Tag Archives: frozen meal

Birds Eye Blue

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Tonight, we dined in the future!  Well sort of, we tried the new Chef’s Favorites line from Birds Eye that won’t hit stores until September.  I was sent an exclusive free trial to sample as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.

Initial thought – I think this line is a wonderful idea.  Each bag contains two servings and cooks in the microwave in approximately 5 minutes.  The veggies are flash frozen and the ingredients are mostly natural, 99% just like a home-cooked meal.  The meals cook right in the bag, so you don’t have to dirty any dishes or really do anything.  Two bags come together to make a nice meal (with a protein ideally) in approximately 10 minutes, and those 10 minutes are basically hands-off.  All of which is to say, if you have a few of these in your freezer there’s no way to say “I’m too tired for dinner, let’s get take-out.”

On the left is the Lightly Sauced Mushroom and Green Bean Risotto.

It contained a few iffy ingredients (xanthan gum, modified food starch, maltodextrin) but overall was like what I’d make at home.  The taste was pretty similar to what I’d make on my own (after way more work!) too.  Not the best risotto of all time, but very creamy and with a good ratio of rice to veggies.  Each serving had 170 calories, 5 grams of protein, and only 18% of your allotted sodium.

On the right is Lightly Sauced Creamed Spinach.

This was nice and creamy though the spinach did have a little bitterness.  Each serving contained 90 calories, 3 grams of protein, and only 14% of your allotted sodium.

Together, this made a tasty meal.

Wins all around, I say.

The calories in dinner were pretty light though (~270), so I supplemented with beer.

Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager is in my top five for favorite beers.

We also had j-e-l-l-o for dessert.

This afternoon I made up a box of pina colada jello with half water and half club soda for some fizz.

‘Twas good.

Two final notes:  1 – We are currently half way through “Blue Valentine” and I’m loving it.  All this point I can’t decide if it’s really hopeful or really sad, maybe both.  2 – Webster’s godmother asked for a picture that shows how big he is –

My Poor, Unfortunate Soles

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This morning was a total clusterf**k, but things started looking up as soon as I got home (you’ll see…).

I needed to meet my landlord, a seemingly simple task that devolved into me waiting at the wrong location for 30 minutes – driving to and having to locate the correct location – having to locate parking – backtracking from the car to the office – and then finally having the meeting.

I spent every last cent in the car paying for parking downtown which meant that parking at my campus and driving to Wegmans was out of the question.  What I ended up having to do was park at my house – walk to campus – gym it – walk back to my house – and then drive to Wegmans.  Whew!

While I was at campus I completed a workout for the study I’m participating in.  Treadmill at 5% incline for 60 minutes and 2.9 miles.

While I was at Wegmans I replaced the peanut butter Adam finished even though he knew we need it for dinner and bought myself an iced coffee with skim milk.

I’m done with errands for the weekend minus one this afternoon that will lead to an exciting announcement, whee!

For lunch I ate an Angel Hair Marinara Smart One.

I don’t generally eat a lot of frozen meals and I pretty much hate angel hair in anything else, but I’m totally obsessed with this frozen meal.  The pasta isn’t mushy at all and the veggies taste very fresh.  Plus it’s a super filling serving for less than 300 calories.

I was keeping lunch on the lighter side because I knew what was waiting for me in the oven.

S’mores Brownies!  Am I evil or a genius?  An evil genius?

A buttery graham cracker layer topped with gooey brownie and a toasty marshmallow on top?  Hells yes!

I ate one for dessert and was pretty much dying.  Click here for the recipe.

I’m going to end this post on a low note by talking about feet.  Foot blisters to be exact.  Since I was a teen, something about the way I walk has caused me to get fin-like blisters on the bottom of my ring-finger toes.  My right foot has always been worse than my left, but recently it’s gotten out of control; probably not helped by my 7 miles yesterday.

Notice the super hot blood blisters.  I’m okay when I’m barefoot but every step in tennis shoes feels like knives.  I guess I can finally relate to Hans Christian Anderson’s Ariel.  Does anyone else get toe fins?!?

Embarrassing side note – do you remember the scene in “The Little Mermaid” where Ariel gives Ursula her voice?

When I was in 2nd grade I would corner my teachers – daily – and make them listen to me sing that song!

Wake Me Up Buttercup

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I’m afraid Adam thinks that if he drives me crazy from tiredness I’ll lose my mind and buy him that x-box he’s been putting on his Christmas list for years.  Not gonna happen husband! 

We haven’t been getting enough sleep and I was so tired yesterday that I took not one, but two naps!  I had big dreams (ha!) of going to bed early but Adam told me at the last minute that he had to attend an event some friends were hosting.  Then he called me every hour after 9pm to tell me that he would be coming home an hour later than his last call.  When he did finally get home we both had a terrible time sleeping, which was made worse by the fact that it was so cold he had to get up to get the comforter we thought it was time to put away.  May what?!

