Happy Mamas Day to all the moms out there - step-moms, mothers-in-laws, foster moms - everyone who "mothers." It's a beautiful day here a little north of NYC and I plan to take my mom on a garden tour and then for brunch somewhere - still need to look up exactly where we'll be going. There was an attack on this site during the week so I decided to remove the commenting feature BUT please comment at our Facebook page, and there are other options below. Plus you can always find me on Twitter (iateapie).

(Photo Credit: tejvan photos/ Flick 2.0)

Mon - Mexican Bowtie Pasta Bake + + "B" Red Salad (lettuce + strawberries + bell peppers + dried cranberries)

Tue - Chopped Thai Chicken Salad

Wed - Lemon Chicken (4 Ingredients Cooking) + Quinoa with Walnuts, Radishes & Spring Onions

Thu - Baked Popcorn Chicken with Maple-Dijon Dipping Sauce + Spiced carrot & chickpea salad

Fri - Smothered Burritos + Black Bean, Sweet Corn and Mango Salad

Sat - Healthier Smothered Sweet Potato Fries + How To Make Ground Beef Go Farther

Sun - Pecan Tilapia and Baked Brussels
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See you on Monday with more food product reviews.

Finally allergies seem to have had it's way with me and is now releasing me from the death embrace. I LOVE spring and warm weather, but the coughing, sneezing etc I can do without!

Apple, Berries and Feta Salad - Green leaf lettuce (my favorite kind) + apple slices + fresh strawberries + dried cranberries + Athenos Low-fat Feta Cheese. Delicious - I missed cheese in my salads! The salad dressing is still Wish-Bone Italian, which is just about finished now ... time to try something new.

Hiding in the background is an Odwalla Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bar, which I saved for a snack later on during the day. I'm reviewing nutrition/ snack bars in the next few days, so I grabbed a bunch from the store to try.

Lunch Time is a new feature here at Iateapie.net, where I'll share how I incorporate some of the products I review into a fulfilling lunch without too many calories.

And please forgive me for the absence of food product reviews this week - allergies are kicking my ASS big time, and it's nearly impossible for me to look at a computer screen long enough to get my thoughts down in a logical, coherent manner.

Highlights from This Week - My love of tea was pretty obvious with reviews of 2 of my favorites - Good Earth Chai Tea and Good Earth Cocoa Tango Black Tea Review. And from the new "Lunch Time" series - Turkey & Cheese Sandwich + Red Rings Salad.

Mon - Ginger, Garlic & Chili Shrimp + Uncle Ben's Whole Grain Fast & Natural Instant Brown Rice Review + Red Rings Salad (lettuce + red bell peppers + cucumbers + dried cranberries + almond slices).

Tue - Caprese Shells with Mini Meatballs + Roasted Sugar Snap Peas with Sesame Dipping Sauce

Wed - Simple Quinoa Fried Rice + Shrimp Summer Rolls

Thu - Tequila Lime Chicken and Black Bean Burritos + "B" Red Salad (lettuce + strawberries + Red Rings Salad (made again)

Fri - Baja Fish Tacos

Sat - Green Chili Vermicelli

Sun - Healthier Smothered Sweet Potato Fries + How To Make Ground Beef Go Farther
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See you on Monday with more food product reviews.

Lunch Time is a new feature here at Iateapie.net, where I'll share how I incorporate some of the products I review into a fulfilling lunch without too many calories.

The turkey is Boar's Head brand, from the deli, along with the cheese which is regular American - my husband picked this up and he is not one for "fancy" cheeses. I added lettuce and cucumbers as my veggies of choice, and for the condiment - boring ketchup, but that's how I roll.

The "Red Rings Salad" has leafy green lettuce, rings of a red bell pepper, cucumber slices, dried cranberries, almonds sliced (bought in bulk) and a generous dash of McCormick Salad Toppins. The salad dressing I used is Wish-Bone Italian Dressing.

Looking back - Over the week, there were reviews of Cereal, Chips and Frozen Meals. And a new feature - Lunch Time - was introduced. The first one - Lunch Time - Weight Watchers Smart Ones + Everything Green Salad + Smartfood Selects Chips.

This week's meal plan ...
Breakfast: The usual - oatmeal & cereal ... Kashi Berry Fruitful is new and I'm excited to try it.

Lunches: Lots of huge salads + some frozen meals I'm testing out.

Dinner: Ahhh ... going to be lots of cooking.

Mon - Sweet Peas & Shells Alfredo + "B" Red Salad (lettuce + strawberries + bell peppers + dried cranberries)

Tue - Easy Shrimp Pad Thai + Birds Eye Steamfresh Whole Green Beans

Wed - Left-over Pad Thai + Grilled Shrimp Avocado Fennel and Orange Salad

Thu - Quinoa with Walnuts, Radishes & Spring Onions + How to Cook Quinoa Properly

Fri - Chicken & Broccoli Stir-Fry with Oyster Sauce + left-over Quinoa from yesterday.

Sat - Stewed Chicken Tacos + Big Green Salad (lettuce + avocado + cucumber, as seen here)

Sun - Kale & Bean Chili
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See you on Monday with more food product reviews.

