South Beach Four Cheese Pizza

June 14, 2006 | Reviewer: Amy

Price: $3.00
Serving: 1 pizza, 6.3 oz.
Calories: 340
Fat: 17%, 11g
Sodium: 27%, 650mg
Protein: 42%, 31g
Carbs: 12%, 36g
Fiber: 40%, 10g

South Beach says: Harvest Wheat Crust Pizza. Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese with Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago Cheeses. New Crispier Crust from the Microwave! Changing the way America eats.

The statement above was cobbled together from multiple statements on the box.

Amy says: So I am doing this review mid-meal, something I have never done before. The reason for this was that I thought up what I think is a brilliant analogy for this pizza, but now that I think about it more, it seems less ingenious. Here it goes: this pizza resembles a fried egg to me. In the center is some cheese that looks the way melted cheese is supposed to look like when it is freshly melted and all of the cheese around it looks like cheese that was melted approximately 57 hours ago. The box says that I will get a crispier crust, it says nothing of crispier cheese. I just tried rapping my knuckles against the edge of the pizza and not only did it not stick to my fingers, but it made an audible knocking sound and has made my knuckles turn pink, I hope it doesn’t bruise.

The center of the pizza isn’t terrible. The crust tastes of cardboard, but the sauce has a little kick to it and the 2 inch circle (I am talking diameter here) of properly melted cheese is pleasant. The crust is soggy in the middle and the “crisp” perimeter is more like the crispiness you get when bread is stale, not the oven fired kind.

The nutrition value of this item isn’t awful. There is a lot of protein, fiber and calcium. There is still a lot of sodium, but I am learning that is something I will have to accept if I am to continue eating frozen entrees.

I am now noticing that there is nowhere on the box where it rambles on about the merits of the taste of this product, perhaps because there aren’t many. Arthur Agatston (author of The South Beach Diet) has a quote on here about how he is proud to be working with Kraft on South Beach products. I can’t say that I share your enthusiasm, Art. I advise that you stick with being a doctor, and leave the creation of frozen food items to the experts.

Filed Under Frozen Pizza Reviews, One Star, South Beach Meal Reviews, Vegetarian | 14 Comments

Organics Cheese Quesadilla

June 12, 2006 | Reviewer: Amy

Organics Cheese Quesadilla

Price: $2.50 (sale)
Serving: 1 quesadilla, 3 oz.
Calories: 260
Fat: 19%, 13g
Sodium: 8%, 190mg
Protein: 11g
Carbs: 9%, 26g

Organics says: This is a mild quesadilla that’s filled with organic Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese and just a little bit of cayenne to give it some personality. These are easy to like and great as a snack or as an accompaniment to lunch or dinner.

Amy says: One thing www.HeatEatReview.com has made me do is check the nutrition information on my purchases. I just realized that my last 2 entries were rants about sodium and fat. I used to be blissfully ignorant of the badness I was ingesting, but now I check the labels like I have an eating disorder, well, not really, but now I read them and am often dismayed by what I find there.

Point being, I had yet another run-in with the % Daily Value of fat in these quesadillas. There are 13 grams of fat in one quesadilla. Considering the size of the quesadilla, I was unsure where they managed to put all that fatty fat fatness. It must be the cheese. There is a rather generous amount of cheese in the flour tortilla. But that is all this is, a flour tortilla and cheese! I needed two quesadillas to actually be full, therefore doubling all of those percentages. Lesson learned here: organic does not necessarily equal healthy.

I am forcing myself to stop now and actually discuss the quality of the product. I opted to stick the quesadillas in the toaster oven for a little crunch as I am a big fan of crunchy carboydrates. I took the quesadillas out after about 10 minutes on 350 and the tortilla had a nice golden brown coloring. The cheese was nice and gooey and there was a lot of it. The box says that they had kids in mind when they developed this product and I can see why they make this claim. The quesadilla itself is pretty bland and they do not add any additional spices so there’s just no zing. I could have made this same dish if I had a block of cheese, a knife and a tortilla. So this dish saves you about approximately one minute in preparation time since you don’t have to cut the cheese (AHHHAHAH). For those of you who don’t have the time or energy to buy tortillas and cheese and then to cut the cheese (one line later and it is still funny to me) then this would make a good snack, but I am going to steer clear of this frozen cuisine in the future.

Filed Under O Organics Reviews, Two Stars, Vegetarian | 2 Comments

Ethnic Gourmet Chicken Tandoori with Spinach

June 9, 2006 | Reviewer: Abi

Ethnic Gourmet Chicken Tandoori with Spinach

Price: $3.49 (sale)
Serving: 1 package, 10 oz.
Calories: 170
Fat: 7%, 4.5g
Sodium: 35%, 840mg
Protein: 14g
Carbs: 6%, 19g

Ethnic Gourmet says: Seasoned white meat chicken tossed with slow-cooked spinach. Served with seasoned long-grain brown rice.

Abi says: The first ingredient in this meal is spinach, thus this item should be renamed as follows: Ethnic Gourmet Creamed Spinach with a few bits of chicken and some brown rice that is colored yellow but doesn’t taste like anything but brown rice.

I can’t figure out why Ethnic Gourmet hasn’t crashed and burned. Their products are pretty expensive ($4.00) and can’t compare to the flavorful meals produced by Deep Foods. Come on market forces, do some work!

I wish that I was reviewing a Deep Foods item right now. I’d love to eat a Curry Classics Pad Thai Chicken or a Green Guru Paneer Tikka Masala, but instead I am battling gastro-intestinal agony from the ‘Ethnic Gourmet’ line. Actually, I’m not battling it, I’m fine now. But during the IT presentation of our new Helpdesk system, I was making the most ridiculous burbling noises. This stuff is basically pre-processed food and it is going to pass through your body in ten minutes. Ok, that may be too much information for some people, but it is very important to know.

How did the meal taste? Well, the chicken was ok and the meal was mildly spiced. I would call it excellently mediocre. I got a few skimpy nibs of chicken and an overly-watery, mildly flavored spinach sauce. I hadn’t tried an Ethnic Gourmet offering in months, and now I know why I stayed away. They’re overcharging for an inferior product, a product that is available from other sources (Deep Foods, for example) at comparable or better prices. Hey Safeway and Giant, stop stocking Ethnic Gourmet and make some room in your freezers for Curry Classics and Green Guru!

Filed Under Chicken, Ethnic Gourmet Reviews, Two Stars, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Lean Cuisine Thai-Style Chicken

June 8, 2006 | Reviewer: Carolyn

Lean Cuisine Thai-Style Chicken

Price: $2.50 (on sale)
Serving: 1 tray, 9 oz.
Calories: 220
Fat: 6%, 4g
Sodium: 25%, 610mg
Protein: 17g
WW Points: 4 Winning Points
Diet Exchanges: 1 1/2 Lean Meat, 1 1/2 Starch, 1/2 Vegetable, 1/2 Skim Milk

Lean Cuisine says: Grilled chicken tenderloins served in a rich and creamy roasted red pepper sauce made with fire-roasted red peppers and basil, accented with lime. Long grain white rice, hand-picked red peppers, spinach and lime are tossed together to finish the dish.

Carolyn says: This meal was relatively filling, but the content was not all there. The redeeming quality that saved this from being a 1 star meal was the sauce. That was some pretty good thai-style sauce. But what would have made it better is doubling the veggies, adding more substance, and not using tasteless and mushy rice. The sauce was enjoyable and had a medium level of spice. It was a nice contrast to the Italian meals I normally pick up in the frozen food aisle.

Filed Under 4 WW Points, Chicken, Lean Cuisine Reviews, Two Stars | 8 Comments