The Plus Size Mommy» food

Week 3 Weigh In Disappointment #NSDiet15 #TransformationInProgress

theplus — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:12:20 +0000

Well, this is week 3 of my Nutrisystem diet and I have to admit, this was a bad week for me. I was on vacation and everything fell to the wayside pretty much. I did try to watch what I was eating but I didn’t take all of my meals with me. I did take breakfasts and desserts, but we were away from the hotel for lunch and dinners so I didn’t keep to the NutriSystem foods. I did continue to drink much water and got tons of exercise because we walked and walked and walked soooooooo much. It was very hot so I was dripping in sweat every day too. But as far as my weigh in, which I had to do Sunday because I didn’t have a scale at the hotel, was very disappointing to say the least.

The morning after we got home and I stepped onto the scale, I had a gain of 4 pounds So this week, now that I am home, I am sticking STRICTLY to the Nutrisystem diet. I am so disappointed in myself for such a huge #Fail.

I just ordered my 2nd month of food and I was very happy because I was allowed to choose meals I know I will like. I am not really into much of the hispanic or spicier foods and also I am not a huge fan of chocolate. Don’t get me wrong, I eat chocolate, but I am more of a chip (salt) eater.

My new found love has recently been granola. It is so good and filling. I love granola with cranberry bars or any kind of granola with fruit. I also have recently become a big fan of oatmeal. I have always liked Oatmeal, but have started eating it much more recently.

So, I will let you know on Friday how well I do this week. Stay Tuned!!!

The Plus Size Mommy

*Disclosure –

All products have been supplied by Nutrisystem complimentary as part of their Nutrisystem Blogger 15 program. Views expressed here are my own.

Introducing “The Family Dish” #MyShoppingCart (SPON)

theplus — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:46:23 +0000

I have some extremely exciting news that I am finally able to share with everyone. I was asked by Unilever (you know the company who has awesome brands such as Ragu, Lipton, Breyers, Skippy, Knorr, and more?) to be a contributor to a new website that they have called “The Family Dish”. The Family Dish is a site geared to having fun in the kitchen with great recipes, and also getting your children involved. The mission is to reconnect families through cooking.

I can remember watching shows on television where families are cooking meals together, talking, and having a great time. Not only does this make for a fantastic family time, but also, your children can learn to cook and learn all of those secret family recipes.

As it is a family usually doesn’t have much time to spend together why with moms and dads working, kids in sports and activities. Homework, housework, and yard work that just doesn’t leave a lot of time. I have always been a stickler that we (my family) eats dinner together every night. That way at least we have that 1/2 to an hour to talk, and know whats going on in each of our worlds. Now with working on this project with “The Family Dish” I can make the time last a little longer with them helping me to cook before the dinner as well.

I plan on rotating my crew of 4 kids and spending some individual time with each of them in the kitchen. On some days I will also work with them on a meal as one group as well.

So, come on over the www.thefamilydish.com and see what’s cookin!

The featured Mom contributors are , Linda Sellers (Short Pump Preppy), Jennifer Leet (The Dirty Shirt), Tracy Reinhardt (Crazy Suburban Mom), Liz Latham (Hoosier Homemade), Carol Cain (NYCity Mama), April Atwater (Simply the Sweet Life), Cheryl Sousan (Tidy Mom), Jennifer Schmidt (Beauty and Bedlam), Jill Ann Berry (Musings from Me), Lisa Douglas (Crazy Adventures in Parenting), Heather Durdil (Domestic Extraordinaire), along with myself will post video diaries and written posts on The Family Dish website showing their hands-on experiences turning cooking dinner time into quality time with their families.

To help get families started, www.TheFamilyDish.com features an exclusive cookbook with easy-to-prepare, family-friendly recipes from the Unilever Consumer Test Kitchens, and tips from the trusted brands supporting the program: Ragú® Pasta Sauce, Hellmann’s® / Best Foods® Mayonnaise, Knorr® Pasta and Rice Sides, Skippy® Peanut Butter, and Lipton® Recipe Secrets®.

