Saturday, January 31, 2009

Healthy Choice Grilled Turkey Breast



Calories: 270
WW Points: 5

Their description: Our Grilled Turkey Breast is made with lean turkey breast medallions, and is covered in a sweet cranberry-apple sauce. Roasted sweet potatoes and tender beans with shoestring carrots add variety and texture, and our peach dessert satisfies your sweet tooth and completes this filling meal.

At first glance: Three compartments: one with green beans and slivers of carrot, one with a beige mush (the peaches, I'm guessing) with oats on top, and one with six pieces of turkey, 12 pieces of sweet potato, sitting in an odd pinkish sauce with cranberries.

Upon closer inspection: That's a lot of sauce. I'm kind of scared.

Taste: Peaches are watery and sickeningly sweet, and taste a lot more like apples to me. Green beans are pretty well cooked; too bad I'm not a fan. They're sitting in quite a bit of water, too, which is sad. Sweet potoatoes would be delish if they weren't in that horrid sauce, as would the turkey. What were they thinking? Put it on the side, or something? Yeesh. Turkey's pretty dry. What a shame. This could have been good.

Overall rating (up to 10): 5 (it shows promise, but until they do something about that sauce, you can count me out)

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Lean Cuisine Grilled Chicken Primavera


Calories: 220
WW Points: 4

Their description: Asparagus and cherry tomatoes with grilled white meat chicken and whole grain vermicelli in a creamy garlic sauce.

At first glance: Seven cubes of chicken with six pieces of halved cherry tomato, amid tons of broccoli and asparagus. I couldn't even see the pasta!

Upon closer inspection: The pasta's there, as well as a delightful-smelling white sauce.

Taste: Can it really be that this is only 220 calories? My, is it delicious. The veggies actually taste the way they're supposed to. The tomatoes are sweet and pop with flavor in my mouth. The sauce is creamy and garlicky and wonderful. The chicken tastes like chicken. Lean Cuisine, I applaud you.

Overall rating (up to 10): 10!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Chicken Enchilada Suiza with Mexican-Style Rice

Because it'd be too hard to keep this from being a comparison to the same dish from Smart Ones, I'm not even going to try.


Calories: 270
WW Points: 5

Their description: Chicken Enchilada Suiza with a sour cream sauce and mexican-style rice.

At first glance: At least there's cheese over the enchilada. But there's only one enchilada! There's corn in the rice.

Upon closer inspection: A total of 7 -- count em, SEVEN -- kernels of corn. Way to go with the veggies. I can't find the chicken in this one, either (I dissected it to find a strange pink mush, though). There's more rice than in the Smart Ones version.

Taste: There's less heat than the Smart Ones enchiladas, which makes it a bit easier to eat. The bit of shredded cheese over top helps things a bit, too. Otherwise, it's basically the same exact one-note junk.

Overall rating (up to 10): 5 (it had to get one more than Smart Ones, though I have no idea how or why I rated the Smart Ones meal so highly).

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Lean Cuisine Chicken Chow Mein


Calories: 260
WW Points: 5

Their description: White meat chicken with stir fry vegetables and white rice.

At first glance: White rice along bland-looking chicken, carrots and sauce. Where are the green specks I saw on the box?

Upon closer inspection: Green specks are in there as sickly brown colored things. One piece of water chestnut. Two pitiful pieces of celery. Ample amount of carrots and chicken.

Taste: Bland yet salty. That's about it. Chicken is rubbery. Not much here. Rice is mushy and overdone.

Overall rating (up to 10): 3

Monday, January 26, 2009

Smart Ones Honey Dijon Chicken


Calories: 220
WW Points: 4

Their description: Tender white meat chicken in a tangy honey-dijon sauce with a rice & vegetable medley.

At first glance: Five or six cubes of chicken in an orangey-brown sauce alongside white rice with red peppers, French-style green beans, and carrots.

Upon closer inspection: I can smell the mustard. BIG TIME. Veggies look numerous. Yay.

Taste: Boo to the chicken and sauce. Terrible. I cannot stress this enough. "Tangy" is too pleasant a word to describe this. "Awful" is still too pleasant. The mustard flavor is overpowering, and the chicken doesn't have a texture resembling chicken at all.

Overall rating (up to 10): 1

Friday, January 23, 2009

Lean Cuisine Butternut Squash Ravioli


Calories: 350
WW Points: 7

Their description: Butternut squash ravioli in a creamy sauce with walnuts,snap peas and carrots.

At first glance: 5 ravioli in a cream sauce with yellow and orange carrots, 4 snap peas, and... I can't find any walnuts.

Upon closer inspection: I think I found a walnut.

Taste: Mild. Good amount of veggies, cooked well and tasty. Squash filling so creamy and good I felt like I was eating something very unhealthy. Not sure what's in the sauce. Not sure I care.

