#vegetable snacks

“Can you believe it’s already March?! While we hate to see the beauty of Winter fade away, we are super excited for Spring to come along. We love all the gorgeous flowers that bloom, the warm sunlight bringing color back into the world, and all the fresh fruits and veggies that are starting to be harvested! Speaking of fruits and veggies, we thought the idea of fresh produce would be a great idea for this month’s box. So, we curated a box inspired by fresh food to bring refreshing, delicious flavors to you this month. We hope all the snacks in this month’s box brings a smile to your face as bright as the Spring sun! Have a great month everyone!“

For this month, the Lucky Treat and Prize items are all focused on various popular Studio Ghibli movies. The featured pages talk about Hinamatsuri (Girls Day), and how to keep away bad luck around the start of a new year.

Okay, so as usual I won’t be covering the DIY- but I won’t be making a blog post on it either. I’ve gotten this several times (I’m pretty sure I have one of each mold by now), it never changes, it’s self-explanatory, it also tastes good so I would recommend it if you see it. I did take a picture though:

You get four sticks and enough of both candy (Lemon and Strawberry) to make them all, but for demonstrative purposes I only decided to make 3.

Coca Cola Peach

I decided not to review this item either, because we’ve already gotten it in a previous box. However, this is an improved version of the drink; it was so popular that they brought it back this year but added real white peach juice to ensure a richer flavor and refreshing taste and scent.

So... if I recall I did like the drink, I’m not sure how much but I was looking forward to having it again. According to the wrapper, its only 31kcal.

As soon as you open it you’re hit by a very strong peach scent (and the lid making a loud bursting sound! It always surprises me >3<) with a very light cola scent in the background. The flavor is very strong, I was a bit surprised but I didn’t hate it. However, the cola seems almost completely drowned out by peach, which could be good or bad depending on who you ask. The peach lingers for a few minutes, but then I also caught a small hint of bitterness as it passes.

Minions Chocolate Wafer & Pokemon Cookies

First up we got some chocolate for the review. First will be the Chocolate Wafer by Furuta that features the Minions for this box. This is a common snack that has featured several series, each package contains 1 of several big, shiny sticker with the wafer. Each wafer is 53kcal.

Rating:  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This might shake some people, but I actually don’t like Minions. I think they’re really annoying and I don’t get their popularity, but I will admit that on rare occasion they can be a little cute. We’re not here to judge them though, just the wafer.

I want to say “if you tried one wafer than you have tried them all“, but these are actually pretty decent for being so thin. When I took my first bite I didn’t think they had much flavor, but the more of it I ate the more I got the rich chocolate cream within it. It might not be the best chocolate, but it’s not terrible.

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Our other item also features a super-popular mascot, this time Pokemon! These are also by Furuta, so I assume they might have other series of these, but I haven’t seem them. Each bag contains 63 grams of wrapped baby-sized chocolate, chocolate chip cookies :D I am OBSESSED with chocolate chocolate chip muffins, and I love chocolate chip cookies so I was so ready for this!

Each cookie is 49kcal, and I think we get about 8-10 cookies per bag.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

As small as the cookies are, they are super ultra chocolatey and fudge-like. Very soft and a bit chewy, they remind me a lot of these cookies my mom would get me after work when I was little. Highly recommend.

Would you believe my luck- almost every single wrapped featured the Alolan Rokan/Vulpix! For anyone new or unfamiliar, my favorite Pokemon has always been Rokan/Vulpix, so I love love love its snowy counterpart too~  

Bear Club Gummies & Pineapple Gummies & Ramune Candy

Okay, so I won’t be reviewing the gummy bears only because I mean... they’re typical gummy bears. I’ve gotten them once or twice before now and they don’t change. Each bag is 39kcal, and ironically after the few I ate, I only had 3 green bears left... I think they’re green apple flavored. The gummies are okay, but they’re kind of chewy and hard so I wouldn’t say they were my first choice...

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Next up is some cute Pineapple slice gummies. Which stuck to the plastic due to being in the package so long and because of summer...

