Amy's Chunky Tomato Bisque Review

Sleeping in has become the norm lately, but it cannot stay that way. I like getting up early, some days I have to, and staying up late every night will not work for me. This morning (late morning) when I got up, I put some eyedrops in and made coffee. I made it mostly decaf since it was late. I had applesauce and the other half of my pumpkin muffin to go with my coffee.

 I guess you'd call it brunch, closer to lunch than breakfast. It was good. I really like having some sort of fruit for breakfast and coffee went well with the muffin.

Since breakfast was late, obviously I had a late lunch as well. I tried Amy's Chunky Tomato Bisque Soup.

Nutritional Facts
Serving Size: 1 cup
Servings Per Container: ~ 2
Serving Weight: 1 cup

Calories: 130     Calories from Fat: 30
Total Fat: 3.5g
      Saturated Fat: 2g
      Trans Fat: 0g    
Cholesterol: 10mg
Sodium: 680mg
Carbohydrates: 21g
      Fiber: 3g
      Sugars: 14g
Protein: 3g
Organic: 99%
Vitamin A: 20% • Vitamin C: 40%
Calcium: 8% • Iron: 6%

The soup was good, but it doesn't have anything on Panera's creamy tomato soup. Amy's tomato bisque is somewhat sweeter than Panera's. It wasn't bad, but I prefer a less sweet version. Amy's is thick and chunky, which I liked, but I added a pinch or two of salt, so that is didn't seem as sweet. I liked the soup, but I would probably choose a different brand if given a choice, so I'm just giving it 3 stars.

I also had fresh broccoli, carrots, cucumber, snow peas, bell pepper and grape tomatoes, with garlic Caesar dressing on the side and a piece of crusty Parmesan garlic toast.

This was the biggest meal of the day, but it was made up of things that aren't terribly filling or at least not the kind of things that take forever to digest. I didn't want to eat anything that would be too filling, so that I wouldn't have to eat a late dinner as well.

I managed to pick the right thing, I guess. I had to have a few Cheetos while waiting for dinner to cook. 

I just made 2 vegetable eggrolls for dinner. I made a mixture of duck sauce and soy sauce to dip them in. I actually added an extra packet of duck sauce. These are Tai Pei brand with whole grain wrappers. I love the wrappers. They are very crispy.

I had a few peppermint mini marshmallows while I was doing the blog. The peppermint flavor is very subtle. You have to put several in your mouth at once to really taste it. I haven't tried them in cocoa yet.

That is it for food today. The longer I'm up the more I want to munch. So I'm off to bed. Fingers crossed that I can get my crazy schedule worked out. Have a great night/day!!!

Amy's Bean And Cheese Burrito Review

Sleep is good. Since doing my posts at night, I've been getting more sleep I think. I also get more things done around the house. I feel like doing more when I first get up than I do later in the day. I even got my Christmas tree taken down today.

Breakfast this morning was the last pancake. Still the same peanut butter and syrup combo. It's hard to beat.

I had an Amy's Bean & Cheese Burrito and brown rice for lunch. I had leftover brown rice, so I had some with my burrito. There was also a little rice in the burrito.

 

Nutritional Facts
Serving Size: 6.0 oz
Servings Per Container: 1.0
Serving Weight: 6.0 oz
Product Number: 000071
Calories: 310     Calories from Fat: 90
Total Fat: 9g
      Saturated Fat: 2.5g
      Trans Fat: 0g     
Cholesterol: 10mg
Sodium: 580mg
Carbohydrates: 46g
      Fiber: 7g
      Sugars: 1g
Protein: 11g
Organic: 88%
Vitamin A: 6% • Vitamin C: 8%
Calcium: 10% • Iron: 15%

I like all of the Amy's burritos I've tried. I like the whole wheat tortillas they are wrapped in. I usually heat mine a little longer than directed. Amy's Mexican foods are the best. The bean & cheese burrito has a good flavor, not too spicy, of course I like spicy, so it wouldn't bother me if it were a little spicier.

