Progresso Black Bean Jalapeno Soup Review

This morning wasn't as bad as I'd expected. After going to bed late, I assumed I'd feel pretty bad this morning. Waiting to get my shower when I got up helped, I think. I also got up a half hour earlier than I had before. It was a good thing I did, since I wasn't just having a bowl of cereal before leaving. I'd decided to boil a few eggs to make myself an egg salad sandwich. I also made myself a huge cup of coffee, mostly decaf though. A little goes a long way with me.

I boiled about 5 eggs, adding some mayo and just a little mustard.

I lightly toasted my bread to keep it from sticking to the roof of my mouth. I hardly ever eat bread without toasting it unless it's homemade. Homemade isn't so bad about getting stuck.

For years I was never sure how long to boil an egg. I'd heard of 3 minute eggs, but I like my egg hard boiled and boiling one for just 3 minutes was never enough, at least not until I found the right way of doing it. Now I can boil my eggs for 3 minutes and I get perfect hard boiled eggs. The trick is to boil them for 3 minutes, remove the pot from the heat, cover and let them stand in the hot water for 15 minutes, after that I just drain them and run them under cold water until they are cool enough to peel. It does take longer than 3 minutes, but it uses less electricity, etc. to cook them and you get perfect hard boiled eggs.

After breakfast I headed over to Lindsay's to help out with the grand babies. It was good that I went, I suppose. Mary & Lexi were not feeling well today. Mary had tummy trouble and Lexi had a fever. A little Motrin fixed Lexi up and Mary was improving as the day went on. She spent the day swapping laps and taking naps. Rachel did pretty much the same thing, but wasn't having any trouble. 

I had Progresso's Frijoles Negros y Jalapeno (Black Bean Jalapeno) soup.

I don't hardly find canned soup that I really like. I usually feel the need to tweak the ones I like. It's also very hard to find vegetarian soups, even the ones that seem to be, may not be. You have to read the labels. It would be nice if they'd just label them vegetarian or have some sort of symbol stating it. 

I really liked this soup, no tweaking needed. It wasn't too thin and it had a good flavor. It was a little spicy, but not too spicy. There was corn and chunks of tomato and they weren't too skimpy on the beans. I ate the whole can (2 bowls). If I'd eaten crackers, chips, or bread with it, I could have eaten twice out of one can. I'm giving it 5 stars.

I had a few shortbread cookies for a snack.

For dinner I made a tofurky sandwich with peppered tofurky deli slices, colby cheese, iceberg lettuce, red & green pepper slices, onion, mayo & fire roasted salsa on toasted white bread.

I had a jalapeno pickle spear with my very messy, but delious sandwich.

I also had a couple of handfuls of raisins later. This post has seemed to take forever. I'd considered waiting until morning, but forced myself to getting it over with tonight. Now it's very late and I'm going to bed. I may just sleep through tomorrow. Have a great night/day!!!

Coffee And Biscotti

This morning I'm starving. Breakfast is taking a bit longer than usual. Yesterday's breakfast was quick, just a couple of pieces of cinnamon toast with a Gala apple cut into fourths. Hopefully today's breakfast will be worth the wait.

For lunch I had a well done fried egg over rice topped with taco sauce, an ear of corn topped with chipotle mayo and a piece of my corny cornbread.

I'd eaten the last of my beans the day before and the thought of the chipotle mayo with my corn was stuck in my head. My lunch was very good. The sauce and the mayo made up for the dryness of the cornbread and rice.

After lunch Lucas and I went to Target and Walmart to do a little last minute Christmas shopping. Everything was already picked over. All the popular things are gone and the stores aren't carrying a big selection these days. I wish I'd ordered online sooner. I'm afraid it's too late now. It's not too good shopping with an antisocial boy either. The crowds were too much for both of us, so we stood in line and got coffee at Starbucks before going home. I got plain decaf coffee and a Gingerbread biscotti.

The Gingerbread biscotti are my favorite. I want to try making some of them. I love that there are nuts in them and they have a white chocolate coating on the bottom. They are great with coffee. I wish I had gotten to sit and drink my coffee so that I could dunk the biscotti, but instead we had our coffee in the car on the way.

I didn't plan it, but I fixed soup again for dinner. It was a vegetable noodle soup with egg noodles, pinto beans, green beans, peas, carrot, corn, celery, & onion in a clear broth.

I seasoned the water for the broth with vegetable bouillon, parsley, vegetable sea salt, and plain salt. I wish I'd remembered to get garlic. I keep forgetting it.

