After many thoughtful reviews and hours answering questions I received my complementary VoxBox from Influenster.
There was a bag of Glutino Pretzels and three coupons for three free items of food.
Those items, one each, were from the brands .evoL Foods, Udi Gluten Free Foods and Earth Balance.
I went to my local Kroger in Louisville, KY and looked around the organic foods section of the store. These brands were hard to find and were dwarfed by other brands like Simple Truth so I had to spend an unnatural amount of time for a mother on the go searching for each item. It was actually pretty frustrating. Then when I did find the specified brands there was only one to two items each to choose from which left my selection very small. Granted this is no Trader Joes or Rainbow Foods if you're from the midwest but I never even considered a grocery store brand would have such slim pickings. By grocery store brand I of course mean a brand big enough to be carried and sold by big chain grocery stores.
My point is I wish there was more of a selection available at main grocery locations
Once I found the Earths Balance logo I grabbed the cheeze it type crackers. It was all they had. They look just like the original cracker they are formed after but instead offer a gluten free and vegan, plant based option. Now I'm a junk foor queen. I don't eat a lot and don't have an eating problem and am not obese by any means but I love my sweet and savory foods. I love how food tastes and me and diet foods just don't get along. Lol. I gave these a try anyway because I vowed to taste at least every product given to me for moral reasons (millions of starving people) and efficiency reasons.
So back to the cracker. Again it looks, feels and smells like a cheese it. I popped one in my mouth after giving my toddler a few, and tasted it. It was surprisingly good! There's this real cheese taste that actually tastes like expensive, real cheddar. There was a little bit of aftertaste of that real cheddar taste but not much. It was salty enough and had a great crunch to it. The consistency and feel of it in your mouth is exactly that of the name brand and well loved cheese it. My two year old son liked them as well. I would say this is definitely a great choice for a healthy snack for anyone for any reason. If you can eat the same thing but it be healthier than why wouldn't you. Not to mention it's vegan. It almost makes the vegan lifestyle seem not so hard or crazy sounding.
Next I grabbed the Udis Gluten Free hot breakfast sandwiches. Again there were only two things from this brand, both being breakfast sandwiches. One more diet like with turkey sausage, egg whites and Swiss cheese, and the other with american cheese, regular sausage and regular eggs. I chose the more regular. You have to wrap it in a paper towel and then defrost in the microwave and then stop, turn over and microwave fully. It all takes less than 3 minutes but if you're just looking for a press it and forget it this probably isn't it. Not to mention it's about $5 for two sandwiches which seems like a lot to me compared to a sausage mcmuffin for a dollar but organic food is always a bit more.
This sandwich looked unappealing because of the so called bread. They are two thin bread like wafers. They aren't rock hard but they're not bread soft by any means. I bit into it and it tasted alright actually. The bread was tasteless and firm and that through me off a bit so I removed the bread wafers and ate the middle of the sandwhich. Everything between it tasted just like it should. I would even say it was really good. The cheese was cheesy and the sausage was savory and the egg had some fluff and some taste to it. It was all great. The bread would take a bit of getting used to but it's an alright sandwich. No I wouldn't purchase these but for anyone whos on a gluten free diet I would definitely give these a shot.
Next was from the brand .evoL and they had two frozen dinners and some frozenl bean and cheese burrito type things. I went for the goat cheese ravioli. Goat cheese is creamy. Like as creamy as cream cheese if you've never had it. It's yummy. So I popped it in the microwave and followed the simple directions and waited. It didn't take long at all and it was actually smelling really good while I was cooking it. I take it out and really give it a good look. Compared to the picture on the box it's markedly different. Of course it's always that way yes but I was a bit let down by the number of ravioli in this $6 dinner. There were only 3. For that price I'd expect a full bowl as pictured. Or at least a couple more. They were also a bit light on the cheese. Good thing I had a salad or I wouldn't have been full or been able to call this dinner. In it's own it's more like lunch at these sizes.
So onto the taste. The cheese was creamy enough. It tasted great. Just as it should. No weird texture at all. The sauce was really creamy and savory. None of this needed any extra seasoning. Not even salt. The veggies in it were nice and tasty and an added flavorful touch. I would purchase this again but the price will probably prevent me from doing that. As a young family we just don't have the money to spend that on a main course for one. If you're on an organic or gluten free diet I would give this a shot.
Last in the box I received from Influenster was a snack size bag of Glutino pretzels. I love pretzels so I was reluctant to try these because I love my classic pretzel. I bit into a couple of these and gave them a good try. They taste fine. Just like a normal pretzel. The taste is exactly the same. I get why it's the number one gluten free snack. The search for normalcy probably brought you here because they're darn close. The only thing that was at all different was the texture. It was almost like the inside of the pretzel was made out of the outside of the pretzel. Less bready would be a great way to describe it. My friends and family loved them. Some said they even preferred them because they didn't dry your mouth out like normal pretzels and then they finished off the bag. Most of these praises coming from someone who doesn't like pretzels.
All in all my day of being a gluten free foodie wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Most of these foods were pretty decent. I liked a lot of foods and the ones that I didn't love were fine tasting and just had weird textures or something. I didn't dislike any of these which is surprising because I'm pickier than most kids. All of these foods would probably be a great thing to try if you are on a gluten free diet and are trying to try foods that taste as close to normal as possible.
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I WAS NOT COMPENSATED FOR THIS POST; HOWEVER, I AM CREATING THIS POST AS PART OF A CONTEST
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