April in Review

I realize I'm a few days late her, but at least I'm managing a monthly recap. So there's that...

In April...
...We made it back to an LSU baseball game, this time for a far more pleasant experience where the Tigers won.

...I don't normally talk about my job on the blog, but I did want to say I had a pretty big promotion fairly recently, and couldn't let it pass unnoticed here. It is pretty exciting, and can't wait to really get into the thick of it.
... For the first time ever I participated in Dewy's 24 hour read-a-thon. I may not have read too much or too long relative to others, but I still consider it a success. The photo above is my lunch during the read-a-thon with a bowl of Amy's Black Bean Chili.
...I made it back to Fat Cow Burger this time trying their Sicilian Burger. Although next time I really need to try their Hundred Dollar Burger.

...I posted reviews of 7 books and 5 movies.
Comfort of Fences by Stacy Overman Morrison
When the Cypress Whispers by Yvette Manessis Corporon
The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank
The Idea of Him by Holly Peterson
Driving Lessons by Zoe Fishman
The Collector of Dying Breaths by M.J. Rose
On the Rocks by Erin Duffy
Divergent
Bad Words
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Draft Day
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Normally my favorite is the best book I read, but this time it's actually a movie. I'd list Captain America as my favorite, but still loved both Divergent and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

...3 years ago, in 2011, I woke up early and even took the day off work to watch Will & Kate's wedding.
In this photo not only can you see my breakfast cinnamon roll, but also Kate's limo driving to the church.

What are some of your highlights from this past April?

Project 365: Days 211 Through 221

It has been so ridiculous hot this week! As much as I love summer, I'm starting to wish for fall weather. But till then, here are my photos of the summer dragging on.
June 30, 2013 - 211/365: Why yes, the new Backstreet Boys album came out today! And no, I don't have a picture with every single BSB album. Only the with the 3 before this one. After all, isn't it normal to take a photo when your favorite artist releases a new album???
June 31, 2013 - 212/365: I went outside to tack a photo and screamed when this little guy crossed my path. Luckily he wasn't too dangerous, and he even posed for a picture.
August 1, 2013 - 213/365: This was leftover mashed potatoes, and I believe pot roast, the boy had made earlier in the week.
August 2, 2013 - 214/365: Amy's Thai Coconut Soup. I used to be obsessed with a different version of the soup, that unfortunately I can no longer find. Amy's version is good though, but still not my favorite.
August 3, 2013 - 215/365: Coffee and a mini blueberry muffin for breakfast.
August 4, 2013 - 216/365: I finally bought our wedding canvas. I wound up with a 60% coupon to Easy Canvas Prints, and figured it was finally time. I'm still undecided if I'll be ordering anymore. But for now, this is it, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.
August 5, 2013 - 217/365: The boy made short ribs with a vegtable puree over mashed potatoes. Easily one of my favorites from all the cooking he's done over the summer.
August 6, 2013 - 218/365: White daylillies in the backyard.
August 7, 2013 - 219/365: Lunch at Starbucks with a Caramel Ribbon Frap and a Feta and Spinach Wrap.
August 8, 2013 - 220/365: This night the boy made beef stew for dinner.
August 9, 2013 - 221/365: Almond Croissant from La Madeline's.

Now for the most important question, have you bought the new Backstreet album yet?

I'm linking this post up with Random-osity & Kleinworth & Co. for Project 52!

Spinach & Feta in a Pocket

Amy's Spinach & Feta in a Pocket
Let's start by saying that I messed up cooking this. Yes, I read the directions wrong on a frozen meal. But here's how it happen....underneath the microwave directions it said to put in toaster over for 2-3 minutes at 375. So I put it in the toaster oven for 2-3 minutes, except parts were still frozen when I took it out. Instead since it was under the microwave directions you were supposed to do that AFTER microwaving it. To use the toaster over by itself it needed 25-30 minutes. So I had to wait forever to eat this.