After dinner, there was nothing interesting on tv, so I sorted and uploaded photos, had a couple of handfuls of chopped dates and read some before going to bed. I went to bed a little earlier, almost an hour. We won't be having Sunday dinner at Mom's today, but we will be attending the Singing Christmas Tree, to watch Lexi perform this evening. Hopefully we'll get a few pictures. Happy Sunday!!!

Feel Good Food

I'm running behind again. I felt good yesterday, but still just a little run down. I didn't manage to get to bed any earlier and I didn't sleep well, so here I am again this morning running behind.

Yesterday for breakfast I had a fried and and toast.

I don't normally do fried eggs, but for some reason, I wanted one yesterday.

I still didn't have the guts to under cook the yolk. No runny egg for me. It was like a slightly more fattening boiled egg, which is actually my favorite way to eat an egg.

I had a handful of chopped dates while I fixed lunch. Dates do give me an energy boost. I used them yesterday in place of caffeine, which I was really craving yesterday morning, well actually I wanted coffee, I needed the caffeine.

For lunch I had what I call my Thanksgiving sandwich, a Gardein Chick'n Scallopini patty on an Arnold whole wheat sandwich thin with salad greens, onion, cranberry orange relish, mayo and cracked pepper.

It was a delicious sandwich. I also had some vegetable chips and baby carrots on the side.

I had a warm cup of milk sweetened with some of the Hershey's Bliss white hot chocolate powder to cure my sugar craving. I don't use a whole packet.

Dinner turned out to be a little heavier than I wanted, I had my leftover chili beans & corny cornbread with brown rice and an ear of corn. It was a very dry meal.

I needed a little more soup for my beans, sauce for my rice or something, but by the time I got everything fixed, I just wasn't in the mood to do any more.

It was good, but would have been better had I slathered the corn in chipotle mayo, which I didn't have and didn't make. A thick layer of butter on my cornbread may also have helped (keep me from getting into my clothes, that is). Despite my heavy meal, I didn't feel bad after eating it. In fact, I felt pretty good all day, not bloated and no heartburn. I wish I could do that everyday.

I even managed to get my photos sorted and uploaded early, but because I'd chosen to take a nap earlier, I had no desire to go to bed early and then didn't sleep well anyway. I did get some reading done before bed, which I enjoyed. I haven't gotten to read much at all lately. I'm skipping a nap today and I'm going to try to go to bed at least an hour earlier tonight, fingers crossed. Happy Saturday!!!

Honey Or No Honey

This morning, I'm up early, trying to get breakfast and blog at the same time. My breakfast for today is taking a little longer than usual. I'll get to that tomorrow, so for now you'll just have to wait and come back again to find out what it is.

I will tell you about yesterday's breakfast, although there's not a lot to tell, if you read yesterday's post. I had more peaches with vanilla yogurt & Special K cinnamon pecan flakes.

 

This bowl was prettier than the day before's.

 

I didn't have my tea & honey after breakfast. We went for a walk. It felt like a run. We picked up our pace quite a bit since the first walk. We walked 3.38 miles at an average pace of 15m 36s per mile. This is the kind of walk that gets your heart rate up. It makes you sweat and breath heavy. You know you're getting a workout when you do that. I was tired when I got back, not exhausted and not sore or in pain, but definitely hot & tire.

I got a bite to eat and got a shower. My meal was quick and simple. I did not feel like fixing a gourmet meal. I just did a refried bean and cheese enchilada with taco sauce.

 

It was quick and it was good.

 

I forgot my cinnamon honey water yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure why but it totally slipped my mind. I sort of got a little sleepy yesterday and attempted a nap. I laid down and dozed for about 10 or 15 minutes, then I woke up and although I tried, I could not go back to sleep, so I sat up and read for a while. 

We went to Target yesterday afternoon also, so that Lucas could pick up a Ti-84 calculator for his classes and I picked up a loaf of three cheese semolina bread. It looked very cheesy and was soft and heavy. I came home and fixed the other half of my leftover baked potato in a frying pan with onion, peppers of course and 2 eggs. I seasoned them with salt, pepper and garlic and put a little sweet & tangy barbecue sauce on top.

 

I toasted a couple of pieces of the 3 cheese bread and had it along with my potato and eggs. It was a filling meal, but surprisingly I wasn't over full afterwards.

 

I finished up early again. I'm doing really good in that area. I was able to do a little more reading before bed and still get to sleep by 11pm. It's just ashame I didn't stay a sleep. I was awake on and off all night. Apparently honey or no honey, I have lots of energy. I wanted more energy, but I'd also like some sleep, so I can stay energized. I will try and remember my cinnamon honey water today. I also have Zumba this evening and hopefully I will sleep tonight. Fingers crossed. Happy Wednesday!

