Paleo By Maileo is a snack and food box for those who follow the Paleo diet. The Paleo diet, in a nutshell, is high in fat, fruits, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, refined sugars, and dairy. Of course, it's more complex than that, so I recommend doing your own research if you're interested in trying the Paleo diet.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: Paleo By Maileo
The Cost: $39.00 per box + free shipping
ACTIVE DEAL: Save $5 off your first month-to-month box!
CODE: SNACKATTACK
The Products: 5-8 Paleo snacks and food items each month.
Ships to: US and APO only
Check out all of our Paleo By Maileo reviews and visit the Food Subscription Box Directory to learn about more healthy snack subscription boxes!
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Same as last month, this card offers a great introduction to the Paleo By Maileo box. Whether subscribers have signed up for this box due to dietary restrictions or simple preferences, it's wonderfully reassuring to have written confirmation that their needs are being met. For me, I don't follow a strict Paleo diet, but I did try it for a spell, and I do still work Paleo recipes into my rotation regularly.
Note: Part of the reason the Paleo diet didn't work for me was because of how meat-heavy it is. I do eat and enjoy meat—preferably local and/or grass-fed, which is consistent with the Paleo guidelines—but I'm a real veggie-lover, so it feels more natural and satisfying for me for plants to make up a larger part of my diet. For the sake of a range of opinions and a fair review, I asked my husband, Guy, to join me in trying all the food items in this box again. In particular, he was able to provide a more experienced opinion surrounding some of the meat products.
Dark Chocolate Espresso PaleoKrunch Bar, 1.5oz. — Retail Value $2.95
This PaleoKrunch bar was an A+ way to begin eating my way through November's Paleo By Maileo box! One million yum's. Like the package says, it's a dark chocolate, espresso, grainless granola bar—a.k.a. perfection. There was a similar product in last month's box, which I also loved, but this one was even better...maybe because it tasted chocolatey-er.
It definitely does have a little crunch to it, which is just delightful. Almost like a crackle, if you will. After that initial bite-down, this is a soft and chewy bar with that deliciously bitter aftertaste that dark chocolate offers. It's a pretty filling snack, too!
Pure7 Organic Salted Almond Dark Chocolate Bar, 2.2oz. — Retail Value $6.99
Okay, my eyes popped out of my head when I saw this chocolate bar in my box. The timeless wrapper design, the "sweetened only with honey!", the salted almond flavor, ughhh this is my spirit food. Even when Guy and I go stints of giving up desserts, we still allow ourselves small bites of dark chocolate (75% cacao or higher) to satiate our sweet tooth in a 'healthy' way and keep our cravings at bay. So, this honey-sweetened choco bar is speakin' our language!
Alert: notice how there are no pre-defined squares to this bar. That means it's a choose-your-own size type of situation. *Obviously* we got carried away, but one bar equals two servings, so we didn't feel too guilty. Flavor-wise, this chocolate's subtle, natural sweetener keeps things pretty bitter. In a very, very good way.
When you flip it over, you can see the almonds and sea salt sprinkled throughout. They provide a little crunch and an awesome flavor. I will absolutely, positively be buying more of this chocolate, and exploring some of the brand's other flavors (which are sold on the Paleo By Maileo website)!
MuffinElse Double Chocolate Muffin Mix, 1.3 oz. — Retail Value $3.29
This mug muffin is the cutest idea! Here is where I confess that I've definitely made a decent amount of the not-healthy-kinds of mug muffin, cookies, and brownies in my day—the kinds where you're mixing heaps of butter and flour and white sugar into that mug and trying to forget about what you've just done during the 60 seconds that it takes to 'bake' in the microwave so you can actually enjoy it when it comes out. This MuffinElse Paleo version is the answer to those dark moments. All you have to do is add water and pop it in the micro for 90 seconds.
Notice the little peachy word bubble that recommends adding a chunk of high-quality dark chocolate to the bottom of the mug so you get a molten lava center. If a genie appeared and offered to grant me one wish right now, it would be to go back in time and notice this note prior to making my mug muffin. Oh, how I yearn to have experienced that molten center with the Pure7 chocolate I just got. Words cannot express. (But don't get me wrong, it was still awesome without.)
