Don’t let my late posting fool you; I have been super excited about this month’s Foodie Penpals.

The Lean Green Bean

Yesterday was a day of tech disasters. You name it, it happened. Seriously. Perhaps you saw ‘domain expired’ page or when my blog had a case of multiple personality disorder? Or noticed that at one point I had six different email addresses? I even thought I had deleted my pictures from Laura’s package. This would have been the real disaster because

a-I was so excited about her package and

b-I ate all of the goodies she sent.

Luckily, I recovered the picture and I learned my lessons about messing with code. Again.

 

My Gluten-Free Care Package

 

When the foodie penpal matches were announced and I told Laura that I was starting to avoid wheat products, she replied that she couldn’t wait to send me all of her gluten-free treats. I could not be more excited.

Manatee and I have been trying to cut gluten out of our diets, but like everything we’re not quite perfect. We still love our beer and I still love an occasional wheat treat. That being said, the word of gluten-free products is unknown territory for us so this seemed like a great way to try some new products.

I was not disappointed.

Bakery on Main Gluten-Free Goodies: Assorted Granola Bars and Granola, re-usable Bakery Main grocery Bag

Bakery on Main Gluten-Free Goodies

I received this great sampler pack from Bakery on Main. Six different types of granola, three granola bars, and a great re-usable grocery bag.

It’s been great to have a snack to throw into my bag or to eat the granola with a sliced banana. Thanks Laura!

 

What I Sent

 

I was paired with Lindsay who is working on her blog, Pink Sneakers, but doesn’t have it up and running. She sent me information that I could post about the package I sent to her.

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This month was my first month participating in Foodie Pen Pals. I have recently been reading a lot of healthy living blogs and saw that many of the blogs I follow participate in Lindsey’s Foodie Penpals. I also wanted to get inspired to restart my healthy living blog called Pink Sneakers: How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle One Step at a Time that has been on a hiatus for a couple of months. I recently left my job at a local gym as a personal trainer to move into Boston to pursue a corporate fitness job.
When my package arrived, I had no idea what to expect. But I have to say that feeling of having a box with your name on it outside your house is still pure glee like when I was 5. And in addition, when that package involves food, nothing is better. Kimberly told me that she was from Wisconsin and lived a vegan lifestyle. My family is from Indiana and so I am very familiar with the Midwest.
In my package was a note with the reasons for all the food items which I thought was so sweet. My favorite item was a bag of Bridge mix, which is an assortment of things coated in chocolate. She told me that when she was little, she used to buy bridge mix and try to guess which ones she liked.The bridge mix was eaten very fast over in Boston.
I also received craisins, walnuts, salt and pepper pistachios, cocoa roasted almonds (the best chocolate fix ever!), and a few other things.
The experience was great and I will be participating in foodie pen pals again this month!

 

Past Foodie Penpals posts

 

If you weren’t intrigued already, check out some of my past Foodie Penpals posts and then read about how you can sign up.

March Foodie Penpals

February Foodie Penpals

January Foodie Penpals

December Foodie Penpals

November Foodie Penpals

 

Sign Me Up!

Foodie Penpals is one of my favorite blog exchange/groups. Here are the details on this awesome program:

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 May, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

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What is your favorite gluten-free goodie? Anyone else have Bridge Mix before? That was a staple at every gathering when I was growing up.