Also fun for the whole family is a chance to win a Family Culinary Vacation to Orlando by entering “The Family Dish Contest,” which asks families to share their own experiences cooking together. From July 25 to August 30, 2010, families can enter “The Family Dish Contest” by visiting thefamilydish.com and uploading a video about their best experiences cooking as a family. Twenty semi-finalist videos will be posted on the site for public voting to choose a winner. Public voting will take place from September 15-30, 2010. Official rules are available at www.thefamilydish.com.

For more quick tips, recipe ideas and to find out what’s cooking in the Unilever Consumer Test Kitchens, follow Lauren, Anna Marie and their team on Twitter @KitchenDishin’.

Thank you in advance for visiting!

The Plus Size Mommy

*Disclosure- This post was created in connection with my appointment as an Ambassador in Unilever’s Family Dish Program. For more great ideas, go to www.thefamilydish.com.

Introducing~Cascadian Farm’s Newest FarmVille Initiative & WIN!

theplus — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 03:33:11 +0000

Cascadian Farm®, a pioneer in the organic food industry, is blazing yet another new trail as they become the first official branded – and organic – crop to be offered in Zynga´s popular online game, FarmVille. Joining forces, Cascadian Farm and Zynga will provide an innovative gaming experience for FarmVille fans, breathing virtual life into real world organic farming within the largest online agricultural space.

Beginning July 19 through July 26, Cascadian Farm will provide FarmVille players with a variety of benefits including, coupon offers, organic farming and green living tips, as well as the opportunity to build up their farm quickly. During the week-long partnership, branded Cascadian Farm organic blueberry crops will be the most profitable FarmVille crop offered in the game, to beginner and expert FarmVille players.

The brand has also recreated the real Cascadian Farm, located in the Upper Skagit Valley of Washington’s North Cascade Mountains. The virtual Cascadian Farm will carry out the brand´s mission to grow good and honest food by encouraging FarmVille users to harvest crops that are free from synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. All of their online fruits and vegetables will be planted with the same ideals and values found in organic culture, while also sharing the rewards from playing the game with Cascadian Farm´s online fan base.

To further connect with other FarmVille users, Cascadian Farm has created an avatar farmer called “Farmer Joe Cascadian,” who was inspired by the brand´s real-life farmers. “Farmer Joe” will serve as the “virtual” tender to the brand´s own FarmVille farm and users can request to be his neighbor by “friend-ing” him online at www.facebook.com/farmerjoecascadian and by using the FarmVille application to become his neighbor in-game.

For more information, please visit www.cascadianfarm.com

Now you can WIN a “Cascadian FarmVille Fan” prize pack (as shown) that includes Cascadian Farm Fruit & Nut Granola and Harvest Berry Chewy Granola Bars, along with Cascadian Farm coupons and a game card containing FarmVille currency.

Here is how to WIN :

Comment and tell why living an organic lifestyle is important to you and your family? = 1 entry

Comment and tell Which crops would you plant if you had a real-life farm of your own? = 1 entry

Tweet the following on Twitter : ” Win a Cascadian Farm -ville gift pack here : ” – You can tweet this up to 4 times per day, please leave seperate comments with your tweet thread included to get up to 4 chances/day.

Follow me on twitter, comment and let me know you are , I am @plussizemommy = 1 entry

This giveaway begins NOW and will end on Aug. 1, 2010 at 10PM. 1 winner will be chosen via random.org. Winner will NOT be contacted, but posted to this blog in a winner post. So if you enter to win, please check back around Aug. 2 to see if you won. Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize. Winner must be a resident of the USA to be eligible.

Thank you to all who enter and Good Luck!

Shared by :

The Plus Size Mommy

Disclosure – the products, prize pack, information and additional prize pack to give away were all given to you from Cascadian Farm through MyBlogSpark.)
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Sneaking & Cheating Isn’t Worth The Guilt #NSDiet15 #transformationinprogress

theplus — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:22:25 +0000

I see tweets, comments on Facebook, and even hear person to person how people cheat on their diets or sneak to eat foods that they shouldn’t. Truth is, it isn’t worth it. Believe me, I have been there. I used to work at a day care center that was about 3 minutes away from McDonalds. I would go (mind you this was over 15 years ago) and eat lunch there some days. Instead of eating back at the day care, a normal lunch, with some co-workers. I would drive to McDonald’s eat a Quarter Pounder with cheese and fries, a large soda, and then also eat a pack of chicken nuggets (not a 4 count pack, a larger one). I would sit in my car and eat away. Eat away my sorrows, pain, arguments with boyfriends, problems at home, not having money, problems with school. Anything that caused me bad stress I would eat it all away at McDonalds, in my car, where no one could see the amount of food I was piling over top of my stress.

