What Is It
I end up loving monthly subscription boxes. Don’t you? I’m one of those people who tends to stay “tried and true” to the foods that I’ve already eaten or the things that I’ve already tried. Subscription boxes have really given me the chance to try new items at a good price, and it feels kinda like an adventure or a surprise when they come in the mail – and that’s definitely part of the appeal.
I’ve been trying watch what I eat and eat healthier with cleaner ingredients, and that’s why I fell in love with Bestowed. They provide healthy food subscription boxes. Each month, they give you 5-7 curated foods and lifestyle products to live/eat a healthier life. All of the amazing products in their subscription boxes are handpicked by celebrity nutritionist and author Heather Bauer – that’s a pretty awesome positive for me.
I received the opportunity to try out one of the Bestowed Monthly Boxes. This month’s topic was “GMO-Free Foods”. It comes at a great time because I recently have been much more educated about the dangers and problems of GMOs, and I’ve been trying to cut down on the amount of foods that I eat that include GMOs. The box this month had a huge variety of delicious things to try. There was UNREAL Peanut Butter Cups, Enjoy Life Seed & Fruit Mix, FiberLove Cinnamon Raisin Bar, The Good Bean Smoky Chili & Lime Chickpea Snacks, Manitoba Harvest Hemp Pro 70 Plant-Based Protein Supplement, Nature’s Path Love Crunch Dark Chocolate Macaroon Granola, Ultima Replenisher, Way Better Snacks Simply Beyond Black Bean Tortilla Chips, and a complimentary one-year subscription to Women’s Health magazine. Wow – that’s a lot of yummy things to try!
My Opinion
I loved that I pulled out the items out of the box and saw a lot of foods and options I hadn’t seen before. I’ve done some digging into GMO-free foods, so I’ve seen a lot of the big brands, but I’m glad to see that Bestowed had a lot of focus on the “little guys” that I hadn’t heard of. Plus, it was a wide variety of stuff. There was chocolate, there was chips, there was hemp, there was granola, there was nuts, and more – it was a good variety! (Though, personal preference, I would have loved to see more chocolate. I think I’m just on a chocolate kick right now.)
First thing I dug into were the Way Better Snacks Black Bean Tortilla Chips. I have to admit to being impressed. They aren’t the “normal” white, grainy color of usual tortilla chips, but instead, they’re a darked, black/grey color. It looks strange at first, but you become totally okay with it once you taste the chips themselves. They taste just like delicious tortilla chips – really! They don’t have the ridiculous excess of salt, but aside from a slightly less salty taste, I would have a hard time telling these chips apart from the “fancy” tortilla chips I receive when I go out to eat at a restaurant. So yes, I have to admit to being really impressed – and to thinking I’m going to start buying these as my new snack chip as long as I can find them in individually-packaged bags like the one that came in my box. Seriously, I’m super impressed!
We also had the chance to try the The Good Bean Smoky Chili & Lime Chickpea Snacks. These weren’t our favorite. However, we liked the nutrition and the Chickpea taste – it just wasn’t the Chili & Lime flavoring that really called to us. I like the look of some of their other flavors, but this flavor just wasn’t a good one for us. However, the nutrition looks great and the chickpeas themselves were actually quite good, so I’m filing this under “Would eat if I tried the other flavors”. I like that Bestowed opened up my eyes to this new product, though, and now I have the chance to try more of it if I ever see it around.
The FiberLove Cinnamon Raisin Bar is soooo good. I love it. They made it soft-baked, so it’s super soft and is so simple to chew. It has a very obvious raisin taste to it, but it’s slightly sweet, and it tastes like oatmeal mixed with yummy raisins and cinnamon. (I know it’s a lame description, but they pretty much nailed and syncronized ALL of those tastes to work well together and in harmony.) Plus, they provide TWELVE grams of fiber. The other “fiber” products usually only have 6 or 7 grams. They didn’t skimp on the size, either. For being 130 calories, you get a pretty large bar that’s yummy and perfect to eat. Because of how soft and chewy it is, it actually ends up taking a bit to eat, so it feels like a nice, filling snack. If I can find these near me to purchase, I totally am.
I also was surprised by the UNREAL Peanut Butter Cups. I’ve tried some of the other UNREAL candy before, but I’ve never tried the peanut butter cups. I’ll admit to being completely impressed! They taste JUST like the “unhealthy” ones – there’s really not much of a difference. In fact, it almost tastes like these are MORE chocolate-y. The chocolate that UNREAL uses ends up feeling really satisfying as well. I fulfilled my entire chocolate craving after a single “cup” and gave my partner the other “cup” that came in the two-pack. He was just as impressed, and if this was a type of candy we ate on a regular basis, we’d be replacing it with the UNREAL kind in heartbeat. I love knowing that I can have a treat without worrying about the harmful ingredients – like I usually have to with most treats.
I also had the chance to try the Enjoy Life Seed & Fruit Mix. I figured it would be good snack food, and it totally was. It does make a slight mess (the seeds are pretty small, and it’s easy to drop them!), but aside from that, you get a TON of “snackage” for a relatively low amount of calories. I’m not completely sold on these. There are quite a few seeds and a lot less of the fruit. The seeds are relatively neutral when it comes to taste, so eating a lot of them in a row starts to taste a bit bland. When it gets mixed into the fruit and chocolate that’s included, it tastes a lot better. Unfortunately, it seems like the seed ratio is much higher than the other additions (probably because it’s healthier). So if you’re used to eating seeds, you’re probably going to love this. As for me, I’d definitely eat it again if it was near me, but it’s not the top of my list to seeek out.
As for the rest of the items in the Bestowed Box, I haven’t quite had the time to try them out. I’m super excited about them (especially the Granola!), and I really love exactly how Bestowed managed to put together a Non-GMO box that features a bunch of delicious, enjoyable products that I’m excited to try out.
Pros
The Non-GMO box from Bestowed has introduced me to some amazing non-GMO brands. If I can find them near me (isn’t that usually the problem when you live in the middle of the Midwest?), I plan on buying these alternatives instead of my regular items. I’m glad that Bestowed curated such as wonderful box because there’s no way I would have tried many of these items without their help. I’m so impressed by what they included!
Cons
Some of the items weren’t to my liking. That’s okay – that’s part of the adventure of trying new things!
Recommended
If you enjoy trying new products and want well-picked, decent-nutrition food that’s also tasty, the Bestowed Subscription box does fantastically. They include a lot of great food in your box, and it comes packed full – it really feels like such a surprise every month!
Buy It
You can subscribe to the Bestowed subscription boxes right on the Bestowed website. Plus, you can get 50% off of your first month of Bestowed by using the code “HELLOTEN103″ to join. This Bestowed coupon code is good through 11/20.