Day 6:

Breakfast:
Apple Strudel Scone 38/40 ++++

Looking at the packaging, I'm reminded of foods I got in England for breakfast. It looks like there are small chunks of apple and stripes of cinnamon between the layers of pastry. I'm in the mood for something baked hopefully this will fill the need.

Visual Appeal: 8/10-
Opening the package it is a brick of pastry with a line running diagonal. You can see bits of apple and cinnamon on the top. Breaking it in two along the line, the strudel is more cake-like than puffed pastry. In that respect the picture is a definite piece of fiction. No similarity.

Smell: 10/10-

The smell is wonderful. It reminds me of Quaker Apple and Cinnamon Oatmeal. The apple smell is strong and the cinnamon is in the background but still present. It really smells good.

Taste: 10/10-
The flavors blend nicely, again the apple is overwhelming to the cinnamon but it is called an "Apple" scone and not Apple/ Cinnamon scone. Again I'm reminded of the Quaker Oatmeal which I like, so it works for me. You really can't taste pastry- probably because it doesn't really exist. This is a cake not really a scone or a strudel. Nonetheless, I would eat this for a dessert if offered.

Texture: 10/10-

Again, it is missing the strudel lightness. This is more like an English scone- heavy and cake-like. The texture of the scone is moist so much that it sticks to my teeth when I chew. The consistency isn't bad once you get the idea of puff pastry out of your head. All in all quite good.

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Lunch:
Black Beans and Rice 36/40 +++1/2

I have to say I've been looking forward to this one even though it is a dehydrated meal . I have really enjoyed its cousins- Black Bean Tortilla Soup and Red Beans and Rice with Sausage. Looking at the package this looks like it will be more of a soup than the Black Bean Tortilla. It has bits of carrot, and white grain rice. It looks as though the beans, rice, and carrots are swimming in a brown broth.

Visual Appeal: 10/10-
The soup is more like the Black Bean Tortilla now that I've opened the package. It is thick and rich more like a stew. There is a great deal of rice and a fair amount of beans. The carrot slices are small but look good.

Smell: 9/10- Smells a great deal like the other two. I can definitely smell the beans. It lacks the zip of the Tortilla soup though.

Taste: 8/10-A little bland compared to the Tortilla soup. I almost wish I had eaten them in reverse order, because I was expecting the rich flavors of the former. The beans however are rich and full of flavor. You really can't taste the rice or the carrots which doesn't bother me, but it does need salt and pepper to taste.

Texture: 9/10-Texture is nice. Once again the beans are a little firm. I'm wondering if a bit more water and a little longer wait time might help. The rice is firm and not gooey. The carrots are really too small to comment on, but I managed to get one by itself and found it a little crunchy. Very nice.

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Dinner: Cheese and Spinach Ravioli 33/40 +++

By now if you have read all my posts you know I compare many of these meals to Chef Boyardee. The closer it is to the Chef's ravioli the more I'm unimpressed. So... time to actually have ravioli. Looking at the box they do look a higher quality ravioli. The pasta isn't bloated and overcooked, it has sauce with looks like mushrooms. I can't see a great deal of spice on the box which has me a bit nervous, but the title promises basil. My curiosity is peeked.

Visual Appeal: 10/10-
This meal looks pretty good. Where with the chef's ravioli you can tell just by looking at the bloated pasta - it's overcooked, this actually looks as if it might be aldente. The sauce does in fact have mushrooms and the spices in the sauce are surprisingly generous considering the picture. The ravioli are quite big a little larger than a Nutrisystem cookie. There are two of them which looks quite filling.

Smell: 8/10-
Smelled a bit like the chef I'm afraid when I pulled back the lid. (Well actually I had to cut through the plastic on this one because I couldn't get the plastic to peel back) You can smell a great deal of tomato not so much the pasta.

Taste: 7/10-

Let's start with the sauce. It is really quite good but it's low on Italian seasoning. The basil is very muted and almost non-existent. It does have a hearty amount of mushrooms ,and I found green peppers as well. It was hard to taste the pasta from the sauce, so I scraped the sauce away and tasted the ravioli. The balance of pasta to filling is really quite good. The cheese/spinach stuffing has a very nice flavor. I must say I'd eat the pasta without the sauce. It's really quite good.

Texture: 8/10-

Ok... now Nutrisystem has a problem... this pasta is not overcooked as I suspected it would be. It is firm to cut it with the fork and, while not to the level I like, rather aldente. So why can't Nutrisystem make all their pasta at least like this? All in all the texture of this pasta isn't great to eat, but it's far better than other pasta meals I've had on the system.

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Dessert: Peanut Butter Cookie 36/40 +++1/2

The peanut butter cookie almost feels like cheating at this point. Looking at the package the cookie looks to have large chunks of peanut on a sandy colored cookie.

Visual Appeal: 9/10-
The cookie is smooth not grainy like the picture. There are a few nuts scattered about the top but they aren't very large.

Smell: 10/10-

Lovely smell of peanut butter cookie. There is nothing else that compares to it really. It smells just as it should.

Taste: 7/10-
Disappointing. I was really expecting more of a peanut butter flavor to the cookie. It tastes largely like a chocolate chip cookie minus the chocolate chips and a faint peanut taste. The smell really outdoes the flavor in this cookie. It's still good, but just not what I signed on for when I opened the package.

Texture: 10/10-
Texture is not too tough and not doughy. It is really quite good. Reminds me of cookies you would buy behind the cake counter at the supermarket.

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Todays Water:
Exercise: