WW Edition of Frozen Meals

I *try* to eat healthy. Especially with doing Weight Watchers, the healthier choices "cost" less or nothing in points, so I try to keep that in mind when eating.

However, with my schedule, cooking three meals a day (or even one meal a day.... unless you count putting something in a toaster or making a sandwich "cooking") isn't feasible. I eat out a lot. I just do. Thanks to Katie, I found a website that allows me to make better decisions when eating out.

Then, there are the days that I have back-to-back meetings and no time for a real lunch (like today). After a few times of having to make urgent Mickey D's run a couple years ago, I started stocking up. I keep little snacks in my office....... nuts, 100-calorie popcorn, etc. I also keep some frozen meals in the freezer downstairs. Just for those emergencies.

I've always been a Healthy Choice girl, when it comes to frozen meals. Well, really, I prefer Marie Callender or California Pizza Kitchen or Stouffers. But, for "healthy" frozen meals, I go for the HC.

Then, I started WW. And, Smart Ones came into my life. For those of you who don't know, Smart Ones is endorsed by WW and has all the points directly on the box.

A couple months ago, Target and Wal-Mart were having competing sales on Smart Ones. So, I stocked up. It took me this long........ I do try to avoid eating them all the time........ but, I've almost gotten through my stash and feel equipped to do some reviews.

** Smart Ones is not paying me to do these reviews. However, if they'd like to.... or just give me some free SOs.... I wouldn't turn them down.

Stuffed Turkey Breast

It wasn't bad. The veggies were well seasoned and cooked well in the microwave. The turkey was moist and the gravy was pretty good. The stuffing was a little too mushy for me, but I still would eat it again.

Chicken Enchiladas Suiza

This was actually really tasty!! The enchiladas were on the miniscule side, but that's to be expected. The flavor was good and the sauce was yummy to mix the rice. The tortillas were a little on the soggy side, but not too bad. I'd get it again.

Pasta Primavera

Another winner! I like the bowtie pasta and the sauce is yummy.

Creamy Rigatoni with Broccoli & Chicken

One of my absolute FAVORITES. I love this stuff!

Three Cheese Ziti Marinara 

I liked this one. A little heavy on the tomato sauce, for me, but overall I'd eat it again. There's a lot more cheese in the picture than in the actual dish, just be aware.

Thai Style Chicken & Rice Noodles

Not really a fan. It was fine for a change, but I probably won't get it again.

Cranberry Turkey Medallions

Again, not a huge fan. I was really excited about this one, too.

The turkey medallions were so small that they got a little dry in the microwave and the cranberry relish was a little too spicy for me.

Pasta with Ricotta and Spinach

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!

I honestly feel like I'm cheating and eating "real" Italian food. I mean, it is really good!

Mini Rigatoni with Vodka Cream Sauce

This was pretty good, too. I liked it better than the ziti.... the sauce was the right amount of tomato, cream, and vodka, lol.

Fiesta Quesadilla

Pretty good. I had one of them for dinner with a Bud Light Lime and was pleasantly satisfied. It's pretty heavy on the spice and black beans, but did work brilliantly with the BLL.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sundae

Super yummy! CCCD is one of my favorite ice cream flavors, so it hits the spot!

Peanut Butter Cup Sundae

Also, really tasty!! The PB ice cream was a really good consistency, imo.

Turtle Sundae

I'm a huge fan of caramel, but I wasn't crazy about this. It's ok, but not my favorite. I think the caramel tastes a bit fake, if that makes any sense.

What are your thoughts? What "Smart One" meal am I missing out on?

Frozen Food: Trial and Error

It's been a while since I've posted about this topic, so here we go, again.

Just to recap............ I have many days (like, today) where I look at the clock, see it's 3pm, and realize that I haven't eaten lunch. As I tend to skip breakfast (bad, I know), I have to eat something or I'll totally binge at dinner.

Enter, frozen meals. Can we all agree that there is an element of "I really hope this tastes good and not like crap." to frozen food?

My preferred brand is Healthy Choice. If you're interested, you can check out my previous posts here and here.

Anyway..... here's the new items I've tried, lately.

Beef Lo Mein

It's in their "Complete Meal" catagory. As I've previously discussed, that can be a fallacy if you're not two.

However, this is a "Complete Meal" that actually seems like one. Everything was SUPER tasty and there was enough food that I felt I'd actually eaten a meal.

Portabella Marsala Pasta

I would not feed this to my worst enemy's dog.