The rice went great with my burrito. I rolled each bite in rice, so that the rice stuck to the filling that squeezed out. It would have been even better with some sour cream and salsa. I gave the bean & cheese burrito 4 stars, since it is one of my favorites.

I also tried  some Herr's hot sauce flavored potato chips today. These get four stars too. I love Texas Pete. These do have a little heat to them.

I finally made it back to Zumba tonight. I was suppose to go on Tuesday, but completely forgot. I didn't get dinner before going. I had a few peanut butter pretzels to tide me over. My legs were tired after playing with the girls all afternoon and then doing Zumba this evening. We did a lot of leg stuff. Haven't been to Zumba in about 3 weeks because of the holidays, I was feeling it.

When I got home I had an Amy's Bowl, the tortilla casserole with black beans. I'd actually like equal amounts of beans and tortilla casserole.

I like the taste of the two together.

Now I'm up late getting ready to post this, watching an old movie, when I should be sleeping. I guess that all for now. Have a great night/day!!!

Amy's Organic Southwestern Vegetable Soup Review

It's super chilly this morning. I may have to have a nice hot cup of coffee or a cup of tea, like I had yesterday. I didn't feel like making coffee and I don't need but one cup anyway, so I went with the Lipton Orange Passion Fruit Jasmine green tea, although it's not my favorite. I bought it the last time, because I couldn't find the tea I was looking for. It's not bad, but doesn't have a distinct orange flavor, which is what I was going for.

I also had a French toast bagel and you know what French toast makes me think of? .......maple syrup. I spread my bagel with cream cheese, topped it with chopped walnuts, sprinkled it with a little cinnamon, and drizzled it with light maple syrup.

It reminded me of baklava. It was yummy!

 

Speaking of yummy, I had the yummiest sandwich for lunch. It was also quite possibly, the messiest, but it was so good, I didn't mind. I used part of a large hoagie bun, warmed, a Gardein Chick'n Scallopini patty, tender garden salad mix, onion, cranberry orange relish, mayo, & fresh cracked pepper. 

I usually have this sandwich around Thanksgiving because of the cranberries being used then, but I couldn't seem to get all the ingredients together at the same time. I also normally use cranberry sauce & iceberg lettuce, but since we made cranberry orange relish that was so good this year and I was out of iceberg, I decide to use what I had. I believe this sandwich was even better than the original.

I had Dale piece of pumpkin nut roll later for a snack which he never got around to eating. I spent the afternoon cleaning. Waiting for the internet tech guy to call. I didn't even bother with the Christmas tree, but I did get a lot of other things done. I am slowly decluttering.

I've been meaning to make some soup, but I've been so busy lately, I have gotten around to it, so yesterday for dinner, I had a can of Amy's Organic Southwestern Vegetable soup.

Nutritional Facts
Serving Size: 1 cup
Servings Per Container: ~ 2
Serving Weight: 1 cup
Calories: 140     Calories from Fat: 40
Total Fat: 4g
      Saturated Fat: 0.5g
      Trans Fat: 0g    
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 680mg
Carbohydrates: 21g
      Fiber: 4g
      Sugars: 4g
Protein: 4g
Organic: 99%
Vitamin A: 30% • Vitamin C: 25%
Calcium: 4% • Iron: 8%

I also had a roll I'd heated in the oven on the side. The soup was pretty good. It is a bit spicy. Luckily I like spicy, but I did feel that the spice in this soup, sort of overwhelms the flavor. I can do hot, hot food, but I like to taste my food as well. I think less heat and more flavor would be more desirable to the majority.

The soup wasn't bad despite it's spiciness. I would probably add some tomato & Mexican oregano. It also needed a smoky flavor to compliment the fire roasted vegetables.

You can tell that the corn has been roasted. I would buy this soup again, because I like soup and there aren't too many vegetarian soups to choose from, but I think I would only give it 3 stars.

Everything else I ate yesterday got 5 stars, this snack included. After Zumba I had crackers and light cream cheese w/ extra dill pickle slices for a snack. I was hungry and tired. It was a good workout and a great snack.

