Frolic Through Life

March Foodie Pen Pals Reveal

Sylvia — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 01:01:52 +0000

Spring Break was a whirlwind around here, but before I share what went down during my time away from school, I want to share some of the goodies that I got from this month’s Foodie Pen Pals!

My Foodie Pen Pal this month was Linda, who lives on Black Cat Island in New Hampshire. Google it, the place looks gorgeous!

I absolutely loved my box this month! Linda is amazing and when she read my 101 in 1001 list, she decided to send me some things to help me cross off a few things. Since I’ve always wanted a real herb garden, Linda sent me a bunch of different seeds and these little planter cups to sprout the seeds in. Since my garden last summer was a bit of a fail, I can’t want to replant this year. I’ve also never grown anything from seeds (I always buy seedlings) so this will be a whole new ballgame for me.

The bread mix was to cross off bake bread from my list and the net was to cross off learn to cook seafood other than fish. She also told me that the Jamaican Jerk Rub works great with seafood – something I need to try soon! She also sent a few sweet treats – fruit leather, crystallized ginger and a chocolate mint patty. She also sent Munchkin a maple moose pop, which he was a huge fan of, and recipe cards and a duck cookie cutter for moi.

Overall, this was another great and incredibly thoughtful Foodie Pen Pals box. I love how the program allows you to connect with so many different people and try so many different things that I would normally pass up. If you want to join in on the fun, head over to The Lean Green Bean’s Foodie Pen Pals page and sign up!

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Foodie Pen Pals February

Sylvia — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:23:08 +0000

February is a tricky month. I looked at the date on my phone last night and thought to myself that I still have a few days to get my Foodie Pen Pals post together, and guess what, I was wrong! How could I forget that February only has 28 days? Anywho, without further ado, here are my goodies from this months Foodie Pen Pals swaparoo.

This month I was paired with Michele, and she sent me a very unexpected box of goodies. Up until now, all of the Foodie Pen Pal boxes I have gotten contained, well, food. Michele said that she loves to cook so she sent me a box full of her favorite spices and beans, and a few snacks to munch on. This may sound weird, but when I opened up the box, it smelled amazing.

My box contained:

Italian Seasoning
Rosemary
Basil
Thyme
Chamomile
Roasted and salted Fava beans
Roasted and Salted chick peas
Bay leaves
Raw Fva beans
Lupini Beans
Ceylon Cinnamon
Boston Baked Beans

All the fresh herbs and spices made my kitchen smell delish while unpacking all my goodies.

I told Michele that I had given up meat for lent, and she also sent me a recipe for Eggplant Meatballs. She said that she was a vegetarian for a couple of years and the only thing she missed were her mom’s meatballs, at that these made up for it. I have yet to try the recipe since I didn’t get to do my grocery shopping over the weekend due to my sicky baby, but they are on my must make list. She also sent me her recipe for salad dressing using the spices. Overall, I loved everything I got and I can’t wait to use the herbs and spices in my cooking for a long time to come. Thanks so much Michele!

If you’d like to sign up for next month’s Foodie Pen Pals head over to The Lean Green Bean and sign up by March 4th! You will be sent your match on the 5th, and your package of goodies soon after!

If you participate in Foodie Pen Pals, what’s the best thing you got this month?

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Don’t Wait Til Tomorrow

Sylvia — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 20:15:23 +0000

I have a problem… I’m a food hoarder. When I get a package, I rip it open, drool over all the goodies and then throw them in the pantry, for later. A lot of time, this later takes forever to come, but not today!

Today’s dinner came together, almost completely with yummy things that I received thanks to my Foodie Pen Pals packages.

Tortellini Soup with sausage and zucchini with a side of corn bread!

The soup came together thanks to a soup mix which I got in this month’s package, along with some extra Tortellini which I got in my second Foodie Pen Pals package, many moons ago. The corn bread mix also came from my second package.

In just a half hour, this yummy dinner came together.

Lesson of the day: Don’t wait til tomorrow, with what you can eat today!

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August Foodie Pen Pals Reveal

Sylvia — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 04:36:18 +0000

And once again, the last of the month has snuck up on me. I was going to finally re-cap my first 5K, The Color Run, which I ran on Saturday, but instead Foodie Pen Pals is going first!

My box this month came from Mariell from HealthyPantz, who is a fellow New Yorker. I actually met Mariell and her brave hubby (he was the only guy there) a few months ago at the Fitness Cell event, small world! I was super excited when the package arrived on my doorstep so I cracked it open right away.

Yumminess ensued!

I actually got the package just a few days before we left for Virginia, so a lot of these goodies were consumed on our ride there. Can you say perfect healthy road trip snacks!

Snap Pea Crisps
Trader Joe’s Seaweed Snacks
Trader Joe’s Nothing But Flattened Bananas
Lara Bars
Luna Bars
Kind Bar
Health Warrior Bars
Some yummy tea (which are coming in handy to help ward off this lingering sore throat!)

As if the snacks were not enough, Mariell also threw in an EOS lip balm – one of my fav lip products ever and a Kiss my Face Soap!

And I’m not the only one who enjoyed the snackage. Munchkin was a huge fan of the flattened bananas. Those babies are becoming a staple on our trips to Trader Joe’s.

If you want to join in on the Foodie Pen Pal fun, go visit Lindsey, The Lean Green Bean, and fill out a form before the 4th! You won’t regret it!

What’s your favorite road trip snack?

