PictSweet Tuscan Vegetable Medley Review

I didn't sleep very well last night, so I pushed the snooze button over and over for an hour this morning. I finally got up and after two cups of coffee, I'm feeling a little more alive.

Yesterday was better. I'd had a little more sleep. I went to bed about 10:30pm and slept until 7:30am. It was broken sleep, but better than last night's. Strangely yesterday coffee didn't seem to do as much for me as it has today. I also had the second half of a French toast bagel with peanut butter and some of the Men's Omega3 Energy mix on top.

I went Italian for lunch, having potato wedges with olive oil, Parmesan, & garlic and long thin frozen green beans cooked with fat free Italian dressing in the microwave. The beans by the way, were very good and were a perfect accompaniment with the potatoes.

These long skinny green beans are my favorite kind. I like them a little undercooked with some bite left in them. I often call them squeaky beans, because they sort of squeak between your teeth when you bite them.

I polished off the last of the vanilla ice cream for my afternoon snack, after having run my reel mower across the back yard a few time. In that heat, I felt I deserved something cold, sweet, and fattening.

I tried one of PictSweet's Deluxe Sides for dinner last night; their Tuscan Vegetable Medley, a blend of broccoli carrots, and sweet peppers in a garlic herb seasoned sauce.

I had them with a hash brown patty, and cheese toast, which wasn't a bad combination. The sauce on the veggies was very light and had sort of a peppery taste. It was very good, but I would have liked a little more of it.

It was still a good choice and I would definitely get them again. There was just the right amount for one meal, no leftovers. I really liked how colorful it is. Colorful food is so good for you. I'm giving these veggies 4 stars. 

This photo, I posted just for fun. It is one of those accidental shots you get sometimes or at least I do. I didn't even realize I'd taken it until I uploaded my photos. Although you can't really tell, this is a shot of Lucas in my kitchen as we were putting dinner together. I was taking a shot of my dinner plate as we were talking. I apparently turned as I was taking a picture. It's probably better that this photo was blurred, since I'm in dire need of a kitchen makeover.

I'm hoping to set up a temporary kitchen at some point and at least give mine a facelift with some paint. Well, that's all for now. Have a great day!!!

Healthy Choice Four Cheese Tortellini Review

Yesterday, for breakfast, I had coffee and half a trail mix bagel with light cream cheese topped with Nice Raisin, Nut, and Seed Trail Mix and drizzled with light pancake syrup. After having this the day before as a snack and because it was such a good combo, I had to have another one today.

I took things a little easier yesterday, having slightly overdone it the day before. I don't think my back is completely healed. I still did enough to keep things caught up, but I am feeling it more today.

I put together lunch using some leftover brown rice and canned diced tomatoes. I combined the two with some black beans, diced pepper & onion, cumin, garlic powder, Mexican oregano, salt, and a Mexican cheese blend.

I chose not to make this a spicy dish, which I normally would have. It was really good and would have been even better with cornbread or wrapped in a tortilla.

Between lunch & dinner, I snacked on a pack of Peanut Butter & Honey Captain's Wafers. They were also pretty good. Not quite as sweet as I thought they would be, which was good. The saltiness of the crackers was perfect with the slightly sweetened peanut butter filling.

For dinner I tried Healthy Choice Four Cheese Tortellini with green beans.

HEALTHY CHOICE    
Complete Meals - Four Cheese Tortellini
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 meal (340g)
Servings Per Container 1
Amount Per Serving
Calories 300
Calories from Fat 50

    % Daily Value*
Total Fat 6g    9%
     Saturated Fat 3g    15%
     Trans Fat 0g   
     Polyunsaturated Fat 1g   
     Monounsaturated Fat 2g   
Cholesterol 20mg    7%
Sodium 560mg    23%
Potassium 760mg    22%
Total Carbohydrate 46g    15%
     Dietary Fiber 9g    36%
     Sugars 9g   
Protein 15g   
Vitamin A 15%     Vitamin C 10%
Calcium 40%     Iron 10%
Vitamin E 10%     Folic Acid 10%
Phosphorus 35%     Magnesium 20%
Zinc 15%     Selenium 45%
Copper 15%     Manganese 50%
Diet Exchanges Per Serving**:
Lean Meat (1)     Starch (2.5)
Vegetable (1)     Fat (.5)
Contains: egg, milk, wheat, soy
Weight Watchers® PointsPlus™ Value*** : 7