An Apple A Day

Yesterday I had half an everything bagel and a one egg spinach & sun dried tomato omelet.

We went to Mom's yesterday. She fixed a late lunch for us. I had cornbread, sliced tomatoes, and mixed vegetable with green beans.

 

She also fixed apple crisp for dessert.

 

Lindsay and the babies came over and we visited for a while. I had to leave after that, since I had Zumba last night. I was feeling sort of sleepy last night so I had a cup of Mandarin Orange Green Tea with honey.

 

My eating schedule was out of whack, so I had a couple of wheat crackers with almond butter.

 

I also had an apple. It was too soon after eating at Mom's for a meal, but I new I'd be starved when I got back from Zumba, hence the snack.

 

I was really feeling zapped, but the tea and the snack helped get me through Zumba. It seemed even hotter at Zumba. We did some new moves. We usually laugh a lot when we have new moves, last night was no exception. For most of us who haven't moved like that in years it's hilarious. Hopefully next time I won't be so tired. It sure didn't help, but I survived.

For dinner I had my last Amy's dinner, the dairy free enchilada filled with black beans, rice and vegetables, with Spanish rice and beans on the side.

 

After uploading photos, I got a shower and went to bed. I actually slept like a rock for most of the night. I did wake up a few times, but was able to go right back to sleep. I still feel sort of sleepy today. Hopefully that will improve as the day goes on. I had my apple for the day. I'm hoping there's some truth in the old saying as well. Happy Friday!

Easter Dinner At Mom's

I had planned to be up early this morning, but that didn't work out. I'm just not cut out to be a morning person. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to work mornings into my lifestyle. I love being up early. I know that from staying up until daylight, lol.

Today we had plans to have Easter dinner at Mom's instead of Sunday. It's sort of made the day feel strange or at least tomorrow will. I already feel like today is Sunday. For breakfast this morning, I made an Apple Crisp Smoothie. I added a little extra cinnamon. It had a lot of texture. It wasn't chunky, but I think it could have been blended more. I was sort of in a hurry since I'd gotten up later than I'd planned. I have a somewhat long routine for mornings and added to this were several things I needed to do before leaving.

I still enjoyed my smoothie. Yummo! BTW I lost another pound for a total of 4. Go me!!!

 

 

What's in the glass

Fresh Diced Apple

Old Fashioned Oats

Dannon Vanilla Yogurt

Milk

Cinnamon

Ground Flax

Chopped Walnuts

Honey (I used honey instead of brown sugar this time)

Ice Cubes

I forgot about the dried cranberries, I wanted to try soaking them first to see if they'd blend up better, guess I'll try that next time.

 

 After rushing around getting ready to go, we headed over to my DD, Lindsay's house. She and the kids rode with us today, then we were off to Mom's. Here's what was on the Easter dinner menu:

Turkey Breast

 

Spiral Ham

 

Tilapia, for me.

Deviled Eggs

Pasta Salad

Sweet Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes

Green Beans

Broccoli

 

Corn on the cob

 

Salad

and Rolls

 

This is a shot of my plate. I had tilapia, pasta salad, corn, broccoli, green beans, and a roll. Everything was good and I was thoroughly stuffed.

 

We also had Grasshopper Fudge Cake for dessert.

After giving my food a chance to digest a little, I had a piece of the cake. It was pretty good. I would have probably gotten a larger piece, lol, if I hadn't been so full. I loved the little Andes Candy bits on top. I'm so blind, I couldn't tell that's what they were until I ate them, lol. It looked like pecans to me. I also liked the hot fudge sauce under the whipped topping. Yum! I should have gotten a shot from the side. It's a minty flavored white cake with light green swirls topped with hot fudge sauce, cool whip with mint & food coloring (I think) and Andes Candy bits.

I even splurged for a cup of coffee. I hope I haven't gained back the 4lbs I've lost. 

I was so full when I got home, I didn't bother with another meal. There was a lot of finger licking and tasting while packing up leftovers. We had a pretty good day. Tomorrow is suppose to be pretty nice also. I'm hoping I feel as good tomorrow as I did today. If I weigh in an haven't gained any in the morning, it will be a good start. 

I'm also working on trying out Windows Live Writer for blog posts. I didn't have a lot of time to play with it today, but I did use the SkyDrive for my photos. If you've tried Live Writer or have any tips on blogging, I'd sure appreciate your comments. I'd love to improve the blog. Until tomorrow.