For the Foodie: Degustabox September 2016* Unboxing & Easy Ratatouille

Time for another Degustabox unboxing! In case you haven't seen my previous posts, Degustabox is a monthly food subscription service featuring new brands and products just coming to our market. Each box is $19.99 (but you can get your first one for 50% off) and comes packed full with at least 10 different products. Let's see what I found in my September box!

Again, everything was packaged very securely in lots of bubble wrap, which I removed for the sake of taking photos. The September box came with 11 products - I divided them for the photos into three groups: salty snacks, sweet snacks and cooking ingredients/ condiments:

1 bag of popCORNers, $3.29 each:  air-popped vegan, non-GMO and gluten-free chips that we will enjoy with our homemade guac
2 packets of BustaNUT! peanuts in the Maple Bacon & Bourbon flavors, $1.49 ea: I like snacking on nuts although flavored varieties always contain more sodium and sugar

2 little boxes of Michel et Augustin Shortbread Cookies in the Pure Butter & Sea Salt and Pure Butter & Chocolate Chips flavors, $1.99 ea: shortbread cookies are some of my favorites for a quick sweet treat so I'm excited to give this brand a go!
1 bag of Entenmann's Little Bites mini chocolate chip muffins, $4.69 ea: I'm a little skeptical about pre-packaged muffins but at least these don't contain high fructose corn syrup or trans fat
1 large bag of Zollipops, sugar free & vegan hard fruit candies/ drops, $4.99: Apparently these candies are supposed to keep your teeth clean after meals?! Not sure how that's even possible but I'll give them a go!
1 bar of Toosum oatmeal bar, $1.79 ea (I got the Cranberry & Acai flavor): I don't eat granola bars very often but it's sometimes handy to keep one in your purse for emergency hunger pangs.

1 packet of Hak's One Pot Cooking Sauce in Rustic Ratatouille, $3.99 each: This is basically a ready-made tomato-based sauce to use with veggies or your choice of protein. We don't use premade sauces but this has very straightforward, natural ingredients, and I'll give it a go for a quick dinner!
1 bottle of Sparkling Bitters, $1.99 each: I quite like trying new drinks, and this sounds like it could be a good choice for cocktails (or mocktails) as well.
3 small jars of English Provender condiments in Caramelized Red Onion Chutney, Sweet Tomato & Chili Chutney and Luxury Lemon Curd, $2.45 ea: I love love love trying new condiments and having them on hand to pair with cheese or cold cuts, so I'm quite excited about these!
1 box of Sam Mills Gluten Free Corn Quinoa Fusilli Pasta, $2.39 ea: I've tried gluten-free pasta in the past and didn't like it, but maybe this will be different. We're not gluten-free in this house so it's not a huge selling point for me.
1 bottle of Nando's Peri-Peri Hot Sauce, $3.49 ea: My husband would have loved to try this as a big hot sauce fan but unfortunately it contains garlic :( I'm not into very spicy food at the moment so I may pass this bottle on to a friend.
Value of the September box: $40.93

So far, this was the largest and best value box we have received. Compared to last month, I like the product selection a lot more, and I'm excited to have lots of new snacks to try out. If you'd like to try this subscription for yourself, you can use my affiliate link here for 50% off your first box.


As for the recipe using products from the September box, to be honest I wasn't massively inspired - but being this pregnant has made me a lot less excited to spend time in the kitchen cooking elaborate meals. Which is why I decided to take the simple route and just try the recipe featured on the little description sheet that came in my Degustabox; I made a veggie & chicken version of the Hak's Rustic Ratatouille and served it first over some brown rice and then the Sam Mills Gluten Free pasta.

On the packaging, the cooking suggestion is to combine one packet with one pound of protein or veggies; I think I've had slightly more than that and I do wish there was more sauce in my dish. I diced half a medium onion and one chicken breast, browned them a little in olive oil, and then added 1 chopped zucchini, half of a red bell pepper, and half of a can of drained chickpeas. I poured in the contents of my Hak's sachet and simmered for about 20 minutes. I did enjoy the taste of this dish but the sauce was a bit too liquidy, perhaps because of the moisture from my vegetables. I like how this premade sauce doesn't contain any nasty ingredients or fillers, although to be completely honest, I don't see it as massively easier than just adding some tomato paste into my saucepan along with flavorful herbs de provence, salt and pepper and maybe some garlic. But overall it was tasty and saved me some time in the hot kitchen, so I'm not complaining :)

Just a heads up, I won't be reviewing any more Degustaboxes for a while now - not because I'm not happy with the subscription but for the simple reason of having a lot less time to do so as baby bean is going to be here next month already. If you enjoy food posts from me, please let me know and I'll do my best to feature more snacks and meals on the blog in the future; for now you can always check out my Instagram for food p0rn pics. Have you tried any new snacks this month? I'd love to know what you've been cooking up lately!

