Foodie Pen Pals

Last month I came across a post about a pen pal group. Instead of sending letters to each other they send food items. I LOVED the idea immediately sent my information to join.  Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean puts it all together.  And what a great job she does.

Fast forward to January 15th. A box was delivered to our home and I did my best to hide my excitement until Charlie got home so we could open it together. Sometimes I really don't like being such a team player! But...when he did get home, we tore into that box and found so many goodies.

Beatriz at A Collection of Thoughts had our name.  You can read her blog at http://collectionofthoughts.wordpress.com/  and to read what we sent you can go to The Crazy Cooking Couple's blog.

Let me break it down for you.

Lindt's Coconut White Chocolate Bar


This is what it looked like before the end of the evening. And I didn't even get a taste. The person that ate it said that it was so good, he couldn't help himself. I'm saying baloney next time he says he doesn't like coconut.

Granola

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. This was the one that that I could not stop eating. Bananas, pineapple, apricots, oats, almonds, just the right amount of sweetness. It went great in yogurt.

Then.....James found it.  James being the teenage son.  And you know how those can be.  Once
they find something they like, you can't keep enough of it in the house!


The jar on the left had the granola in it.  Next to the granola is a rice cracker mix.  Not chex mix, I tell you.  Awesome garlicy, peppery goodness.  Oh my, Oh my!!

Then, there were these...Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Beatriz sent this mix a a mason jar. I adore it when a gift in a gift appears. These cookies have the taste of the ever popular thin mints but look nothing like them. So good and so easy.  Vegetable oil, 2 eggs and dry mix. Stir to combine and you are ready to bake! Yum.

Beatriz tried to fool us into thinking it was just a cookie mix....But then we found out!  It's actually mint, chocolate goodness in a jar.

One thing I didn't get a picture of was the chocolate covered peppermint sticks.  I stuck them in marshmallow and dipped them in more chocolate.  Then the best part...we fed them to our nephews right before we sent them home to their parents.  Nothing like a sugar rush for Mom and Dad's date night!!!  Maybe I'll make it up to them one day....or maybe not.  You know I'm laughing as I type this!

My first foodie pen pal experience has been wonderful.  The people I sent my box to are awesome and the person I got my box from is one badass girl!!!  Thanks so much.  We loved it all.

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. 

If you’re interested in participating for February, please send  an email to Lindsay at theleangreenbean@gmail.com 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 I can get you on the right list!

I will need to hear from you by February 4th as pairings will be emailed on February 5th!

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Live, Laugh, Love,

Life is a party!

Karen and Charlie

http://www.myinitials-inc.com/karenschaeffer