Satisfying Soups

The weather is unpredictable, even squirrelly—every couple of days it seems to go through a mini-seasonal shift. But it still is almost officially winter and one food that seems to be a natural in the colder months is soup. California- based Amy’s offers a winter dense variety called Indian Dal—Curried Lentil. Lentil soup is always fitting during these colder months but this particular one, with organic mung dal (Dal= lentils, beans or peas), green lentils and desi chickpeas is especially satisfying. There are no trans fats, no added MSG, No Preservatives, No GMOs, No Bioengineered ingredients and is gluten free. The taste is just piquant enough to be interesting.

But to get back a little taste of warmer climes, try Amy’s Summer Corn & Vegetable. While a lighter meal than the lentil, it is still hearty enough to offer real nourishment and even comfort. Like the Curried Lentil, the Summer Corn & Vegetable has no ingredients you wouldn’t want. This soup contains organic corn, organic potatoes and other tempting vegetables.

To complete the meal add some nutritious breads and cheese or hummus and a beverage.

Wake-Up Cereal

Kashi is a brand that offers a dependable selection of foods across a wide spectrum. Their motto is “Seven Whole Grains on a Mission,” and those 7 grains are:
Barley, Oats, Hard Red Winter Wheat, Rye, Long Grain Brown Rice, Buckwheat, and Triticale, a cross between Wheat and Rye.

Cereal is a popular breakfast food and Kashi offers 16:
Go Lean, Go Lean Crunch, Good Friends, Go Lean Hot Cereal, Heart to Heart, Heart to Heart Oatmeal, Kashi Flakes, Kashi Granola, Honey Puffs, Honey Sunshine, Kashi Nuggets, Kashi Puffs, Kashi U, Vive Probiotic Digestive Wellness Cereal, Mighty Bites Cereal, Organic Promise Cereal.

Honey Sunshine, a new offering, is very tasty indeed. This is a nice crunchy wake-up call….as the box says, a “Honey-kissed Seven Grain Cereal Pillows.” One taster thought this cereal had the fun taste of a cross between Corn Pops and Honey Grahams and recommended it not only as a breakfast food but also as a snack, with or without milk.

Another respondent enthusiastically touted Honey Sunshine as her “ absolute favorite.”

While still another chooses Kashi cereals for their “good flavor, texture, fiber source, ‘good for me’ ingredients.”

One family on the West Coast reports: “We like Kashi because of their ingredients and reasonable prices. We usually buy their cereal and cracker products. They tend to be superior to their mainstream competitors, who continue to rely on trace amounts of trans-fats and other hard to read ingredients. Kashi products also tend to contain less sodium and provide higher protein competitor offerings."

That about sums it up.