Disclaimer: Product marked with an asterix (*) is a press sample I received from the brand's PR for review consideration. The post contains an affiliate link, which means I'll earn a commission if you decide to sign up to Degustabox after clicking. All opinions are 100% honest and unbiased, no matter if the product featured was purchased with my own money or provided free of charge. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog! 

I Turned 30 This Week & This Is How I Celebrated

That's right, the big 3-0! Happy birthday to me! This post is going to be a bit of a departure from all the recent product reviews; something more along the lines of 'A Week in Photos' series I once wanted to do on the blog so you could get to know me a little better on a personal level. As you may know from this ramble, or may have realized along the way, I don't post hauls here anymore. I know that 'What I Got for My Birthday' posts or videos are always click-worthy (and certainly a great way for the birthday person to look back on their special day), but I wanted to share something different instead: all the fun and extraordinary experiences I've had this week to celebrate the occasion. This is not to say that I haven't received (or bought for myself) any gifts - it's just to shift the focus a little bit from 'having' to 'doing'. I hope you enjoy!

On Labor Day (Monday), my husband and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. In general, we're not big on anniversary presents but we like treating ourselves to a fun night out together. This year we've been going to quite a few concerts; not those crowd-packed dancing by the stage type rowdy affairs because we're much too introverted for that, but more of a 'seated at the table, enjoying cocktails/ snacks and listening to live music' type of events. So for our anniversary, we booked a table at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola to listen to Robin Eubanks & the Mass Line Big Band. We love going to jazz concerts but it just so happens that we've never seen a big band performance before, so it was a very memorable experience. We were seated right by the window (the venue is located in Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle) so we could also enjoy the view of the park and shimmering lights of the city in the distance. Since cocktails are out at the moment (I'm 8 months pregnant and Mr is taking antibiotics), we decided to order dinner, and I was very pleasantly surprised by my vegan 'risotto cake' entree. Even though the dish was a simple combination of rice and veggies, it packed a ton of flavor from heirloom tomato sauce and firm, lightly sauteed pieces of squash and green beans. If you're a fellow New Yorker - or visiting - and you like jazz music, I definitely recommend Dizzy's.

On Tuesday, I relaxed at home and tried not to get too caught up on my regular to-do list. I didn't do anything special, but I wanted to take some time to pamper myself in the evening. I redid my badly chipped manicure - I opted for a never before worn bottle of Zoya Toni, a dark blackberry plum shade. I love those vampy shades on the nails but then I sort of ruined the mani by applying an old and gloopy top coat, which now - 48 hours later - is still not completely hardened and causing bed sheet creases and the like. Lesson learnt; and needless to say the top coat went straight into the empties bag. In the evening, I took a soothing cool shower using some new products I recently ordered from Ulta (even though I still think body scrubs are not absolutely necessary in my routine, I really enjoy my repurchase of Tree Hut Shea Sugar Scrub), and applied a luxuriously hydrating face mask from Laneige (reviewed here). I currently tend to get very tired at night and can't get out of the bathroom fast enough before I fall asleep, but I really wanted to do a little something for myself and loved looking at my freshly polished nails.

On Wednesday (my actual birthday) I had a doctor's appointment in the morning to check up on the baby bean. You guys may think it was silly of me to go to the doctor on my birthday - I mean, people generally don't find doctor's visits very alluring - but I quite like going to my obstetrician. The entire office is friendly and efficient, but most of all, I get to hear baby's heartbeat and feel reassured that he's doing just fine in there. I also learnt that his head is very low now, so that's probably the reason right there why I have to get up every 2 hours at night for a trip to the bathroom, lol. On my way back, I stopped at a Sephora store to redeem my free birthday gift and have a little look around. I purchased Sephora brand Coconut Water Cleansing Wipes to pack in my hospital bag, and was seriously tempted by Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lovesick, but decided to put it on my wishlist for the November VIB sale instead. My cashier that day was genuinely kind as well - we had a nice chat about Zoya polishes, and she assured me the make-up wipes were really good :)