I could tell that I was tired as soon as I finished breakfast, and by the time Adam dropped me off at the gym I thought I was going to die.  I actually sat in the locker room for 30minutes, willing myself to move.  True story.  Once I did find the motivation, I ended up having a good workout!

I missed a few days in my training plan earlier this week so I wanted to get in both 30 minutes of cross-training and 3 miles of running.  I figured the best way to go was a circuit –

  1. 10 minute warm up on the treadmill
  2. 10 minutes on the elliptical, level 6 random
  3. run 1 mile on the treadmill
  4. 10 minutes on the elliptical
  5. run 1 mile on the treadmill
  6. 10 minutes on the elliptical
  7. run 1 mile on the treadmill
  8. 10 minute cool down on the treadmill

With transitions and stretching in between sets, that’s 1 hour and 35 minutes of cardio.

And now I’m feeling 100% more awake, I love how exercise does that!  I did keep it simple and easy for lunch though.  A Smart Ones Mini Rigatoni with Vodka Cream Sauce,

that I beefed up with some roasted yellow squash.

It ended up feeling like a pretty fancy meal.

The pasta was nothing special (though not bad!) but roasted squash is one of my favorites.

On the agenda for the rest of the afternoon is a low-key dinner with Adam, and a baking project that I’m super excited about.

Don’t forget to enter today’s giveaway!!

They Can’t All Be Winners

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It wasn’t my most succesful day.  I had a crappy run, I didn’t do a lick of school work, I have not been drinking enough h2o, we’re up too late yet again…

Let’s look at some of the things that went right –

  • a crappy run is still a run, AND my knee doesn’t even hurt 😀
  • even though it’s late, I’m sticking to my 30-day blog everything goal
  • I’m feeling super fortunate about having the best mommy on the planet  <– fact

I started my morning with a we-suck-at-bedtime inspired Big Gulp.

That’s coffee from Wilson Farms with some Silk Vanilla Almond Milk.

I skipped the sweetener because this was supposed to be my pre-run fuel.  B-A-D, bad idea!  I stopped to pee not once, not twice, but three times during my 5 mile run!

My knee felt good when I woke up this morning (and all day yesterday) so I felt ready to tackle my training plan’s scheduled 5-miler.  The husband and I headed to Delaware Park to complete 3 laps around the ~1.75 mile loop.  My knee felt fine the entire time but my endurance was a horse of a different color.  Guys, I can’t even tell you how many times I had to stop during this run 😦  All total, I did 5.25 miles in 51 minutes.  I turned off my watch during all my breaks (I would just stop at stretch, not cover any distance) so I don’t know how long the entire start to finish time was, but I do know that each loop took me 17 minutes.  Yay for not slowing down!

And yay for still no knee pain; knock on wood!  I did ice my knee when I got home.

But ice water in a plastic baggie was a terrible idea so that didn’t last very long.  Some bags of frozen peas are on my grocery list for next week.

Somehow I decided that 5 miles at a 10-minute-mile pace was enough of a workout that I needed to sit on the couch the rest of the day.  Boo for being a loser!  Throughout the afternoon I ate popcorn – there are two mini bags in that bowl,

a Smart Ones Tuna Noodle Gratin frozen meal,

and a Skinny Cow Caramel Cone mini ice cream.

How on earth do they pack so much goodness into 170 calories?!?  That flavor was ridiculous good.

Our one accomplishment of the day was finally switching out our summer and winter wardrobes.  I’ve had that task on my to-do list for almost a month but Buffalo’s reluctance to enter spring kept it from feeling urgent.  Adam’s glad we put it off; the whole process took for-ev-a!  By the time we were done it was after 9pm and we ended up going out to dinner at Panos.

Sidenote 1 – we did not give up on our eat-in-more goal already, the meal was actually a gift for me from my mother-in-law, who clearly does not get the spirit of the holiday.  Sidenote 2 – not to worry, we’re not as clueless as we seem, we did buy both sets of moms nice gifts too.

I ordered the blackened chicken Caesar salad with roasted veggies and smoked gouda.

I shared 90% of my chicken with the husband, and dove into his fries in return.

‘Twas a great date night meal!

What was the best thing about your weekend?

Spring Has Sprung

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“Spring has sprung.”  That’s what Adam said during our tv interview (which our friend Brandon actually heard on the radio!) and that’s what I was saying with today’s outfit –

Actually, what I was saying with my short sleeves was “I hibernated this winter, please don’t judge my pale, flabby bat-wings.”

