I spent nearly the whole night cleaning and organizing our kitchen and I’m still only halfway done. 
I wanted to clear our the chest freezer and go through everything in the pantry and cabinets that is getting old or that we’ll never eat. So, I made up a HUGE box of nonperishable items to drop off at our local food bank. I threw out a lot of stuff that was already opened, but for things that weren’t opened yet, I thought it would be better to give it to those in need than to just throw it away.
I cannot believe how much food we accumulated in our humble kitchen. I filled up 4 large garbage bags with things I was throwing out and it looks like it was hardly touched at all. 
I really need to stop overbuying. 
This whole cleaning spree isn’t as innocent as it sounds either… I’m making room for new stuff. We’re going to Whole Foods in White Plains on Thursday, but I wanted to make plenty of room first. Sneaky, I know! 
I didn’t get that far with cleaning out the chest freezer yet, but I did eat some of things I came across in there! I was purposely trying to use up everything in there first because I want to move it out into the garage and I’d like to know what’s in it first lol. 
I knew that I had several of Amy’s “Light in Sodium” frozen meals dwelling at the bottom of the freezer, but I haven’t gotten around to them, until now. I had like 20 pre-portioned turkey burgers in the freezer, so I decided to make one along with Amy’s “Light in Sodium Black Bean Enchilada”; 160 calories, 190mg sodium per enchilada:
4oz ground turkey breast (120 cal) on 1 Martin’s 100% whole wheat potato roll (80 cal) with ½ cup Bibb lettuce (3 cal) and 1 TBSP Hellmann’s olive oil mayo (50 cal). I gave the other enchilada to hubby, so this came out to just 413 calories. Ya know what bugs me? That this meal tastes fabulous with 50% less sodium, so I have no idea why they’d need to add more?!?! The enchilada was so tasty and yummy, you wouldn’t even know it was reduced sodium. If they made the “Light in Sodium” product line the standard amount on all their meals/products, I seriously doubt anyone would notice or miss the extra sodium. They should set the industry standard for frozen meals and go for it! I’m not into frozen meals that often, but a few times a month is pretty reasonable for things made with very wholesome ingredients. The portions are small, but if you add some “filler” items like soup, salad, sandwich, or fruit, then you have a convenient meal in a few minutes that you don’t have to feel guilty about eating because it comes in a box. Not that I’d ever feel guilty about eating anything lol.
Next on my freezer list: “Amy’s Light in Sodium Veggie Loaf”
This comes in a little tray without any separators, so I did the best I could to preserve its appearance lol! I wasn’t sure what to expect being I’ve never had a meatless meatloaf before. The veggie loaf actually tastes a lot like “Stove Top stuffing”; not the same flavor or texture as traditional meatloaf, but it was good! I liked it a lot. This meal was 290 calories and 340mg sodium. Again, you could not tell that it’s light in sodium. Well, I couldn’t anyway. It was very flavorful and filling. (I ate 2 slices of Martin’s 100% whole wheat potato bread with it – 140 cal). I love meatloaf sandwiches!! This was more like a stuffing sandwich lol, but I like ANYTHING between 2 pieces of bread. *giggles* So, for just 430 calories I had a quick little dinner. If I had added a side salad or maybe a bowl of soup, it would have been even more filling. Maybe next time! I’m going to load up on these meals when we go to Whole Foods lol. Definitely not as a daily thing, but maybe once a week or so. 
I haven’t gone on a walk in a few days, I’ve had an annoying tickle in my throat. Probably from the cold air. 
We have an appointment at noon with our attorney tomorrow, so I’m going to pack us a picnic to take with us in the car! I’m really excited about it. 
I love packing a lunch for us, it’s so much fun lol. We’re soo nerdy. 
hehehe
Wait until you see my new lunchbox! It’s adorable. I’ll post pics of our picnic. 
Time to go tackle more of the kitchen. 
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