Foodzie Tasting Box and Birchbox Reviews

So I'm pretty sure I've neglected to tell you all about my two favorite subscriptions. If you're thinking magazines, I promise I wouldn't bore you with my love of Real Simple and Martha Stewart Living ;) I'm talking about my Foodzie Tasting Box and my Birch Box! The Foodzie tasting box an aggregate of samples from the Foodzie online store, usually following a theme. Foodzie is a company that likes to focus on foods and beverages made by small food companies in the USA (yay local!). Many of the foods and beverages they stock can't be found anywhere else and they often fit into a special category such as: handmade, following old family recipes, incorporating unique ingredients, etc. You can also find a lot of organic, locally sourced, or Fair Trade items. I've received three of these tasting boxes so far and I'm loving them! Here are the last two I've gotten: August was a nostalgic/ comfort food theme:

September was a 'Tea Time Out':

Some of my favorite items from the Foodzie Tasting Boxes have been: Black Truffle & Fresh Thyme Herb Sea Salt (which I used in this recipe), 479 White Cheddar Black Truffle Popcorn, Oren's Kitchen Coconut Chili Macademias, and Sir Kensington's Gourmet Scooping Ketchup. The tasting box is $19.99 per month and it's totally worth it! You can cancel at any time so no worries about getting sucked into one of those club schemes (and while it sounds like it due to my excellent advertising skills I am not getting anything for their review, just wanted to give my homies a heads up!). Check out some of the products from this month's box in-depth on their blog or just dive right in and sign up for next month's box!

The other subscription box I'm currently loving is the Birch Box. The peeps at Birch Box hook you up with 4-5 samples of items from their site- be it hair products, cosmetics, skincare, nail polish etc. Being pretty make-up stupid I find this to be a great way to try things without forking over $50 for a face cream, especially since I have no idea what I'm doing in cosmetic world. Luckily for me, Birch Box also has a blog with tutorials, videos, and suggestions for how to use their product and each product page details what a particular item is supposed to do for you. As for what kind of products they work with, this is what Birch Box has to say: "We’ve shamelessly cherry-picked every category to bring you companies that pour time, research, and love into their products. You'll find both clinical skincare lines and makeup artist-approved color collections, up-and-coming niche brands and longtime favorites. In our beauty drawer, diversity rules". I've definitely gotten some products that didn't make sense for me and some crazy awesome things that I was willing to splurge on the full size item. The following are some of my faves I've received: Number 4 Lumiere d'hiver Reconstructing Hair Masque, Befine Night Cream, and Befine Exfoliating Cleanser. Here are pics of my first and second boxes (August and July, I forgot to take a pic of September):

Sign yourself up for a recurring monthly subscription for only $10 (once again you can cancel at anytime so no getting trapped) or even sign up for a whole year! This time I get 50 points (100 points= $10 off a full sized product purchase) if you use my link to sign up, but I haven't received any freebies to write my review, I just really like my Birch Box! Let me know if you end up trying them!

Chicken and Fingerling Potatoes with Black Truffle Salt

I've been intrigued by truffles for awhile now. A delicious fungus that grows beneath the earth commonly sniffed out by pigs, what's not to love? These delicacies are most often grown in Europe and have not really made the jump to the US yet. There are, however, some people working on cultivating truffles in the Pacific Northwest, specifically Oregon. I've yet to get my hands on one of these lil nuggets, but imagine my excitement when I receive a sampler of Woody's Gourmet Black Truffle and Fresh Thyme Herb Sea Salt in my May Foodzie Tasting Box!!! My first instict was to hoard this amazing treat until the perfect recipe came along. I did this for about 3 weeks before I couldn't wait any longer. I referred to the included chicken and potatoes recipe and made some modifications to make it easier for me. I chocse chicken tenderloins instead of a roasting chicken and fingerling potatoes instead of 'German butterball potatoes'. I first cleaned and then microwaved the potatoes to decrease the cookign time in the oven (it's hot here in TX!). Then I rubbed the potatoes with the other sampler, Woody's Fresh Rosemary and Sage Herb Sea Salt. I spread the potatoes evenly on a baking sheet nad placed them in a 350F oven. I rubbed oil on the chicken and then the Woody's Black Truffle and Fresh Thyme Herb Sea Salt and some pepper. I cooked the chicken in a skillet with about a Tablespoon of fresh marjoram until it was opaque on the outside. I then transferred the chicken to the baking sheet with the potatoes and covered the sheet with aluminum foil. I continuted baking for about 10 minutes (until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender). I served them with some green beans and had the most amazing meal. I then promptly purchased a full size of both sea salts and am anxiously awaiting their arrival.




I highly advise making an investment in any truffle (particularly black truffle) related yummies you cna get your hands on, inclugind this salt. Enjoy!