Stouffer’s Corner Bistro Chicken Italian Panini

August 22, 2007 | Reviewer: Nicole

Stouffer's Chicken Italian Panini
Price: $2.50 (on sale)
Serving: 1 sandwich, 6 oz.
Calories: 350
Fat: 26%, 17g
Cholesterol: 12%, 35mg
Sodium: 25%, 610mg
Protein: 20g
Carbohydrates: 10%, 31g
Fiber: 13%, 3g

Stouffer’s says: Strips of grilled white meat chicken topped with provolone cheese, grilled onions and peppers on Italian white bread

Nicole says: Stouffer’s new Corner Bistro offerings are rocking my world. I had the Turkey Club Panini recently and was mucho impressed (I will review sometime soon). The serving size is too small, no doubt, but just bring a small bag of chips, goldfish or carrot sticks and you’ve got a lunch.

The amazing “REVOLUTIONARY GRILLING(tm) TECHNOLOGY” really works in crisping up the sandwich bread. The contents are mostly tasty herbed chicken and melted provolone with a few peppers and onions for a spark of spice, and are generously proportioned enough to the sandwich size so as to make each bite a happy, well-mixed mouthful. And more than a mouthful is a waste, right? I would just about swear that this has more chicken than a standard-sized Lean Cuisine entreé - and it’s a freaking sandwich!

Immediately after eating the sandwich, you will feel satiated. I think it’s due to the bread. However, if you don’t take my advice and add a small bag of chips, apples, or apple chips, you’ll be hungry again in just a couple hours. If this meal were 1.5 times it’s actual size, then the moon would be in the seventh house and Jupiter would align with Mars. You know, harmony and understanding, blah, blah, blah.

Thanks, Stouffer’s!

Filed Under Four Stars, Stouffer's Frozen Meal Reviews | 12 Comments

Eating Right Chicken Enchilada

August 20, 2007 | Reviewer: Abi

Eating Right Chicken Enchilada Price: $2.50
Serving: 1 tray, 9oz.
Calories: 300
Fat: 10%, 6g
Cholesterol: 9%, 30mg
Sodium: 23%, 550mg
Protein: 16g
Carbs: 14%, 43g
Fiber: 11%, 3g
Weight Watchers Points: 6 Points

Eating Right says: Corn tortilla stuffed with chicken tenders, onions and green chilies, with Mexican Style rice and sprinkled with cheese

Abi says: I’ve been burned by other ‘healthy’ chicken enchilada meals. I’ve suffered through the bland sauce of Lean Cuisine’s Chicken Enchilada. I’ve endured the mystery meat much of Smart Ones’ Chicken Enchilada. And I’ve been fortunate enough to experience the rapture that is Trader Joe’s Chicken Enchiladas en Salsa Verde.

After trying Eating Right’s Chicken Enchilada, I thought I’d have to admit that I’ve reformed and can now admit a love of healthy enchiladas. That is, until I realized that this meal isn’t really ‘healthy’ at all.

It is simply a small portion size. And with that small portion size comes a complete lack of fullness. Sure, the chicken comes in nicely identifiable chunks and the sauce is well seasoned and creamy and while eating this I kept thinking over and over again ‘Wow, this diet enchilada is fantastic’, but all of the supposed ‘health benefits’ that come with this meal are based on less food and a flavorless side of rice. Bland starches shouldn’t make up the bulk of a meal, but Eating Right seems to think otherwise.

I gave this meal 4 stars because it is significantly better than comparable diet enchilada meals. But you’d be better off just eating the Trader Joe’s chicken enchiladas. That way you’d get to skip the waste-of-space rice and you won’t be tempted into consuming an unhealthy afternoon snack. Why? Because you’ll be full.

Now, that’s a feature that Eating Right just can’t match.

