At least there was enough sauce...

I thought I couldn't go wrong with lasagna when I bought Healthy Choice's Lasagna with Meat Sauce. I had tried the Chicken & Rice Cheddar Bake and the Italian Sausage Pasta Bake as part of a $1 coupon sample and share opportunity through Crowdtap, and neither of them quite hit the mark.

Before I even put the entree into my microwave, I was happy that I didn't have to adjust the power of the microwave during the process of making it. It's always a pain to microwave lasagna on high and then have to change the power setting to complete the cooking process. However, after this lasagna came out of the microwave, I wondered if this lasagna should have been cooked in this manner.

The mozzarella cheese and the sauce were one big soupy mess on top of the lasagna noodles. The sauce was similar in taste to the one for the Italian Sausage Pasta Bake, which meant it was a bit too mild for my taste, but in contrast to the Italian Sausage Pasta Bake, there was way too much sauce one had to wade through to get to the noodles and meat.

When I got to the noodles, they were way too chewy. Additionally, the beef also chewy as well. Chewy meat was something I'd never had encountered in a frozen entree before.

Now if Healthy Choice could go back to the drawing board and produce a lasagna that looks like the one pictured on the box, I would gave it another try. But for now, I'll stick to other brands of frozen entrees if I'm craving lasagna.

A mild version of Italian Sausage Pasta Bake

After I tried Healthy Choice's Chicken & Rice Cheddar Bake as part of a sample and share opportunity for Crowdtap and felt the dish needed more cheese, I decided to try Healthy Choice's Italian Sausage Pasta Bake to see if I liked it better.

In contrast to the Chicken & Rice Cheddar Bake, the Italian Sausage Pasta Bake didn't lack sauce, and I was able to get all of the components in the entree into every bite I took. While I felt the garlic marinara sauce combined with the mozzarella cheese gave the dish a milder flavor than I would have preferred, I did find the dish enjoyable. The pasta was cooked perfectly and easy to eat. The Italian sausage did add a bit of spice to the dish, which helped compensate for the mildness of the sauce and cheese.

If you are looking for a mild version of an Italian Sausage Pasta Bake, this version will not be a disappointment.

More cheese, please!

Through my participation in Crowdtap, I received a $1 coupon to use on Healthy Choice Baked Entrees. Being a fan of baked chicken and rice, the first entree I tried out was the Healthy Choice Chicken & Rice Cheddar Bake.

I would have liked the entree quite a bit if it had more cheese. When there was enough cheese to complement the chicken, wild rice, and broccoli in a spoonful, the taste was wonderful. However, without the cheese, it didn't taste quite right. While the chicken was moist and flavorful, and the broccoli was neither too hard or too mushy, the wild rice tasted dry, and that offset the taste of the other ingredients.

The possibility came to mind that a lack of cheese might be an issue of calorie control, I would have traded more cheese for less of the other ingredients to get the wonderful flavor that a bite with all the ingredients included had.

My Zicam experience, Conclusion

I took one more Zicam before I decided that I had taken enough. After I took my last dose, the Zicam seemed to be working on a congestion problem that was no longer existent, and it started making my chest feel worse instead of better.

But I felt well enough to take my other samples of Zicam I had gotten from Crowdtap to the Wabash Valley Health Center, Inc., also known as St. Ann Medical and Dental Services, in Terre Haute. I had read that they sought donations of non-prescription drugs. When I called to ask if they would be able to use the Zicam, the kind receptionist said the clinic would accept the donation and told me the hours the clinic was open.

When I walked into the waiting room, I was surprised by how many people were there to use the clinic's services. Alth the clinic is located in an older church, the pictures that were put on the wall made it an more inviting atmosphere than the sterile feel of most doctor's offices.

While I was waiting in line, there were everal people in front of me that were there for medication reasons. As I left the center, I knew I had made the right choice by giving most of my samples to the clinic.

Even though I had some side effects from taking the Zicam, I did feel better eventually and haven't had any relapses. Overall, I feel it was worth participating in the sample and share experience Crowdtap allowed me to have. While the price of Zicam RapidMelts is steeper that what I normally pay for cold medicine, I feel it is worth paying that price for the quick relief I received.