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Foodie Pen Pals – July

Sylvia — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 04:27:08 +0000

There are few things in life that I love more than coming home to a package waiting for me. That is probably why I signed up for another month of Foodie Pen Pals, even after my package never made it to me last month. Even though I was slightly discouraged by that, I am so so so happy I signed on for another month because I was spoiled yet again. My foodie pen pal this month was Lisa from Feed You With a Kiss. If you want to see what I sent to my other Pen Pal, check out Megan at I Run For Wine.

Lisa is from Seattle and when she e-mailed me to ask about my preferences, I told her that I love trying new things, especially local stuff that I can’t get here in New York, and Lisa delivered!

And not only did she send me some awesomely delicious goodies, she included recipes and little notes telling me the back stories of each thing.

Not to mention that the recipe cards are absolutely gorgeous! I need to find some and start writing my recipes down, for posterity, of course.

I also had a bit of help in opening my package.

I received:

Granola from Bakery Nouveau. This isn’t your regular bag of granola, it is sweet, perfectly crunchy and so.so.so addicting. I can’t keep my hands out of the bag. Lisa said that this is one of the best bakeries in Seattle, and after looking at their website, I know I have to visit this place if I ever make it to Seattle. Everything looks in-cred-i-ble!
Organic Date Pieces. Although these babies don’t look all that appetizing (they looked kind of like hamster pellets to me) but they taste great! Never judge a book by its over!
Forbidden Rice. I haven’t had a chance to try this yet, but Lisa sent me a recipe for steamed rice with herbs, which I want to make in the near future. I read the back of the package and apparently this type of rice was reserved for emperors and royalty.
Four Sisters Evermild Sauce. It is made locally in Washington and Lisa met one of the Four Sister’s at the Farmer’s Market when buying the sauce. Pretty cool!
Salted Caramel Sauce. I’m going to be honest here. I have been avoiding opening this little jar because I have a feeling that I will have a tough time keeping a spoon out of there. Lisa also sent a cookie recipe which uses the sauce, so I think I’ll need to make those because they sound amazing and will keep my spoon away.

Thank you again Lisa, I loved all the goodies and the personalized notes!

Now that I’ve convinced you that you need to join in on the Foodie Penpal fun, I’ll let you know what you need to do!

If you’d like to participate, fill out the New Foodie Pen Pals Sign Up Form. She will need to hear from you by August 4th as pairings will be emailed the 5th! (I still can’t believe August is here!)

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Foodie Pen Pals May!

Sylvia — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:03:03 +0000

Since I loved the package I got last month, I added my name to the Foodie Pen Pal list for May!

I sent a quinoa filled package over to Heather at Ohayo Bento and received an awesome batch of goodies from Melissa at Our Geeky Life. Without further ado, here is my Foodie Pen Pal Reveal!

Where do I even begin? I was spoiled this

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month big time!

The Strawberry Fig Syrup is absolutely delish. I have been using it to top my waffles for breakfast in the morning and it an awesome replacement for Maple Syrup. The bottle also says you can top ice cream with it as a dessert which I need to try!

I haven’t had the chance to try these two out, but how amazing does a big bowl of veggie soup with cornbread on the side sound? I need to make this for dinner, and soon!

Mini granolas – perfect to take on the go
Emergency chocolate. Need I say more?
Zest Party Mix – I loved the flavor, Munchkin loved the pretzels.
Marshmallow Twists
Ricotta and Spinach Tortellini
Orange Spice Black Tea – seriously yummy!

Thank you Melissa for the awesome package!

I have already signed up to participate in next month’s swap, so stay tuned for more Foodie Pen Pal goodness! If you’d like to participate, please send an email to Lindsay at theleangreenbean@gmail.comand include the following information:

-Your full name

-Your email address

-Your blog name/address (if you’ve got one)

-Your twitter handle (if applicable)

-If your from the US or Canada

She will need to hear from you by June 4th as pairings will be emailed on June 5th!

Have a great Thursday!

Have you ever participated in a blog swap? What’s you favorite spicy snack?

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The Tale of Two Packages

Sylvia — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:54:03 +0000

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend. Mine wasn’t half bad, but I will save that for tomorrow becuase I want to share my new goodies from the Foodie Pen Pal Swap!

I was paired with Katie from Creature of Habit and Rohit, a non-blogger. Katie really outdid herself with all the goodies she sent me.

When she e-mailed me to ask about what I’d like to get in my package, I told her I’m up for everything and anything. My package theme was Fresh & Easy, for the store that Katie bought all my goodies from. The package consisted of Vegetable crisps, Trail mix, Triple chocolate chip cookies and two grain and fruit bars.

I wasn’t the only one that couldn’t wait to try our new snacks. The little sneak couldn’t wait until I finished taking pictures!

Thank you so much Katie for the great stuff! Those cookies were a huge hit with Munchkin. I had to make sure they weren’t within his reach in the kitchen because they would’ve been all he ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Rohit, the pen pal who received my package tweeted me some pictures from his unboxing, so I thought I’d share those as well. When I e-mailed him to ask about what he wanted in his package, he told me he’s a fan of spicy foods, so spicy he got!

I also wanted to send him some things that might not be available in Texas, where he lives, so I found some local New York things. Rohit got Hot Brooklyn Salsa, Wasabi flavored seaweed snacks, Wasabi Peas, Old Brooklyn Brighton Beach Black Cherry Soda and a packet of PB&Co’s Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter.I have to brag just a bit, but Rohit tweeted that he thought Texas salsa was the best, but the Brooklyn Salsa blew it out of the water!! So much for those commercials that make fun of Salsa made in NYC!

-Your full name

-Your email address

-Your blog name/address (if you’ve got one)

-Your twitter handle (if applicable)

-If your from the US or Canada

She will need to hear from you by May 4th as pairings will be emailed on Cinco de Mayo!

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