I ate it for you! Progresso's Light Beef Pot Roast

Review
In the past, I enjoyed Progresso's Beef Pot Roast Soup. I had a coupon, so I grabbed  a can of the light version figuring that it couldn't be that different. Boy, was I wrong!
This soup was really bland with a hint of hard, canned peas. Even adding some of the salt that it so desperately needed couldn't help this slop.
I slowly managed to finish the can out of sheer spite, I simply didn't have any other food to eat. Plus, I was still hungry when I was done. :(

My Recommendation
Go for the full flavor Beef Pot Roast Soup and skip the Light version. The 40 extra calories of flavor per serving are well worth it!
I give it a 1/5 - Not worth the effort.










Nutritional Information

I ate it for you! Doritos Locos Tacos

Synopsis
Some days I feel generous and decide to go out and "take one for the team." (not like that you gutter minds!) Luckily for you, Saturday was one of those days. My FH loves Taco Bell, and I don't. However, on this magical day, when he asked if I wanted the bell for lunch, I said OK. I'll admit it, I was intrigued. What could the experience possibly be like? Would I survive it? I took my life in my hands and ordered the

I went with the supreme, figuring that sour cream would do nothing but enhance the situation. At $1.99ish, I thought that it was a bit pricey for a hard shell taco, but seeing as the prices had gone up across the board for the bell,  it wasn't a terrible value.
I filled up my water glass (I don't like soda) and found us a table. The fact that the room was packed with families distracted me for a few minutes, but I eventually noticed that our food didn't seem forthcoming. I did get distracted by a large man with aggressive tattoos. When he stood up, his pants slid down and I saw that there was some kind of green, snake like tattoo that slithered its way down his crack. I was attempting to discreetly crack up at this when the food finally arrived via the FH delivery system.

Review
I unwrapped the taco, and was immediately impressed by their "upcycling" skills of turning the Doritos box into a taco holder. Way to save the planet! I slid the dusty shell out it's home and was almost blinded by the toxic orange glow of the shell. Sadly, the glow is not as awe inspiring in the picture below as it was in real life.

With little reservation, I took my first, moderately sized bite of the taco. The taste of Doritos was overwhelming. I slowly processed the mouthful, noting the hint of questionable Taco Bell meat and a bit of, was that cheese? After swallowing, I sat there for a moment to simply let the experience of the first bite wash over me. While taking a rather large pull of water, I contemplated on my desire to take another bite of the Locos Taco. Was the first bit good? Tasty? or just really weird?

During my rumination, I decided to snack on the chicken soft taco that I had also ordered (from the pretending to be healthy menu). It didn't suck and it took the edge off of my hunger so that I was properly able to approach the Locos Taco again. I was ready for my second bite. This time my pallet was prepared for the shock of nacho dust, and I was able to taste more of the full flavor spectrum that the taco had to offer. I still can't say that I like it, but the aftertaste from the Doritos shell kept me coming back until the taco was finally conquered.

My Recommendation
Unless, for some unknown reason, I end up in an altered state of consciousness, I will probably not order the again.. I'm pretty sure that the only reason that I finished the taco was due to what I like to call the MSG munchies. The same thing happens with Chinese food, you know how you're completely full, but the after taste make you have just one more bite!
Surprisingly, the taco is not as bad for you as I thought it would be, but that still won't send me back....

I give it a 2/5 - If it happens to be around, it's OK

item
Doritos® Locos Tacos	78	170	80	3.5	9	0	25	340	13	2	1	8	-
Doritos® Locos Tacos Supreme	113	200	100	4.5	11	0	35	370	15	3	2	9	√

Sorry for the crappy formatting of this table.... it hates me...

So what do you think? Are you going to give it a try?

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Synopsis

Juliette hasn't seen or been touched by another person in years, so the day that a boy is shoved into her cell she has no idea what to do. Not to mention that she also has a little problem, anyone that touches her skin dies...


Review

This is a book that should be read and not listened to on audiobook. Believe me. The audiobook had a bunch of scratching noises that I'm sure would have made a bunch of sense if were on print on a page.

