Review: Send Me Gluten-Free August Subscription Box

A few weeks ago, I shared my review of Send Me Gluten Free's July Box, and after experiencing the August box as well, I am convinced that this is one of the best subscription boxes out there.  Both were stuffed full of gluten-free snacks, products, and generous coupons.

The August box was a huge winner for me - I loved almost everything in it and now have a nice list of things I'll be looking to buy for when I am having a snack craving and don't want to deal with the digestive fallout that comes when I eat the wrong things.

Check out what all was in this box!

Go Raw Organic Sprouted Sunflower Seeds
These seeds are sprouted and then dehydrated rather than roasted - they were great for eating out of hand, or (my favorite) as a crunchy topping for a salad.  They're lightly salted with Celtic sea salt and nothing else so you get all the benefits of a healthy snack without any unnecessary or harmful additives.  I really appreciated that they tasted like sunflower seeds rather than salt.

Smooze Fruit Ice - Coconut + Mango
The instructions on this one said to freeze it - it's a tropical push up popsicle that is dairy and gluten free and it tastes exactly like it sounds: an even blend of coconut and mango.  I'm not a huge ice pop eater, and was a little puzzled about how to push it up, but once I figured that out, it was really tasty and just the right size to enjoy before it melted.  If I had children around, I'd favor this sort of treat over any of the better known commercial frozen treats.

Aubrey Chia Salt Spray
Aubrey is a line of natural hair care products, and this protein-rich gem offers styling assistance that adds volume, calms frizz and protects color treated hair, all while giving you that great beachy summer look.  As much as I love the gluten-free snacks that Send Me Gluten-Free includes, I really enjoy the non-food tuck ins and finding good haircare products is an eternal search for me.

ekSel Toaster Bags
This is one of those totally awesome gadgets I had no idea even existed, but now that I know I think it's an essential for anyone with celiac disease.  It's a reusable bag into which you can slide your gluten-free bread products before popping into a toaster or toaster oven.  Why? Because if you're sharing appliances, you want to be very careful not to put your safe food into contact with gluten-containing crumbs!  Brilliant, right?  I haven't tried this one yet (we actually stopped letting our toaster occupy precious counter space several months ago), but I think I'm going to pass it along to a friend with celiac that I know shares kitchen space with non-celiac family members.

Glutino Pretzel Twists
Pretzels are in the category of empty calories, so this would be an occasional treat for me, but it's nice to discover a snappy little pretzel snack that tastes and feels just like a pretzel.  I enjoyed them a lot and wouldn't mind keeping them on hand for those times when I just want a crunchy snack that I can safely eat and share with others.  I am impressed - if I hadn't read the label, it wouldn't have occurred to me that these were gluten-free.

Zouq Jubilee Mix
I received three of these pouches, and they were my favorite surprise! A South Asian blend of spices mingle with chickpea and rice flour crunchies, lentils, peas and raisins to make a vibrant savory mix that I really adored.  Zouq carries other South Asian flavored savory snacks, and I'll be on the lookout for them, as well.

Home Free Mini Vanilla Cookies
Another great find, and sure to be a winner with children (and adults) who want to not have to miss out on the occasional sweet treat.  These cookies are thick, crunchy bite sized cookies that remind me a lot of Nilla wafers, only much better. Here again is a product that doesn't scream 'gluten-free'.  Home Free also carries oatmeal, several chocolate and chocolate chip varieties, and Lemon Bursts (mmm!!!)

I Heart Keenwah Aged Cheddar Quinoa Puffs
This was my second favorite discovery this month, and I expected to dislike them.  When I saw 'puffs', I was expecting some sad version of those airfilled styrofoam cheese puffs that put the empty in 'empty calories', but instead, I found sturdy little balls full of texture and deliciousness and the perfect snap (can you tell that the right sort of crunch is a big deal to me?).  The cheesiness tastes like cheese, and I am excited to see that they also carry Herbes de Provence, Salt Truffle, and Sweet Chili Puffs.  Definitely on my 'to buy' list!

Beanfields Bean & Rice Nacho Chips
I've seen the Beanfields brand of tortilla chips before, and they come in a number of flavors. The good news is these are high in fiber and protein and are, of course, gluten-free.  The bad news, for me, is that while they did taste like a nacho chip dipped in bean dip, I found them to be very dry and wasn't able to eat more than a couple of them before realizing I just didn't care for them very much.  They'd probably be a great carrier for salsa or guacamole - something to moisten them - but I didn't have any on hand, and declined to finish the bag.  Out of the entire box, this was the only snack I didn't thoroughly enjoy and I call that a win.

Justin's Maple Almond Butter
Justin's makes a number of flavored nut butters, peanut butter cups and pretzels.  The Maple Almond Butter is delicious!  The packets are great for travel, but are a bit tricky to use - like most natural nut butters, it separates.  You're supposed to knead the packet to mix it before opening, but I didn't knead quite enough, so it was a little hard to actually render it spreadable.  Even so, I'd gladly purchase this brand, and I'm intrigued by several of their other products.  I highly recommend it for those who enjoy almond butter, but it is not a suitable replacement for peanut butter if you are allergic to peanuts - it's processed in a plant that also handles soy and peanuts.

YummyHealth YummySnack Peppermint Bar 
Now we're totally in candy bar territory!  This tastes and feels like a mash up of a Mounds Bar and York Peppermint Patty - very very tasty! Also, not very nutritiously positive (although better than the two I just mentioned). It keeps things 'low sugar' by using artificial sweeteners and the coating is 'dark chocolate flavored coating'.  I enjoyed it a lot, but I don't eat candy bars often for health reasons, and this one doesn't take those reasons away.

Kickers All Natural Powdered Fruit Blends - Maple Banana Cream
I was so mystified by this one - it's a little packet of flavored powder, and at first I was afraid it was one of those artificial water flavor things (which I hate), but it's not!  It's just a little all-natural burst of flavor for things like yogurt or oatmeal.  The ingredients list is pleasantly simple: dried banana powder, cream, maple sugar, cane sugar, spice, and vanilla bean.

I stirred mine into some yogurt - I thought it was plain, but no, it was vanilla (oops)!  Even at that, I found it not to be an overly sweet addition and both the banana and maple was apparent over the vanilla in the yogurt. This isn't something it'd occur to me to buy - but then, I like my yogurt plain and on the tart side, and my oatmeal salty with butter.  But if you're trying to make the switch off heavily sweetened yogurts or oatmeals, this would be a great way to ease into it.  There are 2 servings in each packet that add up to 20 calories for each serving, all without artificial sweeteners.

As if all that weren't enough, this months' Savings envelope was stuffed full of great coupons and discount codes for Justin's, Kickers, and Aubrey styling products, two additional products (Zollipops xylitol lollipops, and Don't Go Nuts snack bars), a coupon for a FREE package of Foster Farms Gluten-Free Corn Dogs, and one for a FREE Cabot cheese product as well as a weeklong gluten-free meal plan booklet with recipes from Cabot.

I cannot recommend the Send Me Gluten-Free Subscription Box strongly enough - it includes great value for the price ($24.85 per month for yourself or as a gift), and if you're unsure of what's out there for those eating gluten-free, you're sure to make several discoveries each month of the possibilities.

If you'd like to try the Send Me Gluten-Free Subscription Box at a discount, use the code BLOG20 at check out, and you can get it for 20% off!

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