Kashi Roasted Garlic Chicken Pizza

August 13, 2007 | Reviewer: Abi

Kashi Roasted Garlic Chicken Pizza SRP: $5.99
Serving: 1/3 pizza, 4.3oz.
Servings Per Container: 3
Calories: 300
Fat: 14%, 9g
Cholesterol: 10%, 30mg
Sodium: 27%, 650mg
Protein: 16g
Carbohydrates: 13%, 39g
Fiber: 16%, 4g
Weight Watchers Points: 6 per serving

Kashi says: Roasted chicken with a trio of roasted sweet peppers and four signature cheese including asiago with roasted garlic sauce on stone-fired 7 whole grains & sesame with flax seed crust

Abi says: There’s a lot of Kashi love at HeatEatReview.com. We pretty much adore their healthy, filling, flavorful frozen meals. I think that their cereal completely sucks (twigs anyone?) and I’d rather get fiber and protein from about 19 gazillion other sources than a bowl of GoLean. Fortunately for them, this isn’t a cereal blog.

This is a frozen food review site.

And so, looking to once again show that they’re in our good graces, Kashi sent along three frozen pizzas: Mediterranean, Cheese and Tomato, and Roasted Garlic Chicken. Roasted garlic is one of my favorite things. I was a food snob in college, buying fresh-baked bread from La Panzanella and roasting my own garlic in the dorm oven. And I’m still a garlic lover. In fact, last night my favorite part of dinner was a sublimely pillowy and crispy garlic naan at Indique.

I never thought there could be such a thing as too much garlic. I was wrong.

Kashi’s Roasted Garlic Chicken Pizza is smothered in a garlic sauce that slaps you upside the head and says ‘This is what real garlic tastes like, mofo.” But it isn’t a lusciously decadent roasted garlic. No, it is the type of garlic that you get when someone was too impatient to roast and just decided that minced garlic mixed with butter is a perfectly acceptable spread. FYI, it isn’t.

Kashi heaps on more misery with miserly portions of chicken and peppers. I’m sorry, but if this is supposed to be three servings, I don’t want to fight with other people to see who gets three bits of chicken and who gets four. This is luxury pizza with flax and sesame, not a microwave pie from DiGiorno. The cheese makes a healthy (as in large, not good for you), if bland, showing but it isn’t to save the pizza from my high expectations.

And the ultra-healthy, 7 grain, sesame and flax crust? Well, it tastes like it could cure cancer. And maybe Kashi pizza does cure cancer and that’s how they’ll get people to buy this pizza.

I hope I don’t get cancer.

Filed Under 6 WW Points, Chicken, Frozen Pizza Reviews, Kashi Frozen Meal Reviews, Two Stars | 13 Comments

Trader Joe’s Thai Style Lemon Grass Chicken

August 10, 2007 | Reviewer: Rebecca

Trader Joe's Thai Style Lemon Grass Chicken Price: $2.69
Serving: 1 bowl, 11 oz.
Calories: 390
Fat: 15%, 10g
Sodium: 4%, 105mg
Protein: 22g
Carbs: 18%, 54g
Fiber: 16%, 4g

Trader Joe says: Thai Style Lemon Grass Chicken and Seasoned Rice.

Rebecca says: On a day when everyone was eating leftover boxed lunches from ABP, I decided not to eat another Thai Chicken Wrap and to instead try Thai Style Lemon Grass Chicken and Seasoned Rice. Although I had no picture of what the food would taste like, I luckily had the “Inspected for Wholesomeness” stamp of approval from the USDA. After some quick online research, however, I learned that this does not in fact mean “tastes good” or even “good for you” as the definition of wholesomeness might suggest. Rather it means “meets government regulations for transporting meat across state lines”.

But enough with the etymology lesson—let me tell you about the food. The best thing about this dish was the flavor— the seasoning was nice and green curry-ish. It may have smelled overwhelmingly of coconut milk, but the dish actually tasted like a spicy curry sauce (yes, this is a bit spicy). Be warned — after its first round in the microwave (before I stirred and removed the film cover) it seemed pretty liquidy, but I followed the directions to the letter and the end result was nicely saucy without being watery.

Although the flavor was delicious, the texture could use some work. The chicken appeared in decent size chunks but a couple were too big and contained veiny and/or tendony parts. While the rice was well cooked (not too crunchy or too mushy), the vegetables were nowhere near tender. Both the carrots and green beans were still crunchy and too crunchy in comparison to the tender rice and chicken. By the end, I found that I was eating the vegetables separately so as not to mess up the textures.