I think the suspense is what killed it for me, because this wasn't as good as I was hoping. Basically it's an organic (and more expensive) hot pocket. Except I don't like hot pockets normally because they're a little too cheesy & gooey for me. But I'm obsessed with feta, so I knew I'd love this.

My problem though was that there wasn't enough feta, and there was a ton of spinach. It wasn't bad, and overall I did enjoy it, I just probably wouldn't buy it again. Although I do have a friend she said she sprinkles feta on top of these before heating them, so if I ever try them again I'll definitely take that route.

No, this meal was not provided to me. I bought it completely on my own. So somewhat obviously then, all opinions here are my own!

Roasted Polenta with Swiss Chard

About 2 years ago Frozen Thursday used to be an almost weekly feature on From L.A. to LA, where I'd review various frozen meals. I did one this past June, but they're still pretty rare. Unless of course I come across something new and interesting that I want to share... and that's what we're doing today!
Amy's Roasted Polenta with Swiss Chard
I've honestly never seen a frozen meal like this before, which is why I was so excited to try it. And like normal Amy's didn't let me know. I was a little hesitant to eat frozen & microwaved swiss chard, but it turned out really good. (I do like chard in general, so I wasn't necessarily worried whether I would like chard, but more of it would taste like I'd expect.) The sauce which contained squash, tomatoes, and mushrooms was awesome.

My only complaint was really the polenta itself. That's not that it was bad, but more that it wasn't heated all throughout the middle. Amy's meals normally end up on the extra hot side, so for the last recommended 2-3 minutes, I went out 2:30. But I think with the extra time, it would have been almost picture.

And did I mention that somehow this is only 140 calories? It definitely didn't feel that small when I ate it, but with so few calories this has the potential to be a great snack.

I'd definitely buy this one again, although it still doesn't top my favorite Amy's lasagna. And no, this post was not sponsored. I just wanted to be able to remember this meal, and hopefully lead someone else to try it!

Snacks for Dinner

Seriously this is why I should not be allowed to shop for groceries on my own. Although looking at it now there really isn't a lot of food. Which almost makes it worse since this was a triple digit purchase!
Let's see.. there's 3 kinds of cheeses (feta, brie with herbs, and halloumi). In the plastics bags are potatoes, a mango, white nectarines, carrots, and a sweet potato. Maybe I should have taken them out of plastics bags for the picture, but I would have had to put them right back. There's also a cut up package of watermelon in the back.

As for the packaged food there's hummus and pita chips, Asian noodle salad, an Amy's frozen black bean enchilada, chicken pot stickers, and chicken pesto empanadas. Then there's also olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a box of mini croissants, and a tomato and asiago foccacia. The hiding the the right corner of the is the only dessert I bought, a bag of chocolate covered berries.

Anyone else notice the problem with this spread? Its all pretty much snack food! There's not really a whole lot to build a meal upon. Which meals if I want to cook an actual meal, I'll have to buy more groceries. So instead I'll just make it easy on myself and eat a bunch of snacks for dinner.

Anyone else have an issue buying food to actually use for a meal when shopping and just wind up with a lot of snack food? Or let me know how you manage to actually shop and come up with a meal from what you buy!

~Shoshanah

Asian Noodle Stir-Fry

Amy's Asian Noodle Stir-Fry
I've heard a lot of good things about this meal, and have been wanting to try it. The only hesitation I had was that brocoli seemed to be featured pretty prominently on the box. I did want up removing half of the brocoli before it finished heating, and was worried that the amoun of vegietables would be a little deplated. But that wasn't the case at all.

I did keep a piece or two of brocoli in. But even so, I was still left with lots of onions, tofu, soybeans, red peppers, carrots, mushrooms, cabbage, green peppers, and green beans. Clearly quite a selection.

The pasta was the perfect consistency. However, my favorite part of the whole meal was the sauce. Just the perfect amount of sweetness for me. Definitely another Amy's meal I would try again.