On my walk home from the subway station, I went into Sugarcube Patisserie in Long Island City for a decadent sweet treat. I opted for their tasting menu of handmade gelato + pastry, and I ordered a small latte to balance out the sweetness. I've had their gelato before and thought it was excellent - this time I got hazelnut as well as mango & passionfruit sorbet - and the Middle Eastern-inspired cheesecake I chose for my pairing didn't disappoint either. I'd definitely recommend Sugarcube for a sweet treat if you're ever in the area; but mind you, the pairing is a very large dessert and I kinda wished I could share it with someone :)

When I got home I had some PR packages waiting for me, and it just never gets old for me you guys - opening those up always feels like Christmas. But I satisfied myself with a quick peek and turned on the laptop to Skype with my parents, who wanted to wish me happy birthday 'in person'. In general, it was a day of long-distance video calls: later on I also FaceTimed with my brother, and then with my best friend late in the evening. I felt touched that they all remembered and wanted to chat on the day. I also received lots of birthday emails, and again really appreciated the thought - lots of people prefer now to write something quick on your Facebook wall and while that's nice, I don't really use Facebook anymore so I was doubly thankful a lot of people remembered that and chose to send an email instead. Other than that, I relaxed, watched some YouTube, and did a quick spot of blogging - I guess the latter was the most productive part of my day.

After my husband came back home from work in the late evening, he surprised me with an entire cake from one of my favorite French bakeries in the city, and he also bought 30 candles for me to blow out. I'm obviously not telling you my birthday wish - but I did manage to blow out all thirty in one go :) He also gave me a gift certificate to a nail salon in our neighborhood, which I was super happy to receive - while I still enjoy doing my own manis, at-home pedicures are nigh on impossible with my very large watermelon belly, and I would definitely like to squeeze one more in before I deliver. Apparently the certificate is also only part of the gift; he wanted to give me something while we're waiting for the other part to come in the mail. It's all very mysterious and I love the anticipation - it makes the present that much more exciting :)

Overall, I had a perfectly beautiful, peaceful and happy birthday. I felt pampered and cherished and even though we did not have some huge celebration, it was exactly how I wanted it. Early in the week, I also indulged in some online shopping: I ordered two make-up bags from Korean brands in incredibly cute patterns (I'll definitely show them to you once they get here, but as they're being shipped from South Korea, it will take a few weeks), and placed an order at The Body Shop for some bath and body products - I have been missing having their body butter in my stash, and I'm really unhappy with my current make-up remover so I got their Silky Cleansing Oil among other things. Oh - and I also bought lots of new knickers from Aerie. My current underwear is a state - and mostly too small to boot.

There you have it - I hope you enjoyed this glance into my birthday week. In case you're wondering if I feel any different or perhaps a little sad not to be 20-something anymore, than my answer would be no: I guess to me it doesn't feel like a milestone, it just feels like another date. I enjoyed my twenties, but I think my thirties are going to bring even better and bigger things; you know, what with the arrival of a new family member and taking on a whole new role in my life. Also thank you to everyone who wished me happy birthday on Instagram/ Twitter - I never cease to appreciate your guys' support and kind words. Thank you for reading!

For the Foodie: August Degustabox* and Homemade Pizza

Time for another Degustabox* unboxing, folks! Honestly, Degustaboxes (together with local produce farmshare boxes) give me a much bigger thrill than beauty subscription boxes ever did in the past - because really, as a hungry preggo with a voracious human bean inside her, getting delivered an awesome box full of ready to eat snacks and ingredients to get creative with is living the dream right now :D I'm sure fellow foodies get me on this.

The size of the actual box is the same as the last one (click here if you want to see what I got!) and again, it was packed to the brim with products neatly tucked into bubble wrap to survive shipping. I received my box about a week ago, so I already had a chance to try out some things and give you mini reviews as well. I got:

ALO Allure Pulp Free (aloe vera, mangosteen and mango juice blend), $1.99 - tasty mango flavor but a bit too sweet
Popchips Ridges snack-sized baggie in the Cheddar & Sour Cream flavor, $1.25 - haven't tried these yet but regular Popchips in the Barbecue flavor are some of my favorite chips to munch on
Goetze's Mini Cow Tales, $3.49 - haven't tried yet but they sound suspiciously similar to a popular Polish candy called krówki, which are sort of like dulce de leche/ soft and chewy caramels...?
White Lily White Grape and Wheat Flour, $5.49 - I've used White Lily Bread flour in the past to bake our sourdough loaf so I was very excited to try this; see below.

