Foodie Penpal - Month 2

It is month two for me in the Foodie Penpal program started by The Lean Green Bean. This month, I sent a package to Sami in New York. She has three sons and her hubby is the chef and she is the baker in the family. I sent them some chocolate pretzels from Allo! Chocolat, caramels from Becky's Blissful Bakery, wine dip, and apple dip. She already shared that she loved the pretzels. 

I received a box from Elizabeth in Ohio who writes the Motivated Mama blog. She sent a very cute note as well as a longer letter describing each item a little more indepth to me. 

I used some of Bob's Red Mill Vegi Soup mix this past weekend. I am familiar with the brand for having great gluten free and organic products, but I have never purchased any. I followed the basic directions of 4 cups water to 1 cup mix and a little salt. After a half hour of simmering, I tasted the broth and it tasted like peas. I decided it needed some more flavor and added the Rustic Tuscan Seasoning she sent me. After 15 more minutes of simmering, the house smelt heavenly and not just of peas. The broth was almost completely absorbed by the veggies and cute alphabet and number pastas in the mix, so I added one can of Chicken Broth to the soup. We enjoyed this with grilled cheese for lunch on a Saturday and it was delicious. We thought that this could also go on the side of a meal without the broth, like a risotto-type side dish. It has plenty of fiber and minimal fat so it's definitely good for you.

Soup beginning to simmer

Cute alphabets amongst the grains and vegetable pieces.

Added Rustic Tuscan Seasoning to the mix for flavor.

I haven't tried the GoPicnic yet but it looks wonderful. I haven't seen these around here but looking on the website, they have many different varieties, all being 100 times better for you than a Lunchable. I was hoping that I was going to be going somewhere on a weekend where I could use it and not just take it to work, but no fun trips happened this month.

The LaraBar Uber was the first item that I ate and just like Elizabeth wrote in her letter to me, this does taste exactly like banana bread. It was chewy and crunchy and I am going to look for these in the stores around here.

 I haven't had a chance to have the Hazelnut Butter (like Nutella, but all natural) but I love the single serving size of it. The GFB bar looks interesting but that too I haven't gotten to yet. It's very hard to the touch, but cranberry toasted almond sounds amazing.

And finally, onto my new favorite that this box provided to me. She sent me a ton of flavored honey sticks, and although I don't know the flavors per say, they are thrown in my bag for work daily. I have added them to oatmeal, tea and Greek yogurt. I am not the best at defining the flavors but they add an all-natural sweetness to my food and I haven't had one that I don't like yet. I ended up ordering some honey sticks (original flavor) from Glacier County Honey Company (along with some gifts for family) and can't wait to try the "best honey you've never tasted!" (a little company slogan)

Flavored honey sticks