Foodie PenPals - April

I'm not saying that I have low expectations for Foodie PenPals, because nothing could be further from the truth. BUT, our monthly limit is $15, so I don't expect much - just a little something delicious and fun. Well, my April delivery blew me away. Seriously.

First of all, Leah is from Brooklyn and so was everything in the box. Love that. Local stuff is great because that means it's new to me! Second of all, it was all gluten-free and completely up my alley! She sent a 73% dark chocolate bar, 72% dark chocolate hazelnut balls, organic sea salt popcorn, salty peanut taffy, and an all natural hearty snack blend. Lastly, the stuff is delicious. So much so that I've been hoarding it. I don't want it to end (though in writing this post I realize that most of it can be ordered online!

Check out all of these wonderful Brooklyn eateries and order something. If you need a suggestion, see any of the above listed items!

nutbox
Pret
Mast Brothers
Salty Road

Thank you for being amazing, Leah!  I couldn't love this haul anymore than I do! (If you're interested in seeing what I sent out this month, check out the Jogging Concierge!)

If you're interested in Foodie PenPals program, here are some 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. Contact Lindsay to sign up!

foodie penpals - round 1!

I signed up for Foodie Penpals this month, and I am so so glad that I did! The way it works: the organizer sends a spreadsheet at the beginning of the month and each person is given a person to shop for. The person you're shopping for isn't the person who shops for you, so you have two people to chat with each month (twice the fun!). The price limit is $15, and you can take any approach you want with it - a few big things, several smaller things, ingredients to cook with or snackish items. Endless possibilities.

So this month Chris was writing to me. She did a ton of leg work go find out the details on gluten-free foods, and she did an amazing job of shopping for me. First of all, just look at the adorable job she did of wrapping each piece:

Apologies for the grainy pics, I was excited to unwrap and consume, so I used the camera on my phone.

So what did I get?

Glutino Gluten Free Pretzel Twists. Yes. Yum. Love them. When I initially went gluten-free I ate these all the time. All. The. Time. Then at some point they just slipped out of the rotation, but now they are solidly back in. I took half the bag and dipped them in chocolate. I had intended to post photos of that, but while it is easy to make chocolate-dipped pretzels delicious, it is very difficult to make them look fancy. Or even decent. Anyway, they were amazing!

Pamela's Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Wow. I've had Pamela's chocolate chunk and peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies, but I've never ever seen these here. I had declared that I wouldn't have them until I had a mug rug to enjoy them on, and that lasted like 9 days. Not bad. I finally opened them up this week and crumbled them on top of vanilla ice cream. Wowzers. I've sealed the rest away to wait on a mug rug, and if I ever find a box in stores, I'm totally making a pie crust with them.

Justin's Almond Butter. Regular AND chocolate. I've been saving these bad boys for a day when my schedule is slammed and I'm in need of a mobile snack. Apple + almond butter = happy Tif!

Organic Peppermint Tea. This is one of her favorites, so I can't wait to try it. In the past few years I've really been digging minty things, and I'm always interested in trying new teas. Ultimately, I think that Foodie Penpals is perfect for me because I tend to buy the same things over and over and this will break me out of my ruts.

Thank you, Chris, for the delicious treats and for breaking up the monotony!

This month I was writing to C over at Girl Meets Happy. She's gluten-free, so I t00k this opportunity to buy her some things that I love and some that I'm too cheap to buy for myself. Can't wait to hear her review - check out her blog to see her thoughts on my picks, and for workout inspiration!