Healthy Choice General Tso’s Spicy Chicken

January 25, 2007 | Reviewer: Abi

Healthy Choice General Tso's Spicy Chicken

Price: $2.00
Serving: 1 meal, 10.8 oz.
Calories: 410
Fat: 14%, 9g
Sodium: 25%, 600mg
Protein: 17g
Carbs: 21%, 64g
Fiber: 20%, 5g
WW Points: 8 Points
Diet Exchange: 1 Very Lean meat, 4 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 Fat

Healthy Choice says: Tempura battered chicken breast chunks, covered with a spicy brown sauce and served with a rice medley that includes peas, carrots, and tangy red peppers.

Abi says: Tempura is Japanese for ‘The only fattening item in our entire cuisine arsenal’. This explains why tempura is so popular in the United States. I have long been fascinated with tempura, not that I ate any as a kid. Instead, for the entirety of my childhood, there was a little blue box of ‘Tempura’ on the shelf in our kitchen. The cover of the box showed a battered shrimp being dipped into cocktail sauce. While visiting my mom this summer I noticed that the box is still in the pantry. I’m sure that the tempura batter has lost some of its nutritive value over the years.

Fortunately for me, Healthy Choice has created a tempura-battered item that I can eat without any feelings of guilt or ponderings of product expiration dates. Granted, I’m not especially keen on the meal. While I probably won’t buy it again, I wasn’t mad at myself for purchasing this meal.

I didn’t grow up eating Chinese food, so the term ‘brown sauce’ has positively no meaning. Also, it contains no positive meaning. In fact, to me it implies that a tasteless sauce has been foisted upon protein or vegetables in order to better lubricate them during the eating process. I have studiously avoided any and all meals that are topped with ‘brown sauce’. Considering that I enjoyed Healthy Choice’s version of brown sauce, I would probably like it in restaurant meals too.

The chicken portion of this meal is larger than expected (this is also a 410 calorie, 8 Point meal), the sauce is full of mysterious flavors, and the rice exhibited a lovely fluffiness. If you’re on a diet and looking for some semi-healthful Chinese food, give this meal a try.

Tanya at IateApie.net noted that “this meal was Asian “inspired” and it’s more like a less spicy version of regular General Tso chicken.” [Read her review]

Filed Under 8 WW Points, Chicken, Healthy Choice Reviews, Three Stars | 5 Comments

Lean Cuisine Sweet and Sour Chicken

January 24, 2007 | Reviewer: Abi

Lean Cuisine Sweet and Sour Chicken

Price: $3.19
Serving: 1 tray, 10 oz.
Calories: 300
Fat: 4%, 3g
Sodium: 28%, 680mg
Protein: 17g
WW Points: 6 Winning Points
Diet Exchanges: 1 1/2 Lean Meat, 2 Starch, 1/2 Fruit, 1/2 other carbohydrate

Lean Cuisine says: Tender, roasted chicken tenderloins tossed in a traditional sweet and sour sauce made from soy sauce, pineapple juice and tomato. Hand-picked red and green peppers, julienne carrots and golden pineapple tidbits finish the dish which is over a bed
of long grain white rice

Abi says: This is my third attempt at eating a ‘Sweet and Sour’ frozen meal. At first I thought that perhaps the Kashi Sweet and Sour Chicken and Healthy Choice Sweet and Sour Chicken just weren’t that good. Then I realized that the problem wasn’t the meals, the problem was me. Now I know that I do not have tastebuds accepting of sweet and sour sauce. Who can eat that pink goop?

Apparently, Jess. And Sarah. They are both total sweet and sour lovers. Check out their reviews of some sweet and sour items. Anyone have suggestions that can cure me of my ’sweet and sour’ loathing? I’m all for hearing them.

Yes, I gave this meal a four. I loooove pineapple tidbits. Also, the chunks of chicken were hearty and very meat-like. None of that fake meat business in Lean Cuisine’s Sweet and Sour Chicken.

Filed Under 6 WW Points, Four Stars, Lean Cuisine Reviews | 1 Comment

Seeds of Change Creamy Spinach Lasagna

January 23, 2007 | Reviewer: Jess

Changing your diet doesn’t always mean cutting back on fat, calories, or carbs. For some people it means making the switch to being vegetarian or vegan. If you’re making the switch, please check out our Vegetarian Meal Reviews and Vegan Meal Reviews.

Seeds of Change Creamy Spinach Lasagna

Price: $3.50
Serving: 1 tray, 10 oz.
Calories: 340
Fat: 16%, 10g
Sodium: 31%, 750mg
Protein: 20g
Carbs: 13%, 40g
Fiber: 15%, 4g
WW Points: 7 Points

Seeds of Change says: For this heavenly cheesy Italian dish, we begin by rolling out each lasagna noodle from freshly made dough. Next, we layer ricotta and Parmesan cheese with spinach and a medley of carrots, onions, garlic and thyme. Then we top it all off with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Lactose lovers, rejoice.