Sir Kensington's Chipotle Mayonnaise, $5.99 - haven't tried yet but I can see an awesome BAT (bacon, avocado, tomato sandwich) featuring this mayo in the very near future
Post Honey Bunches of Oats cereal, $2.83 - had it this morning with greek yogurt and berries instead of my regular homemade granola and while I loved the crunch factor, I found it (like 99% of store-bought cereal) to be way too sweet
Oregon Chai Tea Latte instant powder drink mix, $3.99 - tried once so far as an iced drink and again, too sugary for me

Loacker Rose of the Dolomite x 2, $1.76 each - OMG. If there's one thing to take away from August Degustabox, it's these chocolate pralines. They're creamy and chocolatey with a little crunch from hazelnuts and wafer pieces and they're SO GOOD (that's why there's only one pack in the photo, I just couldn't stop eating once I opened the other one I had). If you like Kinder Bueno candy bars, you NEED to try these.
Goya Maria Cookies, $0.99
Vermont Smoke & Cure Mini Meat Sticks, $4.99 for a 6-pack (we got 4) - I believe that as a Polish person, I know most of what there is to know about good sausage and maybe I'm spoilt as a result. I tried one of these 'sticks' and really did NOT like it. Your experience may vary though.
Approx. value of the August box: $33.04 for $19.99/ month

Now for the recipe, or rather what I was inspired to make with a product from my Degustabox. You guessed it - I went right for that bag of flour and set on making the perfect thin crust pizza for one (or, uhm, one and a half? How should I count the baby bean?) from scratch. I rarely eat pizza, and I almost never make it at home, the chief reason being that my husband is not only allergic to garlic but also cow's dairy (meaning, mozzarella, parmesan, asiago... all the delicious pizza cheese). But, Mr is currently away on a work trip, and that coupled with the arrival of this flour in my Degustabox, and a bulb of porcelain neck garlic in my farmshare box, is what I call the perfect opportunity.

I used the dough recipe from The Kitchn (here). My only note here would be that I suspect the grape seed and wheat flour needs a bit more moisture (water) than just plain wheat/ all-purpose, so I'd adjust that next time I'm baking with it. I let the dough rise a bit for about an hour and fifteen minutes, then halved it, used one half right away and popped the other in the fridge to make another fresh pizza the next day.

For my toppings, I made a classic tomato base using canned tomato paste thinned with a bit of water and olive oil, and added crushed garlic, lots of oregano leaf, fresh thyme, a little bit of onion powder and some salt and pepper. I decided on my favorite childhood flavor combo - ham and pineapple (I realize some people are strongly against pineapple on a pizza but I don't care, I love it), and added some onion slivers and corn kernels as well. I sprinkled a fair amount of shredded mozzarella on top and baked for about 15 minutes in a 425 degree oven.

Was it the world's most Instagrammable pizza? Not really. Was it delicious though? Oh, absolutely. The crust came out nice and thin but not too crunchy (it supported the weight of all the toppings but was still easy to bite through) and I really enjoyed my garlicky base with plentiful ham and pineapple pieces. In fact, I cannot wait for lunchtime now just so I can go ahead and make a second pizza with my refrigerated dough from yesterday. Mmmm.

All in all, I'm happy with the products that came in my August Degustabox, but I guess I wish there was a bit less candy/ sugar-heavy food in it. I have a bit of a sweet tooth in general but even more so now that I'm pregnant, and I try to be careful about it, so I know I shouldn't be having any of those Cow Tales or sugary instant chai lattes :/ If you're interested in this food subscription, you can use my referral link (click on the banner below) to get your first box for 50% off, shipping included.


Are you a pizza lover? Do you like making your own at home or do you have a favorite pizzeria where you live? What are your favorite toppings/ flavor combos? Let me know in the comments!

Disclaimer: Product marked with an asterix (*) is a press sample I received from the brand's PR for review consideration. The post contains an affiliate link, which means I'll earn a commission if you decide to sign up to Degustabox after clicking. All opinions are 100% honest and unbiased, no matter if the product featured was purchased with my own money or provided free of charge. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog! 

Summer in NYC: My Handbag Beauty Essentials

Most of my life, summer was always the season I looked forward to - I mean, what's not to love, summer holidays, sunshine, abundance of fruit, bright colors... But ever since we moved to New York City nearly three years ago now, summer has become the season I absolutely dread. The stifling heat and humidity just make it so hard to enjoy my usual summer pasttimes, and maybe because of the added challenge of pregnancy this year, I'm doing all I can to make it through the next two months. However, I'm not alone in the struggle - I've taken to toting a few beauty essentials around with me that make my summer life in the city a lot easier. Let's have a look.

