I am so excited that I found this Foodie Penpals courtesy of one of my favorite blogs!! I was paired up for my first month to receive my package from Lena from Lena on the Beach and boy did she do good!!

I received my package a little late but I was okay with it. Came at a good time after what had been a very long week at work and it was filled with some yummy goodies!!

I am loving the cup as my cup that I had just cracked and is leaking now so I needed a new one anyway, and of course, I love the color. The tablets to put in the water are pretty cool. Kind of fun to watch it disappear in the water and nice to not to have to shake it (as I seem to always get covered in water when I do that).

I cannot wait to try the Ranch popcorn flavoring. It’s been a pretty busy week here so I haven’t had a chance to try it yet but I can’t wait to try it! Popcorn is one of my favorite things so I am so excited by Lena adding more to my box. I was just about out of the kernels that I have.

I was a little nervous to try the Fruit Strips and Turkey Sausage, but they were actually a lot tastier than I thought they would be. And only 1 PP each, so good! Sorry about the quality of the picture. I will try and get another one up later but I’ve eaten a lot of them already, so I don’t know if I will be able to get one

The Mixed Berries Dried Fruit might be my favorite thing in the package. They are so yummy! I’ve never really had dried fruit, except in a salad I made once so this was a new thing for me. So good. The crackers were not bad with a little Laughing Cow Swiss Cheese on it. I wonder how they would be with some cheddar cheese?? Going to have to try it I think…

Lastly, I got something that I’m a little scared to try…some very bright green relish. I will only eat it on hot dogs and not all the time so have been wary about trying it. Will do it eventually soon though. She did include a recipe (but don’t tell anyone they came from her) to make real Chicago-style hot dogs so I am definitely going to have to try this soon. Got a few more shifts at the second job and will have to cook up some dogs soon afterwards.

Lena was awesome and I’m glad she got me for my first time at the Foodie Penpals! She was super good to me and I’m glad I got to do this and already thinking of next month.

And now it’s time for some details about Foodie Penpals. In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-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.

If you’re interested in participating for August, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

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

*If you’re from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I’ll see if we get enough interest this month!