After cooling off from my workout, I was sort of cold, so I also had a nice hot cup of Dark Chocolate cocoa. I had received 4 Kcup samples from Cafe Escapes. Lucas tried the regular milk chocolate cocoa and I tried the dark.

There was also a Chai latte and a Cafe Mocha. We both like the cocoa. The dark chocolate was very good but still sort of sweet for my taste. but very chocolaty. You can see how dark it is. I still prefer the white hot chocolate.  Has anyone tried the Chai latte. I'm wondering if it would be good?

I forgot to tell you that the tech guy finally called and set up a time for them to come and fix my internet once I explained that I'd already been through the inside diagnostics and that it was an existing problem that had never been fixed. The tech guy had the internet off this morning, while working on it. He came and said he'd replaced old equipment with new and that my signal and speed were now double what they were and are now where they should be. Hopefully no more dropped internet. Happy Friday!!!

Smart Ones Pasta Primavera Review

I'll be trying to make this a quick post. If you've been reading you know that lately I've been watching the girls, well, I may or may not be watching them tomorrow; it's unconfirmed, so I'm getting this post done early just in case. 

I'll get straight to point and tell you what I had for breakfast this morning. I was delighted to be able to enjoy a pineapple smoothie for breakfast. We've had a fairly warm couple of days and it was refreshing. It's 64 degrees outside right now and I'm roasting.

For lunch I tried a Weight Watchers Smart Ones Pasta Primavera.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 255g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 250 Calories from Fat 35

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 4g 6%

Saturated Fat 2g 9%

Monosaturated Fat 1g

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5g

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 5mg 2%

Sodium 610mg 25%

Total Carbohydrate 41g 14%

Dietary Fiber 4g 17%

Sugars 4g

Protein 11g

Vitamin A 15%

Vitamin C 10%

Calcium 15%

Iron 10%

* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

I also had a leftover crab cake to go with the pasta.  

The pasta looked very good with a light creamy sauce and colorful veggies( broccoli, carrots, & red bell pepper). I thought it would be a perfect accompaniment for my crab cake and it was.

I really liked the pasta, but thought that the sauce was slightly bland for my taste. I added a little Parmesan cheese to the top along with a sprinkle of black pepper, which gave the pasta the boost it needed, of course it also boosted the calories, etc. a bit. I gave it 4 stars and would definitely buy this again.

Feeling a bit sleepy all day and knowing I had Zumba later, I made some half caf. coffee which I'd intended to make earlier this morning and never got around to it. I added a little peppermint cocoa mix and some mint syrup to my coffee. It was so good, I poured another cup, but then realized I was a bit jittery from having drank the first cup. I pawned the second cup off on Lucas. I didn't want to waste it, but knew better than to drink it.

Before Zumba, I had dinner, an Amy's enchilada verde with black beans & rice with veggies.

This is one of my favorite frozen dinners. I love the spinach enchilada and the salsa verde. It isn't the most appetizing looking meal I've ever seen, but it is definitely tasty.

 

We had an awesome workout at Zumba. We did 4 songs back to back with weights. We also did songs without weights, thankfully, but normally we alternate between songs with weights and songs without. I'm hoping I won't be feeling it in the morning. I do think I will sleep good. 

I rode with the a/c blowing in the car on the way home. I was sweaty and it felt good. When I got home I was ready for a snack. I had a Chobani Greek Lemon Yogurt.

It wasn't enough. I also had some crackers with light cream cheese and pickles. These were very good and I could have eaten a few more, but didn't.

Not sure why, but I thought I'd also post a picture of the little Christmas tree, I had let Lexi decorate. I also have a larger tree which I still haven't decorated. I really liked the colors of the little tree, but I don't have decorations for the big tree to match. I'd basically picked the bright colors for Lexi. I thought she would like them, but after seeing it, I like them too.

Ok, so it's late and I may be watching tots tomorrow, so I'd better get some sleep. Have a great night/day!!!