The bag I'm carrying currently is a simple tote from Ralph Laurent I got a few years ago at TJMaxx; I quite like the structured style and I can organize everything inside really well thanks to numerous pockets. I usually keep my beauty essentials corraled into a small make-up bag like the one in the photo, although more frequently used things end up thrown into the large zippered pocket.

If you've ever ridden on the New York subway, you know exactly how important it is to carry a good hand sanitizer with you. Now, I'm not a germophobe by any stretch of the imagination, but something about those turnstiles and poles makes me feel really dirty. I've been using plenty of Neal's Yard Remedies Organic Defence Hand Spray* ($10.50 for 1.69 fl. oz, available at us.nyrorganic.com here) to combat the inner cringe and I love the refreshing scent of its essential oil blend. I've never used a spray hand sanitizer before but I find it easier and more economical than a typical gel. Big thumbs up. After hand washing, I always follow up with a bit of hand cream to make my dry hands feel more comfortable; I'm currently using this deluxe sample of Bliss Grapefruit + Aloe Body Butter ($29 for full size 6.7 oz).

Even with an effective primer and setting powder, my T-zone can get a little oily after a few hours - more often than not, it's a combination of oil and sweat to be perfectly honest. I generally don't carry a mattifying powder with me (because I don't like faffing around with brushes or puffs, plus piling more powder onto oily skin seems wrong somehow) but I do reach for blotting tissues - these Palladio Oil Absorbing Rice Paper Tissues with Rice Powder ($3.99 for 40ct) are nice and large but I would prefer something without powder once I'm done with this packet.

Once I'm done getting rid of the oily shine, I sometimes like to freshen up with a face mist; I've used Eau Thermale Avene Spring Water ($9 for 1.76 oz/ 50g) in the past but I'm currently enjoying another NYR product, the White Tea Facial Mist* ($19 for 1.52 fl. oz, currently on sale for $14.25 here). I was a bit skeptical of this product because aside from some lovely ingredients like antioxidant white tea, aloe vera, glycerin and marigold flower extract, it also contains a lot of alcohol denat., and I try to avoid that ingredient in my skincare. However, I've found that in a facial spray used over my make-up, I don't actually mind it in the least - and if you look at ingredients lists for most setting sprays, alcohol is usually very prominent. The mist on the Neal's Yard product is delicate and even, and I'm a big fan of the lavender & geranium scent; I definitely prefer it to the cult Caudalie Beauty Elixir, which I reviewed here. The White Tea Facial Mist leaves my face feeling soothed, fresh and more luminous.

I also always have a few lip products floating around in my bag; I've been more into neutral mauve lips recently and you are probably tired of me waxing lyrical about these Buxom Full-On Lip Creams ($19 for 0.14 oz, reviewed here and here), but what can I say? I really love this lip gloss formula. Dolly is a great My Lips But Better shade and its minty tingle feels nice and cool on the lips in the summer heat. Maybelline Color Elixir in Caramel Infused ($6.99-8.99 for 0.17 fl oz, here) is another great option that feels balmy and nourishing on, and the shade is just a bit deeper and warmer than Buxom's Dolly.

Other non-beauty things I like to carry around with me include my Klean Kanteen insulated bottle filled with water, as well as some nuts; I like the convenience of a small packet of these Orchard Valley ones I received in my June Degustabox* (shown here), but I usually buy larger bags - I've been munching on these Now Foods Roasted Sea Salt Cashews a lot. If I'm out and about for longer, I also like to take some seasonal fruit with me; lately it's either some peaches or cherries. I find fresh fruit + nuts to be my ideal snack in between meals, and packing those to go helps me avoid unhealthy impulse buys when hunger strikes unexpectedly.

That's about it - as you can see, I don't actually carry around a lot of beauty products; to be honest, I'm just not one for frequent touch-ups. And you know, that helps to carve out more space in my bag for snacks, or a good book :) I hope you enjoyed this peek into my purse and let me know what your summer handbag essentials are - I'd love to know what you like to always have on hand!

Disclaimer: Products marked with an asterix (*) were press samples I received from the brands' PR for review consideration. I purchased all other products myself. All links are non-affiliate. All opinions are 100% honest and unbiased, no matter if the product featured were purchased with my own money or provided free of charge. Thank you for reading!