Here's what the powder looks like poured into the mug.
And, here's a steamy-fresh photo of the just-baked muffin. You bet I burned my mouth on it trying to take an immediate bite! Guy slyly entered the scene a few minutes later and gobbled up the rest. Can't blame the dude, it was a delicious snack. While the package touts this muffin as "double chocolate," we both beg to differ. We couldn't quite put our finger on what the flavor was, but maybe sort of bran-ish? Not a super rich flavor, but it totally worked. I might have to buy a few of these packets to keep on hand when I have that urge again.
Primal Kitchen Macadamia Sea Salt Bar, 1.7 oz. — Retail Value $2.99
This is a really unique-tasting granola bar. I'm not sure if it's because I've only ever had macadamia nuts a few times and I'm not super familiar with their flavor, or if there's another ingredient in there that's making this one a standout. I was really struck by the claim of "grass-fed collagen" on the front of the package. I hadn't the slightest clue what that meant, but I've seen health food bloggers talk about collagen supplements a ton lately. Well, according to the internet, it's "a natural beef gelatin." I'm promptly trying to erase that image from my mind so I can go on enjoying life.
I can at times be a pretty squeamish eater, so until I can wrap my head around the idea of eating collagen, I passed this bar (which looks totally normal and is actually very delicious) over to Guy to enjoy. And, he did! To him, it tasted like a regular ol' yummy granola bar. It was a bit sticky, but nothing that couldn't be avoided by opening its wrapper strategically.
Bilton Original Grass-Fed Dried Beef, 2 oz. — Retail Value $7.99
What would a Paleo diet be without a little jerky? This package had a really great pepper-y smell when we opened it, so we were excited to dig in. And, it's resealable, yay!
The back of the bag advertises that this jerky is dried with air instead of heat so that it stays more tender than traditional jerky. Maybe it was power of suggestion, but Guy totally agreed that it was very tender.
The flavor has an awesome spice to it. Not hot-spicy, but more like pepper-spicy, consistent with the smell. Two thumbs up!
Supernola Power Pineapple Granola, 2.5 oz. — Retail Value $3.99
We are a granola family—we can't keep it around the house because it's gobbled up on the same day that it was purchased, every time. And it ain't me doing the devouring. That's why I declare this Supernola pineapple granola the first addition to my secret stash. It won't come as a surprise to anyone that I'm pickier about my granola (read: my everything) than Guy is, so when I find one I like, I've gotta hang onto it and spread it out over a few days!
What I like so much about this granola is that it's not overly sweet, which I find to be rare for a fruit-themed snack, and that it has some sea salt throughout. It's extremely sticky and left me picking at my teeth for a few minutes, but it was a few minutes that kept the good flavor goin'!
Bacon's Heir Garlic Thyme Pork Clouds, 0.7 oz. — Retail Value $1.75
I've never been able to bring myself to eat pork rinds for the same reason that I couldn't get the collagen down. My all-time favorite seasoning is thyme (I have a sprig tattooed on my arm!), but my love for thyme wasn't enough to override my confusion about pork rinds. So, this last snack was a Guy snack. He was into it!
Guy's report is that these pork clouds seemed more "substantial" than your typical rinds and that the garlic/thyme flavor was rather subtle. He ate a few before meeting with a client and didn't feel as though said client would be offended by his breath. So, there ya have it!
Verdict: Yet again, I'm enthusiastically in support of the Paleo By Maileo box! Every snack was an awesome, healthy adventure, and November's box opened my world up to a few treats on which I plan to stock up. Like last month, the contents of this box added up to about $30 or an average of $3.75 per item, which is a little shy of the $39 cost (including shipping) of the subscription. But, again, I feel the time and effort the subscription saves me from finding and shopping for these specialized, high-quality products completely makes up for the value difference. I love the curation of the Paleo By Maileo box and will be waiting with bated breath for next month's delivery!
What did you think of the food items in this month's Paleo By Maileo box?
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