Foodie Penpals | Veronica's Cornucopia

September Foodie Penpals

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Veronica

*There will be two posts today, as it is reveal day for Foodie Pen Pals, and also a tribute to a special blogger that passed away last month. Check back at 11 CST for the next post!

I had a lot of fun this month with Foodie Pen Pals. Molly got me as a match and she was so nice in her emails. She didn’t just ask if I had any food preferences, she asked what I was interested in, and about my family, and if I had a dog. She definitely was a good example to learn from about how to be a good foodie pen pal!

When my husband called me at work to let me know I got my box, I was so excited I left work early when they offered, just so I could come home and open it a little sooner!

Look! I got STUFF! Let’s take it out of the box so you can see it better…

Homemade dehydrated peaches! Yum yum, great snack!

Homemade peach butter?! YESSSS!

Sugarless taffy that’s so good, even Dennis couldn’t tell it was sugar-free. This is a local product in her area, and I love getting neat things like this from people’s hometowns. Notice the warning at the bottom: “OVER-CONSUMPTION MAY CAUSE A LAXATIVE EFFECT.” That warning made a really handy portion control monitor for me! I make sure not to eat more than four per day. I’m pretty sure if they put that warning on all candy, the obesity epidemic would decline rapidly. lol

A healthy Clif brownie bar. I didn’t think I liked it but it grew on me, and Dennis liked it from the first bite. You just have to eat things like this without expecting it will taste anything like the real thing. Clif bars are especially good for a healthy breakfast or snack on the go, and provide sustained energy.

Love the card she sent! This is a real photograph affixed to a card..

I didn’t get any more pictures of the things individually but did take a pic of everything assembled after I’d already dug into a few things. :)

You can see I got a soup bean mix (the company that makes this is great–check it out and their products here) and a little packet of sparkly lotion, and soup bone dog treats! I loved that she sent something for my baby. :) There were three bones in the bag and it was perfect because we just so happened to be watching two other doggies when the box came.

Miss Weenie (I bet you can’t guess which one she is) and Jenny with my Jessie in the back.

I cut Miss Weenie’s bone down by 2/3 because I didn’t want her getting obese on my watch-lol! It was still pretty fat for her mouth but she managed it.

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Jessie says, “Thank you, Molly!”

When Jenny abandoned half of her bone to spy on someone who was walking down the street, Jessie snuck up and gobbled the rest of it down. You can see her hair sticking up along her spine because she was ready to do battle for it-LOL! She knew she was being a bad girl, but I didn’t realize what she was doing until after I took a picture and the bone was gone. Thankfully I still had the 2/3 left from Weenie’s bone to give Jenny. Jessie is such a hog! lol

As for that peach butter (it’s so delicious-Molly shared her recipe with me and you can snag it here), it made it’s way to some homemade biscuits…

And I followed the directions on the soup mix sort of, leaving out the canned tomatoes and adding ham, and we had a mighty delicious dinner of beans and cornbread…

Ellen, my Foodie Penpals match this month, sent me some pictures and a note she wanted me to include at the end of my Foodie Penpals post.

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Veronica, I think I started using everything or close to it, the day I received my box. It was like Christmas in Sept. The treats were delicious, the candy is still chewy and I’m hoarding it, just for me. So much of it is put away and already used. I’m looking for the premium yeast, it’s not in my store yet, but I’ll find it. Thank you so much for a fun package and for the fun emails before.

Ellen

Ellen’s goodies (she told me she’s a baker): yeast, crème bouquet, Vietnamese cinnamon, oatmeal candy, raspberry almond fudge cookies (in the blue tub in the back), whole nutmegs, vanilla beans, strawberry zucchini jam, bean soup mix (too funny we both got bean soup mixes!), Kansas honey, and a pack of white chocolate candy corn flavored M&Ms.

Rolls Ellen made with the Red Star Platinum yeast. Confession: I got those packets for free when I entered the fair this year! I tried one too (actually, you’ll see what I used it in in my next post today) and loved how well it made my rolls rise.

Pumpkin pies Ellen made with some Vietnamese cinnamon. How pretty are her pies? She also made a pumpkin cake with the creme bouquet in the frosting and cinnamon in the cake, but she said they ate the whole thing before she got a picture! lol

This is the last time I’ll be able to participate in Foodie PenPals until Haus is employed again, so I’m glad to got to go out with such a bang! Thanks Lindsay for making this all possible–it’s the coolest project evah!

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August Foodie Penpals

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Veronica

You guys, I’m so excited. So excited. I really should have thought of this since supporting the Postal Service is a big deal to me, but I’m glad that someone else is on the ball. Lindsay of The Lean Green Bean started something called Foodie Penpals where participants are matched up to another participant each month (bloggers and non-bloggers alike are all welcome), and you mail out a box of goodies ($15 spending limit) to your match and receive one in return. BRILLIANT! This is like two of my greatest loves combined. Food + Mail = Veronica-gasm.

YESSSSSSSSSSSS!

So this month I received my package from Sarah of And So I Give Thanks… (thought it was pretty cool that two thankful blogs were connected through Foodie Penpals!). Is there anything more exciting than getting a package in the mail? Especially when there’s a surprise inside? Especially when it’s a tasty edible surprise?!

Sarah sent me a box full of yummy snacks and a couple of products from her home-state of Minnesota.

Inside was Minnesota honey, & wild rice, Cinnamon Crunch Somersaults, Black & White Trail Mix, and Cheddar Cheese Nut Thins.

Dennis eats honey on bread every single day, so he was really excited to see the honey. It’s one of his favorite treats!

I feel like I found a pot of gold in my box! Wild rice is so expensive that it’s usually cut with other types of rice to make a blend that is less pricey. And I have a pound of pure wild rice! Sarah says this makes an excellent wild rice soup, and I intend to try it that way soon.

I’d never heard of these before. Have you?

Sounds good to me!

Ever since I watched this video on the effects genetically modified foods have had on us, I have been more aware of the food I eat and buy, and make more of an effort to make sure they are not GMO. So I was happy to see this label.

These Cinnamon Crunch Somersaults grew on me and I ended up eating the bag within a few days. At first I didn’t think I liked them, but the roasted sunflower seeds and the crispy, slightly sweet-cinnamon taste & texture became addictive. I particularly liked when I bit into one with an extra-roasted seed–so good!

This Black and White Trail Mix is a combination of peanuts and raisins, both with and without chocolate and yogurt coatings.

The chocolate slightly melted in the heat during shipping, but I was impressed the whole thing wasn’t stuck together in a big mass with the temps we were having during the time I received this. I take this to work with me in case of low blood sugar because it has both carbohydrates and protein.

I saved the best for last! These Cheddar Cheese Nut Thins are crackers made with almonds and rice. I’ve seen them in the gluten-free sections at supermarkets but never thought to try them since I don’t have a gluten allergy.

These were so crispy and delicious! We both loved them and gobbled them up so quickly I’m embarrassed to admit how long they didn’t last. One day. I would definitely not buy these, they are way too addictive! lol Thanks, Sarah, for all the goodies!

I really enjoyed participating in Foodie Penpals this month and am excited for next month! As much fun as it is to receive something in the mail, the best part is actually putting together your own box and feeling all warm and excited for the person about to receive all your tasty thought and effort. If you’d like to learn more, you can do so here. The more the merrier! And thank you for supporting the postal service!