January Foodie Penpal Reveal

I am a little late posting this as I was debating what I wanted to do as I have the unfortunate experience of being one of those participants who foodie penpal went MIA and unfortunately did not receive a package this month. I just have to say that it was not a pleasant experience knowing that I worked hard to put together a package for my foodie penpal and then did not get the joy that usually accompanies this program, you know the feeling like when it's christmas and you get to open all your presents. I will say this was of absolutely not fault but my foodie penpals. Lindsay did what she could to try and get in touch with them but like me had no luck. So Since I have no reveal and Amy who I sent a package to does not have a blog I am going to share her thoughts on her package. I hope that is allowed.

Amy was fantastic, when I emailed her asking about her diet and likes/dislikes she got right back to me. She told me she and her family try very hard to adhere to being vegan. I am not vegan and had never put together a vegan but I took this challenge and made it my mission to make sure everything fit within her life style. She was even nice enough to get her package a little bit later than usual as I was away until January 17th but made sure she got it within plenty of time.

Here is what she had to say about it:

Thank you so much for the box of delicious food.  I'm eating some dark chocolate as I write this.  We have had so much fun trying new things.  My kids (I have 7 children ages 7 mo - 12) were enthralled with the coconut and plantains.  They were curious about the seaweed and had fun trying to get each other to eat it.  Today for lunch I broke out the chips and salsa.  I have never had tomato-free salsa and I must say, we all loved it!  Especially my husband.  This is a high compliment coming from him.  He grows heirloom tomatoes and we've lived in Mexico off and on over the years so he is picky about his salsa.  It was delicious.  We have enjoyed everything. 

Your thoughtfulness did not go unnoticed by my daughter Hannah who commented, with delight, "We can eat all this stuff.  It's all vegan, isn't it!"  I must admit I plucked out the chocolate and the kids don't know it was ever in there.  Just a little something for mommy. :)

I love Trader Joe's.  I lived in Ohio and would drive an hour to Cincinnati to shop.  We just got one in Utah and, again, it's an hour drive.  I haven't made the trek but your box of goodies have tempted me to make it a priority.

Thanks again, Alyson.  You made this such an enjoyable experience from your first upbeat, inquisitive email to this gorgeous box of food. 

Your friend,

Amy

I was so thrilled that not only Amy enjoyed it but that she also got to share it with her family. This is what Foodie penpals is usually like and I can't wait for February's package! Here is the info for those of you that would like to take part in March's program:

• On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
• You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
• The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
• You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
• Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
• Foodie Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa.

If you’re from the US or Canada and are in participating for November, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by March 4th as pairings will be emailed on March 5th!

*If you’re from Europe, please CLICK HERE to signup.

Hope you go out and find your own adventure,
Aly

September Foodie Penpal Reveal

This month my foodie penpal was Sara from Sarathlete. She did a fantastic job of putting together a great package for me. It's funny because when I opened the box it was all covered/wrapped with purple tissue paper...

my first thought was 'oh I love it.' my second thought was 'I don't remember telling Sara purple was my favorite color.' Then I went back and checked out her blog again which has lots of purple and so I came to the conclusion that it just so happens that we both like purple. But it was a nice surprise in the box none the less and made me even more excited to see what was under it.

The first thing I spied were theses.

 I am a huge fan of Trader Joe's but I had never had theses so I couldn't wait to try them. I LOVE CHOCOLATE! Of course as soon as I ate them I was in love. The funny thing is that my husband is now just as excited about foodie penpal boxes as I am and he does not like chocolate. However I am pretty sure he ended up eating more of these than I did. (yea they are that good)

Next thing I took out was...

mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups! my two favorite things all together. There was only one problem (sort of) you would think that at this point sending anything like this to the New England area in September the likely hood of anything melting would be pretty small however something happened and they were all melted together. But have no fear that did not stop me! I ate the whole package anyway. Don't worry not all at once. Even all squished together they were still delicious!! Definitely something I will be getting again.

Then I took this out...

The cocoa almond butter from Trader Joe's is one of my favorite chocolate flavored nut butters out there. I love to use it in the morning with my breakfast. This couldn't have come at a better time because I just finished the jar I had and was in need of some more!

