It’s the end of the month which means it’s Foodie Penpals reveal day! What is Foodie Penpals you might ask? It’s the brainchild of Lindsay over at the Lean Green Bean. It’s a swap of goodies that happens every month and it’s open to both bloggers and readers alike. Here’s how the program works: 

• On the 5th of the 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 can choose 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 Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. 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. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

Registration for August is still open,  so go ahead and give it a shot! Remember it’s open to both bloggers and readers alike.

This month, I was matched up with Jamie over at Inspire Fitness and Wellness. Head on over and check out her blog when you’re done here. In her note, she mentioned that she’s also a runner like myself. Yay! So I got an awesome package of running related goodies which included: a bag of chia seeds, honey, a protein bar, a chocolate caramel crunch chocolate bar, energy gel chews and Sweet Tarts.

I plan on trying out the energy gel chews during my long run this weekend and will enjoy a piece of the chocolate caramel bar and some Sweet Tarts after my run. And the protein bar and the honey will go with me to work. I love having the protein bars around because there are days when I don’t get to go downstairs right at noon for lunch. The honey bottle is the perfect size for my desk and so so cute!

Finally, I love the chia seeds because they’re a great source of protein and energy, electrolytes and antioxidants. Perfect for anyone who participates in endurance sports (not just running). If you’re wondering how you can incorporate chia seeds into your diet, check out my recipes for banana chocolate chip protein pancakes and peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip protein cookie balls. But you can also add them into your post-workout shakes, oatmeal, baked goods and just about anything else you want. They’re almost flavorless so you won’t even notice that they’re there.

That’s it for July! I think it’s a great way to end the month! And as for my package? It was sent to Pascaline of  In Stevens Heaven. To find out what I sent her and whether she liked it, head on over to her blog. And if you want to participate in the Foodie Penpals program for August, head on over to the Lean Green Bean to sign up!