Thank you Sir Alexander Fleming and Judging Giada

First of all, thank you so much for all of your kind well wishes.  I was being a whiny little baby, but not one of you wrote, "Oh just shut up already and put on your big girl underwear."  Maybe you thought it, but at least you didn't say it!

What a beautiful molecular structure!

I am feeling 100% better thanks to all the love and support...and my super high dose of amoxicillin.  Now, I know antibiotics are grossly overused and have gotten a bad rap.  But I think we also forget that not too long ago people routinely died from infections...and I pretty much felt like I was headed that way (people can die from sinus infections, right?) .  So, even though your discovery has occasionally been used for "evil," I thank you Sir Alexander Fleming for finding a wonderful use for mold.  You are my hero!

Moving on!  I've been under the weather and speaking of weather, it was looking like this:

The current state of our backyard

And I had to dress my son up like this for preschool:

What better time to take advantage of my love for soup?  Soup, in my opinion, is the perfect cold weather and/or feeling lousy food.  Not only that, it is delicious and it can be extremely healthy. Some of soup's benefits include:

• When consumed before a meal, it can help you consume fewer calories.
• It often contains healthy, high fiber foods like vegetables and beans.
• It stays in your stomach for a longer period of time delaying the production of ghrelin (that hormone that makes you hungry).

Now I have not kept it a secret that I am a horrible cook, but soup is one thing that I will make.  However, I don't always have the time or motivation to cook my soups from scratch.  There are a few canned soups I like, but overall I think canned soups tastes kinda funky.  This means I am always on the look out for easy, but delicious soups.  Something that can be whipped up on a moments notice...but not taste like it.  

The other day I came across Giada de Laurentiis' line of food for Target.  I find her annoyingly good looking, but she does have some good recipes.

Yes, we get it.  You are pretty AND you can cook AND you have YouTube videos dedicated to your jiggly cleavage (Found that out while googling how to spell her name.  I didn't watch it in case you are wondering).  I hate her.  Is that the jealousy talking?  Obviously!

Low and behold Ms. De Laurentiis had two soup mixes.  Both could be vegetarian and both looked pretty good.  The flavors?  Classic Minestrone and Tuscan-Style White Bean and Fire Roasted Garlic.  All the ingredients were dehydrated vegetables and spices.  They were low fat and high fiber.  So I bought them with reserved optimism.

The verdict:  Really good!  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with these.  The flavor was good as well as the texture.  I am sure homemade would trump it, but this is a good second choice.  If you love soup and find yourself low on time, these are winners.  Would you like to win a box?  Yeah, me too.  Unfortunately, this is not a sponsored review...and I am guessing even if Giada read my glowing review of her soup she might be put off by my comments about her.   But next time you are at Target I suggest grabbing a box.

What is your favorite cold weather food?  
Who else hates Giada??