November Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

It's that time again, time to reveal the foodie pen pal stash of the month. YAY!

My pen pal this month was Robin Lourie - she sent me this fabulous box. You can check out what she got from her pen pal here. I sent to Anna, who doesn't have a blog but sent me this e-mail in regards to the goodies we sent her.

I hope you are doing well this day before Thanksgiving! I wanted to send you a BIG thank you for the great box of goodies!

I truly appreciate the thoughtfulness that you put into creating this package. The almonds were YUMMY!

The dark chocolate bars will be consumed post Thanksgiving! I can't wait to try the recipes you sent as well. The can of pumpkin is exactly what I needed!

The barbeque sauce looks so pretty! I think that will go great on tempeh for a vegan tempeh reuben.

Again thank you very much! It has been a pleasure exchanging emails! Thank you for reaching out!

I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! I've got to get to the co-op to get my "turkeyless roast"

Here is what she got: 

So now on to what we got :) I must say that Robin was lovely and sent the most wonderful things.

Look at this haul! I mean seriously! Of course this arrived the day I was heading out to go to Mike's, the mailman freaked me out by knocking on my front door (mind you I consider my actual front door the back door so, this really does worry me when I hear a knock at that door). Come to find the mailman waiting there for me and handed me this loveliness which I immediately became quite excited about and began smiling. I don't think she quite knew what to do with me other than walk away from me.

First thing I busted open, even before Mike got to see it were these bad boys. Soo freaking delicious, they were gone in 3 days (would have been sooner had I not had will power or the need to share at least one pretzel with Mike). I will be recreating these for a Christmas treat to pass out, rather than bake a bazillion cookies like I normally do. Going easy this season with the baking.

Then we have enchilada sauce and smoky pulled pork seasoning sauce. Um, delish!!! Mike and I had to make pulled pork for sure. So bought a pork shoulder (couldn't find one unseasoned at Walmart so I bought a BBQ seasoned and slow cooker ready one). This is the result ----

Yes, it's as delicious as it looks, super simple too. Add 1 cup of water to the packet of sauce and one 2-lb pork shoulder and cook on low for 8 hours. Easy peasy and super delicious with some baked potatoes and green beans. Yummmm :) I still have leftovers hehe.

Then we have tea, Tazo Passion, Nature's Splash (a lot like Crystal Light) and then some green tea. I adore the Tazo passion tea - when I worked at Starbucks that was my go to drink. I haven't tried the green teas yet and have brought the Nature's Splash to work with me for my water - I use Crystal Light daily so this is perfect.

And at this rate I will never have to buy peanut butter again, I just have to ask that they include peanut butter in every FPP box I get haha!! I do love peanut butter A LOT. It's got to be my favorite food. I was also getting low on honey and this was a pleasant surprise. I prefer local honeys and this is just perfect. Actually used it for the first time last night in some oat bars.

And now for the adult side. She must have read that I like to make beer bread. :) So I received two cans of this Bombshell Blonde Ale. I drank one, was not overwhelmed or in love with the flavor, it's beer. But it made some fabulous beer bread, which I made the other night and have been enjoying since.

A big huge thank you to my pen pal for sending such a lovely box of goodies that I am still enjoying.

Wanna be a foodie pen pal? Check it out below.

Here’s a detailed explanation of the program:

-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. 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 in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!

October 2012 Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

It's foodie pen pal reveal day!!! HOORAY!!!!! Got my box Monday and was sooo excited about it. I had been waiting and hoping just crazy excited. It's just nice to get a package in the mail now and then that is specifically for you and has delicious treats in it. So this is my trick-or-treat FPP box.

When this loveliness arrived after my run I immediately took it home and ripped open the box - ok I didn't RIP open the box, just cut the tape. I pulled out the pretty orange card with a description of what was inside - all local Washington state items and homemade goodies. Libby - my pen pal for October also collects salt and pepper shakers so she shared some with me.

Firstly we have apple butter - OMG! I had just had some after Rugged Maniac at Cracker Barrel and was thinking to myself "Sarah, you need to go buy some." Well now I don't have to. This is delicious and I could totally eat it by itself but I'm restraining myself and using only a little at a time on bread items or oatmeal.

