LifeBox

LifeBox is a monthly collection of natural snacks, drinks and ingredients to support a healthy lifestyle. All items in the Lifebox Classic are vegan, and gluten and dairy free. It costs from £22.95 per month, including postage.

This box is the Energy version, which is designed to support activity and recovery for both men & women. There might be occasional items which are not vegan in this version of the box, but it’s very rare.

The box comes inside regular cardboard shipping box, to give it a little extra protection.

Inside there’s a lovely recipe booklet. As a rule, at least one of the recipes will use an item from the box, though they’re all great recipes, especially if you’re exploring a more plant-based lifestyle.

The menu card shows you everything that’s inside.

Aqua Libra Infused Sparkling Water. I remember the original Aqua Libra from childhood, and it was delicious. This is now a different drink with the same name, but it’s still very nice. There are three different flavours available, and this is the raspberry and apple. The flavour is quite subtle, but there’s no added sugar or sweeteners, and it’s virtually calorie free. It’s a great alternative to regular or diet fizzy drinks.

A Bounce Protein Energy Ball is a very handy snack to have around! It’s got a great it of protein – 10g – and this dark chocolate version isn’t too sweet either.

Deliciously Ella products are everywhere now, and this Fruit & Nut Muesli Pot is perfect when you are going to have breakfast away from home. You simply add milk, or even yogurt, to the pot, stir, and there you have it! It’s relatively high in calories and carbs even without milk, but it’s got a good level of protein, and it should keep you going through the morning. All the packaging is recyclable too.

Drink Me Chai Turmeric Latte represents another very popular drink, the turmeric latte. The health benefits of turmeric are pretty well known now, and this is a lovely way to take it. It contains just turmeric, coconut milk powder, pepper, and cinnamon. It’s vegan if you mix it with plant/nut milk, or you can use regular dairy milk for a hot or cold drink. It’s unsweetened, so there’s always the option to add a little honey or sugar for a sweeter taste, but it’s a great drink, especially for bedtime.

Hilbilby Fire Tonic is a completely new thing for me, so I had to go to Google to find out what it is. Apparently Fire Tonic or Fire Cider is an old folk remedy for colds, sickness, and general immune boosting. It’s made from raw apple cider vinegar which is infused with a while lot of spicy things. You drink it neat (not all the pouch at once though!) or you can mix it in other drinks or even use as salad dressing. I was slightly apprehensive, but it actually tastes pretty good, sharp and spicy. I can’t say for sure if it actually works, but it definitely peps you up, and I suspect it would make quite a good hangover treatment too!

Another handy snack, Mani Exotic Crunch is a pleasing mix of dried fruit and nuts. All organic, and no extra garbage ingredients.

These are two little sample packs from Navatias, one of Organic Goji Berries and one of Organice Maca Powder.

Goji berries make a nice little snack, or an alternative to raisins in baking or muesli. Maca powder is known as one of those general ‘superfoods’ which is good for you and can be added to pretty much anything. How about some in your turmeric latte?

One more sample, Nourish by Naomi Superfood Energy Blend. This is a serving of a blend of various ingredients intended to give you a boost of energy and nutrition. As it happens, one of the ingredients is maca!

Nucao Hazelnut Chocolate Bar is a raw chocolate bar, so it tastes a little different to the kind of chocolate you might be used to. It’s refined sugar free, it’s not too sweet, and the hazelnuts give it a nice texture. While its calorie level is around the same as a regular chocolate bar, this is much lower in sugar plus has a ton of good nutrition. It’s still a treat but definitely the healthy choice! As a bonus, the cardboard packaging is recyclable, and the plastic wrapping on the bar can be put directly into your compost.

I find bars incredibly useful to carry around with me and keep in the car, and here are two Rude Health bars. I’ve got a Peanut Crunch, which are lovely peanuts mixed with honey and a few extra seeds, and a Sesame Crunch, sesame seeds and others, plus honey again. Crunchy and satisfying, and organic!

I’ve never seen a snack in a tin! These are Satisfied Snacks Tomato & Feta Roughs which apparently are not crisps or crackers, which is why they’re called Roughs. They are crunchy like crisps but instead they are a mix of vegetables which are somehow dried into lovely crispy snacks. It does sound a little peculiar, but as apparently there’s one serving of your 5 a day in each can, it’s a nice way to get a little extra veg in your diet. Also, they are entirely plastic free, and the can can be recycled over and over.

The last bar this month is a Tribe Natural Oat Bar. It’s definitely an energy bar, at over 200 calories per bar, but it’s still lower in sugar than your average energy bar. It contains lots of oats, so slow release energy is key rather than a huge sugar hit. A great bar for extra busy days!

Finally, a Vahdam Tea Variety Pack.

It contains a huge variety of teas. Tea is very nice, and it’s great to have all this choice, but one of the best things about this company is that it is seriously ethical. They source tea friectly from plantations, process it, and ship it directly to companies. No middlemen makes for much fresher tea and much better conditions for the people who produce the tea. The tea itself is also very nice!

I’m pleased to discover new products this month, especially the Fire Tonic. It’s also great to have some more turmeric latte, after the sachets a couple of months ago, and there’s also a really good selection of usefully portable bars.

The recipe booklet is a fantastic bonus, and should help you build up an impressive selection of healthy and usually vegan recipes!