Foodie PenPal Reveal - November

Happy Friday! I can't believe November is almost over and the holiday are now in full swing! It seems that from Thanksgiving through New Year's is always a whirlwind of food, friends and traveling. I felt like this month's foodie penpals commenced the holiday season with gifts to shop for and receive.

This is my fifth month participating in the Foodie Pen Pals hosted by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean. It's a great way to "meet" other bloggers and blog readers while also receiving and creating a package! Here is how it works: On the 5th of the 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!

This month I was paired up with Fawn who must have really known me well! I told her a I had a sweet tooth and boy did she send a package catered just for me! I may or may not have consumed most of the items already! Inside was a milkyway snowman, Reese's christmas tree (my favorite), butterfinger santa, peanut brittle (salty and sweet), applesauce oatmeal cookies (sounds healthy!) and some of my childhood favorites, rock candy and chocolate ornament that you crack open to individual slices. We used to get the chocolate oranges that you would hit to break into the orange "segments". So like I said this was heaven in a box! Thank you Fawn!

To see what I sent my match Molly check our her blog Adventures in Impulse.

Foodie PenPal Reveal - October

Happy Halloween! How is it already the end of October?! This is my fourth month participating in the Foodie Pen Pals hosted by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean. It's a great way to "meet" other bloggers and blog readers while also receiving and creating a package! Here is how it works: On the 5th of the 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! Sometimes that is my favorite part, especially if there is a story behind the items in your package.

This month I was paired with Jenny from The Spicy Simmer. She sent me a combination of all sorts of foods and even indulged my sweet tooth with some Halloween candy (I may or may not have eaten that day), strawberry fruit strips and plaid cat double chocolate cookie mix which I can't wait to make! There were a lot of items my husband would enjoy, a snack pack of almonds (his favorite), Jane's crazy mixed up salt for marinades & seasoning that will be great on the grill and mini star shaped pasta that reminded him of pastina from growing up. Now that it finally cooled down here the pasta and vegetable bouillion cube would be great in a soup!

To read about what I sent to my blogger check out Courtney's blog Knits N Bits 4 U.

Foodie Pen Pal Reveal Day - September

This is my third month participating in the Foodie Pen Pals hosted by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean. It is always fun to"meet" other bloggers and blog readers while also receiving and creating a package! You are paired up with another blogger or blog reader and have a $15 spending cap to send your pen pal a package with items you have made or enjoy. I really like that you must include something handwritten, whether it is a note, recipe, etc. to make it even more personal.

This month I was paired with Athena from Fitness & Feta where she blogs about fitness and healthy living. She spoiled me this month and indulged into my love for chocolate. I opened the package and pulled out chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, then a gourmet chocolate bar with almonds & sea salt, and knew the theme must be chocolate. Then I really ripped the box open and found a raspberry chocolate candy, pretzel sticks with a chocolate dipping sauce and two types of hot chocolate. Since it is still warm here I am waiting for it to cool down a bit before making the hot chocolate. I already ate the crunchy chocolate, chocolate chip cookies and were not too sweet but a good crunchy snack that I ate on our weekend road trip. I was trying to be good and not eat all of the chocolate in a few days!

Foodie Pen Pals Reveal Day - August

This is my second month participating in the Foodie Pen Pals hosted by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean. It is always fun to"meet" other bloggers and blog readers and of course get a package in the mail! You are paired up with another blogger or blog reader and have a $15 spending cap to send your pen pal a package with items you have made or enjoy. My favorite part is that you must include something handwritten, whether it is a note, recipe, etc.

I was paired with Katie from If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked a Cake, who asked some very thoughtful questions and sent a package that was definitely catered to my favorites.. She baked some yummy snicker doodles that we enjoyed and may or may not have snuck some before I was able to take a picture.  She knew I had tea every morning instead of coffee and included some flavorful chai tea and honey sticks to stir in and sweeten it up yet in a healthy way. There was also a big fancy square of chocolate and chocolate snacks that even had protein in them so I didn't feel too guilty indulging. And of course some adorable cupcake liners that I can't wait to use. Looking forward to participating again next month!

Foodie Penpals Reveal Day

This is my first time participating in the Foodie Penpals hosted by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean. I had participated in a blogger cookie swap this winter and the monthly penpals sounded like a great idea. You are paired up with another blogger or blog reader and have a $15 spending cap to send your pen pal a package with items you have made or enjoy. My favorite part is that you must include something handwritten, whether it is a note, recipe, etc. I lucked out and was paired with Mike from Made by Mike, an amazing  blogger, baker and picture taker! He really included something from all of those categories in my package. Here is what it looked like when we ripped open the package! Packed full of goodies we couldn't wait to check out!

The first thing we broke into was the granola, it was crunchy and sweet but not too sweet. Too bad for us because that meant we could eat it by the handful! I have already looked up the recipe to make more! I was especially taken by the amazing photography of Mike. He included those adorable business cards and note cards with photos all taken by him. The box included cherry candies, local cherry spread, two kinds of local coffee beans, and dark honey. It's always nice to be able to try local items from a place I have never been. The cherry spread and honey were perfect on an English muffin for breakfast. And the granola went fast since we ate it as a snack and on top of my yogurt. I of course signed up for another month and can't wait to see who we are paired with.