Overview
I am currently going through publishing a backlog of these blog posts. There was an extended period on which I didn’t publish them due to not upgrading my blog plan for a while. I have also been sporadic with publishing these blog posts due to having a lot of work on for the neurodivergent social enterprise I create content for and preparing for an exciting new chapter of my life. I have also since cancelled my subscription (my last box was the July 2025 one) due to personal reasons.
As with the August 2024 box, this one didn’t seem to mark a particular occasion, although I love the autumnal design on the front of the leaflet.
This month’s leaflet included the following recipes:
- Yoghurt Parfait
- The Ultimate Gingerbread Latte
- Fajita Flatbread
- Hot Honey Halloumi Flatbread
In this month’s box, I received the following items:
Schär Gluten-Free Foldable Flatbreads
I have previously tried these flatbreads when I used them for my SimplyCook Chickpea Koftas.
When I cook them, they tend to go quite tough and chewy. I still like them for their versatility.
For the purpose of this blog post, I ate one flatbread with some lactose-free soft cheese, some mortadella and some salad. I did forget to sprinkle some water on top of the flatbread before heating it in the oven. Doing this might have made it more pliable, but I ate this flatbread like an open sandwich. I ate the flatbread in a different way from the flatbread recipes in the included leaflet.
I also received a flyer that included a coupon I probably didn’t use.
Rating: 7/10
Truly Nuts Almonds – Feeling Salty and Fired Up
I received 2 flavours of these: Feeling Salty and Fired Up. While I donated the Fired Up ones to a food donation point, I kept the Feeling Salty ones.
The Feeling Salty almonds had a good crunch and they lived up to their salty taste. They also had a rather unusual taste, probably because they were past their best before date when I tried them.
Rating: 7/10
Soul Fruit Crunchy Chips Jackfruit and Dragon Fruit
I had previously tried jackfruit in Pieminister’s Gluten Free Mooless Moo pie and I enjoyed it that way. This was initially a good enough reason to try the Soul Fruit Jackfruit Crunchy Chips.
The jackfruit chips were seemingly freeze-dried. Despite their interesting texture, they had the tendency to stick to my teeth. They also had an unusual taste that was a mixture of sickly sweet and bitter
I had already tried dragon fruit in a smoothie when I was on holiday in Spain with my family in 2022, so trying it in freeze-dried form sounded like an interesting concept.
The most intriguing aspect of the dragon fruit chips were that they came in both pink/purple and white colours. These chips had a more slightly sour and savoury-like taste, although they were not quite sweet enough.
Rating: 6/10 for the jackfruit chips, 7/10 for the dragon fruit chips.
Hippeas! Flavour Blast! Bohemian BBQ and Blazin’ Hot
I disposed of the Blazin’ Hot ones because they were damaged upon receipt. I complained to Love Free From about this and they offered to send a replacement, which I received later than expected. I probably donated the replacement pack.
I already like the original Hippeas barbecue flavour, so the Flavour Blast! version sounded more exciting.
The Flavour Blast! version tasted a bit different from barbecue flavoured savoury snacks. It had a slightly stronger flavour than the original barbecue Hippeas but it also had an unusual aftertaste.
Rating: 8/10
Acti-Vit Lemon, Lime & Orange
I already enjoy citrus fruit-flavoured drinks, so I was initially happy to try this.
When I poured this drink in a mug, it had a lovely citrus fruit aroma. It still had the citrus fruit taste but it also had a washing up liquid-like aftertaste.
Rating: 7/10
Sun & Seed Gluten Free & Organic Focaccia Mix – Rosemary & Thyme
This mix came in handy for when I ran out of gluten-free savoury bread. While it was easy to make, I got confused by the oven temperature on the packet because the stated fan oven temperature is higher than that of the conventional oven and fan oven temperatures are usually lower than conventional oven ones. I also got confused by the length of time to bake the focaccia for.
All I needed to add to the mix and the yeast sachet were lukewarm water, extra virgin olive oil and low-sodium salt. I also had to cover it with a tea towel and leave it to rise for at least an hour. I baked the focaccia in a loaf tin (rather than the 30cm x 20cm baking tray as suggested on the packet) for 45 minutes at 210 °C (20 degrees less than the conventional oven temperature). I added some extra oil and salt and let it cool down a bit for 15 minutes.
The focaccia turned out better than I expected it to. Despite its initially sticky inner texture, it was crispy on the outside and melt-in-the-mouth on the inside. Although it tasted quite salty and had an olive oil aftertaste, I could still taste the rosemary and thyme.
I first ate this focaccia while it was still warm with some homemade lentil and vegetable soup and lactose-free Cheddar cheese.
