Our March Degustabox has arrived bearing some kitchen staples and treats for Easter. We’ve been busy trying out these products to bring you our review.
This past month has been so busy with work that I haven’t had a lot of time to sit and write for myself, although we have been working on many projects here in the background so keep up with us to find out how we’ve been spending our time. Of course, as busy as we’ve all been, we do need to stop to sit down and have a bit to eat and keep ourselves hydrated, so let’s see what’s inside the March Degustabox.
Let’s start with the contents of the March Degustabox before moving on to our top picks. Each monthly box contains between 10-15 products; some aren’t yet available in the shops which gives you the first chance to try them out! The short version of this month’s box is that there are 11 items; 4 beverages, 3 snacks, 3 meal items and 1 breakfast item. The long version is….
The Full March Degustabox Contains:
- £2.00 Cirio Pasta Sauce
- £2.99 Mr. Lee’s Noodles
- £1.99 Hafervoll Limited Lebkuchen
- £2.59 Shreddies Max Granola
- £3.00 Smarties & Milkybar Mixed Mini Eggs
- £1.49 Encona Caroline Reaper Chilli Sauce
- £2.49 Ribena Pineapple & Passionfruit Squash
- £1.29 Appy Kids Co Roald Dahl Fruit Drinks
- £1.59 Canny 100% Natural Chocolate Milk
- £1.19 Tenzing Natural Energy
- £1.00 Cheestrings Snack Mix voucher
Degustabox sells for a regular monthly price of £12.99. You can try out your first box for just £7.99, with free deliver.
March Degustabox Top Picks
Each month we feature our top picks in the box. Of course, these choices are based on our own tastes, and I’d love to hear what your favourites are, just pop them down in the comments at the end of this post.
I’ve always enjoyed Smarties, and this year we’ve been enjoying Smarties & Milkybar Mixed Mini Eggs. They are sweet and crunchy on the outside with their colourful shells, and then rich and creamy on the inside with their chocolate centres. I have been rationing these out and have some still in a jar so I can enjoy them with a cup of afternoon tea when the 3pm slump hits.
Another product the whole family enjoyed was Cirio Pasta Sauce. I cooked up some meatballs, then added the Cirio sauce, a little garlic powder, some Italian seasoning, and some bell peppers and served this over some wholewheat pasta for dinner last Wednesday and it received great reviews! It had a fresher, lighter flavour than our usual pasta sauce.
The Kids’ Top Picks
A special thanks goes out to Cheestrings for sending us a great little package that contained enough little packets of Cheestrings Snack Mix packets for the whole family, plus a lunch bag and some school supplies for the kids. Now when we go out for a nature walk or a dander by the sea, the children can take snacks so we can enjoy our time together in the great outdoors even longer…and perhaps even do some of our homeschool lessons, too.
There are three separated pots in these mixes, One has either crunchy crackers or pretzels, the middle pot holds little cubes of white and orange cheese, and the third pot contains some sweet treats such as strawberry laces, chocolate chips, and such. I love the cheese and crackers; I will choose cheese and crackers over cookies any day. I’m not a fan of the sweet treat mixes; but as Tristan cannot have dairy products this means he lucks out and can have those bits, which makes this snack very sharable! And with three different boxes to chose from, you can have a different combination every time. It’s a good mix of crunchy, salty crackers, smooth, savoury cheese, and some sweet treats as well.
After you take the cardboard cover off of the pack, turn it over and on the backside are activities for children. In the photo above, you can see Tristan trying to shoot a raisin through one of the holes in the cardboard for points. I hate to treat food so badly, so next time he can use some little bits of balled-up paper. I am also going to re-use the plastic pots for when I try my hand at making body lotion bars and soaps as I think they will be just the perfect size. You could also use them for separating craft supplies or paints at the craft table.
Cheestrings kindly sent us the items above, but as it isn’t practical to ship cheese in the regular deliveries, you will find a voucher for the full price of a snack pack.
As I mentioned earlier, Tristan has a dairy allergy, so Kallista had Canny’s 100% Chocolate Milk all to herself, but she did allow me a little sip. It’s thick and creamy and had a good chocolate flavour, very similar to the brand I drank as a child in Western Canada. Although it is usually children who drink chocolate milk, I’m assuming this product is aimed at the more mature population due to the innuendos on the packaging; children may find the sayings funny but they (hopefully) don’t get the double-meaning of them.
This product was included only in the boxes of members who have answered the most surveys as a little thank you.
This little snack bar was a big surprise. Hafevoll Flapjack Limited Lebkuchen doesn’t have any added sugar and it’s oven-baked which makes it taste more home-made. It has a really good balance of flavours and spices; it’s naturally sweet with dried fruit, and the nuts add a satisfying crunch. The children and I shared one of these on our walk home from the library to help curb our hunger until we got home and made dinner. The big surprise was that Tristan, who likes most anything except nuts, truly did like this bar and asked for more, he even surprised himeself!
More Great Products
I love my hot sauce, and I had just finished off a bottle the day before this bottle of Encona Carolina Reaper Chilli Sauce arrived, so it was good timing. I opened it up and had a sniff. It didn’t attack my senses as I was expecting. It was hot but not the hottest I’ve had. As a disclaimer here, I grew up in Western Canada with a family who loved fiery sauces and we’d compete with each other to see who would sweat first, if at all, and I’m afraid the UK palette is more…delicate, shall we say. That being said, this is a good sauce to add to tomato and lentil soup, tacos, enchaladas, and tangy tuna fish sandwiches.
Ribena’s Pineapple & Passion Fruit Squash is new on the market as of March, so look for it in your local stores. You mix it as you would other squashes, but it has a more intense flavour punch to it. The flavour combination is unique and it works as it’s well-balanced with the pineapple not being overbearing and the delicious passion fruit flavour showing through. This is a squash that I would purchase for parties; if you mixed it with sparkling water it would be a treat.
Phil had Mr Lee’s Dragon Fire Vegetable Noodles for lunch last week when he was working from home. It was quick and easy so he was able to get back to work without delay. It is different than other noodle pots as it contains rice noodles. Noodles in a pot is something I don’t usually gravitate towards, but Phil does enjoy them and this was gone in no time!
The Shreddies Max Granola is sweet and crunchy. I personally couldn’t eat a bowl of them, but they are nice sprinkled over some yoghurt so you get the rich smoothness of the yoghurt mixed with the sweet crunch of oat clusters and bits of Shreddies.
Children love Roald Dahl and his fun characters and whimsical illustrations; in fact my children love to be inspired by him when making crafty gifts for our librarians. Unfortunately, they didn’t take to the Appy Kids Co Roald Dahl Fruit Drinks. I think it is most likely because they drink pure fruit juice rather than juice drinks.
I’ve been burning the candle at both ends the past month with a big project for one of my clients. It’s meant a lot of late nights and then early mornings with the children. One afternoon while I was dragging my feet I tried the Tenzing Natural Energy drink. Energy drinks are not something I purchase, and I can’t say that I felt any more energised after drinking it, but it did have a pleasant taste of lemon shining through the green coffee and green tea. It was light and refreshing.
And on that note, it’s time for me to get some sleep so I can get up and go in the morning with the children as we have a busy day planned.
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If you’re curious about what we’ve received in previous Degustaboxes, check out these posts:
