March Foodie Pen Pals

Hi friends! It's time for another Foodie Pen Pal post! This was my second month participating in the Foodie Pen Pal's program and it was so much fun. This month I was paired up with Ashley the Unintentional Vegan!  I was excited to try some of the vegan and gluten free goodies that she sent to us.  I consider us pretty adventurous, so we were ready to see what Ashley sent!

I'm always excited when my foodie pen pal box arrives!

A wonderfully sweet note from Ashley!

These are all the goodies she sent!I was so excited because I had seen some of these products but I had never any of them yet.

These were just as delicious as they sound.  Sour apple chips!  I will definitely be picking these up again. Rylie and I opened these one afternoon and shared the whole bag.  Love the sweet-tart flavor.

Rylie noshing on sour apple chips and playing on the ipad.

We had this tasty treat for dessert on the very night that we got the FPP package.  Rylie was a huge fan of the texture and I was a huge fan of the rich chocolate flavor.  Plus, as a parent you I love the fact that it was sweetened with fruit juice!

This was another huge hit with the kids.  I opened it to eat one afternoon and they both helped me gobble it up.  Mama=2 bites.  Rylie and Rowan=the rest!  Want to see the ingredient list?  Its on the front package there.  Awesome, right?  If I see these out I will definitely get some for the kids, especially Rowan.  Who knew?

This bar seemed intimidating.  Look at all the descriptions.  Vegan, kosher, uncooked, no refined sugar, non GMO and soy free.  Plus it says LIVE FOOD BAR on the front.  Then I opened it up and saw this.

It was a blue-ish green.  I took a bite...awesome!  I am not just saying that either.  It tastes like a cashew cookie flavored Lara bar, but even better.  Richer and nuttier.  I was amazed and excited.  It has spirulina in it (which likely gave it the green color). Spirulina has all kinds of awesome benefits, I found some info on it HERE.

Meatless jerky you say? How can this possibly taste meaty.  Well for many years now I've enjoyed meatless products but I've never had meatless jerky until now.  Despite my years of experience and enjoyment with meat free "meat" I was a little scared to try these. I think it was the texture.  I was pleasantly surprised.  The flavor was awesome.  SO smokey and spicy and the texture was SPOT on.  Definitely felt like I was gnawing on beef jerky.  The hot and spicy was a clear favorite, but I just love anything spicy.

 Dairy free chocolate bar was a WIN.  The texture was a little dryer than most chocolate bars but the flavor was the same, if not better than many chocolate bars I've tried.  This was another huge hit with Rylie.  She believes that this is HER chocolate bar.  She's eating her way through it piece by piece.

Last but not least a Zico coconut water.  I had tried coconut water before (different brand) and not cared for it.  This time I put this one in the fridge and made a Zico cocktail after a long morning run.  Zico + apple juice + a splash of Sprite Zero = a delightful and hydrating morning drink.  Perfect post-run to re-hydrate me.

Thanks so much Ashley!  We really enjoyed trying all of the goodies you sent.  Ya'll hop on over to Ashely's awesome website and blog.  She has amazing recipes for delicious and healthy vegan food.   Come join us, it's SO much fun. Here is some information on Foodie Pen Pals if you want to participate!

-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. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

If you’re interested in participating for April, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. You will also find contact information on that page for the UK branch of Foodie Penpals if you’re a blogger across the pond!

You must submit your information by April 4th as pairings will be emailed on April 5th

Lastly, hop on over to Cupcake Kelly's to see who I sent MY FPP package to.  I love reading Kelly's blog.  Plus she has an adorable baby boy!!  Have a great weekend ya'll!