You know what's cool about receiving a monthly food box each month? The three surprises. Firstly the surprise of when it arrives (I totally forget it's coming), then the surprise of what's inside and finally the surprise of how enjoyable the items are. In terms of value, Degustabox represents a good buy, you get a good mix of items delivered to you for £12.99 or makes for a fun gift for others too.

What came in December's box I hear you ask... well I shall tell you now.

Kent's Kitchen meal kit – We got Madras which we have popped in the cupboard for future use. I really like the idea of these meal kits, perfect for cooking up a storm without the need for much planning.

Eisberg non alcoholic wine – No. The premise of this is a genuinely sweet idea for those people who enjoy wine but are not drinking alcohol but to me on a personal level this is baffling; if I'm drinking wine then I definitely want the effects that the alcohol provides! Blimey.

Pukka Herbs green tea – I drink green tea and have done for a few years now and on thing every brand has in common is that it tastes like ditch water. Pukka make brilliant teas but this green tea is wasted on me and I would have far preferred something else from this brand.

Bahlsen Choco Leibniz – The milk ones were nice but the caramel were deeeelicious but my only qualm was that there were only a few in each pack which meant that the enjoyment was short-lived.

Gloworm premium mixers – Well I missed the memo about these being mixers and drank two already they were really nice! I don't think they need alcohol at all, they taste good all by themselves.

Bonne Maman course orange marmalade – I've not eaten it yet but it's something I'm glad we've got in the cupboard. It's a great brand for preserves and I've eaten loads of their strawberry jam over the years, it's great stuff.

Fry light infuse – We got the garlic flavour oil which seems like a neat idea. As we don't actually use much oil at the moment it's not been started yet. I'll let you know how it goes.

The Chia company Oats + Chia – If this was supposed to be one portion then I'm appalled. It was about half what I would normally eat in porridge of a morning and although it tasted nice, it was far from filing.

Popchips – The sour cream and onion variety were fabulous and I was pleased that we received a flavour that we both love. YUM!

So there you have it. Degustabox get a thumbs up from me and if you want to nab yourself a £3 discount then use my code 86FRR when registering.

Sophie

Later than planned but this is my review of the October Degustbox! So what did we get?

Kent's Kitchen Meal Kit – We got the Bengal kit and haven't used it yet but I do love using this kind of kit. We'll use it when we've got some chicken from the butchers.

Blue Dragon sweet chilli dipping sauce – This is not something we have cause to use all that often but C has convinced me he needs to buy tempura prawns to try this out so it'll be opened soon.

Special K cracker crisps – In BBQ flavour, de-licious. I was confused that this was classified as a sharing bag as there weren't all that many in there and we woofed them down in no time at all. I really enjoyed these and would want them again.

Enhance – Apparently you get 32 drinks out of this little pot, but if you ask me they would have to be thimbles. I found I needed quite a lot to give any flavour (and I do drink weak drinks). The flavour of apple and blackcurrant was pleasant once I made it strong enough.

Get buzzing bars – I received the nut one and wasn't that keen on trying it but when hunger struck and this was the only thing available I gave it a try. It turned out to be really enjoyable; compressed chopped nuts which fall apart in your mouth (it's not toothbreaker) and even the taste was nice. What's become of me?

Solo marshmallow – WINNER! Oh I was mighty excited to see this in the box, the toasted fudge flavour was heavenly. I'm not using this in a recipe- not on your nelly, it's being eeked out a teaspoonful at a time for maximum pleasure.

Bear Paws – They might be healthy and wholesome but they're not exciting and I wont be buying any more.

Brioche Pasquier sliced brioche loaf – I wish I'd never discovered BP because it's the most tempting thing to reach for on every occasion I'm feeling peckish. The loaf was cause for confusion and I didn't know what to do with it other than eat a slice at a time, which worked nicely.

Brioche Pasquier pain au lait choc chips – I thought the fact that the chips were dark chocolate would slow my rate of consumption on these; alas not. They are just too good for their own good.

Jelly Belly jelly beans – I had to veto unauthorised 'helping yourself' on these as C would have nobbled all the watermelon beans upon first go and then the rest of them to follow. We love Jelly Belly beans and only have them as a rare treat so it was joyous to find a pack in the box.

Dr Oetker dark cocoa powder – not going to use it.

Dr Oetker premium 90% dark chocolate – C ate it but wasn't all that impressed.

Benecol yogurt – We haven't got round to finding this at the supermarket and doubt we'll bother.

Bear Alphabites – The selling point of these is precisely why I don't fancy trying them; no refined sugar or salt makes them sound rather untasty to me so I'll just leave them until I've run out of everything that I do like!

Well overall I was impressed with October's box; loads of products and plenty that we really enjoyed as well as a couple of misses. November's will be arriving soon and I'll try to munch my way through it slightly faster and post my review in better time!

If you fancy getting yourself a Degustabox to fast on then by all means use my discount code! It's 83M9K and that gets you a £3 discount when registering, neat!

