Nibble Boxes: Graze Box #3

Received my 3rd Graze box on Friday yet I was sick over the weekend and couldn't enjoy it. Now that I'm feeling slightly better, it's time to dig in!

Boston Baguettes with a BBQ Relish
So far I'm 1-1 with these dippers. First thing I notice when I open up the pack is that the "baguettes" have some sort of dry rub on them. My automatic thought was that the BBQ Relish had spilled over but that's definitely not what happened. I had to look at the website to find out they're actually tomato baguettes. The dip is very tasty, it's a sweet BBQ that has chunks in it. Yet the chunks aren't great as I ended up not having enough dip for my dippers because big chunks kept attaching to the dippers! Which wasn't too bad of a thing as the dippers themselves are tasty with the tomato seasoning on it.

Scandinavian Forest (lingonberries, blueberries, cherry raisins, apple)
First thing that I notice is that there are 4 ingredients in this one whereas usually there are up to 3. Awesome! I'm also surprised that all of the fruit is still moist, I was expecting dried fruit only. Yet everything is nice and plump. Even the tiny ligonberries, which is great since I'm honestly not sure if I've tried them before or not. In this small a quantity it's hard to really gauge what they'd taste like in a normal meal. I know they're a Scandinavian staple for cuisine (especially jam, it seems) which explains the name. This is a very delicious fruit combination that actually is good eaten mixed versus individual sampling. Oddly enough, when eating them this way, the ligonberries really shine through and you can really taste them!

Jalapeno Fiesta (jalapeno peanuts, salsa almonds, roasted seeds)
This smells delicious! Reminds me of what a typical Mexican bar mix would be like. The spices on the nuts are not too strong so you can't enjoy the taste of the nuts while enjoying the flavors, which is great. The roasted seeds are a mixture of sunflower and pumpkin seeds. As with other similar snacks they become coated in the spices of both the salsa and jalapeno.

Honeycomb Crunch (milk chocolate honeycomb, almonds, raisin)
I have no clue how almonds and raisins relate to honeycomb. Not complaining, just find the combo a bit strange. The milk chocolate honeycomb, as expected, was amazing. They're basically a bite sized version of Esther Price and I only wish there was more of it. Mmmm!

Quick Tasty Food: Salsa Chicken Pasta

Who doesn't love salsa? Who doesn't love chicken? ... Ok, not everyone likes them. Obviously those people won't like this recipe. I, on the other, loved this random creation. I had the brilliant idea to marinate chicken in salsa. I grabbed a Hot Salsa from Whole Foods that was on sale and then grabbed a pound of chicken. Cut the chicken up into pieces (I went for half inch cubes). Cover the chicken in the salsa and marinate. How long? Depends. I sort of forgot about it so it marinated for almost 2 days and turned out great. In other words, marinate for however long you think is adequate, with at least a suggestion of an hour.

I then dumped the chicken and salsa in a skillet set to medium heat. I also decided to make some pasta so I had a small pot going of that. After a few minutes, turn the chicken pieces to make sure both sides cook. Once the pasta was done, I added it to the chicken salsa.

I also decided it needed more veggies than what was in the salsa. I wanted to go with a can of corn but all I had was cream corn which likely would not have been very great addition. Thus, I went with French style green beans. Dump the whole can (drained, of course) in with the chicken salsa pasta.

After that I realized that I likely made the wrong choice with the hot salsa as there was a definite spicy smell coming from the skillet. I added maybe a half cup of Mexican cheese, yet you can obviously go with whatever cheese you want. I just had some Mexican on hand because I had planned to make some Taco Cupcakes.

And it does make a lot. I ate this for 1 dinner and 2 lunches, feeling satisfied each meal.

You can also make several variations of those. You can make it "traditional" by using pasta sauce instead of salsa. Add more veggies or don't add veggies at all. Cutting carbs, don't add the pasta. Yada yada yada, on it goes.

You can also take just the salsa chicken and make it into loaded nachos by cutting the chicken up into smaller pieces and serving it over nachos with whatever other regular nacho additions you want. This is actually a great idea I may have to make at some point. Hmmm....

Review - Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups

I had heard about the Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups a month or two ago but forgot all about them. Until today when I finally found them, that is. I was surprised to see them at the Circle K by work. I greedily grabbed 2 packs, wanting to eat them right away in the morning but knowing I should wait. Will power at it's finest!

Once I finally had the chance to gobble them up, it was perfect. First, to describe the look. They are obviously intended to mirror Reese's Peanut Butter Cups:

• two to a pack
• surrounded in small cardboard to protect the cups
• the cups themselves are bite-size
• they have ridges
• same look and feel

Yet there are a few differences:

• square cups instead of circular
• no pesky paper wrapper that usually removes a chunk of the bottom layer of chocolate
• one downside is that they aren't as thick as Reese's Cups

 

Biting into them, they are delicious! The center is softer with the grit, yet you do have a slight crunch from time to time. It's unlike biting into a Butterfinger Bar which is all crunch, these have just a tiny crunch amid the smooth peanut butter center. I am surprised that the color of the center matches that of the Butterfinger Bar. Looking at the ingredients, I guess it's the annatto paprika extract color since there aren't any food colors used. It also obviously tasted like a Butterfinger Bar!

I hope these stay around, wouldn't mind seeing them become as popular as Reese's Cups. Only time will tell!