Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Foodie Penpals - April 2013 #foodiepenpals

This month's Foodie Penpal package was fun, since it took me outside my foodie "comfort zone" with some spicier options! But not TOO spicy! Woop!

Wegman's Jamaican Jerk garnishing sauce - I haven't gotten up the nerve to try this one yet... I'm not a creative enough cook to "spoon over favorite dishes!" I don't really HAVE any favorite dishes... Just doable ones! You think I could crock-pot something with it somehow...? Hubby and Baby love the spicy dishes, and I'm willing to give it a go...

Home-made bread-and-butter pickles - We are huge pickle fans here! Especially ones made without the fake colors! Woop! There's not a huge selection of different cuts of pickles without the dyes, so we haven't had any of the julienned coin ones. Just spears and the long sliced ones, which are kind of a pain to cut for to fit on the smaller gluten-free bread. These will be PERFECT!

Bellino Tomato and Artichoke Bruschetta - I'm just waiting for the local gluten-free bakery to have another French baguette available on our weekly foray. Yum!

Sukhi's Home Chef Collection Tandoori Marinade - I was going to use this with some tofu and rice last weekend, but I didn't read the instructions in time. Needs to marinate overnight. So I'm saving it for next weekend, when Unka Seesee comes for dinner again. Ooo! I have a gluten-free naan recipe to try... I looooove garlic naan!

Brothers-All-Natural strawberry and Fuji apple Crisps - My girls love these! The freeze-dried fruits are easy for Baby to eat, since they essentially dissolve in her mouth. And Z loves the texture and crunch. And I like being able to get them to shut their yaps toss a bag into the back seat when they need a snack.

Silicone muffin cups - Um, hello! Can't ever have enough of THESE! Especially now that there are 3 of us needing dividers or colorful space-fillers in our lunches each day! Hubby doesn't seem to understand the need to keep on top of these. There is a HUGE backlog of dirty muffin cups! So my solution is to just get more...

Pop-up water bottle - this will be perfect for all the outdoor summer concerts that the nearby Parks Departments run each year! The carabiner clip will let me hook it right on to our lunch bag!

Mini Chia Pet-type kit - this was PERFECT, since Z's preschool was doing a gardening unit. She is looking forward to the "hair" growing long enough to give a hair cut!

I sent my foodie package to Briana from Strictly Speaking. And she sent a super-sweet thank you card! Awww! Now I feel like a big jerk never sending thank yous to MY penpals...

The Lean Green Bean

Here’s a detailed explanation of the Foodie Penpals 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 treatsThe spending limit is $15The 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.

1 comment:

  1. What a great box! This was my first time to participate, and I had so much fun. One of my favorite "dishes" to spoon sauces over is really pretty easy. I roast tofu and veggies (kale and brussels are a favorite), and serve it over rice. I know you're gluten free, so sub whatever works best for you. But then pour your sauce over, and you're done!! We use mango or cilantro chutney a lot, but that jerk sauce looks awesome.

    Loved the assortment of things you got, and it gave me some good ideas for what to include in my next box.

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