For many of us, the most difficult aspect of eating healthy is snack time. Sometimes we just want something sweet or salty! While a bag of greasy potato chips or a box of sticky candy is often easy to grab for a quick snack, having healthier snacks on hand can prevent us from consuming foods that are bad for us out of convenience.
Sometimes it seems hard to keep healthy snacks on hand, but it doesn’t have to be. The snackologists at Healthy Surprise make it fun and easy to eat healthy snacks by delivering customers a box every month filled with full-size snacks that are delicious, gluten free, soy free, corn free, wheat free, vegan, and natural.
Healthy Surprise offers many different options including the Classic Box, the Big Box, and the Paleo Box. All boxes can be purchased for yourself in monthly, every other month, or quarterly subscriptions, or they can be sent as gifts. There’s also a Chocolate Box that can be sent as a gift (photos below). I really like the idea of the gift boxes. Instead of sending a loved one a box of chocolates made from chemical ingredients and refined sugars, I could send them a box of healthy treats that they could eat throughout the month. The company ships worldwide, so you can order a box wherever you live or even send a gift to a friend on the other side of the world. You can get $10 off your first month by using the code HSBAF10. You will also receive a free $25 gift card in the first box of every new subscription and gift. Boxes also include brochures with recipes and health facts.
I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to try the February 2015 Healthy Surprise Classic Box*. As you can see from the photo above, I received a lot of healthy snacks this month. Read on to learn more about what I received and to have the chance to enter a GIVEAWAY to win your own Healthy Surprise Classic Box.
The first few items are for those snack cravings that demand something crunchy and salty. As a bonus, they all contain one gram or less of sugar per serving.
1. Beanitos Hot Chili Lime Puffs - These bean puffs are free of corn, trans fats, preservatives, gluten, MSG, and cholesterol. They are kosher, vegan, low glycemic, and high in fibre. One bag is only 80 calories. This is the perfect snack to replace unhealthy cheese puffs. They’re very crunchy and have a lot of flavour.
2. Sensible Portions Sea Salt Garden Veggie Chips - These chips contain 30% less fat than regular potato chips and are free of artificial colours and flavours, preservatives, trans fat, and cholesterol. They are non-GMO, kosher, and vegan. One bag of these crunchy chips is only 130 calories. Unlike potato chips, these veggie chips are very light and non-greasy. I had them as an afternoon snack along with a banana.
3 and 4. Laiki Black Rice Crackers and Red Rice Crackers - These crackers contain only three ingredients: rice, sustainably farmed palm oil, and sea salt. As a result, they are naturally gluten-free, vegan, and allergen friendly. One bag contains only 100 calories. I ate mine with a bowl of soup and sliced vegetables for lunch. Despite containing only a few ingredients, they are very flavourful.
5. Beanfields Salt N’ Pepper Bean & Rice Chips - These chips, made from black and navy beans and long grain rice, contain 29% less fat and twice the fibre and protein as most tortilla chips. The are free of GMOs, gluten, corn, peanuts, seeds and dairy. For 1 oz of chips there’s only 140 calories. These chips are flavourful and delicious with homemade salsa.
These next few items are perfect for satisfying a sweet tooth while avoiding refined sugar.
6. Freeze Dried Strawberry Banana Crunchies - The only ingredients in this snack are strawberries and bananas. These’s no preservatives, gluten, GMOs, or added sugar. There’s one fruit serving per pack and only 35 calories. As someone who loves fruit, I really enjoyed this snack. It’s much easier to carry in your purse than a banana and a handful of strawberries.
7. Sea’s Gift Sweet Seaweed Snack - These seaweed snacks are rich in vitamins and minerals, vegan, gluten free, and low in calories (35 per package). Although they are meant to taste sweet, they contain less than 1 gram of sugar. They are very crunchy and light, yet satisfying.
8. Plum Organic Mash Ups Apple Sauce + Fruits & Veggies (Blueberry Blitz) - This organic applesauce is a good source of fibre and vitamin A and an excellent source of Vitamin C. It contains no added sugar and has 50 calories per pouch. It’s easy to eat on the go and is in BPA-free packaging. This product is a great substitute for sugary, flavoured yogurt or pudding.
The next items include easy and healthy snacks that you can keep in your car, purse, or school bag to fight hunger on the go.
9. PocketFuel Banana Blueberry Almond Butter Blend - This almond butter snack is vegan and free of gluten, dairy, and soy. This energy boosting product contains 169 calories. It’s perfect as a mid afternoon snack. I ate mine with an apple.
10. Veggie-Gos Carrot Ginger Chewy Fruit & Veggie Snacks - The only ingredients in this snack are organic fruit and vegetable purees. Each pack contains half a serving of fruit and half a serving of veggies. It’s also gluten free and does not contain any added sugar. This is a great replacement for chewy candies or sugary fruit snacks.
11. Laughing Giraffe Organics Chocolate Snakaroons - There’s nothing that I love more than cookies, especially when they’re gluten-free, non-GMO, vegan, high in fibre, and nutrient-rich. These are a great alternative to store-bought cookies containing preservatives and refined sugar. They have a very rich, chewy texture that really satisfies a dessert craving.
