Asian Lettuce Wraps - April Foodie Penpals

Check out the great items our April Foodie Penpal Molly K. sent us -- all the (non-perishable) makings for Asian Lettuce Wraps, with tips and instructions on how to make them. It was so very thoughtful, and it made for an easy and delicious weeknight dinner for the two of us during a very hectic work week.

We decided to make the wraps using ground pork along with the water chestnuts provided in our penpal package. Molly had asked ahead of time what we liked/disliked, and when Amy admitted to hating mushrooms (it's a texture thing more than a flavor thing), she sent the water chestnuts instead. It was the perfect substitution!

On his way home from work, Chris picked up a quart of pork fried rice so that we could make the wraps into a full meal. Then we started cooking. First we browned the pork then added the water chestnuts that we had chopped finely. (In other words, we followed the directions on the bottle of sauce!) 

The sauce, from Williams-Sonoma, had plenty of garlic and soy flavor, and glazed the pork wonderfully with a nice tanginess. 

We laid the lettuce out on a platter so each of us could make our own wraps, with the chopped peanuts and sweet chili sauce that Molly had sent us for garnishing. She also sent us some rice stick noodles, but we didn't feel the lettuce wraps needed them, so we are saving them for another Asian-themed dinner.

Thanks, Molly!

To find out more about Foodie Penpals, go here!

March Foodie Penpals

We're not joking! We are revealing our March Foodie Penpals on April 1st, to give us the Easter holiday off and to post on a weekday, per request from our organizer Lindsay. Lindsay does an amazing job with Foodie Penpals and for that, we owe her our gratitude. Thanks, Lindsay!!! 

This month we received a box of goodies from Natalie F. that had Amy's name all over it! Nuts! Popcorn! Jam! It was like you looked up "Amy's favorites" on Dictionary.com! And the "vegi" soup mix looks so delicious and easy to make. Mmmm...mmm! That "Frog" jam is especially amazing. And not just because whenever she makes toast Amy sings the line from "Do Re Mi" from The Sound of Music: "Tea, I drink with jam and bread!!!" Yeah. There's a lot of singing in our household. But it's called "Frog" jam because it is made with     figs, raspberries, orange peel and ginger (F.R.O.G.). The ginger gives it so much zing! It's really good and if you ever find some you should totally buy it, spread in on some bread and have a singalong.

It was a great Foodie Penpal package and we are so thankful to Natalie! We are also hoping that Ashley loved what we sent her. 

Interested? Read more about about Foodie Penpals below and check out everyone else's goodie boxes here: 

-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 & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. 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. 

A Peanut Rounder from Oklahoma!

Foodie Pen Pals February Edition

It's that time again. The end of another month and the day to tell you all about Foodie Pen Pals! Foodie Pen Pals is the brainchild of Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean, and if you go here, you can read all about it. The basics are that each participant is assigned a pen pal to send a fun foodie box to (maximum cost $15), and then receives a fun foodie box from a different participant in return. 

This month, our sender was Beth who was sending our package all the way from Alaska. She contacted us to see if we would be interested in an Alaskan-themed box, and we said, "Heck, yeah!" We aren't even sure we've ever gotten anything shipped to us from Alaska! In the meantime, we spent all kinds of time looking at Beth's two blogs (here and here) and marveling at all her beautiful photos. She really makes us want to go there. Definitely bucket-list worthy!!!

The package arrived today, just in time for our "reveal" day, and it was filled with wonderful gifts. First, we noticed the can of Alaskan silver salmon and the two types of salmon jerky (original and peppered). Chris is a huge fan of salmon AND jerky, so this is right up his alley. 

Also in the box is the perfect envelope of tea for two - Alaskan blueberry herbal tea, to be exact. We can't wait to try it.  

Beth also sent us these handy "bear claw" salad tongs...

a handmade wallet that she said was one of her latest sewing projects (so thoughtful!)...

and a gorgeous little genie-bottle filled with homemade vanilla extract!

As we use all of these great gifts, we will think of Beth out there in the great wilderness and hope we get to see it in person one day! Thank you, Beth!!!

We sent a box filled with "Super Snacks" to our recipient, Kaitlyn, who wrote about it on her blog here. 

You don't have to have a blog to join Foodie Pen Pals. For more information about it, go here. And thanks, as always, to Lindsay for putting this idea into action. It's something we look forward to every month!

January's Foodie Pen Pals

Here we are - the first month of the year already gone. Poof! And since it's the last day of said month, it's time for Foodie Pen Pals. Foodie Pen Pals is the brainchild of Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean, and if you go here, you can read all about it. The basics are that each participant is assigned a pen pal to send a fun foodie box to, and then receives a fun foodie box from a different participant in return.

