This is the Graze box I bought myself after walking that marathon. I deserved it.
This was also my first Graze box without chocolate in it, which was a tad disappointing. I got Desert Island Nuts, Italian Stallion, Pitted Kalamata Olives with Herbs (purely functional title, that one), and Fiery Seeds.
I'm going to go ahead and copy my Graze intro from a previous post. You can skip this bit, if you like.
To recap; Graze is a (British) company, who will send you a box of four healthy snacks, for £3.49. The kinds of snacks you can choose are listed on the website, and you can rate each snack with 'bin' (never send), 'try', 'like', or 'love'. You can also set your account to send boxes every week or every fortnight, and to send you either a majority of things to try, or a majority of things you like or love. Mine is set to 'try', in my ongoing attempt to be less fussy (I ate salad today! It used to make me gag - today, it was delicious! Progress!). You can also choose to bin all non-vegan items, all non-coeliac items, and anything containing milk or dairy. Or all three. Everything is vegetarian.
If you click on that icon to the right, or in my sidebar, you can get your first box free, and your second half price (normally, just your first is half price). Or, you can get that same deal by entering the code 14Y9DGY. If you do, I should point out that my account gets credited with a pound, which I can give to charity or put towards a box. It's a nice bonus, but seriously, it's a great deal, use any code you can get your hands on, anyone with an account can give you one.
I like to write these posts, describing what I got, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it makes the boxes feel even more special. There's nothing not awesome about getting a box of snacks through the post, all wrapped up, ready to surprise you. It's better than Christmas, because they never, not even once, include socks. Also, I have a goal of trying every vegan item they sell, and it just feels right to jot down my feelings on each one. It's like part of the goal. Finally, I figure someone else out there has yet to try goji berries, or mulberries, or physalis, and might be curious about the taste.
Speaking of physalis (try not to say 'syphilis', like I did earlier, that's a completely different thing), they're very sour. They taste quite a lot like some kind of mix of lemon juice and cranberry juice. I found them a bit strong, to be honest, and I like lemons. Those were in the Italian Stallion, which also came with green raisins, cranberries, and blueberries. I had never seen green raisins before. I didn't even know they were a thing! I guess they're green grapes raisinified, rather than red ones.
Dried cranberries I have tasted before, and like. A lot. I've never had dried blueberries, but I've had fresh ones, and those are good too. The physalis is also in Mayan Mocha, which isn't vegan.
I'm not the biggest fan of coconut, but I did like Desert Island Nuts, too. That's dried coconut, almonds, and brazil nuts. The coconut had an unfamiliar texture, and I think I prefer it non-dried, if I'm going to eat it at all. I do like almonds, but I prefer them chocolate coated (they taste like heaven!). And brazil nuts are always nice, but not really special. It was a great combination, but, that said, I don't think I'll ask for it again.
(It does feel so mean to click 'bin' on a snack that's perfectly fine and edible, just not totally to your taste. We need another option, like "I'll eat it if someone else offers me some", or "well, it's not my favourite".)
I took the Fiery Seeds to work with me, and had them with my lunch (another stacked sandwich, complete with classical music - Wagner, this time, on Anthony's recommendation). They were yummy; slightly hot, but not too much.
The Pitted Kalamata Olives with Herbs, I had some trouble with. Olives are a food I've had little exposure too, and, at the moment, they're a taste I've yet to acquire. I used to be like that with tomatoes too, so I'm sure I'll get to like them eventually, or at least find them edible. I've left them on 'try', so I can keep exposing myself to them.
This batch I ate with warm crusty bread. I had to actively try to eat them, but they slipped down easily enough. I used to be like this with tomatoes. I still remember when a tiny little pea or carrot would make me gag.
