A Change in Weight and a Change in Direction

It has been quite a while since I've posted anything here.  We finished the Nutrisystem diet and have just generally been watching what we eat and exercising.  I'm going to change the direction of the blog a bit and include a number of other health and diet related postings as I feel the need or the muse.  Here is the first of those posts.  I think you'll find it interesting and helpful.

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What's in a Name?

Ok, listen up, Nutirsystem! You really have to learn how to name things better. If you name something minestrone soup, it should have the taste and consistency of minestrone soup. Your hearty beef minestrone isn't even close! As a minestrone, I would have to give it a 6.5. The name conjures up expectations and one measures the quality based on those expectations.

As I ate the soup, I began thinking about this and instead of imagining I was eating a poor imitation minestrone, I thought about eating a Nutrisystem original recipe for shredded beef, bean, and macaroni soup. With the expectations of that name in my mind, I had no problem giving this a 7.5 and wouldn't argue against an 8.

It Tastes Like Chicken

Jill never signed up for a second round of Nutrisystem and we are just on a maintenance diet. Many of the first round foods are still sitting unopened, unappetizing, and uneaten in the pantry, but today I decided to try their Chicken Breast Patty.

They provide oven and microwave instructions and suggest eating it on a whole grain roll. I got creative and put it on rye bread, added a slice of tomato, two slices of American cheese and put it in a sandwich grill.

Whenever you see a movie in which a castaway or a visitor to a foreign land is forced by necessity or custom to each some strange animal, they often utter the cliche, "It tastes like chicken." The thing is that anyone eating Nutrisystem Chicken Breast would be hard pressed to utter those same words.

When I slice the sandwich open, I expected it to be white. After all, it is chicken breast, but the other non-chicken ingredients gave it a reddish brown cast. Outside, it did look like chicken, but inside is was obviously processed and had the appearance and consistency of Spam. However, it didn't taste bad at all and I actually gave it an 8. Of course, I'd have to give at least one point of the 8 to my creative recipe.

Nutty Dessert

Despite the fact the we clearly indicated on our exchange form in bold letter, not to substitute anything that did not appear on the order form, but to simply add more of an ordered item, they sent five Chocolate Macadamia Nut Biscottis.

Neither Jill nor I are Biscotti fans. Jill flat out refused to try it, but I figured if I dipped it in tea or coffee, it would be palletable. I was correct. Now, I'll give the devil his due. If a double fudge brownie is a 10, then this biscotti is a 4. All things considered, that's high praise, because on that same scale I would give the best biscotti I've ever tasted a 4+. That would mean on the biscotti scale, this one would be a 9+.

So if you are a biscotti lover, you should find a friend in Nutrisystem's version..

Out to Lunch... Back Soon

If you read either of my other two blogs here at 3DWriting.com, you know that I've been out of town for since Sunday. As a result, I've been eating in Chicago, but I've been good. Ok, ok, I cheated a little bit with the hash browns for breakfast and a French Dip, but other than that it's been soup, salad and health bars.

On the home front, or actually in MA where Jill is visiting our daughter and new grandson, she has been continuing with the Nutrisystem diet. However, there's not much to report there, because she has been eating mostly meals that we have already reviewed.

She did try two new items. She had the Hearty Ministroni soup. We reported on the Italian Ministroni. She gave that a passing grade, but liked the hearty variety even more. Her comment was, "The Italian had meat in it, or what they called meat. It had the consistency of a sponge. I like this better."

The other item she tried was a strawberry snack bar. It was actually an item that she she brought to MA in case my daughter might like it. Jill was predespoded to reject it out of hand, but tried it and like Mikey, she liked it.

Yum-yum!

Jill saw a commercial for Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers. It's a cool concept. The meal sits in a plastic steamer which is rests on top of a plastic bowl with liquid in the bottom. Everything is sealed with a clear plastic wrap cover. You pop it in the microwave that the meal steams. You don't even have to puncture the top. It's self venting. When it's ready you remove the top and dump the contents of the steamer into the bowl of liquid and enjoy.

While we were shopping today we came across their version of General Tso's Chicken, Jill's favorite Chinese food and one of mine as well. It really looked good, but we could see from the picture that it wasn't a "true" General Tso.

Opening the package confirmed that. There was generous amount of rice, carrots, and peas. That, along with the chicken, would get dumped into the sauce. It was obvious that the chicken wouldn't be caramelized the way you would expect it to be. As a result we decided to not judge it against that standard and to evaluate it solely on its own merit.

Everything tasted very good. The sauce had a nice ginger tang to it. While the chicken tasted good, it's consistency wasn't as good as one would hope. In the other hand, it was probably better than one would expect. After all, it was breaded and then steamed. It was definitely a meal we will buy again. It's an 8+ on the frozen food scale.

Hold that Food!

A few days ago we packed up all of the items Jill didn't want, selected other items in exchange, and shipped them back to Nutrisystem. We can hardly wait to see what happens with the exchange.

Yesterday, I called and canceled the auto-shipment and thus our venture into the world of Nutrisystem comes to a close. There are still a few items she kept and will try and those reviews will be forthcoming. However, once she finishes, we will both be eating the other healthy frozen food options and I'll continue with those reviews.

I mentioned that I've been munching on fresh veggies between meals and loving it. One of my favorites is raw cauliflower, but not just by itself. You have to dip it in cocktail sauce. Now, if you haven't tried this and it sounds a bit strange, if you like shrimp cocktail, trust me. Try it. You'll love it!