Adina
Hi my name is Adina and I review microwave meals. I come from a Jewish family; when my mother found out I occasionally eat food that is flash frozen for freshness, she made five pounds of brisket and FedExed it to my apartment.
I lean towards Lean Cuisine and Trader Joe's because they are familiar and I am nothing if not a slave to my routine. Occasionally I'll buy Healthy Choice, but only when they are on sale and I have a strong craving for very bland tasting food. When I look at the 9 or so ounces of food I eat for lunch, I often wonder if fitting in my jeans is overrated. Lately I've been leaning towards "totally overrated" but I continue to eat them because they are closer to my mouth than the food they keep in restaurants.
I live in Philadelphia and oversee biomedical research. What qualifies me to tell genius scientists that their research sucks eludes me, but they continue to pay me so I continue to dish out the heartbreak. During lunchtime, I sometimes feel a little self-conscious about taking pictures of microwaved food, but I just remind myself that I do it to warn the internet about food that tastes even crappier than you would think. I do it for YOU, remember that when I ask you to give me your liver because mine is just so damn tired.
I have a personal blog at CraziAsian.blogspot.com where I talk about my true passions in life: noodles and farting. I am married to a wonderfully private man named Mr. Anonymous. Our wedding was this past September and my veil was actually a large paper bag that I wore over my head lest someone recognized me from my blog. It was a precaution I was willing to take for love.
Happy Eating!
Latest Reviews by Adina:
Trader Joe’s Chicken Tandoori with Spinach
July 23, 2007 | Reviewer: Adina
Price: $2.49
Serving: 1 meal, 12 oz.
Calories: 360
Fat: 11%, 7g
Cholesterol: 14%, 45mg
Sodium: 20%, 520mg
Protein: 22g
Carbs: 17%, 51g
Fiber: 21%, 5g
Weight Watchers Points: 7 Points
Trader Joe’s says: Boneless white chicken simmered in spinach & exotic spices. Served with seasoned rice.
Adina says: Let me just start off my saying that I am not a huge fan of Indian food. I will occasionally take in an Indian buffet for some saag and naan and gulab jamuns, but generally I avoid all things curried. I blame the summer of ’93. I was 11 years old and my mother was making an Indian curry dish for dinner while I was watching Sweeney Todd on public television. I remember eating that meal – the first time I ate Indian, mind you – and wondering if my mom had slit our neighbors’ throats and ground them into patties and served me their bodies for dinner. And from that fateful moment on, I have always associated Indian food with baked carcass meat pies.
And on that lovely note - this is a really good meal. At first it seemed like it was less “Chicken Tandoori with Spinach” and more “Spinach and Rice with…is that Chicken?…it’s so tiny I can barely see it…”, but I ended up getting a medium sized chunk of chicken with every bite. Plus, the flavor was just the right amount of spiciness – kicky but not overwhelmingly spiced. I just hate those meals (cough Healthy Choice cough) where they black pepper the heck out of the meal and then call it “spiced to perfection”.
Surprisingly enough, the chicken is tender, the way tandoori chicken should be but not the way most microwave meal chicken is. And the peas added lovely texture to what would have been an otherwise mushy meal. What I enjoyed best about this meal is the flavor – microwave lunches tend to blur one into the other, and I appreciated the rich and exciting flavors this dish had to offer.
In summary, eat this meal. Even though you’re probably not hungry anymore after my Sweeney Todd story. Sorry.
[This meal was also reviewed by Abi, who also gave the meal 4 stars. So now that this meal has received 4 stars twice in a row that pretty much cements it at 4 stars. -Ed.]
Healthy Choice Mushroom Roasted Beef
June 29, 2007 | Reviewer: Adina
Price: $2.50
Serving: 1 meal, 11.4 oz.
Calories: 330
Fat: 11%, 7g
Cholesterol: 20%, 60mg
Sodium: 23%, 550mg
Protein: 21g
Carbs: 14%, 42g
Fiber: 16%, 4g
WW Points: 6 Points
Healthy Choice says: Seasoned beef strips are tossed with creamy herb gravy and twisted egg noodles, and served with green beans, carrots, and a tart cherry crisp dessert to complete this satisfying meal.
Adina says: Guess where this meal is right now. That’s right, THE TRASH. I have never rated anything I have eaten a zero because ultimately, eating crappy food is better than not eating. But this made me realize that I was wrong. I was so wrong. Every bite of mushroom beef made me regret living. Because living meant I was still eating this meal.