It was so exciting outside that I didn’t even mind adding an extra walk home so I could eat dinner before my night class.  Dinner wasn’t especially spring-y, a Smart Ones Angel Hair Marinara with yellow squash and zucchini.

I wasn’t expecting much – I sort of hate angel hair pasta – but it was actually pretty good!  I loved the squash.

Let’s be real though, I picked dinner based on the nutritional info –

I knew I needed the caloric wiggle room for dessert.

Those Magnum ice cream bars did not last long!  I scraped it off the stick and ate it with a spoon.

Delicious.

Bakers Eat Bread

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I’ve been a busy bee this afternoon; a busy baking bee!

Lunch was simple but good.

A Thai chicken Lean Cuisine,

with 1.5 slices of beer bread with Smart Balance Light.

I made the loaf I beer bread for the husband’s lunches next week.

I followed my usual beer bread recipe, though I did skip the butter drizzle this time.  Adam said not to skip it again, but I didn’t think it made too much of a difference.  Don’t skip it if you’re making the recipe for the first time though, you’ve got to fall in love with the original first.

I also made a batch of Cooking Light’s Pistachio Chai Muffins. 

Only mine were Pistachio Green Tea Muffins.

I addition to switching from Chai to green tea, I also used half the amount of nuts and skipped the drizzle. 

My substitutions worked out well; I split a muffin with Adam (topped with maple jelly) and it was delicious.

Bakers eat a lot of bread, but they also take a lot of nibbles.  I’ve done my fair share of “tastes” while getting the food ready for Adam and his friends tonight.  On the menu for the poker game:

Oh yeah, you read that dessert correctly.  Check back for my dinner post if you want to be in hog heaven!

You’d Have To Be High…

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…to think that “Your Highness” was funny.  My goodness, can I have those two hours of my life back?!?  My fun evening plans ended up being mostly tedious and only a little bit funny.

Actually what was funny is the back story – I’ve been excited about “Your Highness” for months; I saw previews and thought it looked a lot like “Year One,” which I loved.  Sidenote – I saw “Year One” twice in theatres, I’m all about raunchy comedies.  Well, we saw “Your Highness” tonight and it was awful; pretty much the only redeeming quality was the gratuitous naughty language <– which I’m all about.  On the drive home something strange occurred to me, Summer Glau (one of the main reasons I was excited about the movie – “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” and “Firefly” both rocked my world) didn’t appear to have been in it.  After some quick Googling I found the problem – I’m an idiot!  The movie I’m excited about is “The Knights of Badassdom.”  I saw the previews at the same time and must have melded them together in my head!  Well, now at least I can be excited for that movie 😀

Prior to the movie I made a quick dinner of this Smart Ones Pasta with Ricotta and Spinach.

And during laughs that we few and far between, I snacked on an apple,

and a bag of random candies I got at a kiosk in the mall.

At least the snacks were good?!

Did you see “Your Highness?”  What’d you think?  Any plans to see “Knights of Badassdom?”

Sick of Being Sick

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I’m sick of being sick!  (I’m also tired of being tired, but that’s another – barking dog heavy – story.)  Yesterday was a particularly bad day so I didn’t post, but I will recap.

I didn’t go to school again yesterday, which means I’ve basically missed a full week of classes!  <– not happy  I did make myself 1.5 servings of Special K Red Berries with almond milk for breakfast.

And when Adam got home he made me his favorite snack  – matzoh with melted cheddar (50% reduced fat, extra sharp).

I had a rough evening and when it came time for a late dinner I begged the husband to get me a milkshake.

The chicken nuggets with hot mustard he randomly came home with sounded good too, thankfully.

Adam has been joking that I must be dying because of how little I’ve been talking (I have a lot to say normally, can you tell?) but he knew I was sick when I scarfed down dinner; I hate McDonalds!

Even though I’m too sick for class, I did have to go to campus today.  I had labwork to turn in and I had to make up the Nutrition test I missed yesterday.  I probably could have done really well on the test (and I was really excited about the material) but since the only time I was able to study was the 2hours beforehand I guess I’m just glad that I think I passed!

The walk home was difficult, but I did stop halfway to purchase a huge soda.

Half diet, half not; the combination seemed to work.

I even managed some people food for a late lunch –

leftover roasted green beans,

and a Cara Cara orange.

Dinner was a Three Cheese Stuffed Rigatoni Lean Cuisine.

This wasn’t the tastiest thing ever, but it felt good to eat some veggies.

I bulked it up with 1.5servings of Popcorners.

I had two online assignments due today, and that with my trip out of the house kind of did me in.

When I went to the clinic they said the virus I probably had lasts 1-2weeks.  I’m a week into being sick, and I’m keeping my fingers (and all my toes) crossed that I’m back to normal by Monday.

What’s the longest you’ve ever been sick?