Sophie

Everyone is busy. I'm busy, Chris is busy, you're busy. It's mostly the case that from arriving home from work we're either straight out again for workouts/running or social engagements and fitting in meals is becoming more and more of a problem. We do our weekly online shop and instead of meal planning like we used to it tends to be a few essentials and cupboard basics and dare I say it, ready meals and quick fixes. I really don't like skipping proper meals as it's no good for you in the long run and a pretty bad habit to get into.
We get a bit of home cooking in when we can but sometimes we just admit defeat and eat whatever is to hand; grabbing a pasty or something with chips just to say we ate something. Thinking of quick meals to prepare is something I'm working on (or going down the batch cooking casseroles and freezing for a quick reheated meal is a concept I favour).
I'd heard of Ilumi foods recently and thought they were a neat concept; a wholesome meal in a stand-up sachet ready to pop in the microwave for a quick dinner. What I didn't realise was that they are all gluten free, milk free and nut free which is pretty cool. I tried some of the dishes from the Asian range and was really rather impressed.
My favourite was the Tom Kah Gai soup (a fragrant and lightly spiced Thai chicken soup) which I enjoyed with a couple of slices of lightly toasted homemade bread (courtesy of Mum and her breadmaker – it's halfway to homemade). It was so tasty and something I would love to have again.
When we were deliberating what to eat for dinner one night and I suggested we tried the Ilumi meals, I chose the chicken laksa while Chris wanted the sweet five spice and chilli pork. We weren't thrilled with our choices and after a taste of each others' dishes we decided to swap; the laksa was hotter with chilli than I really prefer and the pork dish was so sweet and delicious (too sweet for Chris, he preferred the heat of the laksa). Laksa pictured below.
The beef in black bean tasted good but the sauce was thinner than expected according to Chris. When I ate the vegetable biryani I though it was a smaller portion that I would like but maybe that's just greedy me!
I like the idea of buying a selection of the Ilumi meals (which get delivered to your door) and keeping them for a couple of weeknights, the days where there is no hope of making anything yourself and of course those emergencies. Price wise at £1.90 for the soup and £3.75 for the main meals they are more than I would usually spend per meal however, they are particularly high quality with wholesome ingredients and of course taste good. To me they represent good value for what they are.
Have you ever tried Ilumi meals?
Sophie
I was sent this parcel to review by Ilumi, all opinion and content my own

You know what an avid foodie I am so when I was offered a food box delivery to review I was rather excited. Degustabox is perhaps not the name I would have chosen for the branding but then I'm neither in marketing nor swallowed a dictionary (which informs me that 'degust' means to taste or savour carefully or appreciatively.)

So what's the deal with Degustabox? For £12.99 delivered you get sent a box full of interesting and exciting food and drink goodies to feast on. It really was a joy to open the parcel and squeal a bit about what I found. Apparently, the July box was a little different to usual in that there were two boxes that went out; one with alcohol and one without (although I got lucky and was sent all the products from both, eeep!)

So what was in the box?

Portlebay popcorn

The maple syrup and bacon flavour was one that I initially thought sounded wrong but curiosity got the better of us and we polished the pack off in record time. MORE please! I would definitely buy this off the shelf. The chilli and lime is one which may kick around the cupboard for a few weeks to come as it doesn't tickle my fancy but the sweet and salted one will be next to try (although not all that tempting as it hasn't been demolished yet).

Zeo drinks

These are a grown up beverage for what I would classify as a special occasion, not just drinking at the office. The two we have drunk so far had nice flavours but were none too sweet. Perfectly crisp and dry which makes a pleasant change from the sugar loaded cans of pop tat they rival.

Green and Black's

The dark chocolate with lemon is not my thing at all so I passed this on to Chris who informs me it is absolutely delicious and he'd love another.

The Berry Company speciality teas

I haven't sampled this one just yet, it's a little confusing that it's in a carton.

Hornsby's blueberry cider

HELLO! In the spirit of sampling as much as I could I drunk a bottle of this and let Chris have the other. Not only was I fine (guess it's not a blueberry intolerance after all) I delighted in the taste of this refreshingly different beverage. Having never sampled the 'flavoured' ciders before I didn't know what to expect but I can safely say that I'd buy these again and relish them. Mmmmmm!

Frank bar

No, this wasn't something I would try, nor was it all that nice. It was quite dense and dark, not something I would care to try again.

Dr Oetker Eton mess sprinkles and Dr Oetker violet crystals

Well, my baking days are over (I want me some abs, dammit) so these may only get used as maracas before I pass them along to someone who can make good use of them. They do sound scrum-diddly though, especially the violet crystals and the eton mess. Wait, that's both. Oh well.

Maggi

Much as we like cooking from scratch, sometimes you do just need a plan B for when everything goes wrong or you have zero inspiration at all. We have already used some Maggi packets before and they represent pretty good value really and of course they are dead easy to use; simply buy everything you need and just cook according to the instructions.

The soy chicken was my favourite – really tasty and the simplest of the lot. We served ours with stir fried veg and noodles which made for a tasty meal.

Chris made a beef and ale casserole and added extra home grown vegetables. The casserole was nice but no hint of ale in mine.

The cheesy chicken and leek potato bake was that wonderful kind of guilty-pleasure stodge that I do love.

So in conclusion, the receiving the box was cause for excitement with some real highlights and only one real disappointment. For a lovely surprise of goodies once a month Degustabox gets a thumbs up from me. If you want to give yourself or a loved one a treat then get a discount with my special code 7CQJT.

Are you tempted?

Sophie