Eating Right Chicken Poblano

June 4, 2008 | Reviewer: Abi

Picture of Eating Right Chicken Poblano Price: $2.50
Serving: 1 package, 9oz.
Servings per box: 1
Calories: 310
Fat: 13%, 8g
Cholesterol: 13%, 40mg
Sodium: 20%, 490mg
Protein: 22g
Carbohydrates: 12%, 37g
Fiber: 7%, 2g
Sugar: 3g
Weight Watchers Points: 6 Points

Eating Right says: Roasted tender white meat chicken and penne pasta in a flavorful poblano sauce.

Abi says: I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely feeling the effects of rising food prices. When I first moved to the San Francisco Bay Area I was stunned to see Lean Cuisine selling for nearly $5.00 a box when not on sale. That’s right, $4.89 for a Lean Cuisine - and not those dinner sized ones, these were the tiny ones. Fortunately, I can stick to shopping just the sales. But even the sales have been somewhat lackluster lately. Is $3.50 supposed to be a Red Hot Summer Deal? Seriously? (Weirdly, I just realized that Lean Cuisines generally cost the same as a gallon of gas. How strange is that?)

With Lean Cuisine at the ’sale’ price of $3.50, I’ve had to turn elsewhere for my frozen food explorations: Eating Right. Also, the only place in my town open after 10pm is the Safeway. The 24 hour Safeway. It is as though they knew I was moving to the West Coast and decided to build the type of grocery store I’ve been missing since I left Seattle 6 years ago. They also knew that I’d prize frozen meals priced at just $2.50.

This Eating Right concoction made me realize that penne is the most awesome frozen pasta variation. Be it the Trader Joe’s Penne Pepperonata or the Kashi Penne, the pasta stands up well to the freeze/thaw process, adheres nicely to sauces and is stabbable. Pasta stabbability is very important.

The other thing that is important is good sauce. And while we might want something like CityMama’s Carbonara for lunch, who brings raw eggs to the office? Not me. Instead, I pull out of the freezer a tray of noodles barely covered in cheese sauce. Hmmmf. I know this is diet food and all, but ‘Eating Right’ isn’t the same as ‘Eating Air’. Even with a skimpy bit of sauce and a tiny bit of chicken in each bite I only had enough toppings for 2/3 of the pasta. The rest of the pasta I had to eat plain. Yes, I mixed everything together from the beginning and still my sauce needs were not met.

The flavor of the smidgen of sauce was rather nice: creamy and savory without being overly spicy. The bits of poblano peppers were apparent, but didn’t dominate the dish. This will make you heat wimps happy but serve to alienate just about anyone who like flavor.The bits of chicken had less volume than the fingers on my left hand and will provide only 1/5th of the protein I need for the day. Ouch.

If this meal had twice as much going on in the chicken & sauce department and included a vegetable, then it would probably earn close to 5 stars. As it stands I can only say that I’d eat it as a free option if I had neither a frozen meal nor money at lunch and a coworker was being nice, but I’ll certainly not buy Eating Right’s Chicken Poblano again.

comments

11 Responses to “Eating Right Chicken Poblano”

SideshowJill on June 4th, 2008

Eating Right never fails to fail me.

I’ll be sending in my review of their pepperoni pizza as soon as I find the cord for my camera.
Abi Jones on June 4th, 2008

@Jill - A person by the name of Denise has already beaten you to the punch on that one. Also, I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but seriously…Lean Cuisine is so much better.
Jeri on June 4th, 2008

On rising food prices–the Cheap Frozen Burrito Price Index….last time I bought El Monterey they were on sale for 2 for $5 (for packs of 12) and last week they were 2 for $7.
Cat on June 4th, 2008

I’ve been wanting to do a review, but I don’t have a camera. Marie Callender meals are 4 for 10 here.
natalie on June 5th, 2008

This is actually one of my favorite Eating Right meals. I am on a diet and workout regimen. These are pretty much perfectly proportioned to what I’m doing (lazy, don’t cook, need to eat around 350 calories every 4 hours). I was eating tons of this stuff but cut down because I know I do actually need to be making fresh food, and these are full of preservatives. I’m not really sure why that’s bad but that is what everyone says so I figure I’ll get poblano-related cancer some day if I don’t use these sparsely. My absolute favorite is the sesame chicken (but it has 370 cals I think) - it has the largest serving of meat of any of the Eating Right dishes. The chicken enchilada seems to pack a lot in for the 300 odd calories as well. Tastewise, the vegetable masala is awesome.
HaveGoodGetGive on June 5th, 2008

The flavor on this one is ok, but its too greasy for my taste. Eating Right is 5/$10 in Texas. Recession proof baby. Of course its 473 degrees outside but thats another story…
stacey on June 5th, 2008

They are 5/$10 in Oakland/Berkeley as well, maybe you should do your shopping in the east bay!
Denise on June 5th, 2008

Denise is me! Damn internet alternative personality was still filled in from last time I commented :p
Rose on June 5th, 2008

Are you kidding me, five dollars for a box of lean cuisine?

then again, everyone I know who lives in or around san francisco is fairly wealthy and amazed that every room of my home does not contain a flat screened TV mounted on the wall (okay, none of them do.) so, I guess that five bucks for a frozen medicore lunch isn’t insane to them. it is to me, I have a budget.

I am, however, willing to pay two fifty for lunch. and I would probably pick up some Eating Right meals. unfortunately, I think this is a safeway brand? and we have no safeway. we have winn dixie, we have harris teeter, walmart..and PIGGLY WIGGLY. alas, no trader joes or safeway.
Christine on June 5th, 2008

I like this one. LC has gone up in my area substantially so I buy these dinners as they seem to be on sale all the time. I work 2 nights a week and sometimes have no choice but to buy frozen. So if I don’t get lucky on a great clearance deal (I have bought interesting things for $1) I try to get these meals.
Mark on August 14th, 2008

This is my favorite of the eating right meals, followed by Chicken Enchilada and Sesame Chicken. As a hardcore junk food junkie trying to kick McDonalds cold turkey, finding diet food that I can eat on a regular basis is a treat.