Now I was getting to the last few things in the box and the next thing that caught my eye was...

Trader Joe's peanut butter chewy coated & drizzled granola bars. I was so excited to see these for three reasons. First because I LOVE peanut butter. Second because I really like granola bars and I like trying new ones. And third because I like to have little snacks with me and these would be perfect. I have to admit I am always a little weary of sending a whole box of something in case they don't like it. However Sara was right on the money sending the whole thing because they are delicious and I still have some left even after using them for snack while at work. This was a great find!!

The last thing I pulled out of the box was...

GHIRARDELLI! It is hard for me to find a Ghirardelli chocolate that I don't like. It takes some getting used to for me to like the dark chocolates so I am working on these but I am sure they will be delicious.

One of the cool things Sara does is in every foodie penpal box she sends she puts in one thing that is vegan but she doesn't tell you which one it is, she asks that you guess. Well I was very thorough and really study all the ingredients of each thing she sent me. When I was sure that I had the right thing I emailed her back and told her that I thought the Ghirardelli chocolates were vegan. As it turns out I was correct! It is always good to know about new things that are vegan. Although I am not vegan I try to be as educated as possible so that I am sending people things they can eat.

As I am writing this and looking back on everything I got I see the theme Sara was going for Chocolate and Nut Butter. I approve this theme 100%.

Thank you again Sara you did a fantastic job and I have enjoyed everything! And of course thank you to Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean for putting this whole program together and managing everything too!

Now, after reading that don’t you want a penpal of your own?! Here are the details!

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re interested in participating for September, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by October 4th as pairings will be emailed on October 5th!
*If you’re from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I’ll see if we get enough interest this month!

August Foodie Penpal Reveal!

Oh where to even begin! My Foodie Penpal this month was Emilie from Scarborough Food Fair. I was overly excited before my package even arrived when I found out the Emilie was actually living in Boston which is basically my neighbor! But she is originally from Missouri which I think is fantastic! Then my foodie package arrived and I really can't thank Emilie enough. Everything was exactly what I told her I liked and didn't like she took very good care of me. And of course thanks to Lindsay over at the lean green bean for creating and sustaining such a fantastic program!

So now on to the fun part revealing all my delicous goodies!

 One of the best things about the package was that Emilie not only sent me a little note but she included a note on everything she sent me! The first thing that I pulled out of the box was...

Kale chips! Not just any kale chips but ranch flavored too. I must say that this was a first for me I have never had kale chips so I of course had to open them immediately and try them. I am not a big fan of ranch in general but these were tasty. The down side was that my husband ended up stealing the bag and finishing them all up on me so I guess you could say he liked them too.

Next out came...

mango chips! Now don;t be fooled these are not what you would normally think of mango chips instead of being sweet they are more savory. I actually dove into these while watching TV that night they were yummy and a lot healthier than a normal couch snack.

I of course had to get into...

these cookies next. They were exactly what I love whole grain, dried fruit and sweet! Although I prefer soft cookies and these were crunchy the taste was still amazing. I had to make sure I put them right into the cookie jar so I didn't just sit and eat them all!

The next thing was something that I couldn't wait to try because it combined two of my favorite things, chocolate and banana!

I saved this little jem for a few days later as a pick me up right before a workout. It went beyond on my expectations, not only was it delicious but it gave me enough energy to do a swim and bike workout! YUM!

I had told Emilie how much I love chocolate but that I was also trying to stay on the healthy side. She found this...

it was great to fulfill that chocolate craving while it only being 100 calories. This was a fantastic treat!

I loved that Emilie sent me a few things that were not food related. One of them was a lip balm!

I was a little nervous that it was a smoked salt lip balm but it is actually wonderful. I carry it in my purse with me all the time now!

The other thing she sent me was a copy of her boyfriends CD.

Although I am not a huge fan of folk music the very next day on my way to work I popped the CD in the car and listened all way there and then on the way home as well. There were some things I liked so it was nice to be exposed to something new!

