Marie Callender's Grilled Chicken Alfredo Bake

October 19, 2007 | Reviewer: Abi

Marie Callender’s Grilled Chicken Alfredo Bake Price: $2.50 on sale
Serving: 1 meal, 13oz.
Calories: 630 per serving
Fat: 60%, 39g
Cholesterol: 20%, 60mg
Sodium: 40%, 970mg
Protein: 30g
Carbohydrates: 13%, 40g
Fiber: 32%, 8g
Weight Watchers Points: 15 Points

Marie Callender says: Marie tossed al dente fettuccini with grilled chicken breast and crisp vegetables - then added rich, creamy alfredo sauce and golden bread crumb topping.

Abi says: I try to eat healthy food, so when I go shopping I look at the nutrition labels on products. I try to avoid artificial flavors and colors, and corn syrup, and things that have a not-worth-it amount of fat or sugar. This doesn’t mean that I don’t indulge (I ate a salad at the Cheesecake Factory the other day and it was not from the ‘Weight Management’ section. Also, why the heck do they call it ‘Weight Management’? Do they want people to NOT order those things? Why not just have half salads or ‘lighter options’? Was ‘Weight Management’ the only phrase available for trademark? Jeez.), it just means that I don’t need to eat a bunch of crap.

Except when it comes to frozen meals. I don’t even look at the nutrition information or the ingredients or even read the box blurbs. I just look at the names of the food and the pictures. Why? Because if I started reading about what was used to make these things then HeatEatReview would never exist.

Case in point: Marie Callender’s Grilled Chicken Alfredo Bake. First, I love that it has grilled in the title. Because grilled = healthy. Deep fried = heart attack. You could grill Twinkies and people would accept them as health food. As a counter-point to ‘grilled’ there’s the alfredo. If you’re like most red-blooded Americans you probably like Alfredo sauce. It is milk, cream, cheese, butter, and garlic. Who can resist those things? Not me and not you either. And check out that photo on the box! The alfredo sauce seems to be sparingly applied to the grilled chicken (with grill marks!) and vegetables.

This looks pretty healthy. You know, for something with a cream sauce. See all of those vegetables? But looks (and box photos) are deceptive. Once I microwaved this bad boy, I realized that underneath that benevolent layer of carrots and broccoli it was swimming in alfredo sauce. And not that awesome homemade stuff either. No, this is pure, unadulterated Marie Callender’s alfredo.

What does that mean? For one, it means that there is essentially no seasoning in the sauce itself. A good homemade alfredo involves fresh garlic. Marie Callender doesn’t go near that tastebud-searing stuff, instead sticking to the Midwesternly flavors of butter and cream. By ‘Midwesternly’ I mean bland.

Fortunately, a bit of flavor is provided by the broccoli and carrots. But if I had to rely on the vegetables to provide flavor in frozen meals then I’d be totally screwed. Shouldn’t there be something going on with the noodles? Oh, they’re just for mush, somewhat gloppy show? Great.

Pluses: Plenty of tender, “grilled” white meat chicken, a nice showing of carrots and broccoli, and a showy breadcrumb topping that makes the meal look nice but does nothing tastebud-wise.

Minuses: Thick, bland sauce, ridiculously high in calories, showy breadcrumb top[ping that makes the meal look nice but does nothing tastebud-wise.

If you’re originally from Minnesota and currently living in Louisiana and you miss the bland, calorie-laden food of your homeland, give Marie Callender’s Grilled Chicken Alfredo Bake a try.

Filed Under Chicken, Marie Callender Reviews, Three Stars | 7 Comments

Gits Methi Matar

October 17, 2007 | Reviewer: Andrew

Gits Methi Matar Price: Provided by Gits Foods
Serving: 1/2 pouch, 5.3oz.
Calories: 224 per serving
Fat: 25.4%, 16.5g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 22.2%, 534mg
Protein: 6.9g
Carbohydrates: 4%, 12g
Fiber: 4.8%, 1.2g
Sugar: 0g
Weight Watchers Points: 5 Per Serving, 10 Per Pouch

Gits says: A very popular vegetable curry made of a combination of fenugreek leaves, green peas & fresh cream. And much liked by connoisseurs. Along with the aromatic taste of the fenugreek leaves and the green peas, the natural delicate flavors of Methi Matar are enhanced by a subtle aroma of spices and seasonings. Its slightly chewing consistency creating a dish which is as tasy as it is wholesome.

Andrew says: A few weeks ago, if you would have told me I could eat delicious Indian food out of a non-refrigerated silver pouch, I’d have told you to take your lies elsewhere. Now, though, I know this is no lie.

I’d never had Methi Matar before I ate this, but I feel well-versed enough in the Indian spice set to tell you this is a very authentic tasting dish. I get the feeling, due to its simplicity, that this is a dish meant as a side, or as one in a series of savory, soupy concoctions to greedily sop up with flat bread, but even alone, it’s wonderful.

The fenugreek leaves (the methi) add kind of a bitterness, but the peas (the matar) are sweet. There’s cumin and cinnamon, there’s clove and nutmeg. It’s a cornucopia of wonderful flavors. And I can read all the ingredients on the back of the box. Oh yeah, it’s all natural, kids! All in a space-age silver pouch.

