November 2015 Love With Food Box

Hey readers,

UPDATE: I know this post is super late, so I truly hope you'll forgive me for not posting this unboxing sooner and in the past few weeks. With the holidays rolling around and having to balance my life between work, school and just about everything else in between, I'm just now getting a chance to catch my breath. And because I feel absolutely terrible about not posting as often as I used to, I am going to be a blogging machine and catch up with the insane amount of posts that I've been meaning to share for a while now. Even though I had originally planned to do that over the Thanksgiving holiday, I was involuntarily designated to be a tour guide for family and friends that had flown into town, which was fun and all, but gave me no spare time at all to blog. So anyways, be on the lookout for more posts to come & thanks again for all of your love and support!

Unlike previous LWF boxes that I've received, this month's box came almost a week later than when I typically receive them---probably due to all of the crazy holiday shipping everyone's doing! While that would have normally made me extra anxious since I can't usually contain my excitement when it's that time of month for my subscription boxes to arrive, I got too caught up with everything going on in my life that I honestly had forgotten about it until I saw my favorite red box sitting in my mailbox-so all's well that ends well! Admittedly, this month's "Thank-Full" themed box didn't seem all that exciting to me when I had watched their sneak peek video on YouTube, but I always wait to reserve judgment until I've actually seen it in person. So stick around & see how I thought this month's box was!

What is Love With Food? SIGN UP HERE: (1st box for ONLY $6) It's a monthly subscription service similar to Birchbox and Ipsy where you receive a box filled with 8+ gourmet snacks, instead of beauty products (possibly more if you go with the deluxe/gluten-free boxes!) Each month has a special theme (May: Fiesta Fiesta, June: Saturday in the Park, July: Surfing' USA, etc...) where the snacks are centered around that theme. The NEW lower prices are $9.99/month for the tasting box (annual subscription: $7.99/month), $19.95/month for the deluxe box (annual subscription: $16.50/month) and $24.99/month for the gluten-free box (annual subscription: $19.99/month). To date, LWF has donated over 700,000+ meals to food banks across the US! How AWESOME is that?! They're so close to ONE MILLION! You get an awesome box filled with delectable treats every month delivered to your doorstep and you're doing good! What's NOT to love about this subscription box and what they stand for?

Let's get started:

❅Packaging

❅November's Theme: Thank-Full

❅Information Pamphlet

❅Sesame Tocchetti by Bello Rustico: Start off the holiday on a high note with these crunchy, rich ready bites made in Italy and just begging to be paired with a glass of wine

❅Tea Sachets by David's Tea: Nothing screams fall more than a warm cup of soothing tea. Go ahead and steal a few moments to relax and sip. Holidays are stressful, you deserve it

❅Milk Chocolate Squares by Chocolaterie Montana: Sometimes a little sweetness is the perfect reminder that life is good. And these brightly wrapped bites of delicious are perfect for the job

❅Dark Chocolate Squares by Chocolaterie Montana: Everyone has a little dark side, and these morsels are just the thing for it. But they're so good, you just might end up sharing with everyone

❅Honey Graham Sticks by Back to Nature: These cookies will bring back all those childhood memories, and the touch of honey will have you back for more--despite the Thanksgiving food coma

❅"Dirty" Sweet Potato Chips by Dirty Potato Chips: These are no ordinary potato chips. A perfect balance of crunchy, sweet and salty that will instantly make you the star of the holiday season

❅Raspbery Trufflecremes in Milk Chocolate No. 30 by Dilettante Chocolates: In this season of being thankful, sometimes you still need a moment for yourself. So unwrap this little morsel of indulgence to keep you grounded

❅Salted Caramel Brownie Brittle by Sheila G's: A treat made for Thanksgiving, because it's made for sharing. Salty-sweet with a chocolate-y crunch.....hey, we never said the sharing would be easy

❅Biscoff by Lotus Bakeries: Crunchy, rich, with just the right bit of sweet. The perfect cookie to pair with a cup of coffee at the end of a long, delicious meal with family

❅Bonus Item: Turbinado Natural Cane Sugar by Maui Brand: Add a pinch of this to a warm mug of David's Tea (any flavor will of) on a rainy day to remember why you're so thankful fall is finally here

❅Everything in this month's box!

❅Here's my YouTube unboxing video

❅Thoughts: If I could describe this month's box in one word, it would have to be "MEH." To be completely honest though, a good handful of all of the LWF boxes in 2015 were just "meh" as well. Off the top of my head, I con confidently say that only 2 or 3 boxes actually blew me away this year, which is somewhat disappointing, but here's to hoping 2016 will change that! However, because their boxes are so affordable and they donate a meal, I continue to stay subscribed since I absolutely love the charity aspect of this service. Moving onto this month's box, I have to say right off the bat that I despise seeing those honey graham sticks in our boxes AGAIN as this is now the 4th time we've seen them! With SO many incredible brands out there that they could feature or other snacks from this company, why LWF continues to ONLY feature these graham crackers is beyond me (If someone from LWF is reading this, PLEASE stop sending these!). Moving on, the sweet potato chips were tasty and crunchy, just how I like them and the brownie brittle was delicious as ever. Although we'd already received a bag of BB a month or two prior, you can never have enough of it! Additionally, I'm a huge fan of David's Tea ever since discovering them in NYC a few years back, so I was pleasantly surprised to see two satchets in the box this month-both flavors were fantastic and I definitely plan on purchasing the milk oolong one again in the very near future! As for everything else in this month's box, they were all just okay. The Monbana squares just tasted like regular Ghirardelli chocolate squares (although I think their unicorn logo is adorable!), the dark chocolate overpowered the delicate raspberry flavor in the Dilettante truffles, the Biscoff cookies were a disappointing addition (if you're a frequent Delta flyer, you know why) to the box and the sesame tocchetti tasted like dry, bland breadsticks/croutons. In terms of value and variation, this box was definitely NOT up there by any means. From other bloggers who took the time to estimate the price of this month's box (~$5), it was just disappointing all around.

While I wasn't at all thrilled with the contents of the November box, I'm crossing my fingers and counting my blessings that the December box will blow me out of the water & end 2015 on a good note! With the "Chocolate Makes The World Go Round" theme set for the December box, this chocoholic is too excited for words! The sneak peek video got me super hyped up and excited not only because that means Christmas is right around the corner, but because they featured some awesome snacks like Bark Thins! Whenever that box wants to make its way to me, I promise I'll create a blog post the same day or next day once I receive it! 

Of course I have to ask---what was your favorite product in this month's box? Least favorite?

Have a wonderful day,

-Sandy

FTC: I was not paid or compensated for this review. All reviews and opinions expressed are my own.