These are by the brand Pine and each pack is 48.9kcal.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I had to use a knife to pry them out and it still made a sticky mess. As it turns out the mold can be played with a little to pop them out <3< Despite that problem, these taste really good. They have a slight tartness to them like real pineapple, so I waver between realistic pineapple and candy/fake pineapple with these guys. I think they would be worth trying if you like Pineapple.

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Our next item is another one I had; but I haven’t reviewed it yet. You might recognize the shapes though, because I have covered two other flavors before; the mixed variety, and the strawberry one.

These soda/ramune flavored ramune candies (powdered candy mixture that is hardened into a specific shape. When eaten it breaks down into powder.). These little cuties are circular in shape, some of which bear the adorable droplet mascots on the packaging in various expression, and a cute translucent ramune bottle container.

The bottle is 108kcal.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I don’t like hard candy very much, but I make an exception for ramune-style candy. It’s powdered so it dissolves and you don’t need to have it in your mouth long to bite through it. The flavor is light in the mouth and pretty sweet, and it strongly brings to mind the ramune/soda flavor that is so popular in Japan~

Look A La Mode Chocolate

Our next item was a variety pieces; we could either get this delicious bite-sized chocolate bag, or a bag of Banana Omelette Cakes. Considering my strong dislike of banana, I am very happy I got these!

What makes this bag special s that you get 4 different chocolates: Banana, Strawberry, Almond, and Pineapple flavoring in the middle. I believe the pineapple is a new flavor according to the bag, the booklet also mentions a caramel flavor, so I’m not sure if the pineapple replaced it, or if that’s an oversight. Each one has 24-28 kcal. 

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Because there is 4 flavors, I’m rating them more of a concept than each individual flavor- that comes below this segment. As a whole, the chocolate is very good. They’re small but you get a lot of flavor, and the cream in the middle isn’t skimpy at all and they taste very much like the item they represent.

Okay, so now I’ll be telling you my feelings of each flavor. The booklet suggests having these with some tea or coffee, and because I hate tea, I grabbed coffee. I’ll be listing my opinions of each one with and without coffee to see if there is any differences.

WC - With Coffee

Strawberry: Typical strawberry-chocolate taste. Loved it like usual. - WC: The strawberry flavor was still really strong.

Banana: Tastes like real banana, didn’t hate it - WC: banana was covered up

Almond: Creamy and smooth, definitely taste almond - WC: covered up a little, but I could still taste almond. I liked it.

Pineapple: Never had chocolate and pineapple, but it’s tasty. The pineapple flavor lasted a while. - WC: I could still taste the pineapple a bit, wasn’t too crazy about the combination but not bad.

So all and all, I didn’t see too much of a difference with or without coffee. I think the almond went with it perfectly.

Rice Puff Carrot & Curry Corn Snack

The Carrot will be our final “sweet” item, I say that because the booklet describes it as savory and apparently popular in Japan- but to me it tastes a bit sweet, a lot like a breakfast cereal I’ve had before in fact... 

The calories for this carrot is 51.2kcal.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Okay so... these weren’t opened, but when I opened them to try I thought they were a little stale. They have a slight sweetness to them, like I said I don’t taste savory at all. I don’t hate them, but they weren’t my favorite thing in the box.

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Our next item is a crunchy sweet-savory curry inspired corn snack. I couldn’t find the calories on this one, nor do I have much to say about it in all honesty. 

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I love crispy-crunchy snacks, and initially when I tried these I was like “these taste like curry?“ but a few later and I totally got it! They taste like the curry you can make with the little premade squared blocks of seasoning, I bought them once before but the flavor of these matches them exactly. I do wish the flavoring was a hint stronger though.

Chibeans & Split Pea Snack

Next up are these two very similar pea snacks which I do believe I’ve had before- but I’ll review them because I don’t exactly remember. Anyway, before I get into them I wanted to point out that I hate peas and green-beans a lot! However, for some strange reason I like to pick open the podded ones and eat the little bean in them, or sometimes I’ll eat the pod too.

First is the Pea Stick Snack, the greenish ones with the cutesy drawing on the package. These are savory and have a strong crunch, and they are made to taste like they were just picked off of the vine :3

Each bag is 86kcal.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

If you like crunchy snacks you’ll love these, they are very crunchy- but not to an impossible extent. They didn’t hurt my mouth at all after eating them. The flavoring is very strong too!