 I have to admit that I saved the best for last. I am a big fan of nut butters! and Emilie took a look at my blog and previous foodie penpal reveal posts and noticed that I liked Justin's chocolate hazelnut butter. So she sent me a challenge!

She sent me some of Justin's but also the Peanut Butter Co.'s dark chocolate dreams peanut butter. She asked me to see which one I liked better. I couldn't wait to try it. I like to have a whole wheat deli thin with peanut butter and banana for breakfast in the morning so I put them to the test. I put justin's on one half and peanut butter co. on the other. I am pleased to announce that the peanut butter co. won! I think it because I just LOVE peanut butter and adding chocolate to it just made it better.

Thanks Emilie for this great challenge as well as this fantastic package I couldn't have been happier!

Now on to how you all can become involved with the Foodie Penpals.  

In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:
-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 
If you’re interested in participating for August, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.
You must submit your information by September 4th as pairings will be emailed on September 5th!

*If you're from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I'll see if we get enough interest this month!

July Foodie Penpal Reveal!

I am not even sure where to begin with this month. My foodie penpal Sonia The Mexigarian who is in California really paid special attention to everything I told her I liked and didn't like. I guess I need to start with the one thing that intrigued me the most!

I had never tried candied ginger mainly because everyone said that it had quite the kick to it. As it turns out Sonia ended up saying the same thing. So of course I had to open it immediately to see for myself. I didn't necessarily hate it but I didn't enjoy it either. I think it is something that is simply an acquired taste and I am not sure I will ever acquire it. But I am thankful I got to try something new.

This is the next thing that was opened immediately! I absolutely love nut butters and chocolate so this was right up my alley! I opened it up and I was in love. I brought it to work with me and I have been having it with my breakfast. YUM!

Although this had pecans in it I figured I would give it a shot. It was actually quite delicious and the caramel was so smooth and creamy. It was also a from a local farm too!

Although these look like they are for children they are great. Apple and banana are two of my favorite fruits so I was excited. They are really handy because you don't need a spoon for them. They have come in very handy for a little burst of energy right before a workout!

These were yummy too. I love dried fruit! I had never had this particular trio from Trader Joe's. I ended up adding it into my granola to make my own little version of trail mix. It added a good sweetness to it and made it that much better!

Although I have not tried this yet. One of my favorite comfort foods in PB & J. I am thrilled to be able to try this homemade apricot preserve! Sonia's mom made it! I love getting homemade goodies!

This gave me a real laugh probably because there are things that I have to do this to so my husband won't eat them either. Sonia wrote on the bag so her husband wouldn't eat them before she could send them to me. I have yet to try these but I am excited to do it soon. I think these will be a great alternative to potato chips.

This was absolutely amazing. Chocolate, wafer and hazelnut cream filling! I ate one and then kept the second one for a snack later on. So excited Sonia sent this!

Sonia is also an artist and she sent me these. She asked me what my favorite animals were and since I told her cats and dogs this is what she sent me. They are very well done and if anyone else likes them make sure you check out her blog so you get to know her.

Thanks again Sonia for the fantastic Foodie Penpal experience!! And thanks to Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean for putting this whole program together.

And now it's time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:
-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 
If you’re interested in participating for August, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.
You must submit your information by August 4th as pairings will be emailed on August 5th!

*If you're from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I'll see if we get enough interest this month!

June Foodie Penpal Reveal!

So it is that time again to reveal my June foodie penpal package! I have to give a big shout out to Jillian, she put together a very yummy package for me. Be sure to check her blog out as well and see what she is up to! And of course a big thanks to Lindsay over at The Lean Green bean for putting this whole program together.

I am not even sure where to begin. Well I guess I have to say that on the day my package was delivered it was 90+ degrees outside and there was no one home to bring the package in so it was in the heat. When I saw it sitting on the stairs my first though was "Oh I hope there was nothing melt able in there." You see I told Jillian how much I love chocolate so I was sure there probably was. So I think that is where I will start, she sent me two different kinds of chocolate!!