Filed Under 6 WW Points, Chicken, Eating Right Reviews, Four Stars | 10 Comments

Kahiki Teriyaki Chicken

August 17, 2007 | Reviewer: Guest Reviewers

Kahiki Teriyaki Chicken Price: $2.50
Serving: 1 package, 11oz.
Calories: 310
Fat: 6%, 4g
Cholesterol: 12%, 35mg
Sodium: 62%, 1490mg
Protein: 15g
Carbs: 16%, 49g
Fiber: 7%, 2g

Kahiki says: Chicken meat, steamed rice, and vegetables in a sweet Teriyaki sauce

Kelly says: Kahiki doesn’t make promises it can’t keep. This sweet, sweet, sweet meal features chicken and vegetables dripping in teriyaki sauce. There’s plenty of chicken and vegetables, but the sauce was so overpoweringly bland that I’m sort of scared to try other things in the same brand family.

I’m also worried that I’ll become a diabetic from eating the sauce. It is that sweet.

The steamed veggies included carrots and water chestnuts and light colored vegetables I was unable to identify. Yeah, it is a bit sad when you can’t ID your own food. I am a brocolli-lover, so I was happy to get five good-size florets. It is just too bad that the picture shows approximately twice as much chicken and half as much carrot as I was provided in reality.

Another plus? I like getting rice with my meals (I know, it is a waste of money to buy frozen rice), so I was happy to see that Kahiki does pretty well with white rice. However, plain white rice shouldn’t be the centerpiece of a meal.

There’s plenty of food here and I didn’t finish the entire meal, but I don’t know if that was because I was full or just sick of the sugary sauce they called Teriyaki. What I do know is if I ever ate this at a place claiming to be an Asian restaurant, I’d probably never return.

Having said that, the experience probably won’t keep me from giving the brand another try, so long as it is on sale. But I’m adventurous and perhaps you’re not.

Filed Under Chicken, Kahiki Reviews, Two Stars | 3 Comments

South Beach Diet Garlic Parmesan Chicken with Penne

August 15, 2007 | Reviewer: Andrew

South Beach Diet Garlic Parmesan Chicken with Penne

Price: $2.50 on sale
Serving: One tray, 11 oz.
Calories: 290
Fat: 17% Daily Value, 11g
Cholesterol: 18%, 55mg
Sodium: 34%, 820mg
Protein: 29g
Carbohydrates: 8%, 24g
Fiber: 32%, 8g
Weight Watchers Points: 6 Points

Kraft says: Breast strips with rib meat, penne pasta, broccoli, red bell peppers and asparagus in garlic parmesan sauce.

Andrew says: Kraft needs to work on their flavor text for South Beach meals. They all have the same lame note from the author of the diet and no real exposition on the meal you’re about to eat. In any case, I felt kind of bad that I had to go and drop that zero star rating on the South Beach wraps a while back, so I got a couple other meals of theirs that I expected to be more satisfying.

The first thing I noticed about this meal was the watery sauce. And then I realized that the penne pasta is whole wheat. The South Beach Diet must be pretty big on whole wheat, since Kraft uses whole wheat in their pizza crusts, the tortillas for those awful wraps and the pastas. The pasta isn’t bad, though it could be a little more al dente. By now I’ve come to realize that any frozen food pasta is a mini disaster waiting to happen, so any half-decent pasta is somewhat miraculous. Kraft’s South Beach pasta is half-decent.

Also I’d like to direct the readers’ attention to the inclusion of asparagus here. This is the first time I’ve ever had asparagus in a frozen meal and it turned out pretty nicely. It had a good buttery flavor to it and it wasn’t overly rubbery. It was my favorite part of the meal, actually, because the chicken (usually the highlight of frozen food for me) was both sparse and small.

The garlic parmesan sauce is mostly cheesy with some herbal notes, but it’s really not that garlicky at all. That said, it’s pretty smooth and kind of buttery (maybe that’s where the asparagus gets it). Also, sherry wine is in the ingredient list: Classy!

All in all, the meal was kind of forgettable. Certainly not one I’d avoid, but I could see myself buying this again in a month or so thinking I was trying something new, then starting to eat it and saying “hey, I HAVE had this before!” and feeling kind of let down.

I’m only 25, but this has happened more than I’d like to admit.

Filed Under 6 WW Points, Kraft Reviews, South Beach Meal Reviews, Three Stars | 10 Comments