Home Comforts Degustabox

 Degustabox is a monthly food and drink subscription box. It's an excellent way of discovering new products which have only just appeared in the shops, or those which have been around for a while, but you haven't had a chance to try them yet.

Thanks to Degustabox, I have found new favourites to add to our shopping list, including some products which I otherwise wouldn't have tried.

Each time a monthly box arrives, its contents are a total surprise. You get a good selection of foods and drinks.

If you haven't tried Degustabox subscription box yet, and would like to have a go, I have a £3off discount from your first box (and you can unsubscribe any time), just use code DKRLN when placing an order. 

What did we get in the Home Comforts Degustabox box?

Aqua Libra Infused Sparkling Water Blood Orange & Mango/Cucumber, Mint & Lime (£1.15) is a lovely, refreshing summery drink.

Available in three tasty flavours. You will find two items in your box. 

Contains no sweeteners, no sugar, no artificials. Best enjoyed chilled.

Nutritional values: 1 kcal per 100ml.

Available in single 330ml cans and multipacks of 4 cans in all major supermarkets.

B.INK Red Blend (£2.50 for 187ml bottle) is a rich and full-bodied red wine, with flavours of dark chocolate coated raspberries, with gentle oak.

Contemporary and bold in style, this lovely Australian wine is carbon neutral certified.

Typical values: 86kcal per 100ml.

Serve a glass with a cheese board, with fresh figs, grapes and salted nuts.

This is a sample size, and not available for sale. The 750ml bottle is available at ASDA, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury's for £9.

Simply Roasted Sea Salt crisps (£1.19 for 21.5g pack) are made with real sliced potatoes. They are triple roasted and never deep fried, so that you get a satisfying crunch and a superior taste, and less calories, fat and salt.

These are vegan crisps, made with all natural ingredients

Typical values: 50% less fat, 94kcal and 0.16g of salt in a 21.5g pack.

Available at Waitrose, Ocado, WHSmith, Whole Foods Market, on Amazon and simplyroasted.co.uk.

Bio & Me Super Seedy & Nutty Gut-Loving Porridge Pot (£1.50) is based on a recipe, created by Dr M. Rossi, known as the Gut Health Doctor. 

This is a prebiotic porridge with 14 plant-based foods, like almonds, hazelnuts, chia seeds, linseeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and more. Just add boiling water, leave to stand/cook for 3 minutes, stir and enjoy.

Nutritional information: 240kcal and 9.7g of sugar per 158g serving.

Available on the Bio & Me website, Amazon and Boots.

Nescafe Azera Americano (£3.60) is a super premium barista-inspired instant coffee. 

Rich and smooth, this is a blend of instant coffee and finely ground roasted beans. If you enjoy coffee-based desserts, try Azera Americano as an ingredient in a luxurious Tiramisu.

Available in all major supermarket chains.

Coffee and KitKat go nicely together. Every time I have a KitKat, I think of my late friend who insisted that dunking KitKats into a cup of coffee brings out the best flavour of it. While I don't like dunking anything in my coffee, I think my friend would have enjoyed trying this new Caramel flavour.

KitKat 2 finger Caramel (£1.99 for 9x20.7g) is the latest addition to the classic range. Made with sustainably sourced cocoa and Rainforest Alliance certified, these chocolate bars are ever so handy to carry in a bag, whenever you're feeling peckish. In fact, we enjoyed it on the train to London, it was just the right amount to stave off the sweet craving.

You get the same crispy wafer biscuits, covered with smooth caramel flavoured milk chocolate.

Typical values: 103kcal and 10.2g of sugar per 2 finger bar.

Available in all major supermarket chains and retailers.

Heinz Plant-based tomato soup (£1.70) is finally here. This is a variation on an iconic tomato soup, minus milk.

Ingredients include tomatoes, fermented soy, modified cornflour, sugar, rapeseed oil etc. The classic version has dairy milk, which has been removed from this vegan variant. You can taste the difference if you compare the two, but if you follow the plant-based diet, this soup has a rich satisfying taste.

A good base for curry sauces, casseroles or pasta dishes.

Available at online retailers and other major stores.

Heinz Beanz and Vegan Sausages (£2) is another plant-based product from the iconic brand. 

Vegan sausages are made with wheat protein, rapeseed oil, potato starch, wheat starch, stabiliser, natural flavourings, yeast extract, salt, sage, spices etc.

Typical values: 192kcal and 9.1g of sugar per 1/2 can.

Use as a topping for a jacket potato, or serve with scrambled eggs (if you're not a vegan) and fried mushrooms.

Available online and all major retailers.

Zest Vegan Pasta Sauces (£2.99) is a new range of plant-based pasta sauces, gluten free and soy free.

You should receive one item of two in your box. We got Vegan Spinach Mushroom & Ric***a sauce with lentil protein.

Let me just say, I am not a fan of this trend of writing dairy words with punctuation symbols. It makes you think of swear words on certain forums. I prefer proper names for products, none of that M!lk or ric***a. Just say coconut-based product or something else. Please!

A handy product to keep in the pantry, for when you fancy a quick and easy pasta meal.

Nutritional information: 103kcal and 3.9g of sugar per 100g.

Available at Ocado, Morrisons, on Amazon and www.zest.com.

Very Lazy Chilli Boosts (£3) is a range of oil-based condiments, blended with chillies. 

You should receive one of two items in your box. We've got a Very Lazy Smokey Chilli Boost Medium, which is a mix of dried chillies, garlic, red pepper, smoked chillies with smoked paprika in balsamic vinegar and oil. 

You only need a little amount to jazz up a pasta or rice dish. It could also be added to pizza, hummus, and used a dip, swirled into a thick Greek yogurt.

Typical values: 630kcal and 6.5g of sugar per 100g. 

Available at Tesco.

And finally, the Product of the Month, the latest Tilda rice product. We are very fond of Tilda, both raw and pre-cooked ranges. My younger son loves Tilda Masala rice, while I prefer the Coconut one.

Tilda Golden Vegetable rice (£1.54) is the latest addition to the range. This is an all-time family favourite combining long grain rice, carrots, sweetcorn and peas (21% vegetables) - a lovely side dish to roasted fish, chicken, or fried halloumi.

Perfect with halloumi, courgette and cherry tomato skewers, also great with prawns or chicken skewers

Typical values: 164kcal and 0.71g of salt per 125g, nothing artificial, vegetarian and vegan, gluten free.

Available at Sainsbury's, Tesco and Ocado.

What is your favourite product from the latest Degustabox?