Foodie Pen Pal - Month 2

It is month two of participating in the Foodie Pen Pals program and this month comes with exotic fruit! This month I was matched with Melissa in Florida who is a yoga instructor and Holistic Health Coach. She doesn't have a blog - YET! She seems to have a lot of good info to share that I think the blog world would really enjoy...come on Melissa! We've already had a few emails about how I can get back into a regular yoga routine which I hope to do very soon. I'm always surprised at how much better I feel once I'm back at it. Anyway, back to the FOOD!

Here are the goodies:
Fresh lychees! I've never had these before. They look a little odd, but that is something I love - odd looking fruits, veggies, and flowers!
Mango - fresh from the tree. So much better than the half ripe ones we get in the grocery stores in Alaska.
TJ's Balsamic Glaze
TJ's Harvest Grains Blend
Sorghum Syrup
Homemade superfoods mix

They don't have Trader Joe's where Melissa lives in FL and I don't have them here, but I love, love, love TJ's and always try to stop at one when I travel. Melissa took time out while she was traveling to New York to stop and TJ's and pick me up some goodies. How sweet! She noted from looking at my blog that I love balsamic and picked me up a balsamic glaze, and a grain mix. Both are on my must-try very soon list.

The lychees were very good. Surprisingly refreshing and tropical. And you just can't go wrong with fresh mango. I love them so much!

The Harvest Grains Blend has Israeli couscous, orzo, baby garbanzo beans, and red quinoa! Sounds like a great combo! I can't wait to try it.

The superfoods mix is delicious. I broke into that before I even had the box unloaded.

Looking forward to trying the sorghum syrup. I've never tried it before. Melissa says it is and old fashioned sweetener that is high in antioxidants. Would I use it in place of sugar or more like molasses?

Without going into graphic details I will say I've been sick since just after the box came and I have not yet been able to try the grains mix, glaze, or syrup. They have just been sitting on the counter mocking me day after day. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll break into them.

Thank you Melissa for a wonderful box of goodies and several good email chats.

If you'd like to see what I sent to Ryan at Spicy Richmond you can head over to her blog.

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If you want to join the fun of Foodie Pen Pals hosted by Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean here is the info:

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!