This month, we received a fabulously fun foodie box from Erica of Abbie and Erica's Coast to Coast Adventures (great name, btw!) that included, in her words, "a little bit of everything." Indeed! We have: vegetable pasta - a healthy pasta for the new year; chocolate cherry granola - a sweet and healthy snack; almond butter - an even yummier snack; habanero-lime salsa - a spicy, tangy salsa we will be buying from here on out; some perfectly roasted walnuts that Amy scarfed down shortly after taking that picture; a few Ghirardelli chocolate bites that Chris scarfed down shortly after taking that picture; a package of Starbucks Via packets - perfect for when we're running late for school; and our almost favorite thing - dukkah, an Egyptian spice blend of nuts and herbs that we plan to dust on chicken, fish, or just mix in with some olive oil for a nice bread dip. 

Our most favorite thing unfortunately didn't even make it into the pic - an amazingly smooth homemade peach butter that Chris started putting on everything right away and which is, we're ashamed to admit, already gone. It was way good. From a morning coffee to a quick snack to ingredients for dinner, we are all set up thanks to Erica! Thank you, and kudos your first Foodie Pen Pal experience!

We sent some olive oils from our new favorite food shop O'live A Little, to our recipient, Leah of Mackenzie Memories. You can go to her website to see what she thought about them!

If you are interested in joining Foodie Pen Pals, go here. You don't have to have a blog to join! And you'll be glad you did!

November Foodie Penpals

How can it possibly be the end of November already? Sheesh! The good thing about that, however, is that it is the time to reveal our Foodie Penpal for this month, Laura of Wylde Thyme! We received a very thoughtful box of goodies from Laura who said that she was sure things were getting hectic (with the arrival of the holiday season and all) and that she wanted to put together some date night snacks for the two of us. How sweet is that?!?!? Her suggestion was to add a bottle of wine and a movie, and we took it one step further and added some soup to make it into snacks, wine, a movie and dinner!

Here's a list and some photos of what Laura sent us:

Pepperoncini Peppers that were salty, spicy and sitting in a perfectly pungent vinegar.

Laurel Hill Berry Nutty Mix, a delightful mix of almonds, cashews, peanuts, cherries, cranberries, blueberries, and golden raisins with just a hint of sugar to sweeten it all up.

A variety of snack crackers, including Westminster's Parmesan Peppercorn - a tangier version of their plain oyster cracker.

Olde Colony Bakery Cocoa Crisp Cookies, amazingly crunchy crispy chocolatey buttery cookie bites.

 

And, last but not least, Yancey's Fancy XXX Sharp Cheddar from New York, which made Chris chuckle "A triple-x date night, eh?" Men.

We noshed and sipped and watched a movie and then used the leftover cheddar mixed with some provolone from the fridge to make grilled cheese sandwiches on rosemary bread with a side of tomato and sweet basil soup (garnished with a couple of those crackers!). So the date went from nuts to soup ha ha!

It was great, and we got to try some fabulous new snacks, including dessert (heart those cookies!), all provided by our Foodie Penpal! Thank you, Laura! We loved it!

Happy Halloween/Foodie Penpals!

Happy Halloween, everyone! There is a nice chill in the air that is just right for trick-or-treating. As we are child-free, however, we will have our traditional Halloween night festivities - carving jack-o-lanterns, eating take out, answering the door over and over again, oohing and aahing at all the costumed kids, and roasting pumpkin seeds. Then, perhaps, after the treats have been given out, we'll stop at a neighbor's house (or two) for "trick or shot." Or maybe not. It is a school night, after all.

In addition to all the Halloween fun, This is our first month participating in Foodie Penpals. Are you wondering, "What is Foodie Penpals?" Because you ought to be. Foodie Penpals is a program started by blogger Lindsay of The Lean Green Bean. Over 1,300 participants from the US, Canada, and the UK receive a different penpal each month, and send them a box of foodie goodies. Even though we just joined, we are already hooked. Our sender pal was Jacqueline of Run With Chocolate.

She sent us an amazing box filled with her local (California) and all-around favorites. Take a look!

Flavored California almonds (butter toffee and "fruit-loop" flavored - sweet and addicting!).

Unreal/Unjunked Chocolate Caramel Peanut Nougat Bar (loved it...wish we could find them here) and a KIND Fruit and Nut Bar in Almond Coconut (almonds and coconuts...two of Amy's faves).

Creamy Sunbutter (a fabulous nut-free spread made from sunflower seeds) that combined so nicely with the Marmaletta Peach Pie Preserves for a unique twist on pb-n-j (and a fine school lunch).

And, Amy's particular favorites from the box, which she enjoyed the day after Hurricane Sandy during an unexpected day off of work: English Breakfast Tea, Tea Honey and a hand-made tea cozy (to keep Amy-the-Tea-Fanatic's fingers from burning), with Daelman's Jumbo Caramel Wafers (which Amy ate as Jacqueline suggested - warmed by the steam of that wonderful tea). Note how the papers that need grading are strategically hidden beneath that tempting Food Network Magazine!

What a nice welcome into the Foodie Penpal community! Thank you so much, Jacqueline!

If you want to read about what we sent to our Foodie Penpal, check out her blog right here. To learn more about the Foodie Penpal Program, go here.