March Foodie Penpal

Sorry, sorry, this post is a day late, but I was lounging the beaches of Jamaica yesterday and was not able to post.  For those of you who don't know about the Foodie Penpal program, let me just tell you, its great! Despite the fact my roommates and boyfriend make fun of me for it, I love it and will continue to do it! :)  A big thanks to Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean for creating it.  Basically, every month, everyone is given a name of a person.  They are then in change of finding out what that person likes/dislikes and then sending them a box of tasty treats.  You also receive a box in return from a different penpal. (read more into the Foodie Penpal program below).

This month, I received my box from Jacqueline at Not Born to Run.  I was sooo excited to find out that she is a naturopathic doctor and a nutrition enthusiast and boy, let me tell you, her box did not dissapoint! I told her I wanted to try some things from Trader Joe's because we don't have them in Colorado (yet) and that I am a student and have class all day Tuesday/Thursday so I like things that are easy to take with me.

In the box: Trader Joe's olive tapenade, Trader Joe's rice crackers, Trader Joe's organic fruit leathers, Trader Joe's sweet and spicy pecans, Ginger Pear tea, Trader Joe's chocolate covered power berries, and an assortment of Pure bars.

I ate this dark chocolate berry bar right before my run and it was delicious.  I packed the other ones on various days in my lunch.  I ate almost the entire bag of sweet and spicy pecans and even had my sister bring me back some more from California when I saw her this past week.  I was most surprised about the olive tapenade.  I have never had it before and really enjoyed it with the rice crackers! And of course, the fruit leathers and tea were amazing as well.  Jacqueline also included a banana bread recipe.  I actually make banana bread quite frequently, so this was great!  Thanks so much Jacqueline!!!

I sent my box off to Amanda.  I wanted to send her all local products so I sent a selection of Justin's Nut Butter, a Two Moms in the Raw Bar, some local quinoa, local honey sticks, and some Boulder Chocolate Granola.  She was so kind and wrote a guest post for me, so take it away Amanda:

I’m so happy to be announcing my all foodie pen pal goodies that I received from Shannon!  This was my first time to participate in foodie pen pals and what a great way to kick it off.

I have to admit my favorite thing that I received was the Granola.  Chocolate in my granola?! So yummy.  Another item that I absolutely loved was the assortment of Justin Nut Butters.  I see these things everywhere and don’t know how I’ve never had one before this before.  And I must say the chocolate hazelnut butter was delicious!! In case you haven’t noticed I love chocolate. 

The other food that I found fascinating was a Garden Medley Quinoa that I made in the microwave.  I’ve never made quinoa in the microwave and after a little adjustment with adding in the water I had complete lunch that was so good! And I can’t forget the ever handy honey sticks and finally a really hearty raw granola bar.  The granola bar was actually the best one I have ever had.  Not too hard, just the right amount of sweetness, chewy, and just plain good.  You should check them out at http://www.twomomsintheraw.com/.

If you want to get involved in the Foodie Penpal program, heres more info:

-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. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

If you’re interested in participating for April, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. You will also find contact information on that page for the UK branch of Foodie Penpals if you’re a blogger across the pond!

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