To help pay for a future bottle of Zicam RapidMelts, I found a link to a coupon on Twitter for $2 off any form of Zicam, which is available to anyone reading this by clicking on the link. You also can get a $2 coupon from the Zicam website as well.If you decide to try Zicam, I hope it works for you as well as it did for me.

#FIRSTSIGN

My Zicam experience, Part 4

I thought I read on the Zicam box I had gotten from Crowdtap that one was supposed to take the drug for only 48 hours. Since I had taken it for that period of time, I thought I was done, but I checked the packaging to make sure.

Turned out I had read the packaging wrong. The box actually said that you are supposed to take the Zicam for 48 hours after the cold symptoms had gone away. Once again I wondered how expensive it would be to use Zicam on a regular basis. If one is supposed to take Zicam for 48 hours after a cold is gone, that probably would entail buying at least two boxes of Zicam.

After I took my first Zicam for the day, I noticed that my mouth felt dry. I hadn't had that experience when I had taken it previously. It was hard to wait 15 minutes to be able to drink something. I then remembered that the package also said to take Zicam with plenty of fluids, On subsequent doses of Zicam that day, I made sure to drink lots of fluids before taking the Zicam. That resolved the dry mouth problem I had.

#FIRSTSIGN

My Zicam experience, Part 3

I dreaded waking up the next morning because how I felt the day before following taking the Zicam RapidMelts I had gotten from Crowdtap to use and to share with others. However, I felt great. I didn't have a headache, and the sinus pain I experienced was gone as well. There was a small side effect of the drug I noticed that wasn't harmful. When I went to the bathroom, I noticed that my stools were lighter in color than usual.

As the day went by, my symptoms didn't return. When I put a dose of the medicine under my tongue, I realized that there was one person I knew that might appreciate the sample. He is unable to swallow pills. Later that night, I made sure he got a bottle of the RapidMelts.

Here is what one of the RapidMelts looks like:

#FIRSTSIGN

My Zicam experience, Part 2

While I was hoping to wake up feeling better the next morning after taking the Zicam I had gotten from Crowdtap to try out for myself and to share with others, I actually felt worse. I woke up with a tremendous headache. Hoping that another Zicam would help, I popped another one in my mouth. But when I felt worse after taking it, I also took two Advil.

Since I didn't feel much better after waiting for both medications to work, I decided to read the Zicam label to see if I had sone something wrong or to find if my headache was a side effect of the drug. While I didn't find that information, I found out that I had made an error when I took the Advil after the Zicam. After taking Zicam, one is supposed to wait 15 minutes before drinking anything. I took the Advil with water less than 15 minutes after taking the Zicam. I went back to bed, and eventually I felt somewhat better.

When three hours had passed, I tooked another Zicam. Immediately, my headache came back. I took more Advil after wating 15 munutes to drink any fluids. My headache subsided once again, and I was able to get out of my house and run some errands. Unfortunately, the third dose of Zicam once again gave me a headache. But I didn't take any Advil after taking the Zicam, and the headache eased up enough that I was able to work out without any problems.

After experiencing a headache after taking Zicam, I was hesitant to take another dose, but I did. To my relief, there was no headache after taking it. But I did have some sinus pain. I again took some Advil, the sinus pain disappeared, and I happily camped out in front of my television and watched HGTV.

#FIRSTSIGN

My Zicam experience, Part 1

My Zicam samples from Crowdtap to use and share with others came at an opportune time. I received six bottles of the cherry flavored RapidMelts for myself and to share with others. I had been battling congestion for weeks, and the congestion had gotten so bad, it had gotten into my lungs. Since nothing I had done so far had helped with the congestion problems I had experienced, I hoped that Zicam would get rid of everything that was clogging my sinuses and lungs, so I quickly opened up one of the six boxes so I could try it.

When I read the directions for usage, I was surprised that the rapid dissolve tablets just needed to be placed under one's tongue. On the other hand, I was put off by the fact that the recommended dosage was one tablet every three hours. If that were followed literally, one would run out of the 25 tablets in the bottle in roughly three days.

When I put the tablet under my tongue, I was more than pleased with the cherry taste. It was close to the taste of Diet Cherry 7-Up, which I drink often. The pill dissolved fairly rapidly, and there was little powdery aftertaste. The overall experience was better for me than taking liquid cold or cough medicine.

Since it was close to bedtime, I went to bed and hoped the medicine would work overnight while I slept.

 #FIRSTSIGN