Nature's Own Multi Grain Sandwich Round Review

It's a sunny morning and it's suppose to be the warmest day of the week. I like that it will be cooling off some, but with cool weather comes heartier foods. I no longer crave salads and light food, which I'm afraid will be a problem. I've already been eating heavier this summer than usual and I seem to be gaining weight, even doing Zumba twice a week. It's very depressing. I'm hoping that it's due to muscle mass. You know muscle weighs more than fat. My clothes are still tight, so it doesn't feel like muscle.

Enough with the bagels already. I need to check out some different breakfast ideas. I did add a little applesauce to yesterday's breakfast of half a cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter.

 

I also added a little flax to the bagel and some flax and cinnamon to the applesauce before eating it.

 

Not feeling too energetic yesterday, I also had a cup of Lipton orange, passion fruit, jasmine green tea with honey. I really needed a pick me up.

For lunch, I had a veggie burger on a Nature's Own multi grain sandwich round. I think these are great. I wasn't sure about them being so thin. I was afraid my sandwich wouldn't be as good, you know too much filler and not enough bread, but I was wrong. The thing I like most is that I didn't fill stuffed afterward. Bread always makes me feel too full compared to a big salad or a plate of cooked veggies. 

Thin and soft.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
1 Roll (43 g/ 1.5 oz)
Servings Per Container 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories 100
Calories from Fat 10
                                                % DAILY VALUE *
Total Fat 1 g                                2 %
Saturated Fat 0 g                        0 %
Trans Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.5 g
Cholesterol 0 mg                         0 %
Sodium 170 mg                           7 %
Total Carbohydrate 19 g             6 %
Dietary Fiber 4 g                       16 %
Sugars 2 g
Protein 4 g
Vitamin A 0 %                    Vitamin C 0 %
Calcium 4 %                       Iron 6 %
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily
values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
                                 Calories:                       2,000                   2,500
Total Fat                  Less than                         65g                     80g
Sat. Fat                   Less than                         20g                     25g
Cholesterol              Less than                        300mg               300mg
Sodium                    Less than                     2,400mg            2,400mg
Total Carbohydrate                                        300g                   375g
 Dietary Fiber                                                  25g                     30g

I had my sandwich round with an Amy's quarter pound veggie burger and creamy coleslaw. I also had some chili beans on the side.

I lightly toasted my sandwich round on the outside. I'm giving the sandwich rounds 5 stars, of course the bag they come in only gets one. I manage to tear the zipper off of it. When I first opened the bag, the top part tore off of one side, then when I tried to open it a second time the zipper tore off completely. The zipper is obviously too strong for the bag. I had to put them in a different storage bag. I think an ordinary twist tie would have been better.

I did enjoy my lunch. I added a little carrot and red pepper to my slaw.

Yummy!

After lunch, I had Lexi and Mary for a little while. It was unexpected. I had hoped for a nap, but my grand babies needed me. They were very good and didn't try to kill me. We all played together in the floor with big Lego type blocks and Lexi fixed my hair, no pictures, sorry. Lexi didn't really want to go home when her Mom came to get them, but didn't put up too much of a fuss.

After the kids left, I had to get something to eat and get ready for Zumba. My dinner wasn't exactly dinner. I had a Smart Ones Fiesta Enchilada, that's it. I sort of ran out time. I still had my big puppies to feed and several other things to do before leaving. I also had a handful of almonds before leaving.

We got to work with our weights last night. I would really rather we did the weights both nights. I think it makes it harder on us just doing them one time. I need to start using mine at home more to make up for it. After Zumba I had Havarti cheese & vegetable crackers with olives as my snack. Surprisingly I was all that hungry. I thought I'd be starved after Zumba, not having had much for dinner. I did make a slightly larger snack, but I didn't really need it.

Here is one of my favorite songs which we do in Zumba. This is also the routine we do as well. It's our warm up song. It's very energizing and makes you want to get up and move. It's called Good Morning by Mandisa. Enjoy! Happy Friday!!