12. Apple Raspberry Just Fruit Bar - This bar is free of preservatives, gluten, added sugar, dairy, nuts, and soy. It’s also vegan. This is a great afternoon snack when you’re looking for an energy boost without consuming processed sugar.
13. Nakd Cocoa Mint Raw Fruit & Nut Bar - This gluten, wheat, and dairy free bar is made with dates, cashews, raisins, cocoa, natural mint, and chocolate flavouring. It’s a much healthier alternative to a traditional chocolate bar or even a sugary granola bar. It’s vegan, cold-pressed, and free of added sugars or syrups. It’s easy to chew and has a rich, natural chocolate flavour with hints of refreshing mint.
The last category features one of my favourite, non-sweet snacks—olives!
14 and 15. Oloves Lemon & Rosemary and Chili & Oregano Natural Green Pitted Olives - These olives are low in calories, low in saturated fat, gluten, wheat, dairy, and nut free, and vegan. One package is only 50 calories. I love the idea of flavoured olives. They are healthy and a great alternative to other flavoured snacks like potato chips. The flavour is present but not overwhelming and the olives are very fresh and juicy. Before I knew it, the whole package was gone.
And here are some pictures of that amazing chocolate gift box. I’m definitely putting this on my wish list.
Overall, I’m so impressed with Healthy Surprise Box. The amount of snacks and the variety of options make this box worth trying. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to find healthy snacks that actually taste good, so I think it would be very exciting to receive them by mail every month or even a few times a year. I will also keep Healthy Surprise Box in mind for gifts, especially for my friends and family members who are always hard to buy for because they never want or need anything. Who wouldn’t want or need healthy snacks? It’s also a nice care package to send to a student who is away for school and struggling to eat healthy between classes, studying, homework, and adjusting to a new city and social environment.
Healthy Surprise Box was kind enough to allow me to give a Classic Box away to one of my lucky readers. The giveaway is open until March 7, 2015 at 11:59 PM. The box will be sent directly to the winner by Healthy Surprise. It’s open to those in Canada and the USA. To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form below. If you are an international reader, you can enter my worldwide giveaways by clicking HERE or visiting the Giveaways page on my blog.
*Affiliate links present
Last month, I received my first Ipsy bag (see my post HERE). While the bag included five full size makeup products, none of the items impressed me and I was not able to use any of them. Unfortunately, the exact same thing happened with this month’s July bag. I have been debating whether I should cancel my Ipsy subscription right away or give it another month or two.
Despite the fact that I will not be using any items from July’s Ipsy bag, I will admit that the items were much better and more age appropriate (for me) than last month.
First, let’s talk about the bag…
As a former subscriber of Glymm, I have accumulated many of these mini makeup bags over the past few years. Therefore, I will only keep new ones if I love the pattern. Sadly, much like last month, I really dislike the design of this month’s Ipsy bag. It’s a sticky pink see-through plastic that feels cheap and very 90s in my opinion. However, I know that a lot of people love this shade of pink so I will send the prizes from one of my giveaways in this bag.
Now onto the makeup items…
1. POP Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon: This product is one of the better items that came in this month’s bag. It is also the only full size item that was sent this month. I really do like lip crayons and this one is meant to be very hydrating and long lasting. My issue with this product is the shade (I received Rose Romance). While the name sounds pretty, the product has a brown base so I will not be trying it since colours of this nature often turn orange on me. I would have preferred one of the other shades sent in Ipsy bags this month.
2. BH Cosmetics California Collection Eyeshadow Sample: The colours in this palette (purple, bronze, gold) are inspired by San Francisco, California. I decided not to remove the packaging from this product because the colours do not interest me so I thought I would save it to give away. I also do not wear a lot of colourful eyeshadow so I thought it would be a better idea to pass it along to someone who does.
3. Benefit Benetint: Almost everyone has encountered one of these little Benetint samples at some point, either from Sephora, Ulta, a Benefit kit, or one of the other sample subscription services. Since I love Benetint and use it often, I have a full size bottle that I bought two years ago. It’s still over 90% full so I can’t see myself ever needing to open this little sample. I will save it to give away as well.
4. Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Beach Spray: I’ve said many times before that I really do not enjoy receiving skincare or haircare samples. I like my fine hair to look very fresh and clean so a texturizing spray is not something that I will ever use. I know that a lot of people really love that beachy look in the summer though so I’m sure that this sample will be welcomed by a lot of Ipsy subscribers.
5. Coola Mineral Sunscreen SPF 20: I have heard nice things about this brand but I’m pretty happy with the La Roche Posay sunscreens that I use and I know that they won’t irritate my very sensitive skin. I don’t like skincare samples because I’m not interested in straying from the products that I currently use. Hopefully Ipsy will personalize my future bags now that I have filled out reviews for products from the past two months.
Overall, I cannot really see myself using any of these samples. They are just not a good fit for me and it makes me wonder if Ipsy actually took my beauty profile/survey into consideration when selecting my items. I have not decided if I will subscribe to Ipsy for much longer. I will wait until next month to see how I feel. I think that the price is right at $10 but I don’t like paying $4.95 for shipping. This additional fee makes the bag more expensive than Topbox which sends items that are more appropriate for my preferences.
What are your thoughts on Ipsy?
