What makes this soup even better??

Simple. White beans, chopped red pepper and creme fraiche. (I really wanted to add some crab too, but I’m going to hold out until I make my own soup!)

Now this soup was mighty delish all on its own but I thought I could doctor it up a bit and I will admit I was very excited for this lunch!

It went from this….

to this…

to this hot mess…

This ended up being so satisfying (thank you beans) and I loved the crunch of the pepper and the pillow of heaven the creme fraiche addition.

Had I eaten this at home instead of work, I probably would have added a little spice to add yet another dimension or perhaps some caramelized onions…

Soda with no calories and no artificial sweeteners?

Sign me up.

There is something about soda and I will admit that I fall for its effervescent, cool refreshment that it brings. My drug of choice? The diet Pepsi. I don’t keep it at home, that would be far too tempting. It mainly happens during road trips in the car (and the lack of sparking water at gas stations?). But I digress….I grabbed a root beer from Whole Foods the last time I was there and was super excited to try it out.

Unfortunately I was not that big of a fan. To me, it had that somewhat odd flavor that can be common with stevia. The taster doesn’t mind it and uses stevia in his coffee but for now, for me, I’ll pass. Try it out yourself, they sell them by the can at Whole Foods. I will probably give it another try down the road, or maybe just a different flavor .

Question: Do you like stevia? Thoughts? Do you use it?

I love the idea of it and am glad it is finally showing up more but I’m not a frequent user quite yet.