Lean Cuisine Review

Well if you read my previous post, you sort of know how my day began, if not, I'll just say, it didn't start off as well as I would have liked, but better than yesterday ended. Breakfast was a different story. It hit the spot. I had strawberry yogurt with fresh sliced strawberries and a small piece of my baked oatmeal crumbled over the top.

I was really drained the first part of the day. I felt better as the day went on. I've been thinking about trying some sort of detox, but I want do one with fruit and/or veggies. I'm looking into it, to find one that won't leave me feeling deprived. I'm also going to increase my vitamin C intake and see if I can increase my iron levels. Vitamin C helps the body absorb iron. I don't think I'm getting enough of either.

For lunch I had a Lean Cuisine vegetable egg roll and rice with veggies and an Asian-style ginger and orange sauce. I also had an orange and a few more strawberries.  It was a very colorful meal.... I like. The egg roll was a little soggy; it was expected. You know it would probably be a good idea if they packaged the egg roll in a separate section or with one of those card stock sleeves like you get with hot pockets or something. Anyway, the rice and veggies were good. I liked the sauce and the egg roll wasn't bad. I still enjoyed it, soggy or not. The fruit went well with it. I was very full when I was done. The Lean Cuisine was just 320 calories and 4g fat.

 

Dinner was a Morning Star Farms griller (veggie burger), mashed potatoes and peas. I usually eat barbecue sauce with mashed potatoes, but I didn't have any. There were some packets of Sonny's bbq sauce that I was given, but I know why they weren't wanted. Sonny's bbq sauce is nasty! DH will probably like it. It just tastes like black pepper. It should be called black pepper sauce. It's suppose to have chipotle pepper in it, but you couldn't taste anything, but black pepper. I mixed a little ketchup with brown sugar, garlic, and bbq seasoning.  It was alright. I will check and see if I have the ingredients to make some sauce. I haven't made any in a long time.

Well it's been a pretty good day considering, it didn't start off so well. Have you ever detoxed? What kind of detox was it and how did you feel afterwards?

Down Yesterday, Better Today

Here are yesterdays photos. I didn't get them up this morning. It has taken me a while to get over a major migraine. I went to bed early last night (no choice). Every time I woke up, I still had the headache. I stayed in bed 12 hours. When I finally got up it was gone, but I have really been drained today. 

I had another piece of cranberry pecan baked oatmeal for breakfast, dripping with warm peanut butter spread on top.
 

 

Lunch before going to Mom's. My headache had just started. Spinach with tuna, light mayo and dill pickle chunks.

 

 

Taken to go, eaten on the way to Mom's.

 

Mom saved me a piece of her cake from Ketchie Creek Bakery.

 

She gave me all the icing, lol.

 

The icing was very good. It must have had cream cheese in it. It reminded me of cheesecake for some reason. I ate more than I should, but no way I could eat all of that icing. The cake was good also. It was moist and had a good flavor.

After eating the cake, my headache got so bad, I spent the rest of the evening without glasses on the couch, with an ice pack wrapped around my head, which helped as long as it was on. I ate a few chips before going bed, but wasn't really interest in food. Today is better. I'll be doing another food review later, so be sure and come back to check it out. Cya later.

Another Amy's Light & Lean Dinner Review

 Last night I managed to get everything I needed to do done early. I even had a snack while I was finishing up. I had some baked Tostitos and Queso cheese dip. I have not gotten such a good start tonight.

Although I went to bed early I just didn't feel well rested this morning. I kept waking up, but I didn't want to get up. Of course I got up, I got me a piece of the cranberry pecan baked oatmeal spread with cream cheese and a smart water. I wish I could afford one everyday. I feel so dried out in the winter. I can tell a difference drinking smart water versus ordinary water. I like the Powerade, but I'm not interested in the extra sugar.

