When bad soup happens on Chicken Soup for the Soul Day

I took off twice this afternoon to run Emma around and so didn't get to think about soup until very late. Vickie e-mailed me that it was Chicken Soup for the Soul Day and I had this microwaveable Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle that has been scolding me from my desk drawer, so I decided to give that a go.

And so... I hope my soul liked it because otherwise it was a miss. I'd have a hard time calling it soup. It smelled like chicken soup and there were noodles and chicken in there, but otherwise... ummm... no.



The concept of diet soup seems ridiculous to me. There are certainly soups that are fat and calorie laden, but many many many that are not. (I really had to fight the udge to say WHO are not-- some of these soups are now my FRIENDS).

Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle Microwaveable is 14 oz. The label calls that two servings. It has 90 calories and 7 grams of protein per serving. I ate about 2/3rds of it.

When I plug it into my chart I get a surprising picture. It's in the middle of the pack on calories per ounce-- losing to tomato and hot & sour. It's at the bottom on fiber-- only the potato soup had less. It's among the leaders in least fat, but loses again to tomato. It's among the front runners in the protein race, with 1 gram per once.

But (and this is a big but)(and will apparently not keep you from getting a big butt) it's far behind even my least favorite (Bruegger's) in flavor and satisfaction. It has a very strong aroma, but there's something artificial to it. And there's a hint of something over-processed in the flavor.

So I'm giving it 0 love and satisfaction spoons and 2 spoons for nutrition, ONLY because of the protein and because there is nothing bad in there. This soup is watery and tasteless. I kept having to fight the urge to salt it. It's the lowest sodium so far, but not low enough so that it should need salting-- 19% of DV in a serving; 38% in the can.

This is one of the soups we bought before I knew I was going to report cost, but I'm sure it was $2. or less. And-- if you want one-- you can most likely always get a coupon in your Sunday paper or online.

Never on Sunday

So I decided that the next logical step would have to be chicken noodle. I hate canned chicken noodle. I used to love those envelopes of Mrs. Grass Chicken Noodle-- which were just packets of flavored salt I suspect-- but you can't get that anymore. At least not around here.

And I never order chicken noodle soup when eating out. It's just not a restaurant soup in my mind. It's a traditional comfort soup that I generally don't like.

There is one version I've been curious about-- Chick-Fil-A's Hearty Chicken Breast Soup. And so that's what I ate today.

I've been curious about it because Chick-Fil-A is sort of an enigma. First of all-- they are closed on Sunday. Of course, I only ever want Chick-Fil-A on Sunday.

And then-- it's fast food, but you can get chicken salad on whole wheat there. And it's good chicken salad-- it's not all mayonnaise-- it has a little tang to it and crunchy bits of celery.

I've been told it's an acquired taste, but I have acquired it.

Their combo meals have the option of swapping their waffle fries for a cup of soup, a side salad or carrot raisin salad. But when I feel like I'm being good-- having the chicken salad sandwich-- I must have the waffle fries-- to balance out the goodness. You know? Fast food is not for behaving.

(I've just peeked at their website and the chicken salad sandwich is just about as bad as their breaded chicken sandwich. The chargrilled chicken sandwiches are better. So I've just been lying to myself.)

Anyway-- today I just got the soup. And it was like no chicken noodle soup I've ever had before. It was more like a stew-- or what's inside a chicken pot pie-- but then with these thick noodles that were perfectly cooked. Tender but not falling apart. Yum. I could have licked the bowl.

I got the small. The website and a couple of other sites I looked at had it listed at 140 calories, but I think that's off. I was full and completely satisfied until well past 5:00-- on 140 calories??? And look at those noodles. No way. Maybe it thickens up or they don't dilute it as much as they're supposed to.

And it gets even worse-- the same sites that say 140 calories also say 900 mg of sodium. So if it's more condensed than it's supposed to be, that would be worse too.

The medium waffle fries have 200+ more calories (359) but 1/6th the salt (153). Of course the side salad would be better still.

This is getting sad. I meant this blog to be PRO-SOUP!! I need to find some good news tomorrow.

I'm going to give it 2 & 2-- so 4 spoons out of 8. I don't have an emotional attachment to chicken noodle and now I just feel decadent for having enjoyed it so much. It gets 2 nutritional points for bringing some protein to the party and because I suspect that normally it is a low calorie food.

I wanted to start logging this too-- Today I paid $2.25 for this bowl of soup.

9:47 p.m. Edit: Okay, I've decided-- I'm not going to sabotage this by becoming obsessed with sodium. The fact is that processed food contains a lot of salt-- it's not like I didn't already know that and it's not as if I've been eating low sodium up to this point.

I will eat one serving of soup each day and because it is filling and often nutrient dense, it will help me make better choices later in the day. And I'm going to look hard for sources of homemade soup. Mom?