January Foodie Pen Pals!

I can’t believe that my last post about donuts marked my 300th post! That’s not a lot for some who blogs daily, but for me, that’s a nice round number I can relate to.

Anyway, after having such a great experience in December, I decided to participate in the Foodie Pen Pal Program in January, and was once again pleasantly surprised with my goodies. My package arrived nice and early from Betsy at A Dancer in the Kitchen. Coming home to a package that’s for you, but you don’t know what’s inside is so exciting – I look forward to it all month! Betsy was generous and everything I’ve tried so far is absolutely delicious!

The package had a little bit of everything – savory, sweet, healthy… I couldn’t wait to dig in! Of course, I had to wait long enough to snap some photos, but then everything was fair game. I’ve sampled everything, and I think my favorite may be the Wasa crackers. At first I wasn’t too sure about them – they’re almost paper thin, and were pretty bland looking. The taste, however, is far from bland. Betsy sent me a box of rosemary, and they pack a serious flavor punch! I’ve been having a cracker or two almost every day since I opened the package, and I am most definitely adding them to my future grocery list!

I have also been enjoying the Kashi cereal that Betsy sent before I head off to school. I even had the two delicious granola bars she sent as mid-morning snacks my first week! I’ve also been loving the cinnamon honey and preserves from Utah (where Betsy lives) – getting something a little regional is always a nice surprise. While I haven’t tried the Vega Sport goodies that also came, I definitely are keeping my eye on them for when I get into some longer runs again. I’ve only heard good things about their products and can’t wait to sample them for myself.

This month I had the pleasure of sending a package to Kristen of Mind Your Bees and Trees all the way in Japan! You’ll have to head over to her blog to see what I sent!

So you may be asking yourself – what exactly is Foodie Pen Pals, and more importantly, how can I get in on the deliciousness? Well, here’s all the info in case you want to join for February!:

-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.
*Canada is now included!

If you’re interested in participating for February, please send an email to Lindsay at theleangreenbean@gmail.com by February 4th 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 or Canada resident (to be paired up accordingly)