Thank you to Mantry for providing me with product, free of charge, in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions shared are my own.

My guy loves to get into the kitchen and get cooking, though he doesn't always have a lot of time. We used to love to cook together, pre-parenthood, but now our loves sort of run in different directions (especially this time of year). It's a rarity, but every now and then, hubby finds himself home alone for a night or a weekend, and as you can imagine, has to fend for himself. Though it's never a problem, and he can cook his own meals well enough, I know he'd rather do what's easy than make a big mess.

The Mantry Company has been making it easier than ever for guys to have what they need for some great meals at home, and awesome snacks, too! Mantry is the leading Food-of-the-Month club for men in North America.

The definitive destination for modern men looking to discover American artisan food and how to cook and entertain with it, Mantry is an engaging food lifestyle resource. With an exacting filter and relevant voice that aims to inform and inspire, Mantry delivers remarkable products, stories and food experiences today’s man can appreciate, enjoy and share. Mantry gives guys access to Artisan foods from around the world, and at the same time, allows those artisans to get their products into the hands of many others- it's a win-win.

We were excited to partner up with Mantry for the holiday season, and to be able to get an inside look at just what they package into their crates. 

First off, I noticed the crate... which is an actual wooden crate, and I believe probably attributes to the cost of this subscription.

Hand made in the USA, every Mantry ships in our signature wooden crate. Complete with prohibition era style wood burn, this handsome crate will be a great conversation starter in any home. Oh, and you can put stuff in it too. I think it's cool that the crate is ready for gifting. All you have to do is stick a bow on it, or some baker's twine, and slip it under the tree... and it's ready to go. 

Our Mantry box was filled with Mantry Street Food, and offered a variety of different street foods and snacks.

I opened up the create, and was excited to see so man different and interesting food products.

Most all of the items were wrapped, or protected by plastic bubble wrap inside of the crate, which I appreciated. At $75.00 a crate, you don't want to wind up with smushed or broken products. In total, there were six items in the crate, along with the Mantry Guide. The Guide contained information about the particular items in the crate.

Looks like a pretty neat combination of treats, and the guide was very colorful, filled with info about these cool foods from around the world.

First up, the Lemon Ginger Almonds with Herbs de Provence.

Hmm... I love lemon, sort of like ginger, and I do love Herbs de Provence. This was a very interesting flavor combination. The lemon balanced out the bite from the ginger, and the herbs just gave this an overall savory flavor. I don't know that I would want to sit down and snack on it. My hubby doesn't like lemon favored things, but he does like ginger and did give these a try. He said they ginger really came though and gave a nice flavor to the almonds. These would be great to put out for a gathering or dude's night.

Lawless Beef Jerky.

Okay, now this wasn't your typical beef jerky. First of all, this jerky is made from grass fed beef, and if that's a flavor you're not used to, your jerky is going to taste a bit different. We've been buying grass fed beef for a while now, and it's a much healthier, cleaner tasting meat. Since we happen to like grass fed beef, we were really interested in trying this out. This jerky was a Pho jerky, which is to me, in its very own jerky category. It was a strong Asian inspired flavor that I didn't quite care for, and neither did my husband... but just because we didn't love it, doesn't mean that others won't.

Hot sauce... oh, yeah!

We like spicy! We're not super big on using hot sauces, but our brother-in-law is! We decided that we wanted to save this Vermont Maple Sriracha Verde Hot Sauce for him, for Christmas. It's a great size for a stocking or a little gift- perfect for the hot sauce lover!

Salty Road's Salty Mango Lassi Salt Water Taffy.

Being from NJ, I grew up on Salt Water Taffy. It's one of those Jersey Shore/Boardwalk staples, and now when we go back up there to visit, we always try to bring back a box of taffy. Many beach cities and towns have their own taffy, too- but they're not like this! This taffy is out of this world! I knew this taffy was mine, because it's mango flavored, and hubby doesn't like mango. It's made from real mango puree, so it's super light and creamy, with a hint of saltiness. It's a yummy treat!

We also received Masala Pop popcorn.

The masala spices on this popcorn were interesting. We like popcorn- a lot, but don't usually go for flavored popcorn. The eastern spices gave this popcorn big flavor- and the popcorn is actually lentil chips, which weirded my hubby out. I was glad that I could share this with my mom and dad!

Balsamic Nectar

I was excite to receive the Balsamic Nectar, and couldn't wait to try it on a fresh bed of greens for a salad! I love a sweet, tangy, yummy balsamic as a dressing on a salad. This went perfectly with spinach and chicken, tossed with tomatoes and olives. I can't wait to try it out with some yummy Feta cheese crumbled on top, once I am no longer pregnant.