Yes, ran a 5k mud run Saturday Oct 27. In the 35 degree weather in Missouri. Brr but fun. Back to the food!

Then there was this loveliness. Apple Cider Syrup - OMG now I just HAVE to make some pancakes, maybe some cinnamon pancakes with apple slices and then this syrup or cook down the apple slices IN the syrup. Ooooo so many options. I could drink this, tastes like cider.

An then there is applesauce, I adore applesauce. I don't buy it enough that's for sure and with apple season I should really just make some. This was cinnamon-y but not over the top and had a nice apple flavor but wasn't tart like some get - you know to the point you pucker. No this was perfectly balanced. And I loved it so much it was finished off in 2 days. I told myself I would share these things with Mike but I just couldn't help myself and he told me to just enjoy. So I did.

Totally snarfed it up all by myself. Hehe. Sorry honey. Love you!

Libby also sent over mulling spices for hot cider or tea or whatever your imagination can think up for this. I will probably go buy some apple juice and make some cider. This smells amazing! I may just hang one of those little baggies in my car window and have my car smelling so deliciously Fall. Mmmm, nothing beats that cider smell. Well, except for maybe a handsome man all clean and showered up and dressed up ready to go out for a night on the town. (Yes you Mike).

There was also Rhubarb Rosemary Jam. Wasn't sure about this. I like rhubarb. I like rosemary. Hmmmm, so I tried it. Smelled a lot of rosemary upon cracking that jar open. Was unsure but I live by "try everything once." I actually enjoyed this. Would be good on wheat toast or something simple. You wouldn't want to put it on something too crazy. Would work with savory or sweet dishes. Maybe could turn it into a glaze for pork chops. Oh the creative juices are flowing today hehe. 

I can't recall if I said that I liked peanut butter or not. Libby had asked what our favorite fall flavor was, we said apples/apple cinnamon. So that is why we have all the apple stuff. But then, yes then, there was this loveliness of peanut butter goodness that was honey roasted. OMG I am in love with peanut butter (as far as foods go). It's gotta be my #1 favorite food on the planet. So yes, I was stoked to see this in the box, though somehow the post office cracked the tub and some of the peanut butter was in the box and not in the tub. I think I just about salvaged as much as I could, from the tub not that box eww. I have it in my fridge to be on the safe side too. Delicious peanut butter. Will be using this for a while. If it lasts that long.

These are those adorable salt and pepper shakes I was talking about. The seasoning comes out their butts. Too freaking adorable. Perfect to go next to my hippo salt and pepper shakers. :)

A few final words before I leave you for the day. Happy halloween for one, this is my lion costume for the work contest today. Also Mike and I will be hosting a guest blogger for their reveal of the box we sent him. :) Super excited for our first guest blogger.

You can go see what Libby got here

Here is how the FPP system works:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your pen pal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your pen pal 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 pen pal! -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 Pen pals 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 pen pal 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 Pen pals 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. 

If you’re interested in participating for November, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

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

*If you’re from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I’ll see if we get enough interest this month!

Go out and cook and maybe join FPP for November.

Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

Welcome to our first Foodie Pen Pal post. We are Foodie Pen Pals, well, I'm the one that wanted to do it, Mike helped find things and helped put the whole thing together and suggested things for me to put in the box for the person I was sending to. I ask for his input on a lot of things. So here we go. Reveal day!! I have been just itching to write about what was sent to me :) SOOOOO excited!!!

So first off, I had gone for a nice run Monday September 17 and came back to check my mail. Well as I was digging through my stock pile of mail, due to being out in St. Louis all weekend, I found the oh so sought after key that the mail man leaves when you have a package, unlike UPS who likes to leave me notes and keep my package from me until they can either magically find me at home or I have to go pick up the damn thing. I digress, so I excitedly opened up the special mail box to find my lovely package sitting there, patiently waiting for me. Oh man I was excited. I immediately snapped this picture as I was walking back to my apartment and sent to Mike and exclaimed "IT CAME!!!!"

