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!