Being fussy is terrible. You can't tell when you're in it - it's normal, then - but once you stop, you realise how much you were missing out on. More than anything, I regret not tackling my fussiness until I went vegan. Think of all those foods I never tried when I had the chance! Of course, now I've admitted to myself that I think eating animal products is wrong, and I can't do it any more, I can't do it any more. I can't unthink that, or unknow it, and I wouldn't want to. But, damn, all those times I could have gone anywhere, and ordered anything, and I just got the same old thing, with half the ingredients scraped off or avoided! What was I thinking?!
This was also my first Graze box without chocolate in it, which was a tad disappointing. I got Desert Island Nuts, Italian Stallion, Pitted Kalamata Olives with Herbs (purely functional title, that one), and Fiery Seeds.
I'm going to go ahead and copy my Graze intro from a previous post. You can skip this bit, if you like.
To recap; Graze is a (British) company, who will send you a box of four healthy snacks, for £3.49. The kinds of snacks you can choose are listed on the website, and you can rate each snack with 'bin' (never send), 'try', 'like', or 'love'. You can also set your account to send boxes every week or every fortnight, and to send you either a majority of things to try, or a majority of things you like or love. Mine is set to 'try', in my ongoing attempt to be less fussy (I ate salad today! It used to make me gag - today, it was delicious! Progress!). You can also choose to bin all non-vegan items, all non-coeliac items, and anything containing milk or dairy. Or all three. Everything is vegetarian.
I like to write these posts, describing what I got, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it makes the boxes feel even more special. There's nothing not awesome about getting a box of snacks through the post, all wrapped up, ready to surprise you. It's better than Christmas, because they never, not even once, include socks. Also, I have a goal of trying every vegan item they sell, and it just feels right to jot down my feelings on each one. It's like part of the goal. Finally, I figure someone else out there has yet to try goji berries, or mulberries, or physalis, and might be curious about the taste.
Speaking of physalis (try not to say 'syphilis', like I did earlier, that's a completely different thing), they're very sour. They taste quite a lot like some kind of mix of lemon juice and cranberry juice. I found them a bit strong, to be honest, and I like lemons. Those were in the Italian Stallion, which also came with green raisins, cranberries, and blueberries. I had never seen green raisins before. I didn't even know they were a thing! I guess they're green grapes raisinified, rather than red ones.
Dried cranberries I have tasted before, and like. A lot. I've never had dried blueberries, but I've had fresh ones, and those are good too. The physalis is also in Mayan Mocha, which isn't vegan.
I'm not the biggest fan of coconut, but I did like Desert Island Nuts, too. That's dried coconut, almonds, and brazil nuts. The coconut had an unfamiliar texture, and I think I prefer it non-dried, if I'm going to eat it at all. I do like almonds, but I prefer them chocolate coated (they taste like heaven!). And brazil nuts are always nice, but not really special. It was a great combination, but, that said, I don't think I'll ask for it again.
(It does feel so mean to click 'bin' on a snack that's perfectly fine and edible, just not totally to your taste. We need another option, like "I'll eat it if someone else offers me some", or "well, it's not my favourite".)I took the Fiery Seeds to work with me, and had them with my lunch (another stacked sandwich, complete with classical music - Wagner, this time, on Anthony's recommendation). They were yummy; slightly hot, but not too much.
The Pitted Kalamata Olives with Herbs, I had some trouble with. Olives are a food I've had little exposure too, and, at the moment, they're a taste I've yet to acquire. I used to be like that with tomatoes too, so I'm sure I'll get to like them eventually, or at least find them edible. I've left them on 'try', so I can keep exposing myself to them.
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| That little skewer is adorable. |
Being fussy is terrible. You can't tell when you're in it - it's normal, then - but once you stop, you realise how much you were missing out on. More than anything, I regret not tackling my fussiness until I went vegan. Think of all those foods I never tried when I had the chance! Of course, now I've admitted to myself that I think eating animal products is wrong, and I can't do it any more, I can't do it any more. I can't unthink that, or unknow it, and I wouldn't want to. But, damn, all those times I could have gone anywhere, and ordered anything, and I just got the same old thing, with half the ingredients scraped off or avoided! What was I thinking?!
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