Roots and Wings: Foodie Pen Pals - Mango Madness Edition

Foodie Pen Pals- Mango Madness Edition!

I'm a little late this month on the Foodie Pen Pal post. We usually post the last day of the month but things have been a little busy lately. This month's pen pal was Andie at Sea Salt 'N Peppa don't you just love that name? She sent me some goodies from NYC pictured below:

First of all, I asked Andie for chia seeds. I've seen just about every health food blogger talking about these things and I wanted to give them a try. I haven't been able to find them locally so she helped me out. Chia seeds deserve a post all of their own. So far I've used them in smoothies, yogurt and even made a chocolate pudding with them. The Townie thinks they are weird but I think once I get him to try them he will like them.

The chia seeds in themselves would have been enough to make this girl happy but Andie also sent along some Mango Madness from Trader Joe's.

We don't have a Trader Joe's yet but supposedly one is opening in Albany on August 3rd (Happy Birthday to me!) and I just can't wait. I haven't tried the mango ginger chutney yet but really, there is no way it can be bad. I ripped open the dried mangoes right away and they were awesome. Sweet and sour depending on the slice. I love that there is no extra sugar. I hate that it is added to things that don't need it. Anyone else get annoyed when products say sugar free or 50 % less sugar and you think you are getting something less sweet and what you end up with is artificial sugar? Like that Trop50 stuff. If I wanted fake sugar I would have a diet orange soda, not juice thank you very much. Rant over.

Last but not least was the Thai Sweet Chili sauce. This stuff is great for shrimp, egg rolls, and I am assuming Thai Food (don't get much Thai food here in Townieville). The first time I ever used Sweet Chili sauce in cooking was making this Bangin Good Shrimp from skinnytaste.com When it says Bangin Good it means it. Gina came up withe recipe to recreate an app at a place near her called Bonefish Grill. You can find this at Ruby Tuesday's as Typhoon Shrimp or at a sushi restaurant as Rock Shrimp. Its deep fried and slathered in mayo,sriracha and sweet chili sauce but Gina's lightened up version is amazing! Try it today, seriously!