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!