Jess says: So I live in a group house, like a mental patient or a frat boy, except I don’t think any of us are on the heavy meds (just the normal everyday stuff, like Zoloft and Ritalin) and there are no kegs in our bathrooms (sadly). One of my roommates is leaving, so we have to fill his spot. On Wednesday, Craig’s List vomited up a bunch of eager “easy going” and “clean” prospectives to come and knock on my door.

This one girl who came by was awesome. I didn’t want to live with her. I wanted to be her. She was a grad student in a program on sustainable living or something just back from a long stint in Central America. Obviously we can’t live with her though. We all said that right away she’d be all Green and follow the 3Rs by the book, and then I’d have to feel guilty every time I took a long shower or used a plastic fork or ate animals. Shudder. Who needs all that heavy, global warming talk after a long day at the office? You know?

But man, Seeds of Change meals are like an instant environmental halo. As you can see from my picture, the design on the box is modest. There is a crap load of organic spinach in this thing. Also, they do not skimp on the cheese. It’s the kind of cheesiness that leaves cheesy trails en route to mouth and then even stains the (mental) fork with cheesy residue. This thing is really pretty good, filling, and it’s all organic so you feel so fresh and so clean, free from the pesticides that otherwise alter the genetics of your potential offspring. It’s a little high on the sodium and calorie side, but that is a small price to pay once you read the back of the box. It states: “May contain traces of: Abundance, Random Kindness, A Slightly Expanded World-view”. Hell yeah. You got a deal!

Filed Under 7 WW Points, Five Stars, Four Stars, Seeds of Change Reviews, Vegetarian | 5 Comments

Smart Ones Chicken Enchiladas Monterey

January 22, 2007 | Reviewer: Abi

Smart Ones Chicken Enchiladas Monterey

Price: $2.00 (on sale)
Serving: 1 package, 9.5 oz.
Calories: 310
Fat: 15%, 10g
Sodium: 31%, 730mg
Protein: 12g
Carbs: 14%, 41g
Fiber: 21%, 5g
WW Points: 6 Points

Smart Ones says: Two flour tortillas filled with tender chicken, smothered in a spicy tomato and pepper sauce paired with a side of southwest style rice and corn.

Abi says: I am disappointed with Smart Ones for three reasons. The first reason is that they used flour tortillas in the enchiladas. That is just dumb. Who uses flour tortillas for an obviously corn-tortilla-based item? Smart Ones, I guess.

I was going to go on to the next reason for not liking these enchiladas, but I’m not done with the first one. Did you know that Jessica Alba has an enchilada recipe? Really, it is on Epicurious.com under the title Jessica Alba’s Chicken Enchiladas. Even Jessica Alba knows to use corn tortillas.

Smart Ones’ egregious tortilla choice made me wonder just how many other chefs/cook-like folks make the mistake in using flour tortillas for enchiladas. It turns out that only 10% of enchilada recipes use flour tortillas. Bravo to you, recipe creators.

Ok, on to reason number two: chicken mush. According to the photo on the package, these tubes of tortilla contain loads of saucy shredded chicken. Yum. Too bad that’s a complete falsehood: the “chicken” in these “enchiladas” is unrecognizable as a form of meat. As I’ve said before, I like to know when my meat comes from an animal. In the case of these enchiladas, the animal could be described as a salmon-colored sea slug rather than tender poultry. I’d like some fealty when it comes to photos that appear on frozen meal boxes.

Topping off the gruesomeness of the chicken was the meager side dish. Nothing says ‘unbalanced’ like and rice alone. I’ve made it clear in past reviews that a portion of rice and beans would make for a significantly better dish that’s more filling and offers better nutritional value.

Until that meal is invented, you’ll need to avoid Smart Ones’ Chicken Enchiladas Monterey and head on over to Lean Cuisine Fiesta Grilled Chicken (5 Points) or Smart Ones Southwest Style Adobo Chicken (5 Points). Yeah, those are both rice-heavy choices, but they are only 5 points and this meal is 6 points.

Is there anything good about this meal? Yes, the sauce is piquant and plentiful. There’s enough in this dish to cover up the pink chicken mush and make a nice rice-mix.

Wondering why we’re still featuring a bunch of Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones, and Healthy Choice frozen meals? This is diet-food month on HeatEatReview.com, so we’re only giving you reviews of nutritionally-skewed items that offer the barest hope of losing weight before the chocolate onslaught of Valentine’s Day sets in. Don’t worry, according to Cybele’s CandyBlog Countdown (halfway down the page on the right sidebar), the season of candies will be over in 76 days (today is Monday, January 22nd), then you can spend the summer shopping in farmer’s markets and really doing something good for yourself.

Filed Under 6 WW Points, Chicken, Smart Ones Reviews, Two Stars | 4 Comments