(And no one's paid me anything for this review. Nor were any of these meals provided to me. I just want to try them, and would rather keep track for myself and you all.)

~Shoshanah

Indian Mattar Paneer

Amy's Indian Mattar Paneer
It's been a while since I've posted a Frozen Thursday, which is a little assuming because they would have been a perfect way to ensure NaBloPoMo hasn't been completed. I think part of the reason its been a while, is because I feel like its getting hard to find yummy looking frozen foods that I haven't reviewed yet and want to eat. I actually had to double check my archives to make sure I hadn't posted this meal already.

Honestly, though I don't have a lot to say about this one. Or at least I don't have anything negative to save. The rice was a perfect texture. The chana masala (aka the garbanzo beans) were really good, and had the perfect about of spice. But by far the best part of the dish for me was the actual mattar paneer (aka peas and cheese). And I do promise there is fairly large blocks of paneer cheese hidden by the peas. Actually if you look closely you can see a corner of a block.

So yes, I would easily eat this again. And if you're wondering how I think this compares to the Shuki's frozen meals I've tired, who actually specializes in Indian meals, overall I actually like Amy's meal better. Mainly because Amy's gives you an actual meal with different sides to eat, while Shuki's really just gives you a main dish.

And since I feel like I'm starting to run low on good Frozen Thursday options, let me know if you have a favorite frozen meal you really think I should try!

~Shoshanah

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

Amy's Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

When I first saw this I thought this was the Amy's Lasagna I had already tried. But under closer inspection I realized this was ROASTED vegetable lasagna, completely different clearly. I remember how much I loved the (non-roasted) vegetable lasagna, and really wanted to try this one as well.

Really, I should have reread my post on the last lasagna. At that time I was a little worried that it would be too cheesy for me, but I decided to chance it and wound up loving it. This time I hadn't really thought about the cheesy-ness. Which of course meant it wound up being a little too cheesy for me. I really wasn't a big fan.

There were some things I did like. The was a tomato or maybe red pepper layer at the very bottom that was really good. Except there wasn't a lot of it, and in order to get to it I had to wade through the many layers of cheese. What can I say, I'm not a big fan of lots of melted cheese. I'm pretty sure I won't be trying this again. On a similar note, just in case you were wondering, I won't be trying Amy's Mac and Cheese either. Again, too cheesy for me and I'm not a fan of Mac and Cheese in general. Although I'm sure if you really like melted cheese you'd love this, and from what I've heard their mac and cheese is great as well.

~Shoshanah

Vegetable Lasagna

Amy's Vegetable Lasagna
I've been seeing this around forever, but I've been a little hesitant to try it. Partly, because lasagna is one of my favorite foods and I was afraid I'd be let down. I was afraid that since it was meatless it would disappoint me. Also that since there wasn't any meat it would be a little to cheesy for me. Especially considering ricotta is one of the ingredients in this, and its pretty much my least favorite part of lasagnas in general.

I did suck it up, and decided to make the jump. Of course I'm glad I did! The lasagna turned out even better than I imagined. There wasn't too much ricotta. I could actually barely taste any of it. I even forget that it was meatless it was so good. And there was the spinach, some might say that adds a meatiness to the lasagna, but I think it more just gave it an extra kick.

The lasagna wasn't perfect though. As you can tell from the picture the edges got a tiny bit overcooked. But it was cooked all the way through the middle which I guess is the important part. Other than that I don't have any major complaints.

Honestly I should have had a little more faith in Amy's After all they haven't let me down yet!

~Shoshanah

P.S. I know its been a while since I've posted a Frozen Thursday. With the change of schedule for the fall semester the boy has been home more often lately. And instead of making frozen dinners we've been eating something together. But I do have a few things in my freezer that I can't wait to try, so while I may not be posting one of these every week they will definitely NOT be going away!

