Nom Box #6!

It’s been a long two weeks since the graze company graced my mail box with its tasty treats in their individual wrapped and measured portions, so imagine my joy when it was waiting for me on Monday morning.  This week had a warm kind of feel to the pallet and I was delighted by the wonderful flavors of most of the selections, but with all boxes there were hits and misses, and this box had a major miss.

First the great!  The chocolate orange flapjacks, I’m such a fan of the flapjack line that these never disappoint.  There is something about the soft, crumbly, and moist texture of these delicious bars that just makes me happy.  The way they punched up the orange flavor really spoke to my insane love of citrus, but what really worked for me was the warm and comforting way the dark chocolate ribbons danced back and forth creating a truly sweet and yet slightly bitter explosion.  Please send more!

The next treat was the toffee apples, now with 70 cals I was super excited to dig right in.  By now I’ve learned not look forward to the possibility of a crunchy texture and this was no exception.  I think that they fear that drying out the apples all the way might do something to the sugar intake or something.  The chewy fruit is growing on me though, but not nearly as much as the toffee dip.  This dip was sweet but so luscious and melted so easily on the tongue that it was a little cube of heaven.

As for the black pepper pistachios, well I appreciate the pistachios.  As for the black pepper taste, I flat out couldn’t find it at all.  The only difference was a slightly warming bite at the very end of the cube of pistachios.  Call this one a take it or leave it.

Now we get to the miss, the “Bonnie wee oat bakes.”  These were tiny, hard, little oat triangles that were fundamentally tasteless and so dry that they sucked the moisture right out of my mouth with the first nibble.  As for the caramelized onion marmalade, I could not get past the sweet and yet pungent stink that assaulted my nose.  No thank you!  Just No!

Lunch made me melt...

Today me and Hunter decided to try The Melt in The Irvine Spectrum.  I am a grilled cheese addict going way back, I mean what's better than toasted bread and melted cheese? Answer: Herb crusted, fresh baked artisan bread, premium cheeses, and a healthy assortment of extras.  

First thing I noticed is the funky yet minimalist decor.  There is a huge emphasis on enviormental awareness and fresh ingredients.  Also they have canned beer and sparkling wines... Even blue moon, no I didn't partake because I had the boy.  

So we chose the Swiss, a creation of sourdough and Swiss cheese and added smoked bacon.  You also get a choice of pickles or chips, we went with chips.  To drink we decided to try the vanilla bean milkshake.

The wait was pretty quick considering it was the lunch rush.  We recived a wire basket of golden awesome.  The bread was golden and crisp with a sprinkle of seasoned deliciousness.  The cheese was melted but not oily as Swiss tends to get.  The part I was really impressed with was the bacon.  It was thick cut and still tender.  The smoke and salt complemented the herbs on the bread and smooth flavor of the cheese.  Delicious.  

The milk shake was lightly sweetened and more on the milk side.  I would say in a world of chains putting out thicker and thicker globs called shakes this milk shake is a becon of hope for those who want the taste of a milkshake without a stomach full of cramp inducing goop.  The vanilla bean flavor seemed to dance along an ice milk base for a refreshing treat.  Major cudos!

So if you get a hankering for grilled, gooey goodness keep The Melt in mind!

Would have taken more photos but my phone was dead at the time.

Box O’ Noms #1

Today my first graze box came deliciously into my office in hands of my least favorite mail man… If you saw him vs the UPS guy… you’d understand.  Still from the hands of the muskox came a box that brightened my day.  Say it with me… yum!

Graze is a company with a wonderful goal, to provide a sample of delicious snacks in place of the 3pm junk food that clogs our brains with fattening salty goodness that clings to your tummy.  Using a collection of nuts, dips, chews, and mixes they provide natural and delicious swaps.  For the bargain of 6 bucks every two weeks you are delivered a delicious array of munchings and crunchings. 

What came in the box today?  As shown, I received toffee apple, lightly toasted pistachios, keen bean, and cherries & berries. 

Obviously the pistachios were… pistachios, which is awesome because those hard to crack, little buggers are deliciously welcomed in my office any time.  No mystery there.  The toffee apples are a dip made with salted caramel and dried apples, in the words Samwell Tarley “Very tasty…”  Keen bean was what I kind of dreaded as it was a mix of redskin peanuts, chili broad beans and edamame.  Now, I love peanuts and edamame, but I had never had the opportunity to try chili broad beans.  They looked scary and yet something like croutons, a salad topping I absolutely hate.  However, what they were was amazing!  They were lightly spiced with a tiny linger giving the mix a lovely warm complement to the red peanuts.  Finally we get to the end, cherries and berries which was a mix of dried cherries, red grapes, lingonberries, and cranberries.  These all add up to a ruby red burst of sweetness whose crispy flavor that can quell any candy craving.  In all, I would say a good use of six bucks to expand my pallet to a healthier snack combination.