I finally found an Amy's frozen dinner that I'm not crazy about. I had an Amy's Light & Lean Pasta & Veggies and a salad with Romaine, carrots, onion, mushroom and Caesar dressing. I didn't realize when I got the dinner, that it had asparagus in it. I am not a big fan of asparagus. I did try it again just in case their way of fixing it done wonders for it and made me a fan, but it was a no go. I don't know if the asparagus made a difference in the taste of the whole dinner or not, but I wasn't all that impressed with the rest of it either. I did eat it, all except for a few of the larger pieces of asparagus and I did like that the veggies weren't squishy, but were firm, like stir fry. The sauce was watery and bland, maybe because it was light & lean; whatever the case, I am definitely not a fan. I guess Amy is better with Mexican dishes. I had also tried the Pesto Tortellini which I also didn't particularly care for. I had forgotten about it until I was looking at previous Amy's reviews. Have you tried any Amy's dinners that you loved? What was your favorite?

 BTW The salad was good!

 

 My evening snack was a half piece of the baked oatmeal, plain; no peanut butter, no cream cheese, just plain.

It has been difficult for me to enjoy food lately. Every time I think about food, I get heartburn. I've taken acid reducers (the kind you take 30 minutes prior to eating), but I keep forgetting to buy Rolaids, Tums, etc., which helps immediately, nothing seems to work. Everything I eat is very acidic. I had cranberries, in my oatmeal, cream cheese does not help, salad for lunch, pasta with a tomato-y sauce, and for dinner I had a veggie burger, fresh spinach, cheese, and salsa, on a bun with onion rings on the side. Am I a glutton for punishment or what? I have been getting the heartburn before I eat, as I am fixing my food. That alone should tell me I need to eat something different. When just thinking about food gives you heartburn it's time to do something about it. I am sitting here right now, as I type, going up in flames, from the inside out.

Even with heartburn I enjoyed the onion rings. The burger wasn't bad either, but I'm payin' for it now.

It's not extremely late and I'm nearly finished. I going to hurry off to bed and hope I sleep like a baby. I shall return.

Cranberry Pecan Baked Oatmeal

I was ahead of the game this morning. I stirred up a batch of baked oatmeal before going to bed last night. This version I'm calling Cranberry Pecan.

Cranberry Pecan Baked Oatmeal

Original Baked Oatmeal Ingredients +
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped pecans
2 tsp. ground flax

Peanut Butter to spread on top of my oatmeal, like icing. I love peanut butter most when opening a new jar. I love the way it looks, smooth, creamy and sort of shiny. I don't know why, but I wish it looked like that every time I opened the jar.

 

 

Lunch was just a salad. I had a Caesar salad kit. I added mushrooms, carrot, red bell pepper and onion. The croutons were hard. I liked my croutons better. It came with a little packet of Parmesan cheese and Caesar dressing. I have missed Caesar dressing. I haven't had it in a while. It was a very good.

 

 

After my salad I had a Quaker Breakfast Cookie. Pretty good, but I don't think I'd want one for breakfast. #1 They are sweeter than I prefer. #2 There's not enough there. I would have to have something else with it. Lucas will be taking these with him to snack on before or after classes. He loved them, had one with a glass of milk. They are 180 calories for 1, and have 5g of fiber, 6g fat, and 14g sugar, in case you're interested.

I had dinner with Amy....Amy's Enchilada with Spanish Rice and Beans. As you may or may not know, I love Amy's dinners or at least all that I've tried. You can check out the ones I've tried by clicking on the Amy's label at the bottom of the post. You can also click on other labels, such as baked oatmeal, to see all the posts with the same label. 

 

I been looking at recipes today. I was trying to find a savory breakfast oatmeal recipe. It's been very hard to do. Everyone associates oatmeal with sweet ingredients and those who don't only use it in meatloaf as a filler. I know there has to be a recipe out there, but I'm not even sure what I want in it. I did find some good recipes, just not the kind I was looking for. If you know of a savory oatmeal recipe, I'd love to hear about it.

I'm done. Finished way early, go me! Cya tomorrow.

Salads And Dressing Recipes

I slept pretty good last night. What a difference a good night's sleep makes. I wish every night were like that and I hope tonight is as good. I got up earlier than usual, not a lot earlier, but earlier. I already had breakfast planned. I planned to finish up yesterday's egg salad, but I decided to have it on half a poppy seed bagel instead of the pumpernickel, like yesterday. I was hoping the poppy seed bagel would be better with the egg salad. I wasn't particularly thrilled with it either. I love the poppy seeds on the everything bagels and I love the poppy seed crackers, I've eaten, but the bagel just didn't wow me.