Overall rating (up to 10): 9

Lean Cuisine Chicken with Almonds


Calories: 260
WW Points: 5

Their description: Chicken tenderloins with rice,green beans,carrots and broccoli.

At first glance: Chicken in brown sauce with sliced almonds next to white rice with chopped broccoli and a yellow vegetable -- are they carrots?

Upon closer inspection: White rice also has a few slivers of French-style green beans. Chicken and sauce smells nutty.

Taste: Surprisingly tasty with a subtle almond flavor. I'm pleasantly suprised by their restraint with the almond extract. Almonds themselves are a little tough.

Overall rating (up to 10): 7 (the almonds are in the title, yet they're tough? Boo.)

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Lean Cuisine Sesame Stir Fry with Chicken


Calories: 300
WW Points: 6

Their description: Edamame and broccoli with tender white meat chicken and whole wheat vermicelli in a sesame sauce

At first glance: Vegetables and diced chicken over noodles. Cannot see the noodles through the veggies (broccoli, red peppers, and what appear to be bamboo shoots). Approximately 7 small pieces of chicken (like a cubic 3/4 inch).

Upon closer inspection: Edamame mixed in? Checks their description. Wow, it really is edamame. Chicken cubes look boiled, colorless. Doesn't have much of a smell.

Taste: Kind of bland with a slight zing at the end. A little spicy. Chicken is flavorless. Noodles are soggy. Vegetables are well-cooked.

Overall rating (up to 10): 7 (mostly because it was not inedible and I really love noodles. Plus, if it really was whole wheat pasta, I never would have guessed.)

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Lean Cuisine Thai-Style Chicken


Calories: 220
WW Points: 4

Their description: Grilled chicken tenderloins in a Thai-Style red pepper sauce with basil, soy and ginger, served with rice.

At first glance: Off-white rice with specks of red and green next to pieces of chicken in a bright red sauce.

Upon closer inspection: Rice was ice cold until I took off plastic (instructions had me "cut slit in film cover to vent") completely and nuked it for another 5 minutes. Could have been my microwave, but still... Sauce looks tomato-ey. I had no idea it was supposed to be red pepper until I read the box. No vegetables to speak of (do the specks in the rice count?) One piece of grizzle in my chicken. Boo.

Taste: Not impressed. The sauce was good, for a frozen meal, but the rice was blah, and I missed the veggies.

Overall rating (up to 10): 6

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Smart Ones Lemon Herb Chicken Piccata


Calories: 230
WW Points: 4

Their description: Grilled white meat chicken in a tangy lemon sauce with rice & spring vegetables.

At first glance: Oddly colored chicken and sauce alongside wild rice (white rice with a few pieces of the aforementioned), a few pieces of julienned carrots and French-style string beans.

Upon closer inspection: Meal is supposed to be stirred halfway through cooking process. Sauce looks a little watery. Odd smell but one gets used to it quickly enough. Specks of unknown herb in sauce. Rice looks fluffy.

Taste: Lemon flavor is a little sweet, but there is considerably more dimension in flavor compared to the two previous Smart Ones I've had. Chicken is cooked very well for a frozen meal. Rice cooked perfectly as well, soaks up some of watery sauce. The lemon flavor still is a little odd for me. Reminds me of eating lemon curd or something. Tone down the sweetness, and I think this would make a truly awesome meal (for a frozen one, at least).

Overall rating (up to 10): 8

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Smart Ones Chicken Mirabella


Calories: 200
WW Points: 4

Their description: A medley of pasta and white meat chicken in a marsala wine sauce with garden vegetables.

At first glance: Spaghetti pasta with julienned carrots and chopped broccoli (maybe 10-15 pieces of vegetable in all), next to chicken with a red sauce. Dish is meant to be mixed together halfway through cooking.

Upon closer inspection: Pasta looks dry. Mixed in with the chicken are
two small pieces of diced red pepper, two tiny pieces of mushroom, four pieces of zucchini, and some peas.

Taste: Pasta is very dry, vegetables aren't bad in terms of taste and texture. Chicken is rubbery. Red sauce is salty and pretty terrible-tasting. I'm glad I didn't mix it throughout or there wouldn't be much to eat.

Overall rating (up to 10): 3 (the chicken and sauce - the main parts of the meal - ruin it for me, big time

Monday, January 12, 2009

Smart Ones Chicken Enchiladas Suiza




Calories: 290
WW Points: 6

Their description: Served in a zesty sour cream and green chile sauce with Spanish rice.

At first glance: Small mound of rice next to two small roll-ups (think Jose Ole taquitos) smothered in cheese-looking sauce.

Upon closer inspection: Rice has some peppers mixed in. A few small pieces of pepper over enchiladas, as well. Chicken inside enchiladas is not discernible.

Taste: Mostly just heat. Sauce isn't cheesy. Not much in the way of different textures. Rice is bland. Filling of enchiladas is questionable in terms of content (I'm still not finding the chicken).

Overall rating (up to 10): 4