The first being a new flavor of candy bar from Ghirardelli, cookies jubilee. It was absolutely delicious in fact I am ashamed to admit I ate it all in the same sitting. The second being some chocolates made by Quality Streets direct from Ireland! They were just as delicious! And I got the added bonus of being able to tell my friends from Ireland all about receiving them at which point they almost knocked me down trying to find out where they were and where I had gotten them from. I guess they are very popular even in Ireland! Even though I had to put them in the fridge for a while to solidify before I could eat them they were still all well worth the wait! 

This was the one all chocolate thing she sent me that did not melt however the irony is that it was so hot there was no way I was making hot chocolate. I can't wait to try it though because it sounds simply divine!

Then I noticed this cute little green with white polka dots box and when I opened it I was delighted to find Flour-less peanut butter cookies. They were so good I did not believe they were flour-less. I actually had to stop myself before I ate them all. However Jillian was almost awesome enough to add chocolate chips to them as well which made them even better. She was nice enough to send me the recipe via email and I have already made my own batch that are gone as well. So delicious!!

Keeping right in track with the peanut butter theme she also sent me three different kinds of nut butter from Justin's. They certainly added a lot of variety to my breakfast every morning. I have to say the chocolate hazelnut butter was probably my favorite but no one reading this should really be surprised by that at this point. haha!

Jillian also sent my some of Annie's snack mix which is so yummy. I brought the box to work and leave it my classroom cabinet so that I have it on hand for when I need a little snack. Mind you at this point there really isn't much left! :)

This leads me to the last things in my package. I have to admit that these bars are something that disappointed me as this is the second time within my four months of being in foodie penpals that I have write to my foodie penpal telling them I do not like nuts and have gotten bars that have nuts in them. I understand that finding bars that do not have nuts is quite difficult as I have done the searching for myself but it is still disappointing none the less to get something you do not like. I have to admit that I will give the Odwalla bar a try as you never know if their might be that one thing that makes nuts ok to me. But both Lara bars I had gotten in April and expressed my dislike for them so I did not try them again and the cliff bar I have had before and walnuts just aren't for me. 

Other than the nuts this package was delicious! I was thrilled to get a bunch of new things to try and an amazing new recipe to be able to make for all my friends even the ones with gluten allergies! So thank you again Jillian!!

So here comes the fun part for those of you who would like to get in on all this Foodie Penpals fun find out how right now!

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 

-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)

-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 

-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa.

If you’re interested in participating for July, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. 

You must submit your information by July 4th as pairings will be emailed on July 5th!

*If you're from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I'll see if we get enough interest this month!

April Foodie Penpal Reveal

My foodie penpal this month was Amanda all the way from California! I am always super excited to be paired with someone who is so far away because I can't wait to see what they send that I can get here and the new things I get to try!

I got my package with plenty of time to be able to enjoy everything and try it before I put my post together.

Of course I have to start by talking about my favorite thing which is the chocolate wafers. They are delicious and something I have never seen around Massachusetts!! I highly recommend them to anyone who comes across them.

I started doing foodie penpals because I wanted to try new things and get out of my comfort zone. That being said there were three things in my package that I was a little apprehensive about. First being the somersaults because they were salty pepper flavored and I do not like anything even remotely spicy which usually also includes pepper. I tired them and they were just too strong for me, my husband however has been enjoying them so win for him!! The other two things where the LaraBar mainly because they have nuts in them and I am not a fan of nuts but I figured I still needed to give them a try. One was apple pie the other was cherry. I tried them and they were actually ok, the texture is actually what got me but then again I have texture issues with lots of things. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't mind the nuts so much, but still not my favorite things those nuts.

I did however thoroughly enjoy the fruit leather. It made a great snack while in my classroom at work! And who doesn't love chocolate? This chocolate actually had espresso in it too!!

I have to say thank you to Amanda for sending me all these goodies and forcing me to push the envelope and at least try things outside my comfort zone and new to me foods!! And of course thanks to Lindsay at The Lean Green bean for starting and running this great program.

And now it's time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:
-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 
If you’re interested in participating for May, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.
You must submit your information by May 4th as pairings will be emailed on May 5th!

*If you're from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I'll see if we get enough interest this month!