Enchiladas

Amy's Enchilada
Let me start out by saying that I don't normally like enchilada's, which meant I was a little hesitant to buy this. But the reason I don't like them is because they are normally far too cheesy for me, and I'm just not big on melted cheese. But since the box says vegan and non-dairy I thought I might be safe. I was a little worried there would be some fake cheese substitute thing, but luckily this was not the case!

This meant the actual enchilada was packed for of just vegetables (and probably tofu as well), but no actual cheese. The sauce that topped it off was really good, and left a little kick at the end. I think my favorite part might have been the rice though. The flavors in the rice just really seemed to work.

The only thing I was a little disappointed with were the beans. I heated it for 5 minutes like the directions said. You can kind of tell from the picture that the beans got heated a little too much. They still tasted fine, but weren't amazing. Of course the instructions do say to use heating times as a guideline, and that they may very per microwave. Maybe that means I should be microwaving my food slightly less. I know I've had this problem at least once before.

One final thing I did like about this it that is was a whole meal (yes, it actually says whole meal on the box). I'm pretty sure Amy's sell its enchilada's two ways. One as a meal with rice and beans (aka what I bought). The second with two enchiladas and no sides. If you planning on eating by yourself I'd say whole meal is the way to go.

~Shoshanah

Indian Vegetable Korma

Amy's Indian Vegetable Korma
Yes, I had Indian food last week. But I haven't had Amy's a good while so I figured it evens out. Now taken directly from the box:

"Made with organic vegetables and rice. Curried vegetables with rice & dal."

Not sure what dal is? Well neither did I. Turns out from the back of the box its the Indian word for lentils. And I know what lentils are! Honestly, I had forgotten how much I love Amy's product. It was so good, the whole time I was trying to eat slowly so it would last longer.

Starting with the rice. It had kind of a lemony flavor, and it was the pretty temperature and texture. But the rice for probably my least favorite part. Not because it was bad, but because the other parts we so good. The curried vegetables were really good. Pieces of potatoes, peas, and carrots. All perfectly soft. And then there were the lentils which were also really good. They actually had a few raisins mixed in with them which was a pleasant surprise.

What I loved about this product was that it felt like an actual meal. It gave me a variety of thing to eat. And made me realize I need to start buying more Amy's products again!

And for dessert? Well its been a while since I've had one of these!
Betty Crocker Mini Warm Delight in Molten Caramel Cake
And the caramel sauce? I was aiming to make a heart. Clearly a fail there. Even with the lack of a heart, still really yummy.

~Shoshanah

Mushroom & Olive Pizza

Amy's Mushroom & Olive Pizza
I have to say Amy's, I'm a little disappointed in you after this. I've loved pretty much all of your other meals to death, but I wasn't a big fan of this one. Overall, there just wasn't a a lot of flavor, and the sauce was a little too sweet for me. Trying to stay positive, the outside crust was just the perfect amount of crispiness. Actually, after the first bite of crust I really thought I would like this. But not quite. I'll still buy Amy's of course, and I might even try one of their pizzas again. But probably not this one.

On a brighter side Amber at The Girl with Red Hair has a bunch of giveaways going one to kick off her new blog. There's Cliff & Larabars, a book, and even a date night! So go check it out!

~Shoshanah

Pesto Tortellini

Amy's Pesto Tortellini
I'm not normally a big fan of cheese filled pasta. Despite my obsession with some cheeses (mainly feta) I am awfully picky with cheeses. Minaly because if something is too cheese-y I tend not to enjoy it. So I was somewhat hesitant and trying this. But I friend of mine recommended it. She said I would love it, and am I glad I did.

Not even close to too cheesy! And I love most pesto sauces (unless they are too cream-y. Yes, I have a problem with milk products). But this is a really good pesto sauce. One of the best maybe. I literally licked the bowl.

