Tag: Lean Green Bean Blog

February Foodie Pen Pals!

Every month, I feel like I hit the jackpot when it comes to my Foodie Pen Pals package. February was no exception, and since I got my package nice and early, I’ve had the opportunity to sample almost everything that the wonderful Mellissa from A Fit & Spicy Life sent me.

It’s as though Mellissa read my mind when she sent me Target’s Archer Farms granola. My absolute favorite is the chocolate chunk hazelnut biscotti, so I was beside myself when I saw that was included! I also got to try the pecan sticky bun, and that is definitely a close second favorite. These granola goodies were just in time, since only a few days before I finished my Pure Bliss Eats peanut butter chocolate chip granola. Now I’m itching to take a trip to Target and grab a full sized box of each flavor!

Since I’ve been teaching, granola bars for breakfast have become my new best friends. Naturally, seeing a box of blueberry almond flax bars got me excited. I enjoyed one every morning last week, and am looking forward to checking out what other flavors they have (while getting more granola, of course). While I was a little wary of the black currant chocolate, I was pleasantly surprised when I had a taste – it’s a nice balance of fruity sweet with chocolate – I’ll be taking my time to finish off that bad-boy. The “Monster” trail mix has also been a great afternoon snack to help get me through grading essay after essay. My 11th graders are taking the HSPAs next week, so we’ve been all about practicing expository, open ended, and persuasive writing. Nuts and chocolate are the right kind of pick me up for that!

While I haven’t tried the Mio yet, every single time I see it, myself and my husband start singing the commercial jingle… who would have thought Foodie Pen Pals could bring music to the home! I also haven’t tried the Gatorade energy bites, but I’ll have to report back after I devour some pre-run.

I’m so thankful for all the goodies Mellissa sent me, and if you’re interested in finding out what I sent this month, head over to Linday’s blog It’s Linz to check it out!

So, you may be wondering how you too can get in on the fun. Need not fret, here are all the details!:
-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 Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

If you’re interested in participating for March, 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 or Canadian resident (Super important to make sure you’re on the right list!)

You must submit your information by March 4th as pairings will be emailed on March 5th!

Foodie Pen Pals

Thanks to a post by Megan, I learned about Foodie Pen Pals a few weeks ago. After e-mailing the wonderful host Lindsay, I was in on the fun and couldn’t wait to give and receive some goodies. The idea is pretty straight forward – you are then randomly matched up with fellow bloggers to exchange a foodie package with monthly. The spending limit is $15, and you can send them whatever you’d like – of course checking with them first for any preferences, restrictions, or allergies (see below for details on how to join in!).

It was so exciting to come home from work last week and see a package for me I could actually open right then. Up until that point, everything waiting for us on our door step was either something I ordered as a gift for someone, or a gift my husband ordered for me, that I couldn’t see! I received quite the package from Ashley over at Southern Purple Vegan.

I couldn’t wait to devour everything in my package, but I had to wait long enough to take a picture of it all first. My goodies included maple and hazelnut Justin’s Nut Butter, two packages of ground flax,  spicy popcorn, a Texas shaped  lollipop and cookie cutter, a larabar, a Pure bar, a little trail mix, some Emergen-C, and vanilla pepper. Ashley really hooked me up! I love Justin’s nut butters so that was an awesome surprise. The vanilla pepper is so interesting I can’t wait to use it in some dishes instead of black pepper. We also have a bottle of Dave’s hot sauce, so I can’t wait to try the hot sauce infused popcorn – my husband is going to be all over that. I also love the little travel packets of flax – I have huge bags of flaxseed, but that requires grinding to use it in most dishes (unless I’m throwing it in granola), so I’m excited to try that. I already devoured the larabar, and it didn’t disappoint. It blows my mind how few ingredients they use, but how flavorful those little bars are. So I guess you could say I’m extremely happy with my treats!

My package went to Karen over at The Tamale Girl. You’ll have to head over to her blog and check out the goodies I sent!

I would highly recommend joining in – it’s nice to come home to a package of handpicked goodies from a fellow blogger and food lover! See below for details.

-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 January, 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)