I’m not going to rush out and buy it again but next time I’m at TJ’s, I might throw one in the basket OR I might just try one of the Lemongrass Chickens that Nicole already reviewed.

Filed Under Chicken, Three Stars, Trader Joe's Reviews | 7 Comments

Simply Enjoy Pad Thai with Chicken 2

August 8, 2007 | Reviewer: Jenn

Simply Enjoy Pad Thai with Chicken

Price: $2.50 (on sale)
Serving: 1 package, 10.58 oz.
Calories: 300
Fat: 11%, 7g
Sodium: 41%, 980mg
Protein: 13g
Carbs: 16%, 49g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Sugar: 12g

Simply Enjoy says: Our Chicken Pad Thai is made with deliciously seasoned white chicken tenderloins that are simmered in authentic Thai-style peanut sauce. Served on a bed of traditional rice noodles this tangy-sweet Thai-style dish is destined to become a favorite with your friends and family

Jenn says: The name makes it sound so simple – SIMPLY enjoy. Ok, I thought at the grocery store this morning. I can do that, especially if the meals are on sale.

Indeed, I did enjoy my lunch today. The meal I removed looked like the meal on the box. Connoisseurs of frozen food know that this is a big deal. Having a frozen food meal that actually looks like the picture on the box is akin to having a politician follow through on a campaign promise. The noodles in the pad Thai were very similar to those I find in my neighborhood Thai restaurant. The chicken was tender and moist and ineEvery few bites I experienced the salty crunch of peanuts.

I was about to follow the directions and SIMPLY enjoy my meal, but something was off – the sauce. While I admittedly liked the sauce, it was more citrus-based than peanut based. If I could identify the exact difference between regular pad Thai sauce and this pad Thai sauce, I would probably be reviewing real restaurants, not frozen food. Thus, you are going to have to take my word that the sauce might not be what you are expecting but it isn’t necessarily bad.

[Nicole also reviewed this meal, giving the Simply Enjoy Pad Thai only 1 star. I recommend that you check out past reviews by both Nicole and Jenn to figure out who you should trust on this one. - Ed.]

Filed Under Chicken, Four Stars, Simply Enjoy Reviews | 3 Comments

Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowls: Pancakes and Sausage Links

August 6, 2007 | Reviewer: Abi

Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowls: Pancakes and Sausage Links Price: $2.50
Serving: 1 bowl, 8.55oz.
Calories: 740
Fat: 54%, 35g
Cholesterol: 20%, 60mg
Sodium: 42%, 1000mg
Protein: 14g
Carbs: 32%, 96g
Fiber: 0%, 0g

Jimmy Dean says: No description on box. I should have taken this as a sign.

Abi says: I have an admission to make. I like Brown ‘N’ Serve Sausage. Yeah, the pre-cooked breakfast sausage that has ingredients that are likely scary but I wouldn’t know because I stay far, far away from the metadata for products like these. It turns out that ConAgra is also a bit reluctant to clue you in on the nutrition information for these guys:

Banquet Brown and Serve Sausage Nutritional Information Error

But you don’t want to know about my illicit love of pre-cooked sausage links (#1 point of awesomeness: no casings). No, you want to know about this bowl of pancakes, sausage, and syrup.

First, unless you’re being threatened by rapidly dropping blood sugar, you won’t need more than half the packet of syrup. And for the foodies out there, this isn’t Vermont maple syrup. No, this is corn syrup with caramel color added. What did you expect? Accompanying the packet of syrup are three extraordinarily mushy pancakes and three sausages. Some covert chef imbued these pancakes with the ability to trap all available steam in the vector of their doughy rounds. No, I don’t know what that sentence means either. I guess I’ve been reading too many spy novels lately.

I was expecting only two sausages in this meal, so the third was a slight surprise. Though, I shouldn’t have been surprised because the picture on the box shows three sausages. Then again, I have been mislead by pictures on frozen food boxes too many times to count. Unfortunately for my stomach, microwaving sausage is a recipe for rubberiness. And while rubber might be an important factor in tires and condoms, it does not make for a pleasant sausage-eating experience.

Yes, I said that. This entire meal is a textural nightmare and even though I know that I’ll probably have to try the other ones just to finish off this category.

[Thanks to Nicole for giving me this meal when I was hungry for some breakfast and had no cash.]

Filed Under Jimmy Dean Reviews, Two Stars | 8 Comments