Another way I ate this focaccia was as a panini-style toasted sandwich with lactose-free Cheddar cheese and possibly gluten-free and dairy-free green pesto. I dipped this as well as a plain piece of toasted focaccia in a glass ramekin of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Rating: 8/10
Lexi’s Marshmallow & Puffed Rice Crispy Treat – Marshmallow Bliss (Now Lexi’s Excuses Vanilla Crispy Bars)
I was initially thrilled to receive a gluten-free version of the Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Squares (known as Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats in America) because the Kellogg’s version is not gluten-free as it contains barley. Not only is the Lexi’s version gluten-free, but it is also free from nuts and sesame, although it may contain traces of milk and soya.
The Lexi’s version of the rice cereal treat initially tasted quite similar to the original Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Squares as far as I remembered how the original tasted. I also thought the Lexi’s version tasted sweeter than the Kellogg’s version from what I could remember and had a similar texture.
In the summer of 2025, I ordered some more Lexi’s Marshmallow & Puffed Rice Crispy Treats (their new and current name) from the Lexi’s Excuses website and the packaging has since changed. Upon trying this bar again, it seemed to have had a sickly sweet aftertaste.
Rating: 8/10 originally, 7/10 the second time around
Pep & Lekker Cacao & Coconut Baked Seed Snack Bites
These reminded me of the dark chocolate coconut chips I used to be able to buy in Primark several years ago when I first saw them.
Upon trying them, I was disappointed because they didn’t taste that much of cacao/cocoa, chocolate or coconut. Instead, they tasted unusually bitter with a salty aftertaste. The texture was still decent.
Rating: 5/10
Yau’s Nut Free Thai Satay Sauce
I already enjoy satay sauce that is traditionally made with peanuts (I’m not allergic to nuts), so a nut-free version sounded very innovative.
I used some of the sauce to make a chicken satay curry (I used this recipe for inspiration) that I ate with microwave brown rice with added lime zest and dried coriander leaf, homemade raita and mango chutney). The curry was spicier than expected (I put it down to adding the marinating spices as stated in the recipe), so I added some smooth peanut butter to make it milder.
The second time I made this curry, I used slightly different ingredients and I added smooth peanut butter and tinned coconut milk. While the second batch was milder than the first, it tasted quite sickly.
The flyer included a recipe for Satay skewers and a discount code to get 12% off a customer’s first purchase.
Rating: 7/10 originally, 8/10 for the first batch with the smooth peanut butter added, 7/10 for the second batch.
The Skinny Food Co. Barista Shots Gingerbread Flavour
I also donated this product to a food donation point because I was worried that it would have a sickly sweet aftertaste like other The Skinny Food Co. Products I had tried in the past.
O3 Omega Omega 3 DHA + MCT Smoothie Vanilla Fudge
This is another product I donated due to not liking the O3 Omega Omega 3 DHA + MCT Smoothie Not Peanut Butter & Jelly I received in the June 2024 box.
Olsson Scandinavian Hair Products Flyer
Upon receiving this flyer, I was surprised to see there was a brand oof gluten-free haircare and styling products. It even made me question if any of the hair products I use contain gluten.
I didn’t get around to using the discount code to get 25% off. I even considered purchasing some Olsson Scandinavian hair products at the 2025 Allergy & Free From Show but after having seen how expensive they were, I passed.
Final Verdict
This is yet another box where most of the products were above average. My favourites were the Sun & Seed Gluten Free & Organic Focaccia Mix – Rosemary & Thyme and the original Lexi’s Marshmallow & Puffed Rice Crispy Treat – Marshmallow Bliss while my least favourites were the Pep & Lekker Cacao & Coconut Baked Seed Snack Bites.
Overall rating: 95/140
I have also filmed an unboxing video for this month’s box. I will embed it here when I get the chance to edit it and upload it.
Disclaimers
This is not a sponsored blog post. All opinions expressed are my own.
All photography is my own.
List of brands and products included in the September 2024 box
Schär Gluten-Free Foldable Flatbreads
Truly Nuts Almonds – Feeling Salty (The Fired Up ones seem to be currently unavailable from online retailers)
Acti-Vit Lemon, Lime & Orange (The packaging has since changed)
Sun & Seed Gluten Free & Organic Focaccia Mix – Rosemary & Thyme
Pep & Lekker (The Cacao & Coconut Baked Seed Snack Bites are currently not listed on their official website and out of stock on other websites)
Yau’s Nut Free Thai Satay Sauce
The Skinny Food Co. Barista Shots Gingerbread Flavour (The packaging has since changed)
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