Lunch Time is a new feature here at Iateapie.net, where I'll share how I incorporate some of the products I review into a fulfilling lunch without too many calories.

A frozen entree is usually not enough to fill me up, so I always pair it with a salad - in this case, an Everything Green Salad. As the name implies, all the ingredients are green (and there's only 3) - cucumber (1 small, deseeded) + Haas Avocado (1 small) + Lettuce (a large handful). I also used Wish-Bone Italian Dressing. I'm not really a "make your own" type girl.

I was going to have fruit and chips - but that salad + pasta was filling! I had to decide if I was in the mood for salty or sweet - I went with salty, and saved the Bosc Pear for snacking on later.
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Are you a salty or sweet snack fan? Or does it just depend on your mood?

When I started reviewing food products again, I had the brilliant idea to focus on the same type of food for 2 weeks at time! Uh-oh, that was way too much of a good thing - even I'm a bit burned out on all the Yogurt Reviews! So it's back to mixing it up every day - it's like a daily surprise.

Lunches: Huge salads are on deck, especially now that the weather is warming up some.

Dinner: Lots of veggies and seafood this week.

Mon - Shrimp-Stuffed Shells + Avocado, Carrot & Dried Cranberry Salad with Almonds

Tue - Weeknight Paella ... yes, more shrimp!

Wed - Broiled Spicy Brown Sugar Salmon. + left-over Paella ... I told ya, I'm on a seafood kick!

Thu - Spring Stir Fried Chicken with Sugar Snap Peas and Carrots + Baked Sweet Potato Fries
made
Fri - Left-overs + hot dogs (on the grill) made with Ball Park Fat Free Beef Franks - I'm going out, so the husband's in charge of dinner today.

Sat - SeaPak Shrimp Co. Salmon Burgers + Green Giant Simply Steam Garden Vegetable Medley ... we had the SeaPak salmon burgers 2 weeks ago, and the kids can't get enough.

Sun - Italian Antipasto Salad ... interesting looking recipe so I'm going to try it.
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Reviews next week will be Chips, Juice and Drinks + a few Frozen Meals. Also, I'm starting a new feature *surprise*.

What a week! It's been crazy trying to make sure everything on this site was working properly, posting all the yummy (and some less so) Yogurt Reviews, and planning some exciting things for the future of Iateapie.net - right now I'm still in the idea "I wonder if this can work" stage.

Lunches - Lots of left-overs since I'm cooking a huge ham for dinner.

Dinner
Mon - Glazed Ham + Five treasure fried rice + Green Giant Simply Steam Garden Vegetable Medley ... parental units coming by for Easter dinner.

Tue - Pasta Shells with Peas and Ham + Power Protein Salad.

Wed - Tuscan Tuna Salad using StarKist Solid White Albacore Tuna in Water on a whole wheat sub + Cauliflower & Lentil Salad with Crispy Lemon Zest & Carrots - we need a break from all the ham!

Thu - Stir-Fry Ham & Baby Broccoli - will probably add some other veggies to this as well.

Fri - Copycat Bonefish Grill Pan Asian-Glazed Shrimp + Uncle Ben's Whole Grain Fast & Natural Instant Brown Rice - look ma, no ham!

Sat - Ham & (Deli) Turkey Wraps made with FlatOut Kidz Original Flatbread + lettuce, cucumbers and bell peppers.

Sun - Honey-Soy Chicken Thighs + Baked Vegetable Egg Rolls
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See you on Monday with more Yogurt Reviews.

It's been a LONG time since I posted on Iateapie.net! MANY life changes necessitated a break, but I always intended to be back, and better than ever. So, new layout and ALL COMMENTS have been deleted for a fresh start - even some of the older reviews are also gone, but the format will be almost exactly the same as before - food reviews throughout the week, along with a meal plan posted on the weekends. Next week it'll Yogurt Reviews all week!

Breakfast - Cereal or oatmeal as usual. Nothing fancy with the oatmeal, just Quaker Old Fashioned. My cereal of choice this week is Kashi GoLean Crisp Toasted Berry Crumble, which I really like.

Lunches - Frozen dinners + yogurt - which is what's being reviewed over the next few weeks.

Dinner - now this is where things should get interesting, as I plan on trying many new recipes.
Mon - Shepherd's Pie Meatballs & Mashed Potatoes + a Blue Cheese & Bell Pepper Salad. Can you see the book I'm reading in the background of the picture below? It's The Diviners by Libba Bray

Tue - Salmon with Hoisin Glaze + Lemony Snap Peas ... one of my favorite veggies.

Wed - Weeknight Paella ... you must check out this blog. Each week is devoted to recipes from a different country.

Thu - Take out at home: Roast Chinese Chicken + Roasted Broccoli, Arugula and Lentil Salad ... another recipe that uses Hoisin sauce - love it!

Fri - SeaPak Shrimp Co. Salmon Burgers + Metabolism Boosting Everything Salad ... these salmon burgers are so good.

Sat - Spicy Sausage Pasta + more Metabolism Boosting Everything Salad.

Sun - Baked Garlic Buffalo Wings ... the husband cannot live without wings on a regular basis!
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See you on Monday with new Yogurt Reviews.