

Vanilla Seeds

These look boring but they are PACKED with vanilla flavour and have a lovely texture. I like to suck the vanilla flavour off then eat the seed but that’s just me…..

And last but not least -

Wasapeas!!

These are some of my favourite snacks so I was really happy to see them in the selection! I like seeing how many I can eat without my head exploding

Anyway there is my round up of my favourite Graze Box options so far, I imagine in 6 weeks I’ll have a tonne more! That’s if I keep remembering to photograph them before they disappear! I’m very hungry after writing all of that, luckily I have this weeks graze box to keep me going

ps I just wanted to point out my gorgeous plates that I got from a charity shop for 20p each!!! I am always hunting for nice little plates and bowls to make my food look even prettier and it just goes to show what treasures are out there – although I do now have a lot of mis matched plates

Marbled Chocolate Energy Bars (Delia Vegetarian): Friday Challenge!

I chose this recipe because it looked so impressive with the marbled top, I wasn’t sure mine would look like the picture in the book but it did such a satisfying feeling! I jotted the recipe down on a piece of paper when I was visiting my mum in France so I don’t have a photo of Delia’s version but you can find the recipe here and you can buy her Vegetarian book here

I liked the fact that it was an “energy bar” not a flapjack, even though when I took them into work I just called them flapjacks for simplicity. Although after eating them everyone did say they tasted much healthier than a flapjack and it was obviously not filled with syrup and sugar. I made a few changes to the recipe just because (as usual) I wanted to use up some ingredients I had in the cupboard – I swapped pecans for just a bag of mixed nuts, I also swapped the apricots and raisins for dried figs and dried cranberries. I think the fruits and nuts I used tasted great so was really happy it still worked.

I was nervous about using condensed milk because I haven’t eaten it in years and I didn’t really understand how it was going to bind everything together. I bought a squeezy tube of condensed milk and it worked great, it also meant I had none left over which also suited me fine!

The recipe says it served 16 and I have to admit I was very tempted to just cut it into 8 or 10 slices because 16 slices were so small! But I sliced it into 16 in the end and I would recommend sticking to this size as the bar is quite rich and filling. It also meant I didn’t feel so guilty when eating it!

What I have learnt about chocolate:

When teamed with other flavours like dried fruit and nuts, chocolate can make the snack more indulgent and more of a treat. Chocolate also doesn’t have to be the main ingredient to take centre stage as it can be used to decorate and enhance other flavours within the recipe.

I absolutely loved the marbled effect, it was so easy to do but it looks so impressive and makes the bar look much more special. Next week I definitely want to play around with using chocolate for a visual effect as well as adding to the flavour!