It’s that time again!

Foodie Pen Pal time! This is a wonderful monthly food swap between bloggers and readers. I started last month and had so much fun getting and receiving my goodies that I had to sign up again. For all the details, check out the info on Lindsay’s blog. You can sign up at the bottom of the page and I definitely recommend it.

This month I was paired up with Lindsay and Jennie. Both lovely ladies with lovely blogs and I’m so pleased to have been introduced to them through this exchange.

To see what I sent Lindsay, see her site for the recap. There was also supposed to be a very nice chocolate bar in her package but it melted before I was able to pack it. What I’ve learned both on the giving and receiving end of food gifts is that chocolate doesn’t make it to its destination intact. Not this time of year anyways. More on that below.

From Jennie I received a fabulous sampling of Trader Joe’s goodies. I love Trader Joe’s for many reasons but the amount of “fun” foods they carry puts it high on my list. Jennie took full advantage of this aspect and sent me a box full of fun.

First up – chocolate:

Like my chocolate bar to Lindsay, these melted a little on their way to me. No worries though. Chocolate tastes just as good in melted form. They had partially reformed and I dove head first into this container. In order to stop myself from eating the entire thing in one sitting (which looked like a very real possibility), I put them in the freezer thinking it would make them less easy to nibble on. They actually put ‘compulsively addicting’ on the label!

Well chocolate tastes just as good frozen. Silly me. So I’ve been enjoying these out of the freezer. There was a moment when I almost broke a tooth trying to get another bite off the frozen brick but, then again, they did warn me on the packaging about that risk.

Moving on, more sweet things were contained in my box.

Meringues! I had Will try one since he’s new to these and I think they were a bit sweet for him. He made up for that by compensating with a salty dose of these babies.

I actually think he ate more of this bag than me and that’s such a compliment! Will only eats a limited variety of foods so when he pronounces something to be good, I better prepare for him to beat me to the last chip.

The corn and chile salsa was left to me, though. Not a problem. You all know of my salsa addiction and if not – let’s just say there’s nothing I won’t eat with a side of salsa. I wonder how those chocolate bites would taste dipped in this?

Last but not least – my ultimate weakness.

Be still my beating heart! Cereal!

I have a problem with cereal. I will eat an entire box in a matter of a few days. For this reason, I have to practice strict portion control with it. Granola happens to be a definite favorite but given its high calorie count, this is one of the few foods I actually measure out. I feel kind of silly measuring out my 1/2 cup each morning (my 200 calorie 1/2 cup at that) but man is it worth it. I’ve been eating this over frozen fruit and it actually does a great job of keeping me full all morning, something most cereals usually fail to do. I likely wouldn’t have tried this otherwise because I try not to have too much tempting food in the house but knowing it actually does a great job keeping me full until lunch, I may have to head back to good ol’ Trader Joe’s for another bag. That’s really the beautiful part of the Foodie Pen Pal program. You get to try things you might never have picked up for yourself. Thanks Jennie!