Fave Five and a Progresso Soup Giveaway

About a month ago I received an opportunity to try 15 different Progresso soups courtesy of Progresso and MyBlogSpark. Much like any other product I have investigated, I needed to ensure that this baby lived up to my standards by trying all of the different soups out. A couple of versions have been travel staples of mine for years (who doesn't love a giant pop-top can of soup for under 150 calories after a long day of work?), but there were new flavors to explore as well!

Before I give you my five favorites, I wanted to let you know that Progresso is currently giving away a makeover trip for two to New York. Just click here and you can enter to win until March 15. There are also printable coupons that you should definitely check out (I know I have).

While every soup I tried was pretty tasty for canned soups, I will confess to doctoring a couple by adding extra veggies. Bulking up canned soups is an easy way to up the fullness factor and sneak in some extra goodness. Whether it's adding a can of no-salt-added green beans, pouring in some frozen mixed veggies, or tossing in some fresh spinach... I love to sneak in the vegetables.

My five favorites, in no particular order: Traditional Chicken Barley, Light Zesty Southwestern-Style Vegetable, Light Chicken Noodle, Light Italian-Style Vegetable, and Light Chicken and Dumplings. I am a sucker for the light soups... and who can blame me? If you are counting Weight Watcher points, you are looking at a zero point snack for a cup of warm goodness. A whole can is less than 200 calories!

All of the soups were full of flavor, unlike some other light soups I have tried. Depending on the soup, many are MSG free. Some don't have soy and some are vegetarian. I'll give the calories/fat/fiber/protein for my five favorites, but I would encourage readers to check out labels before purchasing soups to consume.

The two vegetable soups both made great sides to grilled cheese sandwiches. The Italian-Style has pasta while the Southwestern-Style has beans. Both had lots of vegetables and flavorful broths. The Chicken Noodle and Chicken Barley were filling with big chunks of chicken and chunky vegetables. I enjoyed the mini dumplings in the Chicken and Dumpling soup, it took me back to my grandmother's Hungarian dumplings. I only with they were bigger and there were more of them. However, I guess that would defeat the purpose of it being a light soup?

MyBlogSpark and Progresso were kind enough to offer one Uncovering Food reader an opportunity to try out a couple of soups for free! One reader will receive a gift box containing two Progresso soups, a super sweet Progresso mug (that holds the whole can of soup... love it!), and a jump rope that measures the number of jumps you do (can't wait for the knee to heal to try this bad boy out). In other words, see that picture above this post? That's the promo picture I was sent of the giveaway!

So how can you be the lucky winner?

1. Post a comment saying one SOUPer thing about yourself. I think it is important that we take pride in ourselves so I want to know why you think you are amazing.

2. Follow Uncovering Food and let me know you are on the list *wink*

3. Share the giveaway with your friends! Link back or cc me in an email if you don't have a blog. You can also tweet about the giveaway for extra chances (no more than once a day!) and make sure you include @UncoveringFood in the tweet!

The contest will end on March 7th at 11:59pm PST. I should be all done with the massive debate tournament I am hosting and life should begin to normalize again. Luckily, I used the Progresso coupon to stock up on some soups so I will not starve this week :o)

Nutritional Stats for my Fave Five (all stats are for the full can... because let's not kids ourselves, one serving is not enough! if you want the stats for a one cup serving, just divide these in half):

Traditional Chicken Barley: 160 calories/2g fat/4g fiber/14g protein

Light Zesty Southwestern-Style Vegetable: 120 calories/1g fat/8g fiber/6g protein

Light Chicken Noodle: 140 calories/3g fat/4g fiber/10g protein

Light Chicken & Dumpling: 160 calories/3g fat/4g fiber/12g protein

Light Italian-Style Vegetable: 120 calories/0g fat/8g fiber/4g protein