Eating for me, is an addiction. Some people drink alcohol, some drugs, some have sex, gamble, and some work.

For me, it is FOOD. I eat when I am happy, I eat when I am sad, I eat to celebrate, I eat when I am full, I eat when I am hungry, I eat and eat and eat.

What I also remember about “hiding” and eating in my car is, I never felt too good when I went back to work knowing what I just did. The guilt would set in and would feel horrible. And hiding, who am I kidding, how can you hide how much you really eat when you weigh over 250 pounds. You CANNOT. They may not have seen the food itself, but anyone would know that I eat a lot by just looking at me.

Alcoholics, smokers, drug users, sex addicts, gamblers, even nail biters cannot hide it either. You can try but people can and will be able to tell. Even if not at first, eventually…

So when you cheat and sneak to do any kind of addicted behavior you may have, it never feels good. The guilt is always still there.

To me, food addiction is one of, if not, THE hardest addiction to overcome. After all, if your an alcoholic, you can go to support groups, and get help, and yes I know it is tough, but if you never buy another alcoholic beverage or product with alcohol in it, you do not have to. If your strong enough to never shoot up, smoke or snort another drug, and get help, you never have to buy another drug ever again. And you can put yourself in situations where you do not ever go around or to places where these vices are happening again (ie : you don’t have to goto a bar, liquor store, parties, crack house, etc.)

But with food, it is a beast that you cannot survive without.

Now, that being said, I can stay away from McDonalds, or places where maybe not so healthy food is being served. And I can buy only healthy foods for home. But, food addicts cannot just put the fork down and say, I will never eat again.

It just cannot happen. We need food and water to survive.

So the beast of food addiction is there, it is everywhere. If you think of every event in your life, pretty much food is present.

And usually it isn’t healthy food.

Birthday cakes, Wedding cakes, picnics, reunions, conferences, vacations, holidays, funerals, work parties, sporting events, baby showers, and many many more events. Food is there. If you do not eat, people wonder what is wrong with you (or what is wrong with their food).

It is so so so hard.

The same people who wonder why you aren’t eating their “wonderful pasta salad” are the same people who wonder how you got so fat. And why you aren’t doing something about it. The same people who tell you that you need to lose weight are the same ones who bring dessert to Christmas dinner.

Whole lifestyle changes is the only route you can take.

You have to eat in moderation. And if you can put your self in an alcoholics shoes for a split second, that would be like telling them to just drink 1 drink. It is almost impossible. I have lots of friends and relatives that are alcoholics and/or recovering alcoholics. I know a person in my family has to watch what mouthwash to use because of alcohol content.

The truth is, they cannot even drink a sip of alcohol or they can chance getting right back to being a drinker.

So, how can I tell myself, to never eat 1 more bite of food ? … I cannot.

When I am eating healthy and moderately and then I do cheat and sneak in a piece of cake I feel like such a fat loser. It is horrible.

I know in my mind I am only cheating on myself and my family. I HATE the feeling.

I have decided to really give more thought into what I am eating, how much, why, and how It will make me feel in the future (after I eat it). With hopes it will help me arrange in my head what I am doing and why. And hopefully after I answer these questions, I will be able to make a better decision to what I eat and help in my weight loss and relieve me of the guilt and stress of the guilt.

I know this is going to be a very VERY long road for me, but others have gone before me and have accomplished it. Everyone’s life path is different and everyone’s travels hard at times. And I have to keep thinking it has taken me 35 years to get this fat, and it should hopefully take me less to lose it. I have to keep thinking about the quality of my life now, and keep imagining how it will be when I have reached my goal. I think it will be a wonderful place

I know I can do this…

The Plus Size Mommy

Disclosure – All products have been supplied by Nutrisystem complimentary as part of their Nutrisystem Blogger 15 program. Views expressed here are my own.