*** The PointsPlus™ value for this product was calculated by ConAgra Foods, and is provided for informational purposes only. This is not an endorsement, sponsorship or approval of this product or its manufacturer by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the Weight Watchers® and PointsPlus™ trademarks.
Show Additional Disclaimers > UPC: 5010021028

It wasn't great, but not too bad. The tortellini was pretty cheesy, it was just lacking something. I think the sauce was a little bland. I added a pinch of salt to the beans, because there didn't seem to be any seasoning on them. I cooked the dinner in the microwave, according to directions, but I think the tortellini could have used another minute.

I didn't mind that the beans were a little underdone. I like my veggies crisp tender. Although this wasn't the worst thing, I've ever eaten, I'm pretty sure, I've had better, so I'm only going to give this 3 stars.

After dinner I had a Reeses Peanut Butter Egg, which I really didn't need.

One thing lead to another after eating the candy. I could have eaten more candy, but I opted for fruit instead. I had half a Pink Lady Apple.

Unfortunately it didn't stop there. I still wasn't satisfied by either of my previous snacks, so I had a few Herr's Hot Sauce Texas Pete Potato Chips. I wasn't in the mood for these either. I didn't eat them all and I decided not to try anything else. I had a big glass of water and it wasn't long until I went to bed.

I really hate when food doesn't satisfy my craving and I continue to eat, never really feeling satisfied.

I'm still behind and I probably won't get the Sunday dinner pics up until tomorrow night. Hopefully I will get caught up sometime this week. I'm still not feeling terribly motivated. I'll just keep plugging along in the mean time. Rest assured, I will get to it eventually. Have a great night/day!!!

One More Way To Eat Fettucini

I still haven't gotten it into my head that if I'm going to blog at night I need to start earlier. Luckily this morning was free for blogging, but lately some mornings aren't, so I will have to work on that. I don't like blogging when I'm tired. I just don't think it turns out as well. I'm rushed and I forget things.

I had to do a post yesterday morning also, since the night before was pretty much the same as last night, a late start and too tired to finish up. I had my breakfast while I blogged. I had a banana nut smoothie instead of my usual banana pudding smoothie. Banana in a smoothie is the best, but it's also the cheapest way to go.

I had a late lunch so I indulged in a couple of pieces of chocolate before lunch. It was Lindt's Chili Dark Chocolate. To me, dark chocolate is so much better than milk chocolate.

Lunch took a bit longer to fix since I wasn't doing the usual reheating of leftovers. I'd really enjoyed the fettucini I've had lately so I decided to try another version. I had to cook more noodles since I'd already eaten the others I made. I had leftover spaghetti sauce to use which inspired this dish. I could have had the Pre-Chicken Parmesan again, which was very good, but I decided to try something different. I cooked onion and green pepper added a can of great northern beans which I'd drained. I seasoned it with oregano, garlic and a little salt. I added a few ladles of the spaghetti sauce and loosened it up with a ladle or two of water from the noodles.

I topped the noodles with the mixture, sprinkled on some Parmesan cheese and it was delicious. As good or better than the pre-chicken parmesan.

Later I had a snack of graham crackers spread with peanut butter and a cup of unsweetened applesauce.

Since lunch was late and I'd had a snack, I went with a lighter dinner, a salad of iceberg, spinach, broccoli, carrot, onion, pepper, cucumber, walnuts and light ranch dressing with a few saltine crackers on the side.

I added some black pepper. I love the taste of it with the ranch and the walnuts. I could have had some other crackers, like Ritz, Townhouse or wheat crackers, but I also like the taste of ranch and saltines.

After dinner I sat on the couch to relax and fell asleep, which explains the late start. It was a short uncomfortable nap, so I figured I should get my pictures done and get to bed. Now I need to get ready to go to Mom's today. We will be celebrating her birthday today. Happy Birthday Mom!!! Have a great day!!!

