Foodie Penpals, Part 2

First of all I have to apologize to my foodie penpal, Kristen for not having posted this sooner.  I’m so sorry Kristen!!  I tend to become the laziest person on the planet during school breaks.  I’ve literally done nothing but watch trashy TV shows the past couple of weeks and hang out on the sofa.  The lack of a proper routine makes me so lazy and I apologize!!

Anyway on to my foodie penpal!

Kristen lives in Japan and she sent me some Japanese goodies!  Because of the shipping distance I didn’t get the package until the day that foodie penpal posts were due to go up.  It was totally worth the wait though because Kristen sent me some awesome goodies!!

Here’s what I got…

A postcard from Okinawa, Japan- it’s where she lives.  It’s absolutely gorgeous!

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The spicy…

I told Kristen how much I loved spicy stuff and she totally hooked me up!

Hot sauce!!  Kristen was also kind enough to label everything for me since it was all in Japanese.  This stuff is hottttt!!

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A spicy seasoning.  This stuff is absolutely amazing!  I am almost out of it already so I need to figure out how to get more!  I’ve sprinkled it on kale chips, oven fries, and beans so far.  Love this stuff!!!

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The sweet…

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These little guys looked a lot like goldfish crackers, but they were filled with CHOCOLATE!!  Can’t go wrong there- they were so delicious!!!

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Pocky!  I’ve had pocky before but never the strawberry flavor- delish!

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That dark chocolate with Chili was amazing too- the perfect amount of spicyness with the dark chocolate.  mmmmm!

The savory…

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Veggie chipssss!

Such a cute package!

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Sweet potato chips!

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My absolute favorite thing in the package (actually it’s a tie between this and the spicy seasoning).  Habanero chips!!  These things were so amazing!!  I’m not going to lie I devoured this entire bag in one sitting.  Spicy, crunchy, salty.  All of my favorite things!  I wouldn’t mind too much if you wanted to send me more of these!

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I absolutely can’t say how much I loved my foodie penpal package this month- thank you so so much Kristen!!!!!  Sorry again that I was such an awful slacker about posting!

Check out what I sent my penpal here.

Want to get involved with foodie penpals?!  Check out Lindsay’s blog to find out how!

 

Have a great day y’all!!

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December Foodie Penpals, Part 1

Hey y’all!  It’s that time of the month again- foodie penpal time!!!  The reason that this post is going to be in two parts is because I just got my Foodie penpal package and haven’t had time to write about it yet (It came all the way from Japan and it’s the holidays as well so it took a little while to get here.) so I asked the awesome gal that I got this month as a penpal to do a guest post for me.  Lindsay is fabulous and as you’ll see in her guest post she’s a great writer- so I think we should all talk her into starting a blog.  I’m just saying!

So here’s Lindsay!!!

 

My name is Lindsay and I am just a reader, not a blogger. #truestory So I love the opportunity to get involved in the blogging community and Lindsay’s Foodie Pen Pals is the perfect way to do so! This month I was lucky enough to receive goodies from Sarah, and after I began reading her blog, I couldn’t be happier! I knew I was in for a real treat! Her recipes always look decadent, so I was ecstatic when my package this month contained many of her homemade items! (Please excuse my amateur photography skills with the pictures to follow. Amazing photography runs in my family, but it’s most definitely not me.)

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My package came in this adorable snowman box! It is so cute and so festive and I can definitely reuse it, which I love! #gogreen!

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In Sarah’s initial e-mail to me, she had asked if I celebrate Christmas or Chanukah. Being Jewish and celebrating Chanukah made me truly appreciate Sarah’s consideration. Don’t get me wrong, I get excited about the holiday time and love all of the festivities, but Santas and reindeer and ornaments just don’t excite me as they might do some. I just thought it was so sweet of Sarah to ask when most of our country assumes everyone celebrates Christmas. It says a lot about Sarah’s character and the type of person she is and I’m grateful for her thoughtfulness. I promise I’m not a Scrooge and I hope everyone who celebrates had a very Merry Christmas! (And for my fellow Jews a Happy Chanukah!) Along with the sweet Chanukah card, Sarah also sent some of Mama Pea’s Ranch Oyster Crackers! I had seen these on Mama Pea’s blog and thought they looked delicious, but, of course, hadn’t gotten around to making them yet. And delicious were they ever! Mmm mmm mmm! The bag is actually only halfway full because I tore into it immediately! #wannabebloggerfail

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Godiva Chocolate Truffle Coffee? Yes, it’s really as good as it sounds! I’m not a huge coffee drinker, but have definitely enjoyed my fair share during this cold, wintery week off work. This coffee was the perfect treat! (My husband thanks you, too, Sarah!) Also, in the package was a Scentsy air freshener! This has a nice clean scent that is not too overpowering.