1 Week Down, Many To Go #NSDiet15 #transformationinprogress

theplus — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:19:14 +0000

It has been a week now since I started on my Nutrisystem Diet. The weigh in is in and I lost 2 pounds this week. I May have been able to lose more if I could’ve gotten more exercise in if I could’ve gotten out more, but we had a heat wave in Pittsburgh last week and it was VERY hot. I did go swimming with my kids at the YMCA for an hour one day but that wasn’t much. Then that caused me to have severe allergy problems and made me uncomfortable as well.
The Nutrisystem foods I have been finding, so far, to be pretty good. My only complaint I have this week is I do not like the pretzels. But everything else I have eaten taste very good. And the main part they are very filling. I know I am eating less because I can visually see it, but my stomach doesn’t know it, because it still feels full. Which is excellent! As a matter of fact the one day I wasn’t ready to eat dinner (didn’t feel hungry yet) when my family ate their dinner. And I only had the Nutrisystem desserts 4 days. I just wasn’t hungry after dinner.

I think 2 pounds is a pretty darn good start. I am using the Nutrisystem to supplement my weight loss. I know I have to still drink tons of water and exercise more. The water I have down pat, I have been drinking and drinking it all day long.
The exercise, well, I will work on that diligently.

As far as my goal goes from when I started (prior to being on the Nutrisystem program) my goal was to lose 30 pounds before Aug. when I goto Blogher10 in NY. Well, I am past the 1/2 way mark to a 17 pound total loss. 13 pounds to go, and I have about a month to do it in.
I was racing my twitter following against my weight loss too (as some of you know) and that goal was to see if I can lose 30 pounds or reach 7000 twitter followers first ?
(I was trying to get my 30 pounds off first) but both goals make me happy and accomplished.
Well, the results for that this week are – I have 6,999 Twitter followers at the current minute!
So I think the Twitter following will be first, which is wonderful! and in my heart, I believe the 13 pounds will be gone before NY too. I just need to make it happen.
And if I lose more then that is a BONUS !!! It is like the NON- Icing on the cake !!!

I will continue to keep you all up to date with my #transformationinprogress and you can follow the hashtags in Twitter to see my tweets as well. The 2 hashtags are : #transformationinprogress & #NSDiet15. You can also see the other 14 bloggers that are on the Nutrisystem diet and see what they are saying and how much they are losing too.

Also, if you are on a journey to a healthier you, please let us know. I will help cheer you on, motivate, and keep you going. I know it is hard and I know even making the decision is hard, but nothing is harder than leaving your kids parentless or your family without YOU on this Earth because your weight kills you.
We all have our struggles, no one is perfect. And YOU CAN DO THIS. WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER. There is power in numbers and we can kick our weight to the curb together and be and feel healthier and have healthier families. It will bring a better quality of life. It will be a long hard journey but in the end, well worth it !

Love to All and if you need support, just ask!!!!

The Plus Size Mommy

*Disclosure – All products have been supplied by Nutrisystem as part of their Nutrisystem15 program. Views expressed here are my own.

Suddenly Pasta Salad Winner

theplus — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:15:39 +0000

Congrats to the following person for winning the Suddenly Pasta Salad gift pack. The winner is : JoeyfromSC

Please email me at plussizemommy@gmail.com with “Pasta Winner” in the Subject line. I will need your name, phone # (For shipping) and address.

Please email within 48 hours to claim or another winner will be chosen (NO EXCEPTIONS).

Thank you to all who entered and to JoeyfromSC Enjoy !

The Plus Size Mommy

Disclosure – This gift pack will be sent direct from the company. I am not responsible for any damage or lost prizes via shipping.

Today Is The Day !!! #NSDiet15 #transformationinprogress

theplus — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:50:39 +0000

Today is the day! I will be starting a new diet to boost my weight loss. I, along with 14 other Bloggers will be starting on a new program with Nutrisystem. I already ate my blueberry muffin this morning and I am ready to go. (by the way, the muffin was wonderful!)

I will be part of this program for 4 months and I will be documenting my success (and failures ) while on the program. I will also share my thoughts about the food and if I am feeling hungry or satisfied.

I cannot wait to share this new journey with you.

Watch for upcoming posts updating you while I am on this great program!