I had a snack later. I wasn't sure what I wanted and it took me a minute to decide, but I finally settled on having the last piece of apple cinnamon baked oatmeal. It definitely ranked right up there with the Cranberry Orange Pecan baked oatmeal, which was awesome.

I did a lot of mopping today. I mopped the kennel dining room and the living room before having lunch. All the nasty weather we've been having has created lots of muddy paw foot prints. I've been spot mopping daily, but it really needed a more thorough cleaning, of course, you won't be able to tell it tomorrow, but I will. I really hate mud, however, I love salad. Yesterday's salad started something. 

For lunch I had another salad.

Asian Salmon Salad

mixed baby greens
spinachcarrots
broccoli
red onion
Asian salmon patties  (sorry, a work in progress, I haven't gotten the recipe refined enough to post yet)
chow mein noodles
red pepper flakes
Asian salad dressing

The dressing is one that I threw together, which was a little different from the Oriental Salad dressing, I'd made a while back. The salad and dressing were very good. I'm not sure which dressing, I liked better though, the Oriental or the Asian, but the Asian was definitely good, even though it was very simple.

Simple Asian Salad Dressing

1 Tbsp. Lite Soy Sauce
2 tsp. Sesame Oil
2 tsp. Seasoned Rice Vinegar

Combine in a jar/bottle/etc and shake vigorously before adding to salad.

Note: The dressing is sort of a single serving recipe. It made a little more than I needed, but maybe not enough for another salad.

My evening snack was very kid friendly. Do you remember "ants on a log"? I don't remember eating it as a child, but as an adult, I love it. I don't think either of my kids eat it either. Who says adults can't have fun snacks? I used the raisins from my dried mixed fruit, which I had already robbed of cranberries and apples for 3 minute oatmeal cookies.

 

My evening meal was also a salad, a delicious fruity salad with a sweet tangy dressing. Salads with fruit are truly yummy.

 

Apple Cinnamon Salad

Spinach
Fuji Apple
red onion
carrot
raisins
pecans

Apple Cinnamon Salad Dressing

1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Combine in a jar/bottle/etc. Shake vigorously until sugar and salt are dissolved and before adding to salad.

Note: This dressing makes several servings. I'm not sure exactly how many, but I had quite a bit leftover.

I've missed my salads more than I've realized apparently. Another good thing about today, I received my free sample of Dove Hair Care Daily Moisture daily treatment/conditioner and a $1 coupon for any 1 Dove Hair Care product. With the dry heat, I have really been needing a good conditioner. I guess this is a reminder to look for more free samples. Have you gotten any free samples and/or coupons lately? Cya tomorrow.

Black Bean Tortilla Bake

I didn't get a great start to this day, another sleepless night, I'm afraid. I took some ibuprofen pm, which didn't help, after taking it, I was just awake and groggy. I won't bother with those again. Nothing worse than being unable to sleep and too groggy to get up or anything else. I would think if you were that close you could sleep, but it just made me agitated. I kept feeling the need to stretch, but stretching didn't help either. 

I finally got to sleep and then slept way too late. The dogs didn't or couldn't even wake me, I'm not sure if they tried. I had to get straight up and get ready to go to Mom's. I grabbed an apple and a piece of the apple cinnamon baked oatmeal to tide me over until lunch/dinner. 

This is what was on the menu today.

 

A big ol' turkey.....

Beef roast....

 

We also had Black Bean Tortilla Bake, was good, but not exactly what I was going for when I suggested the recipe. This is also not a picture I took, but one from the recipe on Food.com, because the picture I took didn't turn out and I only got one shot.  

This is a shot of my plate with the tortilla bake which I cropped (not great).

Broccoli

Sugar Snap Peas

Corn on the cob

Salad

tomato

Macaroni Salad

Coffee Brownie Trifle aka Da Bomb for dessert. I've updated the original post for this to include the recipe.

My sister Cathy also got bagels from Panera and Krispy Kreme donuts (the glazed and the dark chocolate). 

Here's what I had on my plate. Lots of green, gotta love that.

Due to lack of sleep, I am calling this one done! I took a cat nap so that I could get it out tonight. The day was pretty good considering the night before, but lack of sleep, makes it hard to concentrate or focus on everything that's going on. Cya tomorrow.