Foodie Pen Pals - December 2012

Last week, I received an email from Lindsay of The Lean Green Bean, who runs Foodie Pen Pals.  She told us that this month, we won't be paired up to exchange food.  Instead, she asked that we help feed the victims of Hurricane Sandy by donating what we would have spent on FPP to New York Cares.  Sadly, there are still hurricane victims without basic necessities like food and shelter.  There is so much left to rebuild and so many left to help.  If you have a few extra dollars, please consider donating.  Every little bit helps.

For more information, visit www.theleangreenbean.com.

Always,
BeccaBot

Foodie Pen Pals - November 2012

I'm gonna say it again - I love Foodie Pen Pals.  This month, I sent a box to Diana, author of dianapantz (a great vegan/healthy lifestyle blog) and The 3-Day A Week Vegan.  This was the first time I've been paired with a vegan, so I had to make a few adjustments to what I normally send.  It was really fun finding new things to send!  I received a fantastic package from Katie of If I Knew You Were Coming, I'd Have Baked A Cake.

For Diana's package, I made vegan chocolate chip cookies using my regular recipe, but with vegan chocolate chips, vegetable shortening instead of butter, and cornstarch+water instead of eggs.  I also sent my mom's homemade raspberry preserves, Buckwheat honey from Hunter's Honey Farm, Amish microwave popcorn (no butter), gluten-free peanut brittle from Frittle Candy, and a Chai tea sampler from Teapots n Treasures, a cute little shop right off of the Circle in downtown Indy.

From Katie, I received two boxes of black tea (my favorite): chai spice and orange spice, Dutch Cocoa Somersaults, which are a delicious sunflower seed snack, and HOMEMADE chocolate chip cookies!!!!  As you know, I love getting homemade food from FPPs, so this was obviously my favorite.  They are so good (I'm totally not sharing!).

Fantastic box - fantastic FPPs - fantastic Thanksgiving month!

Always,
BeccaBot

Foodie Pen Pals - October 2012

Happy Halloween!  I think FPP might be one of my favorite things ever.  This month, I sent a package to Pam from Scrumptious Bento and received some fantastic goodies from Dawn of Dawn's Divine Delights!  I fell in love with both of these blogs right away, and I knew this would be a good month for Foodie Pen Pals.

The package I sent was pretty much the usual - chocolate chip cookies, Hunter's honey, and Amish popcorn, plus oatmeal scotchies, apple butter cupcakes with cinnamon frosting, and locally made pumpkin butter.

I knew I would love the package that Dawn sent me when I opened her note and read that the theme of her package was "chocolate".  I loooooove chocolate!  I'm actually not sure there were enough O's in there to accurately describe my love of chocolate.  She sent two huge chocolate bars, one milk and one hazelnut, allergy-free chocolate chips, which I can't wait to bake with, and (my favorite) HOMEMADE pumpkin fudge!  I love getting homemade stuff for FPP.  You can even make your own pumpkin fudge with Dawn's recipe here.

Another great month for Foodie Pen Pals, and I can't wait for next month!  As always, you can join FPP yourself at www.theleangreenbean.com.  See you next time!

Always,
BeccaBot

Foodie Pen Pals - September 2012

I don't think I'll ever get tired of Foodie Pen Pals.  I love putting goodies together for someone else, and, of course, I love getting yummy stuff too.  This month, I sent a package to K in Massachusetts and got one from C in New York.  (Sorry about the late post, but I didn't get my FPP package from C until Saturday.)

I sent K a bunch of my chocolate chip cookies (of course), pear-pecan muffins made with my own variation of Magic Muffin Mix, a jar of my mom's triple berry jam, Basswood honey from Hunter's Honey Farm, and Tailgate Catsup from FARMbloomington.

In the package that I finally received from C was included Tazo green tea bags, chile spiced mango from Trader Joe's (Mango is my favorite fruit!), two homemade chocolate cupcakes, some of her favorite fruit bars, homemade apple cider caramels (which are amazing), and...a ketchup packet?  Not sure what's up with the last one, but the caramels pretty much made up for the package being late.

It'll be hard to share these!

Can't wait for next month!  Remember, you can join Foodie Pen Pals at www.theleangreenbean.com.

Always,
BeccaBot

Foodie Pen Pals - August 2012

It's that time again!

This month for Foodie Pen Pals, I had a fantastic source for cool local foods - the Indiana State Fair!  I stocked up on months of goodies for FPP.

I sent a package to Massachusetts this time!  She got homemade chocolate chip cookies, Almond Pocky from Saraga, honey from Hunter's Honey Farm (Buckwheat, I think), Amish microwave popcorn (I get the irony, but I didn't know if she had an air popper), and a jar of my mom's award-winning peach marmalade (second prize at the State Fair!).  Check out her amazing blog at www.enjoywithjoy.wordpress.com.

I got yummy goodness from Pennsylvania this month.  She sent delicious healthy stuff - dried cherries (love), hummus chips, spiced nuts, some yummy fruit/fruit and nut bars, and milk & honey candy!  Yum!  Check out her amazing blog and growing family at www.bellawithmichella.blogspot.com.

Thank you so much to Joy and Michelle for another great month of Foodie Pen Pals!  Remember, you can find out more at www.theleangreenbean.com!

Always,
BeccaBot

Foodie Pen Pals - July 2012

It's that time again!  I had so much fun this month picking out and making stuff for Foodie Pen Pals.  For those of you who don't know, Foodie Pen Pals is a really cool program that pairs people up to exchange homemade, local, and unique goodies.

For July, I sent a package to a really cool guy in Chicago.  He requested nothing with chocolate or coconut, so I switched chocolate chip cookies with oatmeal scotchies, as both are favorites in my house. I also made peach muffins with a buttercream almond filling.  The muffins started out as cupcakes, but I was sort of making up the recipe as I went along, and they turned out more muffin-y than cake-y.  I also sent some Amish popcorn seasoning, honey from Hunter's Honey Farm, and some of my mom's amazing triple berry jam.

I got food this month from a lovely lady in Ohio.  She sent a bunch of really cool healthy local foods that I can't wait to try!  Two jars of jam, a vegan snack bar, mixed dried fruits, and a big container of Amish-style granola.  Yum!

I can't wait to do this again next month! As always, you can find all the information for Foodie Pen Pals at www.theleangreenbean.com.

Always,
BeccaBot

Foodie Pen Pals - June 2012

This is the first month I've participated in Foodie Pen Pals.  If you're not familiar with Foodie Pen Pals, it's this very cool program where you're paired up with two other people - one you send food to and one you get food from.  To learn more, check it out at www.theleangreenbean.com!

This month, I sent goodies to a very nice girl in Pennsylvania.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the package I sent before it went out.  (I'll remember next month!)  I had a blast making yummy stuff and picking out local treats to send.  I made whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, Bailey's Irish Cream brownies, and coconut-lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream frosting, although the coconut kind of overpowered the lemon.  I included a jar of strawberry-rhubarb preserves from a farm that my family's been going to since before I can remember and a bottle of blackberry honey from a local honey farm that we discovered a couple of years ago.  I think I'm going to make the honey a regular part of my packages.

The goodie box I received was awesome!  I got it from someone in Buffalo, NY.  She sent me a bunch of local specialties that I'm super excited about!

 

There are maple candies,  honey-caramel turtles, hot sauce, barbeque marinade, horseradish mustard, and a chili spice mix for chili dogs. So much YUM!  Also, she sent me a bunch of super cute recipe cards!

I love doing Foodie Pen Pals, and I can't wait to do it next month!

Always,

BeccaBot