Foodie Penpal – January ’13

This month I participated in another round of Foodie Penpals…here’s a reminder of what it’s 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 Penpals is open to US, Canadian & European residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans (because things get really expensive & backed up when you mail internationally).

I mailed a package to Rachel out in Boston, MA. While she doesn’t have a blog, she did email me to let me know that the Lara Bar I sent in her box saved her from a blood sugar crash during a long day at the office 🙂 I’m glad I could help…Lara bars are crucial for me on busy days, as well as those days when I forget to eat before running errands!

Now on to the fun stuff – my package from Dominique, all the way from Arizona!

Thank you, Dominique!

Dominique went all out on this box, themed “I ❤ Trader Joes”. I got such a kick out of this, because the first box I ever received was all Trader Joe’s-themed items. The more I take part in this program, the more I realize that Trader Joe’s is really awesome – as much as I love our organic co-op up here, we miss out on some neat stuff.

An Arizona-themed reusable TJ bag! How cool!
Red Pepper Spread, with eggplant & garlic – This will be fantastic with pita chips; we’re having friends over this evening and this will make a great snack
Baked Jalapeno Cheese Crunchies – Oh. My. God. I love spicy food, and I love cheese puffs; these totally blew my mind & we’ve already started digging into them
Mango Ginger Chutney – I’ve never tried this before, but it sounds delicious!
Wasabi-flavored Roasted Seaweed Snack – I love wasabi, and am curious about how these taste!
Habanero, Jalapeno, & Chili Pepper hot sauces – YAY! I love hot sauce! It has been months since I’ve had more than one bottle in my refrigerator (I love variety, what can I say?) I am so excited to dig into these!
Salsa Verde – I’ve received this before, and absolutely LOVED it. I’m really excited to enjoy another jar of this!
Pumpkin Spice chai tea – I’ve never had chai tea before, so this will be something new!
Pumpkin Soup – Never tried it, but it sounds good!
Country Pumpkin Spice Granola – Sounds yummy!
Quinoa & Brown Rice with garlic – I love quinoa; this will be great for one of my quicker-meal nights!
Concentrated Chicken Broth packets – I’ve toyed with the idea of buying these at the store to see how they work; now I can try before I buy!