The peas make up the bulk of the body here, and they’re just fine. I happen to love peas, so, you know, this is a good deal. The whole dish is a deeper green than pea green, but the flavor is somewhat orange, if you get my meaning. It’s spicy and warm and it warms you up with its flavor. You could eat it straight with a spoon (as I was part of the time, for scientific purposes), but it really cries out for some kind of bread medium. I had the last bit of it with some crusty, locally made artisan bread due to a lack of naan in my home and it was good even with that.

If you can find this in the imported food/ethnic cuisine section of your local market and you’re down with tasty Indian dishes, give it a shot. You don’t even need freezer space!

As of this review, these products are only available at Amazon.com Gits Store in 10-packs, though it appears that this particular product is out of stock. The price comes to $2.13 a pouch and the products are all eligible for Super Saver Shipping. So, you could buy a whole lot of Indian food and a book and get your shipping for free!

Filed Under Cholesterol Free, Five Stars, Gits Indian Food Reviews, Product of India, Vegetarian | 6 Comments

Housekeeping

October 16, 2007 | Reviewer: Abi Jones

Cancer. So far, just by visiting HeatEatReview.com, you’ve committed me to writing a check for $57.17. Obviously, none of you are telling your friends to come and visit. In fact, the people who’ve been doing all of the work around here are those freaked out about the Banquet Pot Pie Recall. We’re only halfway through the month, so I fully expect all of you to start recommending this super-pink site to your friends.
Who are you? Take the survey! There’s banner-type image on the right of the screen that says “If you love this blogger, take this survey.” Take the survey and tell the folks at BlogHerAds that your favorite ads are the ones that involve getting something for free. Like chips. Mmmmm, chips.
I don’t remember what I was going to say for point #3, but I would like you to know that the coffee shop that I’m writing this from is playing a Dolly Parton CD. Dolly Parton is amazing. I am buying this CD on Amazon right now! Islands in the stream, that is what we are . . .
Endurance. HeatEatReview.com is participating in National Blog Posting Month. This is the National Novel Writing Month for the lazy/technologically dependent. You can get a full run-down of what it means at the official NaBloPoMo site, or you can just sit back and watch us post a review every day in November. EVEN ON THE WEEKEND. Basically, all of the bloggers are giving all of the novelists the finger. Okay, not really. But it was a funny idea in my head.
HeatEatReview.com FAQ. Do you think the site needs an FAQ? Are there any features that should have an explanation? Burning questions you’ve been dying to ask? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Filed Under Announcements | 4 Comments

Linda McCartney Spicy Peanut Pasta with Vegetarian Chicken

October 15, 2007 | Reviewer: Guest Reviewers

Linda McCartney Spicy Peanut Pasta with Vegetarian Chicken Price: $4.19
Serving: 1 meal, 10 oz.
Calories: 390
Fat: 14%, 9g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 33%, 790mg
Protein: 18g
Carbs: 18%, 53g
Fiber: 17%, 4g
Weight Watchers Points: 8 Points

Linda says: Semolina spaghetti with carrots, green & red bell peppers, and gourmet vegetarian chicken, tossed in a spicy Asian-style Peanut Sauce

Kelly says: Prior to consuming this meal I thought that ‘Vegetarian Chicken’ referred chicken that consumes only non-animal feed. I had a lot to learn. To Linda McCartney (who is dead, btw), Vegetarian Chicken means ‘fake chicken made out of vegetables.’

Yes, you are allowed to laugh at me. I live in the South, so I’m sure I’m not the first person who has made this mistake. Also, read the product blurb. Does it say anything about it not being real chicken? No, it just says ‘vegetarian chicken’, the least helpful phrase ever. Let me say now that if you’re thinking about switching to a no-meat lifestyle, stay far, far away from this meal. I’ll get into why later, but I just wanted to let you know now that it is not worth putting anywhere near your apartment-dweller Whole Foods mini shopping cart.

The noodles are larger than your standard spaghetti. This wouldn’t matter if it didn’t make them IMPOSSIBLE to eat in their enormousness, plus they are mushy from the get-go. I’ve had some pretty darn good Lean Cuisines (see Sesame Stir Fry with Chicken), so I know that noodles can be done relatively well. These were relatively inedible. The vegetables were forgettably fine. I ate all of them. Why? I like vegetables. Also, there are approximately 2 carrot sticks worth of vegetables in this meal. Another plus for Lean Cuisine. Too bad it was impossible to consume the fake chicken.

The process went something like this: Stab chicken chunk with fork. Pop in mouth. Attempt chewing. Find chewing quite difficult. Put further effort into chewing. Still not working. WTF mouth?!? Realize I am chewing a tasteless and rubbery fake meat item. Spit out. Repeat with new fake-chicken-nugget. Realize it is not me, it is the meat. Give up.

Sometime during the magical process that I like to call microwaving, the faux-chicken became rock-hard nuggets of evil. I know that isn’t very scientific, but that’s what happened. Thus, this Linda McCartney meal became the ultimate diet food, the 7 (seven!) uneaten breaded fake-chicken blobs mocking me from the tray. I ate all of the noodles. I ate all of the vegetables. I even consumed the not-worth-mentioning peanut sauce (It claims to be spicy, but this Polish-American girl found it blander-than-bland and I sweat when I eat at chain Mexican restaurants). But the idea of eating those chicken chunks? I’m shivering in my boots.

Filed Under 8 WW Points, Linda McCartney Reviews, One Star, Vegetarian | 4 Comments