KalorieBox: Round 1

One of my favorite blogs is Emily Bites because of her many cupcake meals: spaghetti cupcakes, taco cupcakes, banana pancake cupcakes, etc. If it is in cupcake form, it just tastes better because it's so darn cute and so easy for portion control. A few months ago she did a review and was hosting a giveaway for KalorieBox. Kaloriebox is a new company that sends out a monthly subscription box of low calorie drinks, snacks, sauces, etc. The idea is to offer alternatives to higher calorie products and to bring awareness to these healthier options. In addition, for every KalorieBox sent out the company will donate a meal to a hungry child in America. I tried to win a monthly box through Emily Bites but was not the lucky winner. I decided that I was interested enough to purchase a subscription and threw it on my Day Zero list. My first KalorieBox showed up in the mail yesterday.

Here is what my January KalorieBox contained:

Cheese Thinables

The Cheese Thinables are just like Cheese Itz or Cheese Nips but a fraction of the calories. There are 6 servings in a box and each serving is just 60 calories. I actually measured out a 1 ounce serving on my scale and it was about a half a cup (I just eyeballed that measurement) which was decent for a snack. Now, I want to take a second to look at the ingredients in Cheese Nips vs. Cheese Thinables:

Cheese Thinables:

• Modified Wheat Starch
• Wheat Flour
• Wheat Gluten
• Palm Oil
• Shredded Cheese and/or Natural Cheese Flavor
• Salt
• Yeast Extract
• Yeast
• Lactic Acid
• Paprika
• Red Pepper
• Yellow Mustard Seed
• Dough Conditioner (Enzymes)

Cheese Nips:

• Unbleached Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate {Vitamin B1}, Riboflavin {Vitamin B2}, Folic Acid)
• Soybean Oil
• Cheddar Cheese (Cultured Milk, Salt, Enzymes)
• Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil
• Salt
• Autolyzed Yeast Extract
• Leavening (Calcium Phosphate and/or yeast)
• Monosodium Glutamate (Flavor Enhancer)
• Paprika
• Annatto Extract (Vegetable Color)
• Sodium Caseinate
• Spice
• Lactic Acid
• Acetic Acid

*** The ingredient list for Cheese Nips came directly from Nabisco's website.

The first difference I see is that I can pronounce all of the ingredients in the Cheese Thinables ingredients list. The second? You may notice the Monosodium Glutamate in red text under the Cheese Nips ingredients. MSG. I don't know much about MSG but I do know that it is frowned upon, so I will happily skip it for the Cheese Thinables.

Does anyone else get a nasty aftertaste in their mouth after eating Cheese Itz? This did not happen after eating Cheese Thinables.

Pros:

1. A fraction of the calories of Cheese Itz or Cheese Nips
2. No bad aftertaste - they taste better!
3. Healthier sounding ingredients
4. KID APPROVED!!! C inhaled them! If you know how picky he is then you know how exciting it is to find a C approved food!

The verdict? This is a good low calorie snack that I will definitely be looking for at the grocery stores.

Zevia - All Natural Soda

My KalorieBox contained one Zevia soda. Zevia is a zero calorie soda sweetened with Stevia which is a natural sweetener made from Stevia leaves. So far, studies show that Stevia is safe to use. Zevia contains no artifical sweeteners, no artificial colors, and is basically soda without the junk in it.

The flavor that I got to sample was Cola. Zevia is a lot less mild than regular colas and maybe even tastes a bit like watered down Coke... I recently gave up drinking soda all together to get away from artificial sweeteners and all the other crap that I just don't need to be consuming. I have pretty much been drinking just coffee, water, and wine. After not having a soda for several weeks, Zevia was actually really sweet to me. If you are looking to cut out a lot of the crap in your soda like the artificial colors and the aspartame, then Zevia may be a good option for you. However, I didn't love it enough to want to more. I will stick with my homemade apple cinnamon water instead.

Peeled Snacks - Much - ado - about - Mango

I loved this item! They are simply dried fruit. Seriously. Check out the ingredients:

These are a great, healthy, nutritious snack item that taste fantastic! In addition to Mango, Peeled Snacks also has Apple, Apricot, Banana, and Pineapple dried fruit packs. I am excited to try more!

Bonus: Right now on their facebook page, you can sign-up to get 50% your starter kit order plus shipping is free! I just put in my order!

Double Bonus: Rumor has it they sell Peeled Snacks at Starbucks.... So check it out next time you make a Starbucks run!


Fiber One Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie

The last item in my KalorieBox was a Fiber One Chocolate Chip Brownie. I did not have high hopes for this one since I had tried the Fiber One Chocolate Fudge Brownie in the past and was not a fan. I went into this with an open mind and it wasn't actually that bad. However, if I am going to enjoy a cookie or a brownie, I would prefer to watch what I eat earlier in the day and opt for a possibly higher calorie but homemade version. If you want a quick treat that you can store in the pantry until the craving hits then this might be a good health option for you.

I am looking forward to round 2 with February's KalorieBox!