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The three snack bars are right up my alley! I love having these treats as snacks throughout the day or pre/post workouts! Pecan Pie is definitely one of my favorites and I’ve never had Chocolate Peppermint Stick or Gingersnap, so I’m excited to try some new flavors.

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How cute are these little guys packaged? It may seem simple, but each one is wrapped individually with a ribbon tying the top. I must apologize to my Foodie Pen Pal, Jordan, for not packaging any of my stuff as nicely as Sarah did! They tasted good, too!

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I had to save the best for last. Dark Chocolate Almond Butter and Pumpkin Spice Almond Butter. #puredeliciousness I’m such a sucker for any kind of nut butters, and these sure did not disappoint! Seriously, I have been enjoying both of these butters on absolutely everything and anything. Oatmeal. Toast. Bananas. Straight out of the jar with a spoon. Or a fork. Or a knife. Or a finger

. And, Sarah included the recipes for both! I even got the Dark Chocolate Almond Butter recipe before she posted it for everyone else! Heh heh heh. And you know what? Neither of the recipes look too terribly daunting! I may even attempt it myself when my jars run out. (Like yesterday.)

So, thank you, Sarah, for my amazing package! I greatly enjoyed each and everything you sent me. I’ll let you send me homemade goodies anytime! Seriously, though… 🙂

 

 

Thanks again for the awesome guest post Lindsay!  I’m so happy you liked everything, and I’ll definitely send you some more goodies in the future!

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Foodie Penpals, November Edition

Hey boys and girls!  We’re creeping up on finals here and we’re pretty slammed with lots of last minute assignments, so my posts will be pretty sparse till finals are over.

Even as busy as I am I always find time to post about Foodie Penpals!  I think that most everyone posted theirs yesterday since it’s also WIAW, but seeing that I haven’t really been doing WIAW in a while I just decided to stick with the schedule and post mine on the last day of the month.  Check out what everyone else got here.

This month Caitlin from Cait Plus Ate was my foodie penpal.

Here are the goodies I got….

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Chocolate pita chips.  They’re delicious- they taste like crunchy little chocolate cookies!

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Two of my favorite things- dark chocolate and coffee…

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Caitlin really hooked me up with the chocolate!  NOM!

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And mint jelly.  I’m intrigued by this.  I’ve never had mint jelly before, so I’m not really sure what to do with it?  Any suggestions??

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Thanks Caitlin for the goodies!!!!

 

Here are the deets if you want to join in on the foodie penpal fun!

  • 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. *US Residents only please at this time- hopefully we can expand soon!*

If you’re interested in participating for December, 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)

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

 

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Foodie Penpals, part 1

Hey guys!

I signed up for something called Foodie Penpals this month after hearing Laura talk about it.  It sounded like it could be really neat so I decided to sign up for it!

I got Sara for a foodie penpal and sent her a few Texas goodies- some organic goods from Central Market (dark chocolate, pumpkin seed flatbread crackers), some jalapeno beer bread mix from a farm in Fredricksburg, and some coconut water (not local but it’s one of my favorite things so I like to share the coconut water love when I can!).  Sara doesn’t have a blog, but I’m hoping she’ll do a guest post for me soon!

And Hannah from Sirenical got me as a penpal!  I got my first foodie penpal goodies yesterday in the mail from Hannah and oh my goodness!!!  Hannah is awesome and seriously spoiled me!

Hannah is from Vermont so she sent me all kinds of goodies from her state!  Here’s what I got…

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I literally squealed when I opened the package!  And I’m totally one of those people that have to open everything and try it as soon as I get it.  So I have totally already tried everything!

Hand made earrings and bracelet!  So pretty!

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Speaking of hand made… home made applesauce!!  I’m going to have to fight Justin for this one- he’s an applesauce fiend!

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Super sweet post cards with a recipe and a hand written note from Hannah!

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Crackers, which I immediately used to dip into some of the other goodies that she sent!

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Maple Pumpkin Butter!  Swoon!  I’m already trying to figure out how to get more of this for when I run out!

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And apple cider honey mustard!  ZOMG!  I can’t wait to dunk baby carrots in this!  NOM!

 

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And these little maple candies??  Like crack!  So good that they’re already gone! 

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Thank you so much Hannah- you are the BEST!!!

 

If you want to do foodie penpals head over to Lindsey’s blog and sign up- it’s so much fun! 

Here are some of the deets…

  • 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. *US Residents only please at this time- hopefully we can expand soon!*

If you’re interested in participating for November, please send an email by November 4th to theleangreenbean@gmail.com and include the following information:
-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)

 

Hope everyone is having an awesome weekend!

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