I enjoyed the book as a whole, but I found the love story to be a bit juvenile. Though, my opinion could still be influenced by the whole audiobook experience. I enjoyed the premise of the story, and the world that it was set in. I wanted to know a bit more about the world surrounding Juliette, but I understand that a limited world view made sense in the context of the story. The plot would occasionally stall out with excessive descriptions, but still flowed well enough.


My Recommendation

Read it, don't listen to it. 3/5 - Rent it/Borrow it

I Lost My Best Friend Today

Today really sucks. We had thought that Frosty was getting better, but instead of hearing that we got to take him home today, the vet called to tell me that I needed to come down to the clinic and say goodbye.
Frosty's kidneys had completely stopped working, he had terrible edema, and I barely recognized him. I don't know if he knew that we were there, but I like to think that he did. We spent some time loving him, and then we pet him as he went to sleep. It was a relief to hear his horrible, labored breathing stop and know that he didn't hurt anymore, but I WANT MY KITTY BACK!
For 9 years, he's taken care of me when I was sick or upset. He always purred when he saw me and would let me pick him up and hug him whenever I wanted to. He raised my kitten Siren, and puppy Maki. He loved everyone. He was an amazing hunter and liked to go for random walks with us.
Frosty came into our lives when I worked at my first vet clinic. He had a really bad urinary tract infection and his owners had wanted to put him down. I fell in love with the 3 year old beauty, and over the course of the next few weeks I tried to find him a home with my friends and family. No one was looking for a cat at the time, and after all the time that we had spent together at the clinic, I knew that I needed to bring him home. He was so happy that he purred for almost the entire first year that he lived with us. He also gained 5 pounds. It turned out that he was not used to have food always available to him and so he binge ate constantly.
He was hands down the Best Cat Ever.
I feel guilty, I know that kidney disease can be brought on by added stress, and I brought Shep into our house. His constant harassment of the cats has been a point of contention between myself and Kev, and I do wonder if the threat of being chased shortened his life. The vet said that his blood pressure was fine and that this was all caused by his kidneys being stuffed full of kidney stones, but my heart doesn't believe it. I feel like we made the right decision to take him in last week, but how can we know if giving him fluids somehow sped up his sickness.  I know that we tried everything we could for him medically, but I would rather have spent the last four days with him at home, than in the clinic.

Here are some old blog  post pictures with Frosty:

Bewitching by Alex Flinn

Bewitching by Alex Flinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis
Being a witch is lonely, but doesn't make you evil, no matter how it appears to strangers. Kendra has been around for a long time, and even though she has dedicated her life to helping people, sometimes the results of her help seem to change lives for the worst. When she meets Emma, she has to decide if she wants to take a chance and help her, or not.

Review
I love Alex Flinn novels, they are like a milkshake, a sweet treat that is easy to eat. I enjoyed Bewitching, but it wasn't my favorite. It was fun to try and guess what was going to happen to the typical cinderella story, and I really liked the twist of prince charming at the end. Unfortunately, I thought that the narrative was a bit jumpy, randomly inserting Kendra's various attempts to help people into the middle of Emma's story. While, I did enjoy the side stories, I don't know if they would have been presented better as a collection of short stories.
My other issue with this book was that I kept picturing the Olsen sister from the movie version of Beastly, making me dislike Kendra for no actual reason. I do realize that this is purely a personal problem. :P

My Recommendation
Bewitching is a fun, fast read with convienent breaks in the story that allow you to set the book down and take a breather. I'm giving it a 4/5 - Wait for a sale/coupon.

My Kitty is Sick

Poor Frosty's kidney are not really working, and he is on retreat at the vet clinic for the next few days to see if hydrating the crap out of him helps. :(
We've had Frosty for the last 9 years, his owners had asked the vet that I worked for to put him down following a bad urinary track infection. He was so pretty and so sweet that when I couldn't find him a new home, I adopted him. (The vet wouldn't put him down, we just kept him until we could find him a new home.)
He's been a wonderful cat since we brought him home. He's raised a kitten and a puppy, survived being covered in margaritas, and single handedly taken down the rodent population at our last house.

I am really hoping that he'll start feeling better and we'll have him for a long time yet!