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Our next item is by Calbee, and it also came in a variant. We could either get a share pack of these, or a vegetable stick share pack. I’ve had the vegetable sticks plenty of times and while they’re not bad, I’d rather have these.

This is on the healthier side of snacking, but they’re crispy and look more realistic than the prior snack, although it also has a strong flavor and is very crispy. Each bag is 58kcal.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

If I was asked to choose between the two snacks, I’m not sure I could. They have a similar theme but they both taste delicious in their own way. These ones are light and crispy, and they have a bit of saltiness to them rather than straight up vegetable flavor.

Teriyaki Burger Umaibo & Buttery Salted Sweet Potato Chips

These are our last two items for the review, and I’m not sure you can see it but the Umaibo stick was completely annihilated :P but still edible so it’s fine. I won’t be reviewing this because I’ve gotten it several times (like a few other things in here...) and my opinion never changes; it’s very tasty and I’d recommend it, I think it’s my second favorite Umaibo!

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Lastly we have some super-crunchy sweet potato chips. Actually it was kind of funny, while I ate these I was thinking “why does this remind me so much of those sweet potato chips I like?“, then I actually read what these were. So yeah...

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

They don’t really look like the sweet potato chips I’ve had, but they really do taste like them. You get the buttery salty taste and a sweetness that makes them very pleasant. They are a bit hard and crunchy (something my mouth hates) but they’re not nearly as hard as baked chips, so they didn’t bother me too much.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 4 out of 5. Everything was very tasty, I had no complaints there. However, I felt like the repetition was even worse in this box that what it was previously- which is kind of a bummer. Also, while we did get a handful of items that included multiples, I noticed that all together the items/amount was pretty small. I guess it’s a give-and-take scenario?

Theme - 4 out of 5. Okay, so the theme was produce, meaning things like vegetables and fruits. There was about 5 items that didn’t meet what I consider to be produce items, but everything else fit like exactly. I kinda wish they gave us a different DIY though, because I can think of a couple that would have fit the theme.

Total Rank: 8 out of 10. Like last month I was satisfied with the box but it could have used some improvements too. Like...  kind of feel like we got traded Quantity for Quality. The Quality was fine (minus obliterated Umaibo), but there was a LOT of repeats, even though they were delicious. It’s come to my attention that the reason I might not be as satisfied with the box sometimes is because I see how unique Japan Crate is and wish we got more unique items. We do on rare occasion, but for the price of the box I kind of wish it was more consistent. I have liked the items though, so I can’t say it isn’t worth getting.

Also, as of late I’ve noticed they didn’t include a specifically noted health snack, so I’m beginning to wonder if they removed it.

♥ Cutie’s Scale of Yummy ♥

1. Pokemon Cookies - They pack a lot of flavor for being so small, I loved them and every single chewy soft bite~!

2. Teriyaki Burger Umaibo - I adore this, it never gets old!

3. Coca Cola Peach -  I think it tastes better than last time, but the aftertaste is a little unattractive. . .

4. Ramune Candy - I love snacking on these, especially if you need a sweet pick-me-up~

5. Pea Stick Snack - I love the bright green color, even if they aren’t the most attractive looking thing. They had a very strong taste.

6. Buttery Salted Sweet Potato Chips - They seem kind of average, but I love sweet potato chips so these were like a semi-upgraded version! I found them to be pretty addictive.

7. Curry Corn Snack - I wish there was more in the bag, these taste pretty good. They’re not spicy or anything, but they did make me think of the curry I’ve tried.

8. Look A La Mode - Very tasty, sweet but they weren’t overly, and I was impressed by how each one gave me a different experience. I was even impressed by the realistic banana taste.

9. Split Pea Snack - Tasty and I love how crispy they are. But I feel like they didn’t have much natural flavor like the other pea snack, just saltiness. 

10. Pineapple Gummies - I love pineapple, but pineapple candy I feel like I have to be in the mood for.

11. Chocolate Wafer - Initially I didn’t think much of it but the more I ate the better it was~

12. Bear Club Gummies - Average, but chewy gummy bears. I like gummies, but they just don’t offer anything.