First Foodie Pen Pal!

I am so excited to share my first Foodie Pen Pal experience!!

Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean created the program as a means to share the foodie love throughout the nation...well the program is now huge and I'm stoked to be a part of it...here are the rules...

-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!

 



 

Now onto my first experience...I was paired with Claudia.  She's a blog reader from right here in my area of San Diego.  I found out her preferences and sent her these goodies...

 

 



 

 

Yum, right??

 

Here is what she had to say after receiving the goodies:

 

Hi box came today and it was perfect! TJ's is one of my favorite stores and you found things I had never seen!  A colleague at my office saw my box and got so envious that she signed up to be a foodie pen pal!

All my best,

Claudia

 

 

I'm so happy she liked it all!

 

As for myself, I was the foodie pen pal to Jay over at www.jaytravis.com  He lives in New York and had to work to find me some gluten free/vegan goodies...but he excelled!  He found a local bakery called XOXO Vegan Bakery and sent me a fudge brownie, an "ice cream" pie, and another awesome find of black bean spaghetti.  Please don't mind that both bakery good are already partially eaten...couldn't help myself!  Seeing as there is a $15 price limit the contents may seem sparse but trust me...you can taste the goodness in these baked goods!

 

 

So there you have it!  My first foodie pen pal experience!  It was a blast!

 

I'll be taking October off since I'll be HAWAII for most of the month!  But I plan on being back for November and already have some tasty treats lined up for my next pen pal...will it be you???

 

XOXO

 

Jackie

 

TILT - Sweet Snack Edition!

In this edition (edition #2 if you are counting) of Things I Love Thursdays I'll be giving you a quick peek into some of the awesome gluten free snack foods I've found and loved over the last 4 years of gluten-freedom.  I figured I'd focus on the sweet tooth side of the house...well, because currently that's what I'm craving!

Yay!!

Get excited with me!!

Ok, so it's not that exciting for most...but if you are new to the gluten free world and feeling lost without your fav snack goodies...then this really IS exciting!

So without further ado (and because I need to high tail my behind to bed before work tonight)...here are some of my favorite gluten free sweet snacks (note, they are not all vegan...I have gluten free kids too that are not vegan).

I was recently inspired by Heather at Kiss My Broccoli to take a closer look at the KIND granola I've been spying on the commissary shelves...finally, when I saw this flavor at TJ Maxx I knew it was kismit and had to pick it up...thankfully I did because it turned into this...

That would be fresh figs from my CSA that were delivered fresh to my door yesterday with some of this yogurt (also a fav snack)...

Along with some of this protein powder mixed in (great for snack-like smoothies!)...

There was also a banana and possibly a bit of this sprinkled on top...for good measure (great for snacking cinnamon toast with GF bread!)...

This healthful snack was sorely needed after I completed a long brick workout (meaning I rode my bike and then got off and ran...my legs felt like bricks, hence the name)...20 mile ride, 5 mile run...it was hot, I was hungry...but I feel ready for my race next weekend!

I also snacked on one of these bad boys along the way...get them, they are like crack...not that I would actually know, but you get the darn point!

After the grueling, hot workout I acted a bit juvenile and cooled off for a minute...can you blame me??

 

Ok...a bit offtrack...back to the snacks!!

These bad boys get me through many cravings for something sweet and quick...see, not just for kids!

They make gluten free grown ups happy too!

Another great cookie is by Enjoy Life...they make great GF treats but we love these little lemon guys, they are tiny and totally scrumptious!

Alright, lastly...again cause naptime is calling my name...my kiddos fav snack that I though was lost forever in gluten land...ice cream sandwiches!!  Before I figured out how to make my own I found these goodies at Whole Foods and was super stoked!!

 

Sorry about the sideways-ness of the pic...the tired girl is winning over the OCD girl here and I'm not turning it!  Besides, it doesn't change the flavor of these yum-o treats...so get to it already and buy some!


That's all for today folks...no recipe today since I'm still trying to perfect a few...I'll get some out soon!  Have a great day and this tired girl is heading to dreamland!