April Foodie Penpals reveal

Some of you “in real life” (love that expression) know that “real life” itself has thrown some hefty challenges my way recently. So, anything which is just out-and-out nice, kind and designed to make me smile is appreciated more than ever.

What good timing, then, for me to have signed up to “Foodie Penpals”, a blogger food-swap organised in the UK by Carol Anne at This is Rock Salt. Find out more (and join!) here.

The idea is that you get matched up with a fellow blogger or a blog reader in one big jolly round-robin of food parcel loveliness. With a set budget in mind, you put together a parcel based on an email Q&A with your recipient. Then you await your own parcel! (The recipient of my parcel was Carol Anne, actually, so keep an eye on her blog This is Rock Salt to see how I did – really hope she liked my choices!)

The person who sent me my parcel doesn’t have her own blog but her name is Emma. Emma’s parcel arrived just at the right time for me, when I really needed cheering up. I was actually so delighted and excited to receive it (I’d kind of forgotten it was on its way), I chose to leave it sitting on my table, unopened, until I had a nice relaxing evening ahead of me. I then opened it carefully, enjoying a kind of mini-Christmas.

Poor Emma, I think she got the short straw when she got matched up with me. After all, it can’t be easy to put together a foodie parcel for someone who’s dieting for bodybuilding competitions. She did great though! Her choices were thoughtful and personal. Here’s what she sent:

A beautiful parcel and hand-written (hand-made?) card (put my scribble to Carol Anne to shame!)

Let’s delve deeper… 😀

Yummy cracker bites and fruit strips, great size for travelling or gym bag and a lovely treat to look forward to on carb-up days! Also some delicious-sounding trail mix full of things like cacao nibs (my favourite), and a Bounce protein ball in peanut flavour (good choice!) That’s not all…

Some herbal tea called “Love” which is soothing and comforting – just what I need – and some kale chips! I sometimes make my own, or try to, but they never turn out that great and certainly nothing like these (yes I have already eaten this item from the parcel and they were delicious!)

Two bars of very dark chocolate, one with chili in… oh yum, Emma couldn’t have got it more right! These have been relegated to my “treats” box but will certainly be enjoyed when the time’s right. 😀

So thoughtful – broad beans from Emma’s garden. These have already been eaten, just lightly steamed and mixed through a chicken salad. Gorgeous. Thank you Emma!

There was something else in that parcel though… what was it… I’ll pass you over to thefitdog who will show you how much he enjoyed the treat Emma kindly sent him 😉

Chomp, chomp, slurp!

Thanks so much Emma, what a fun thing to be part of! I hope your parcel was just as wonderful as the one you sent me. 🙂

If you want to join in on UK Foodie Penpals, head over to this link. Head here (the site of the original Foodie Penpals idea) for all the April FPPs posts!

April Foodie Penpals reveal is a post from the Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.