The beef was tough. It was flavorless. It was ugly. It was your junior prom date that wore Birkenstocks to the dance and sat all night talking about shooting squirrels with a beebee gun and didn’t even notice that you stuffed extra socks into your bra just for him. The noodles were manageable, but every time I ate a noodle (one of seven provided), it reminded me that I would have to eat another piece of beef if I wanted to make it through the day. The sauce was absolutely the most boring thing that I put in my mouth, and I’ve put a lot of boring things in my mouth, if you know what I’m saying.
I didn’t even make it to the greens or cherry crisp, I was so set on throwing this meal away and finding other, less soul crushing food to eat. Seriously. I hated this meal with all my heart.
If you have two dollars to spend on lunch, do not spend it on this meal. Spend it on a candy bar. Or bottled water. Or just donate it to a homeless person and eat grass. Any three of these options will provide you will a more fulfilling lunch than this Healthy Choice Meal.
Annie Chun’s Udon Soup
June 7, 2007 | Reviewer: Adina
Price: $2.00
Serving: 1 Bowl, 4.3 oz.
Calories: 220
Fat: 2%, 1.5g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 38%, 920mg
Protein: 6g
Carbs: 15%, 45g
Fiber: 5%, 1g
Weight Watchers Points: 4 Points
Annie Chun says: [My] new FreshPak™ Noodles are full of flavor and offer a wonderfully satisfying texture, much more pleasing than everyday dry noodles. They’re the perfect match for the classic, light Japanese broth of tofu, vegetables and shiitake mushrooms. A traditional Japanese Udon soup, all vegetarian, all delicious!
Adina says: This was truly delicious. I eat a lot of authentic udon noodles from our local Asian market. Plus, I worked at a Japanese restaurant for 3 years. Plus, I’m Asian. All these things can lead you to only one conclusion: this girl knows her udon noodles. And this meal, in all its non-refrigerated fresh packed glory, is good udon noodle soup.
The noodles are firm and chewy, just like in the restaurants. The soup base was a little strong but I think it is because I didn’t put enough water in the bowl. And even as a strong soup base, it packed a lot of mushroom and soy sauce flavor without being predictable. The bok choy and green onions were surprisingly fresh tasting, a miracle in and of itself, considering it came in the form of a giant manufactured seasoned square. An added bonus is that the bowl is biodegradable and the meal is vegetarian. The whole bowl is considered two servings now considered one serving, so when you look at the breakdown, the only downside is the sodium (38%), which is still way less than a regular package of ramen noodles (over 60%). The carbs are at 15%, which I’m willing to accept since I was eating a giant bowl of noodles.
I have only one complaint. This meal is semi-difficult to assemble. It requires you to put hot water in the bowl to loosen the noodles, drain the water, add the soup base and toppings, and then add 1 to 1.5 cups of water and microwave. These steps require you to have access to hot water and possibly even a measuring cup. I don’t want you to think I’m a wimping out on the “Heat” part of this blog, I’m just saying. “Draining” and “measuring” equals cooking in my book.
Otherwise, Annie Chun’s Udon Soup is a delicious, inexpensive, and healthy meal.
Healthy Choice Breaded Chicken Breast Strips and Macaroni and Cheese
May 22, 2007 | Reviewer: Adina
Price: $2.14 (sale at Pathmark)
Serving: 1 meal, 8 oz.
Calories: 270
Fat: 8%, 5g
Cholesterol: 13%, 40mg
Sodium: 25%, 600mg
Protein: 20g
Carbs: 12%, 35g
Fiber: 12%, 3g
WW Points: 5 Points
Healthy Choice says: Crispy, herbed chicken breast strips and macaroni and cheese that is low in fat because we use real aged cheddar cheese combined with skim milk and fat-free cream cheese.
Adina says: As I look at my empty food container, I wonder Where did my food go? It is ten minutes after I warmed up this 2 star meal and already it is gone, I have the Healthy Choice Hunger, and I am nibbling on reduced fat Cheez-Its.
I have eaten this meal before and have disliked it, and yet I continue to buy it, thinking "This time the macaroni will not taste like soggy stale bread floating around in cheesy water." WRONG. This is the first and only frozen meal that I've actually had to add salt to the mac and cheese. Usually just the smell of a microwave meal pushes my blood pressure to 190 over 100.
I actually don't mind the breaded chicken strips. Dare I say it? They are sort of tasty! Of course, I definitely pull out my ketchup reserve for this meal, and am very generous in my dipping, but I have never met a chicken strip that didn't taste better smothered in ketchup.
Overall, if you don't mind salting stale bread soup mac and cheese and you have some ketchup on hand, this is not a totally horrible meal. Of course, you will be hungry three bites before you are even done and you will end up eating a slice of pizza or a pretzel afterwards, which defeats the purchase of eating this meal in the first place. So I take it back, don't buy this meal. It's not worth it.
