November Foodie Pen Pals Reveal Day

Happy Friday! I hope you are all recovering from your tryptophan/turkey overdoes and any injuries suffered while fighting for those Black Friday deals. Today I am super excited to share the results of the Foodie Pen Pals program that I joined for the first time this month.

Foodie Pen Pals is a food-related item exchange run by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean for bloggers, blog readers, and anyone who enjoys food and making friends. Each month, participants receive pen pal pairings via email. After contacting your pen pal for shipping information and dietary restrictions (and maybe a little internet stalking to find out food likes) you have until the 15th of the month to mail up to $15 worth of local food items, homemade treats, or other cool items to your pen pal. On the last day of the month. you post about the items you received (if you have a blog).

For my first exchange, I was paired with Julie from Forbidden Rice Blog. After going through her blog, I was super excited and also a little intimidated. Julie is a serious foodie and her blog is full of delicious recipes and amazingly beautiful food photos. The box I received from Julie last week definitely met and even exceeded my expectations. 

Here's a breakdown of what she sent me:

-Sahale Crunchers Fruit & Almond Snack: Really good mix of crunchy, sweet and salty. The bf liked these too!

-Two Artisana Organic Nut Butter Squeeze Packs: Haven't tried these yet but they look amazing and perfect for traveling.

-Eco Teas Organic Roiboos Chai: I love tea but have never been a huge chai person, but I love this tea! Sweet, spicy, and comforting, perfect for an afternoon treat.

-Old Fashioned Marionberry Jam: An Oregon specialty! I've enjoyed this stirred in Greek yogurt and, my favorite, toasted on sprouted wheat bread with the Roiboos Chai. Mmmm.

-Big Island Bees Organic Honey: All the way from Julie's native Hawaii! 

-Surf Sweets Organic Fruity Bears: Umm I'm not sure how Julie new this but I have a huge gummy bear obsession. These have a refreshingly short list of organic ingredients and were still amazing.

-Two Dagoba Organic Chocolate Bars: The lavender blueberry one was my favorite! Such an unusual but awesome flavor combo.

-Justin's Almond Chocolate Bar: I am saving this for a special occasion and know I'll love it. Can't really go wrong with almonds nestled between a layer of caramel and nougat, especially when it's made with high-quality all natural ingredients!

-A really beautiful hand-written card

Thanks so much for the delicious and thoughtful package, Julie! And thanks so much, Lindsay, for putting together such an awesome program!

I loved my first Foodie Pen Pal experience and highly recommend it to anyone who's considering signed up for the next exchange. The program is taking a break in December, so I'll definitely be back again when it starts in January! If you'd like to sign up too, fill out this form by January 4th.