Thursday, January 31, 2013

My First Post & My First Foodie Pen Pal Reveal Day: January 2013

Today is January 31st?
Today is January 31st? Really?! Already?!  I can't believe I have allowed the entire month to past me by and not start posting to this blog.  Yes I have an excuse, many of them from illness, to injury, to stress, traveling to just plain laziness.  But that is all in the past now. 

So, here we go....I am so excited that my first post on this blog will be about something that I am really happy about... Foodie Pen Pals (http://www.theleangreenbean.com/foodie-penpals/) I found out about Foodie Pen Pals last year.  I am not really sure exactly how I ended up in the website.  It ws probably through some vegan or running blog, but I sure am happy I did.  I was paired with two wonderful ladies.  I was supposed to sent a box to Ritsa (http://runnerritsa.com/) and receive one from Kristina (http://cucinakristina.com/).

Although I have never met these ladies, we were perfectly matched up.  Ritsa enjoys coconut and larabars...two of my favorites. Kristina sent me an email asking my preferences and if I had allergies.  I basically told her I would like vegan food and tea.  From that she sent me a box full of some great goodies.  Unfortunately, my box was bullied during transit but I was able to salvage most of the contents.  Kristina included a very nice card with a recipe for black bean burgers.  She was thoughtful to send a bag of wheat gluten (needed for the recipe) but it did not survive.  The jar of heart of palms did not survive as well.  I have never tried them so I will definitely add them to the grocery list next month.  Here is what survived:

Sorry, I couldn't get the picture to turn.  How did Kristina know that I love ginger and am obsessed with ginger chews.  The jar is Cookie Butter from Trader Joes.  I have been reading about this on several blos for months but since there is not a TJ near me I was not able to try it out.  I was trilled to find that the jar was in the box and survived.  The pita chips are also from TJ and are the cinnamon sugar flavor. One quirky thing about me is that I must have a crunchy food with my meal. I have satisified this craving by crunching on cucumbers to stay away from the unhealthy foods/snacks. The pita chips will be saved for a cheat meal.  Lastly, she included a box of TJ Pomegranate white tea.  I had a cup immediately.  This tea is so fragrant and has a bright red hue.  It looked like pomegranate juice.  I drank it with no sweetener added and it was divine.  I will be adding this on my shopping list (well worth an hour and  half drive to TJ) and having a cup every evening to relax. 
Thanks Kristina!!

Overall, I really enjoyed my first Foodie Pen Pal experience.  I can't wait to see what next month brings.

What is Foodie Penpals and How to become one!

The Lean Green Bean
  • 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!
  • 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 can choose 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 residents & UK residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only.
  • ***If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!

3 comments:

  1. How did she know you like Ginger? There is a rumour of a foodie psychic link between penpals ;-)

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    1. I asked myself the same thing.LOL!! I was just excited to eat my treats.
      Lindsey did a great job matching us up.

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  2. Sometimes life happens and you just don't get around to blogging regularly...and that's okay too. At least, that's what I tell myself when it happens to me. :) I definitely recommend trying hearts of palm; I really like them in my salads. Those pita chips sounds amazing!

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