You can also connect with Nurtisystem on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Nutrisystem . Nutrisystem is also active on Twitter: http://twitter.com/nutrisystem so feel free to Tweet at the team.

Along with eating Nutrisystem’s new food plan along with working out and drinking water, I cannot wait to boost my weight loss.

I am hoping the pounds will drip off with the sweat!

Here’s to a NEW ME !!!

The Plus Size Mommy

*Disclosure – All products have been supplied by Nutrisystem as part of their Nutrisystem15 program. Views expressed here are my own.

Make Fresh Tasty Homemade Salsa in Minutes!

theplus — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:35:29 +0000

Mrs. Wages creations bring the family together on long summer days. Mrs. Wages offers a safe, healthy and easy way to involve your little ones in preparing tonight’s dinner. Make a day out of finding the freshest ingredients in town.  Check out your local grocer or fruit stand and let your kids pick out the peaches and pineapples. Kids will love seeing the “fruit” of their labor when it all comes together in Mrs. Wages Fruit and Cilantro Salsa. Or get things cooking in your own backyard- plant your own tomatoes and cilantro for delicious additions to Mrs. Wages Guacamole!

“Mrs. Wages is the national leader in the home canning industry, and now we’re able to serve the busy consumer who wants to eat and entertain with fresh ingredients, but doesn’t have extra time to assemble multiple ingredients,” says Timothy McCreery, vice president of sales and marketing at Precision Foods.  “You just chop your tomatoes, add a packet of salsa mix, and you are on your way.  With renewed interest in shopping locally and home gardening, Mrs. Wages is an ideal way to use fresh produce to create homemade salsas and guacamole instantly and easily.”

Best of all — a packet of Mrs. Wages sells for approximately $1.49.   You can buy them online at http://store.mrswagesstore.com/instantsalsas.html “For a budget conscious consumer, you can serve homemade gourmet guacamole and salsa at your next party for just a few dollars,” say McCreery.  “And that’s something to cheer about!”

Shared by: The Plus Size Mommy

Hey Pittsburgh, Your Invited!!! – Hebrew National Better-Than-A-Picnic Picnic #HebrewNational

theplus — Thu, 27 May 2010 04:53:21 +0000

I will be joined by These 3 other wonderful bloggers to host the picnic :

Kim of Crafty Mama Of 4 http://www.craftymamaof4.com
Kim D. of Clumber Kim http://clumberkim.com/
Alaina of Life… {as felt through my heart} http://alainafrederick.com/life

Here is Your Official Invitation :

WHO ? You are invited Along with your family & friends
When? Saturday June 5th, 2010 (Mark Your Calendar NOW!)
Time ? 11:30 am – 3:30 PM
Where? Highland Park – We will be near the Reservoir, off of Farmhouse Drive
What ? Hebrew National’s Better-Than-a-Picnic Picnic

Bring your own blankets, for a picnic in the grass. We will have lots of fun activities for the kids such as a giant puzzle, music, and what I am most excited about is the mechanical bull!!!
The Food will be Hebrew National hot dogs (of course), fruit, and drinks.
So gather your friends, neighbors, and family and come for a fun picnic in Highland Park!

We will also be doing a service project, more info. to come on this SOON!

You can learn more by visiting The Motherhood.com ‘s Hebrew National Picnic Circle here : http://www.themotherhood.com/circle/show/id/61991

Here are some pictures from the kick off picnic in NYC last weekend! Doesn’t that big AirStream bus/kitchen look awesome?!

You can see more and also see if the Better-Than-A-Picnic – Picnic is coming to your city by staying in touch with Hebrew National’s Facebook page HERE : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hebrew-National/16552638255

If you have any questions or need any more info. PLEASE contact me through my email at plussizemommy@gmail.com or leave me a comment and I will answer you.

I am hoping to see you at Highland Park !!! It will be a great time

The Plus Size Mommy

*Disclosure – As a host for this picnic I am being sent a stipend for my time and for pitching in for service project supplies that may be needed.

Healthy Choice introduced 11 new meals and You can WIN!*

theplus — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:13:12 +0000

Staying on track with your healthy lifestyle can be hard between work, gym trips, school, sports and busy family schedules. To help you step away from the “diet” food and toward foods that’s not only good, but good for you, Healthy Choice introduced 11 new products to its Café Steamers, All Natural Entrées and Select Entrées product lines.

