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Atkins Review: Italian Sausage Primavera

6/28/2013

This is it folks! This is the one!

So far I have tried a couple different meals in the Atkins frozen food line and haven't had a lot of complaints. Seems like they really focus a lot on trying to get things that taste good and have nice flavor. My complaint in the past has always been portion size. This one, the Italian Sausage Primavera seems to do it all pretty well.

First off, in terms of taste this is really pretty good. It has a nice fresh Italian taste and the veggies and the sausage all seem to work well together. They don't over sauce it and it all has a nice balance to it. Usually I am not a big fan of cauliflower so the fact that i wasn't bothered by it here seems to speak pretty well.

The second thing I loved was how much meat was in this. Seriously nice bites of sausage in almost every bite. And the meat and veggies worked well together to fill me up. No shrinking veggies, a nice size meal. This one actually feels like it does what they all set out to do.

Just look at the pics below, there is some good chunks of sausage in there!

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Here's something interesting...

6/23/2013

7 Comments

Big changes coming to this blog. ;)

7 Comments

Atkins Review: Beef Merlot

6/21/2013

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Tried another frozen dinner by Atkins today. Beef Merlot was the dinner of the day. Decent flavor. The gravy they include with it has a nice taste and almost reminds me of something my mom used to make. Its pretty good. The issue I have with this one is the same I have had with a few of the other meals. The portion size is a little small. I think that the broccoli must shrink or something cause by the time it's cooked it seems pretty small. I think if I had a little time I would probably cook up a little extra broccoli for it so it filled me up. There was certainly enough sauce to use for some added veggies.

My wife said I should suggest that if you aren't on Atkins and maybe you have these around because someone in your house is, that you cook up some rice to eat with it. It tastes good and fills in the void a little.

So far I haven't had any issues in taste with these meals. Lots of flavor and super easy to make. Great if you are in a hurry and are trying to keep your carb numbers down. I mean 6G carbs. Pretty awesome!

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CJ's Kitchen in Fargo, ND

6/18/2013

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I have said this before, but I will say it again. You may never come to Fargo so this post may not be relevant to you. Still, you should come. It's a cute little town with a lot to offer. Including some good local eats.

After some searching my wife and I finally discovered a nice little breakfast brunch place to eat at right down the street from my parents home. Its called CJ's Kitchen. They are only open for lunch and for breakfast so your window of time to eat here is small, but its worth checking out. They make fresh coffee, omelets, egg bake, fluffy pancakes and more. They have a nice little cozy feel inside. Kinda feels like a little brunch place you might discover in a town like Nashville.

Anyway, I got an omelet which was very tasty, and found myself surprised that I wasn't charged per item that I included in it. Many placed allow you to chose up to 3 items and then additional item cost extra. Not here, whatever you want in it is fine, no extra cost.

My wife got the Egg bake, very tasty. Probably has some bread in it somewhere so not as low carb, but still good flavor.

This place could be our new local brunch spot. We will have to wait and see.

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Atkins Review: Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

6/12/2013

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It's another frozen meal by Atkins and while I will say that the Atkins Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo that came out of the microwave wasn't quite as pretty as what was printed on the box, it still tasted pretty good. The broccoli had good flavor and didn't taste freezer burt or dry and the chicken was real chicken which was nice. You actually got nice big chunks of meat in your meal so that always helps to fill the whole in your gut. The sauce adds good flavor and wasn't to much. Some alfredo sauce can be very buttery and almost taste greasy but this had a nice creamy taste to it.

The biggest problem I have with this item, an maybe some frozen meals in general is often times the portions size. Sometimes they just feel a bit too small. Like the broccoli shrinks when its cooked. I find myself looking around at what else might be available to munch on to fill me up the rest of the way. That might be something when you have these that you should prepare for. Pack some almonds or a little fruit to help fill in the gaps in your stomach. It can make all the difference when your stomach feels full. Snacking can get you in a lot of trouble. Trust me.

Otherwise the meal is good. Nothing crazy fantastic, but it helped me get through my work lunch when I had little time to prepare anything.

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Atkins Review: Tex-Mex Scramble

6/12/2013

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If you haven't discovered it by now, you should know that Atkins released a new line of frozen meals this past year. Prior to that there wasn't a lot of meals in their line of food other than bars and treats. Actually having frozen dinners and breakfasts to choose from was really exciting for people on the go looking for something quick, easy, and low carb that fit in their diet. There are a lot of choices to choose from too and they seem to hit the mark pretty well.

One of the first meal I tried was the Atkins Tex-Mex Scramble. Scrambled eggs, chorizo, american cheese, with tomatoes and peppers. I have to say, for a quick breakfast item, I was pretty impressed. It's a nice little bowl of eggs and the sausage packs a good amount of flavor. I was worried that the meal was going to taste weird with it being frozen eggs, but it wasn't bad at all, and for a breakfast meal it pretty filling. The portion is right and I felt very satisfied after. The peppers give it good flavor and add some zest to it so you can eat eggs again on your diet if you haven't all ready overdose on them in your induction phase.

I guess its hard to mess up eggs, and luckily I don't think they do here. I liked it. Its probably going to be a nice item to have in our house for those early mornings when you just don't have the time or energy to make anything diet friendly.

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Rainy Day Rib-fest

6/9/2013

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Well, Fargo had its annual RibFest as it does every summer but this year it was a little rainy so it was hard to enjoy the event as much as in the past. Still we went out to get some yummy BBQ ribs and some coleslaw. Super good food but we ate it all in our car so we could stay dry. Other than that, I have been working a new job a ton so that's why posts have slowed down a little. Hopefully I will get some new stuff posted soon.

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Spiced Low Carb Chai

6/6/2013

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We are without a doubt coffee drinkers in our house, but on occasion we like to splurge for something a little different for our hot drinks. There is a great company called Big Train Chai that makes some of our favorite chai drinks. For those of you that don't know what chai is, well, its kinda like Christmas spices and kittens kisses in a mug. Warm, cozy, and sweet. Anyway, my wife swears by their Vanilla Chai mix. We recently discovered that they now make a low carb version with a sugar substitute. It's really yummy and fun on a warm fall or winter evening and a glass of iced chai on a hot day can be a nice refreshing treat to have too. Check them out for a new option to satisfy that sweet craving you get on occasion.

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Gordon Biersch Jambalaya Can Be Low Carb

6/3/2013

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The other day my wife and I needed a bit to eat before we headed to the movies. There was a Gordon Biersch restaurant near the theater and we love microbrewery restaurants so we went for it. While I will say, this particular time We had horrible service, I did my best to not let it effect my view of the chain itself as I have had other good experiences at here in the past. Anyway, I perused the menu for a while and although there where several salad, meat, and seafood options I could have had, I opted for something a little different. I went with their Jambalaya. They describe it as follows on their website.

A savory, spicy, hearty dish representing the most hallowed traditions of Cajun cuisine. Seasoned shrimp, ham, spicy andouille sausage and roast chicken simmered in sauce built on the Cajun mirepoix of celery, bell peppers and onion. For a little Far Eastern twist, we serve over fragrant jasmine rice popular in similarly spicy Thai dishes.

So here is the deal with this. If you can be good and do it without the rice, you have a wonderful little spicy dish here to enjoy. Most of the carbs in this dish will come from the rice they include. Yes, there is some in the sauce they use to cook the dish, but its not that bad. If its a huge temptation for you order it with no rice, or substitute some fresh veggies. Lots of flavor and a nice little change from the normal large salad you might usually get at a restaurant like this. And, its not too pricey compared to other menu items here.

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