Seriously, I found it to be THAT repulsive. I've eaten a couple of these things that I wasn't crazy about, but I would finish them. I haven't necessarily tried some of them again, but I did finish them.

Not this crap. I got about three bites in and I literally had to wipe my tongue with a napkin.

If you've tried this and like it........... go ahead. There's plenty of mine at the store, lol.

Beef Merlot

I really enjoyed this!!! It's basically the same exact ingredients that are in the Beef Pot Roast meal I tried, earlier. However, it's way more substantial. So, I was getting the tastiness AND the substance.

Overall, I've found that the "Cafe Steamers" have more food in them.... just a note.

Grilled Basil Chicken

This was really good. It's one of their newer items and I will most certainly be adding this to the "always get anytime I'm making a frozen meal run" group.

The pasta is almost an angel-hair pasta, which is a nice change of pace. Also, the sauce is a yummy flavor that I can't quite describe, but would definitely recommend.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Healthy Choice or other brands?

Where's the beef?

It's time for another Healthy Choice review. Are you excited, lol? This is what I had for lunch today.....

Beef Pot Roast

Ok, let me start off by saying that everything TASTED great. The meat and potatoes were in a yummy sauce. The carrots had a great flavor and texture (not too soft and not too hard). The apple-cranberry dessert was strong enough that I felt I was eating dessert.

Here's my complaint:

Seriously, where's the beef? The FOUR pieces of meat (and by pieces, I mean bites) and FIVE "pieces" of potato were hardly filling. I get that the point is to learn to eat less quantity, but I'm pretty sure that a baby could eat the amount of food that was there and still be hungry.

I would eat it again. I would just make sure I'd eaten breakfast on the day that I chose to eat that for lunch, lol.

Trying to make a 'Healthy Choice'

Since getting my full-time job, I've run into a bit of a never-ending problem.

On one hand, I go out to lunch with my co-workers/friends several times a week. Usually, we aren't concerned with the making the least fattening decision. There are a lot of yummy restaurants around my office and I frequent many of them.

On the other hand, if I don't have a lunch date, then I tend to forget to eat lunch. I can't tell you how many times I've looked at the clock at 3pm and realized I'm starving. After a few times of that, I've tried to keep light snacks in my office, so that I make it until dinner. However, if you add in my workout routine in the past few months, I *need* to eat something throughout the day or I won't be able to make it through my workout.

Enter frozen meals. "The Guy" used to work at night, when very few people were here (if any) and ate them almost every night. I would make extreme fun of him (and would usually offer to bring him real food if I was going to be going up there). He got the last laugh when I started doing the same thing, only during the day.

Anyway, I've found that my brand of choice is 'Healthy Choice.' They just seem to taste more real and less like cardboard mush.

As I was eating today's, I found myself wondering what other "flavors" there are that I would like. If any of you have any suggestions, please let me know!!! I thought I'd review the ones I've eaten and do so for future eats, as well.

I'm also linking you to the nutritional information, in the title.

Pumpkin Squash Ravioli

I was a little nervous about this one. I've LOVED the pumpkin ravioli I've had at restaurants.... it's not something you find everyday. However, I wasn't sure how it would translate to a frozen meal. Overall, it was really good!!! Clearly, not as good as Wolfgang Puck's or The Rainbow Room, lol, but still really good. Everyone in my building about gagged when I told them what I was eating, so I'm taking it's not for everyone, lol.

Sweet Asian Potstickers

I absolutely LOVE these!!! I had been craving Chinese food for several days when I came across these in the store. The potstickers are substantial enough to feel like you're actually eating something.... and, there's three of them, so you almost feel indulgent!! There's enough of a spice in there that the sauce has a tangy sweet flavor to it.

Portabella Spinach Parmesan

Eh.... this one wasn't my favorite. It's not awful, but it wouldn't be my first choice. I like the penne pasta, as something to change it up. The sauce wasn't exactly what I was expecting and the cheese got stuck to the bottom of the dish... kind of hard to enjoy it that way, lol.

Sweet Sesame Chicken

This is another ok for me. Not horrible, by any means.... just not what I think of when I want "Chinese" food.

That's all, for now. Do you have any "healthy" frozen meals you like?

*** FYI - I am in no way being paid by 'Healthy Choice' to review their food. I just like it when compared to other "healthy frozen meal" brands. To be perfectly honest, I'd rather eat Marie Callendar, but her stuff is way too fattening.... as are California Pizza Kitchen and Hot Pockets. That being said.... if anyone out there knows someone who works for "Healthy Choice", I'd gladly accept compensation for eating and reviewing their food! ***