One Noodle Two Meals

I was dragging when I got up yesterday. I'd stayed up too late and got up too early. I felt sort crappy all day. I skipped the caffeine, but I really should have went for a great big cup of coffee. Instead I had a great big cookie, a 3 minute oatmeal cookie that is. I also took my B12 hoping that would help.

I spent the morning looking forward to lunch. I know, that's awful right? I knew what I was going to have. The fettucini Alfredo I'd had the night before had really hit the spot and it was so good, I wanted more. I added a slice up carrot to this batch for a Pasta Primavera. It was just as good as it was with just the broccoli.

A little black pepper and Parmesan and it was perfect.

I wanted to munch all day. I had one of Lucas' turtle cookies. I love how soft and chewy these are. I hate that they're not bigger and don't have zero calories. I could stand less sugar in them. My 3 minute oatmeal cookie was different, but just as good. They are bigger, but they aren't calorie free either. I'm pretty sure they're healthier, but I'm not sure how much.

I manage to avoid more snacking until later. I needed a little something before going to Zumba. I had a yogurt parfait with half an apple, cinnamon, walnuts, and Kellogg's Fiber Plus Berry Yogurt Crunch cereal.

I think I need to do less cereal, more yogurt, but my parfait looks more like a parfait. Before you could hardly see anything but the yogurt. It was just right as a pre-Zumba snack.

I was just a little run down before going to Zumba. I wasn't sure I was up to it. I considered skipping it, but made myself go anyway. The class was a little relaxed last night. We didn't use weights, which was a little disappointing at first, but I think I needed the break anyway. I made it through class and felt a little better afterwards.

I was ready for dinner when I got back. I went with something fairly quick as usual. I used the last of my leftover Fettucini noodles as part of my second meal of the day, but with totally different additional ingredients. I call this dish my Pre-Chicken Parmesan with whole wheat garlic toast on the side.

I fried some onion and bell pepper and then added an egg (pre-chicken) and scrambled it all together. I then added my fettucini noodles and stirred it all together until the noodles were hot. I put it in a bowl and topped it with hot spaghetti sauce and Parmesan cheese. Ta Da!! Pre-Chicken Parmesan. I wasn't sure about this at first, but figured that since I like eggs and tomatoes, it would be ok. Let me tell you, it was really good. A lot better than I expected. I would definitely fix this again.

After dinner I was feeling pretty tired, so I decided to just sort and upload my photos and call it a night. Even after going to bed earlier, I was still not enthused about getting up this morning, but I'm good now. I'm off to enjoy my day. Enjoy yours!!

Another Leftover Makeover

First a late post, then an early post, what a day. I'm getting this one out early because I will have little girls in the morning. I've already straightened up the house today, that way, I won't have much to do while they are here. I slept in this morning, so I had my slice of pumpkin nut roll for breakfast. This was part of Sunday dinner's dessert. I was too full to have any while we were at Mom's, but I brought a little home. It was nearly gone before I even thought about a picture, so I just got one of this morning's slice.

I had a leftover piece of Sunday's vegetable lasagna for lunch along with the last of my bagged iceberg salad, some cucumber and carrot slices and a little light ranch dressing.

I had a couple handfuls of the dutch apple snack mix a little later.

Before dinner I was feeling sort of sleepy, I had a cup of hot tea to wake me up, no caffeine of course. I had Moroccan Mint. I added a little mint syrup to sweeten it slightly and boost the mint flavor. It was really good and I got to enjoy the whole cup.

Dinner was a leftover makeover. I had one of the two leftover cheese manicotti. I placed both manicotti in a small baking dish. I topped them with a handful of shredded spinach leaves, then some of the leftover sauce and sprinkled the top with a shredded Italian blend cheese. I heated it for a few minutes in the microwave and then put it n the toaster over to brown the cheese just a little.

I had onion rings to go with it. I saved the other manicotti for another meal.

Although there wasn't much I could do about the manicotti filling, the spinach and cheese were a definite improvement.

Now that I've finished up here, I planned to do a little reading and head off to bed. Have a great night/day!!