It’s Foodie Pen Pal Reveal Day!

This was my second month participating in Foodie Pen Pals and I am having such a blast with it! If you like what you read and want to join the fun, information about the program can be found at the bottom of this post.

This month I was paired with a reader named Kellie. Kellie is from Tennessee and she is super sweet! She was actually a big inspiration in my decision to include the new travel tab on here and begin to write about my travels. It’s something many of my friends have encouraged me to do over the years and Kellie’s enthusiasm for traveling made me realize that there is an audience out there that would be interested in reading about traveling! Big shout out to Kellie for that!

Can I start with a picture of the box my goodies arrived in?

LOVE the pink zebra tape!

Super cute! I love the patterned duct tape, it would make a really fun stocking stuffer. Don’t you think?

In my initial email to Kellie, I had mentioned that I loved all things fall so she made it a point to stuff the box to the brim with fall goodness. Where do I start? How about with breakfast.

Only 140 calories each!

It seems like I am constantly rushing out the door 5 minutes behind schedule so I am always looking for breakfast items that I can eat on the go. Last month, my foodie pen pal made me these amazing power balls. I tried to recreate them, but must not have used the same recipe because the ones I made were kind of a mess. But, mess or no mess they were quick, filling, healthy, and easy to grab and eat on the go. Sadly, my local Trader Joe’s no longer had these pumpkin bars in stock, but they had fig and strawberry which are both delicious as well!

Up next is tea. I drink a lot of tea throughout the day. My tea habit began when I had an office job. It was always so cold in my office that I started drinking tea for the sole purpose of warming my hands on the cup. One of my favorite teas on the market is the ginger tea by Yogi Tea, but both of these are becoming close contenders.

Different in flavor, equal in awesomeness!

Continuing with the ginger theme, let’s move on to the ginger chews. This is an item I buy regularly at Trader Joe’s so I was über excited to see them when I opened my box. As luck would have it, I was down to my last few in the package I had purchased previously. If you like these, I would also recommend the mango ginger chews by Chimes.

Ginger chews from Trader Joe’s

Speaking of mango! I love tropical flavors, especially now that I live in Chicago. One of my favorite ways to combat the winter blues is to snack on tropical flavors and daydream about summer.

Dried mango is a perfect on-the-go snack

Of course, what foodie pen pal package would be complete without chocolate?! That dark chocolate with coconut caramel was tasty! The other I am trying to save for a rainy day. I have a feeling it would pair well with a full glass of red wine. But, with only 100 calories per bar, they are going fast when my sweet tooth strikes!

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”  Charles M. Schulz

Finally, Kellie made me some homemade pumpkin oatmeal cookies and included the recipe! I covered it up with cookies because I am going to be stingy with the recipe for a little bit. These had the perfect balance of sweetness and pumpkin. I definitely want to bring these to a few parties before I start handing out the secret ingredients!

Pumpkin oatmeal cookies with white chocolate and cranberries

THANK YOU, Kellie for all of the fall goodies. I loved everything! xoxo!

Join the fun! Find out how to become a Foodie Penpal below.