Foodie Pen Pal: February Box of Love

When I heard about the lovely Lindsay of The Lean Green Bean’s (a favorite blogger friend of mine!) wonderful food exchange program I knew I had to be a part of it. For one, I love trying new food and what better way to do that than from a fellow foodie friend and a mystery box full of treats. And two, when I was little I had an obsession with receiving mail…it seems that much hasn’t changed on that end because every day I ask my husband “did I get anything?” even if I am not expecting a letter and even if it is junk. The small joys in life!

My first experience being a Foodie Pen Pal was fabulous. I learned a bit about vegan eating when I sent my box of goodies over to the fantabulous Elizabeth at Don’t White Sugar Coat It (check out what I sent her!). And, even more exciting, I received an awesome box of eats from my amazing pen pal Lyndsay who blogs at Thinspiration. I’m super happy we connected and to have another great source of wellness inspiration in my life.

Lyndsay completely spoiled me with a box full of food from Trader Joe’s. I live in NYC now, but have yet to step foot in a Trader Joe’s so this was like a sneak peak of what I am missing out on. (Note to self: Go to Trader Joe’s!). 

My tasty treats included: Brownie Mix (with less guilt), Israeli Cous-Cous, two chocolate bars, a bag of heart shaped gummies (a throwback to gushers…and DELICIOUS!), a package of dried mango and two flavors of seaweed snacks. I was really impressed and my taste buds were too.

The dried mangoes were a major hit from the husband. He snatched them up and started eating them before I could even snap a picture. Same goes for the chocolate bars, but luckily I got those out of his hands just in time. Apparently the husband thinks that the foodie pen pal box is really for him 🙂 I guess being a foodie pen pal is going to be a joint love for us!

I was really interested in the seaweed snack as I had never had seaweed before. I am glad it was sent to me because I don’t think it is something I ever would have purchased on my own. The seaweed is super thin and basically dissolves in your mouth. I’m thinking it will be a great addition to a salad or to add into a soup. They were not nearly as salty as I was anticipating and the wasabi flavor was SPICY!

I LOVE cous-cous so this definitely hit the mark! Can’t wait to add some of my favorite veggies and some chicken or shrimp into the mix. It is sure to be delicious and I can use it for more than one recipe because it is a pretty big box!

I loved the card that came with the foodie box so much I had to share it with you.

Funny, right? I love to take naps when I can sneak them in! But don’t we all?!

Thanks Lyndsay for sending me such an awesome package…I had so much fun receiving it and eating some of the great things you picked out!

Now it is your turn to join the food exchange party (and meet someone great bloggers while you are at it!). Here are the details on how to get involved for March:

• 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 March, please send  an email to Lindsay at [email protected]and include the following information:

• Your full name
• Your email address
• Your blog name/address
• Your twitter handle (if applicable)
• WHETHER YOU ARE A US RESIDENT OR CANADIAN RESIDENT. This is SUPER important so you get on the right list!

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

***PLEASE NOTE: if you send an email, you WILL GET A RESPONSE within 48 hours. If you don”t….please re-send your email or contact Lindsay via Twitter (@LeanGrnBeanBlog). Last month we had a few emails get lost as spam so we’re trying to avoid that!