Another good part is that it was awfully filling. I didn't really eat lunch, since when I got home for lunch we had no power. So besides this all I've eaten today was a granola bar, a fruit leather, and Butterfinger, and a Dr. Pepper. But even so I fell incredibly full. So full I might not have dessert. (Especially after posting about the Butterfinger. I had somewhat forgotten.) But to summarize, the pesto tortellini is an A+ choice. I can't even come up with anything negative to say about it!

~Shoshanah

Shepherd's Pie

Amy's Shepherd's Pie
I was all set to say this was my first time trying this. But I pulled it out of the mircowave and suddenly remember eating this exact meal. Funny how that works. I really like this! (Surprise, surprise) I LOVED the organic mashed potatos on top. (umm I love mashed potatos pretty much any time) Thoses were probably my favorite. Although the garbonzo beans came in a close second.

The heating time worked out pretty well. You can kind of tell it overflowed a tiny bit. And there were tiny parts of the edges that were a tiny bit overcooked. But a lot of the time with mini pot pies you have a frozen center and this wasn't like that at all.

It wasn't a lot of food. I'm still a little bit hungry, but I don't NEED to eat any more if that makes sense.

Finishing up, I hope everyone has a great weekend! Any big plans? I am planning on meeting up with a friend from college, and going here:

I can't wait!

~Shoshanah

Thursday

Because it is Thursday after all...

Amy's Tamale Verde Black Bean
The rice is OK. Not really a talking point. But the Tamale itself is really good. The Verde sauce is really good, I practically licked the plate. The corn was also soft and yummy. The best part though was the filling. I honestly forgot until halfway through that there wasn't any meat in it.

I have no Warm Delight, which is probably a good thing. Instead I'm having a Cadberry Creme Egg. Yum! I love these things! I'm so glad Easter is still a month away so I have a month still to enjoy them!

~Shoshanah

Thursday Night Special

I'm so excited to have my Thursday night back! At the old apartment Thursday nights were the one night the Boy didn't come home till nighttime, not that I don't love spending time with him. I just really value my time alone. And now he's home late every night of course, but moving on...

Every Thursday like clockwork I would watch Survivor and Grey's and eat a frozen Kashi diner and a Betty Crocker Warm Delight. Now Survivor is not on tonight, however the 2-hour Grey's cross over episode is on! I'm not actually planning on eating a Kashi meal, but instead an Amy's meal. But I do have a Warm Delight (chocolate fudge flavor I think, I am SO excited for this).

This is my first night having this since the old apartment, so since July. But really July doesn't count since my TV shows weren't on then.

I still do have an hour till Grey's starts, but I so can't wait!

Turns out...

I'm currently eating one of Amy's Shepherd's Pies. I really like their stuff. I've never had their shepherd's pie before, but it's pretty good. Their burritos are probably my favorite. I normally buy these (or Kashi) frozen foods, because I feel like their healthier. More organics, more whole grains, more veggies, and more exciting than just Lean Cuisine. Unfortunately, like all frozen foods they are high in salt. I mean looking at the nutritional facts we have:
4g of fat (0g saturated, 0g trans) 6%DV
0mg cholesterol
5g Sugar
27g Carbs (Of which only 19% is sugar) 9% dv
5g Fiber 20dv
5g protein (It is vegan)
50%dv Vitamin A
30%dv Vitamin C
10%dv Calcium
15%dv Iron
But...
590mg Salt 25%DV
If only we could break down the salt. But o well...

Moving on. Remember a few weeks back when I talked about how you could no longer talk on your phone is Louisiana? Well I mentioned it to the girls at work. One of them said, "I though the new law was you couldn't text while driving?" Well one of my co-workers was proactive and actually looks it up online.

The law officially is (or maybe not so officially since I haven't actually looked it up myself to check):

You are no longer allowed to text while driving.
If you are under age 18 you are not allowed to talk while driving.

So I guess I can go back to calling people in the car! Good to know!

I really should go, so I can continue to unpack the new apartment. Not that everything is moved over here yet. Primarily my dresser, which makes is awfully difficult to unpack clothes. But we shall see!

~Shoshanah