So then I rushed to the house, so very excited to get this baby inside to crack open and rifle through like a kid on Christmas morning.

I opened it to find a glorious range of foods and goodies that I couldn't wait to dive into. (Yes there is a picture of a snickerdoodle cookie in my kitchen, I used to work in a local Costco Bakery, that was my parting gift). 

I found the card included after examining each item and drooling. I wiped the drool from my face so I could read what was in my card. My dear pen pal asked what I liked and would like included in my box. I had said I was a health nut a little and was training for a 5k mud run and that I loved peanut butter. Caitlin said in her note that she decided to do a peanut theme since I love peanut butter so much. How awesome!!!! And to top it off I love the card because being the Kansas girl I am, I adore sunflowers, they are my favorite. Such happy flowers :)

So now we dive into the box of deliciousness that is peanuts and peanut butter. She included Trader Joe's Salty, Sweet & Nutty Trek Mix. She said this was one of her favorites, it is now mine too! Oh my, the deliciousness that this bag of yumminess is! I almost ate the whole bag in two days. I adore this Trek Mix and still need to get my butt down to TJ's and pick up a package, or two, or ten! Sweet honey roasted peanuts, peanuts, cashews, and peanut brittle!! Mouth orgasm! And then there is the beloved PB & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams, which I knew was going straight to work to be enjoyed when I needed a healthier alternative to those days I crave chocolate but don't need a chocolate bar. YUM!!! :) Thank you.

Then we have Justin's Classic Peanut Butter. I have only tried the Justin's honey roasted and almond butters. So I again stashed these in my purse to take to work for days I didn't have time to eat or forgot breakfast (like that ever happens) or just needed something to nibble and not have to go raid the vending machine. :) YUMMM Peanut butter - perfect by itself.

Then, yes THEN, I found this. I went a bit crazy happy with this because I've been meaning to try it. I just haven't wanted to spend the money on a jar of it (my local Hyvee charges $6 for the stuff, bit pricey for something that won't last long in my house - PB is usually gone within a few days if not a week). I wasn't sure how I was going to use this though. Should I make a sandwich? Nah, too boring. Should I try adding it to something like cookies? No, I really don't need cookies. Oatmeal? Wasn't in the mood. I know!! I added it to a chocolate banana protein shake one day and made it chocolate peanut butter banana. Oh yum!! This would be a great addition to my protein shakes after my Insanity workouts. Add a little more protein and some delicious flavor. It didn't taste fake at all and satisfied that peanut butter craving that I have about 90% of the time.

Then I found the "Organic High Antioxidant Trail Mix." YUMMMMMM Almonds, pumpkin seeds, goji berries, walnuts, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, raisins...ooo it goes on. Delish - only thing is I found something delicious that just wasn't familiar to me. Anyone know what this is?

Next we have our bars. MoJo trail mix bars and a Luna bar. We had MoJo Mountain Trail Mix Sweet & Salty and then we had MoJo Peanut Butter Pretzel Sweet & Salty. Oh my yes! The PB MoJo was better in my opinion but both were great for work when I hit that 3pm slump. The PB Cookie Luna bar was fantastic, not covered in sicky sweet coating but enough sweet to combat the salty. Mmmm, definitely a go to if I need a quick bar to eat to supplement a crappy lunch.

As you can see I enjoyed, can you see that pretzel stick right on top there!!! YUMMY Real food :)

Now we have the "Women's Vitality Mix." Can I just say that I absolutely ADORE trail mixes. And these are all fabulous!!!! This had cashews, almonds, dried cranberries, raisins, pistachios, dark chocolate chips (which I ended up picking out and eating while at my desk one day hehe, then I was left with all the really healthy stuff - shhhhh). I thoroughly enjoyed and all trail mixes are gone, done, eaten quickly. 

Thank you foodie pen pal for the splendorous box of goodies. YUM YUM YUM!!!!!!

Check out Caitlin's Twitter @Hopefulhels and see what she got ;)

And here is the link to the person we sent to here at Kids and Canning Jars.

Now go out and cook, or eat some trail mix with peanuts like me hehe :)

 Here are 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.