With four new varieties of Café Steamers, four new All Natural Entrées and three new Select Entrées, consumers can eat great tasting food every day of the week.

New Mediterranean-Inspired Café Steamers

Building on the popularity of the Grilled Basil Chicken recipe, the new Mediterranean Inspired Café Steamers such as Lemon Garlic Chicken and Shrimp and Balsamic Garlic Chicken add fresh-tasting meals options to your daily routine. And with Healthy Choice All Natural Entrées Tortellini Primavera Parmesan and Select Entrées Spicy Caribbean Chicken, consumers can enjoy delicious foods, while maintaining their healthy lifestyle.

More Information

All new meals are nutrient-rich, contain no preservatives and are available NOW at grocery stores nationwide for a suggested retail price range of $2.00 to $3.29. Please see below for a complete list of new entrées and a press release announcing these new meals. You can also visitwww.healthychoice.com for more information.

Healthy Choice All Natural Entrées:

Tortellini Primavera Parmesan (new recipe)

Lobster Cheese Ravioli (new recipe)

Roasted Red Pepper Marinara (new recipe)

Creamy Basil Pesto (new recipe)

Healthy Mediterranean Inspired Choice Café Steamers:

Balsamic Garlic Chicken (new recipe)

Grilled Vegetables Mediterranean (new recipe)

Lemon Garlic Chicken and Shrimp (new recipe)

Grilled Basil Chicken

Healthy Choice Asian Inspired Café Steamers

Chicken Pad Thai (new recipe)

Healthy Choice Select Entrées:

Pineapple Chicken (new recipe)

Ravioli Florentine Marinara (new recipe)

Spicy Caribbean Chicken (new recipe)

FROM ME : I am officially in love with Healthy Choice Meals. I eat them ALL the time, and I am so thankful I was introduced them. In my mission to eating more healthy and also living a more healthy lifestyle all around, they have helped me IMMENSLEY to stay more on track. The meals are low in calories and have so many great vitamins in them. I love that I can eat good food and it is so healthy for me, and a cinch to cook!

My favorites from the new dishes are the Pineapple Chicken, Balsamic Garlic Chicken, and the Lemon Garlic Chicken and Shrimp. The flavors in these meals just blow me away! They taste like fresh from the farm! Seriously! who would’ve thought a frozen meal or any microwaveable meal could be so good! But you don’t have to take my word for it, now you can have a chance at winning a VIP coupon to try a meal on me!!!

Here is how you can WIN!!!

1. Comment and let me know what Meal from the list above catches your eye and makes your mouth water that you would love to try FREE on me ? = 1 entry

2. Fave my site on momfaves – comment and let me know you have = 1 entry

3. Fave Healthy Choice or Conagra on momfaves – comment and let me know you have = 1 entry per fave

4. FAN my Facebook page : you can do that by clicking on “Follow this blog” over on my sidebar or by going to Facebook and following The Plus Size Mommy.- Comment and let me know you did = 1 entry.

5. Use stumbleupon, technorati, digg for this site/post. – comment letting me know which you have done = 1 entry per way.

6. Tweet the following on Twitter – ” Win a Healthy Meal from @HealthyChoice on @plussizemommy ’s Blog here :http://twurl.nl/vs2rp2   ” – Tweet up to 3 times per day = up to 3 entries per day. Please comment leaving tweet thread, and please leave separate comments for each entry.

This giveaway starts NOW and ends on St. Patty’s Day ! Luck o The Irish to ya my friends ! This will end at 8PM EST.

3 Winners will each receive a VIP coupon for a FREE Healthy Choice Meal Winners will be posted to this site and not emailed directly, so if you enter, please check back, I have been getting a ton of unclaimed prizes lately.

Winners will all be chosen via random.org. Winners must be subscribers to this blog to win. Winners must reside in USA.

Thank you all for entering and Good Luck!

The Plus Size Mommy

* I was sent some free meals to try thanks to Conagra, also the prizes for the giveaway are all provided to me free of charge from Conagra. I am however paying postage to the winners on my own expense. All thoughts and comments about Conagra Healthy Choice Meals are my own unbiased opinion.