I am sure that I have spent more work hours at home in the last twelve months than in the previous few years combined. We’re all in that same boat – though things are starting to look a bit sunnier – and a whole lot of us are feeling stress, anxiety, and frustration at the situation. As a college course instructor and parent of two undergraduates, I’m also quite aware of what a strange moment it is for that age group too. Many 18-22-year-olds are living in the dorms or in college housing, but in solo rooms and with very limited social opportunities.
Suffice to say, when the Care Crate Company reached out and shared information about their fun Personal Care Kit box of personal care items and snacky foods, I was intrigued. With the right mix of things, it really could be the perfect gift for a stressed-out child or friend. The Personal Care Kit includes more than 70 food and personal care items, including 10 microwaveable meals along with personal healthcare items including face masks, a first aid kit, and disinfectant wipes. And lots of snacks and treats.
But we hit a snag: I wanted to get a Kit for my kids to enjoy, but while they love their snacks, my daughter is also a vegan, so any meat products were out. They aren’t big fans of microwaved snacks either (no Top Ramen for them, thanks very much!)
Fortunately, the company has an impressive variety of options and crates with content ranging from a microwave’s best friend to, yes, a vegetarian-friendly box. The two that caught my eye were their Healthy Care Package and the Gluten Free Dairy Free Vegan Care Package. After careful contemplation, we opted for the Healthy Care Package and that’s what we got, albeit a bit scuffed up from transit:
It’s not about the box, of course, though there is a fun sort of anticipation from receipt of a box like this, and you can imagine a child in a college dorm getting this very box and being eager to pop it open!
And when they do pop it open, it’s immediately obvious what’s inside:
Basically, snack nirvana.
I closed it up again and then invited my daughter Ashley and her boyfriend Dylan to open it up, without explaining what was inside. They were delighted:
It was a matter of seconds before everything was dumped onto the counter for a full and proper assessment:
That’s a lot of great – and healthy – snacks, though I have to admit that the Planters Peanuts gave me a nostalgic flashback to being on a plane flight and getting something quite similar as a snack. Ahhh, I miss travel right now. But that’s another story!
I asked each to rummage through and identify their favorites. Ashley immediately honed in on the Nature Valley granola bars and Nature’s Bakery Fig Bars, while Dylan, well, he went a bit old school:
Those are Stretch Island Fruit Leather. My favorite out of the batch? BBQ Corn Nuts. Quite delicious!
These are really fun gifts to get for yourself, your children living far from home, or even employees or a friend who is feeling the stress of today’s strange, socially distanced world. Are they cost-effective? You might be surprised, actually. This box of 40 healthy snacks is priced at $37.99 with free economy shipping. More importantly, these boxes of goodies are really fun. Go, check out their site, and I bet you’ll even find one that you’d love to have appear on your doorstep: The Care Crate Co.
And us? We’re going back to arguing over who gets to monopolize which treats! 😁
Disclosure: The Care Crate Company sent us the Healthy Care Package for free in return for this write-up. Thanks!