Becky

Becky is a coffee-drinking cube land dweller (HR Technology) with a teaching degree collecting dust in a drawer somewhere. In her spare time, she likes to read, sing karaoke, play Sims 2, and scrape up hairballs from the carpet (she and hubby share their home with 3 spoiled cats). Now there’s a visual!

She joined the frozen lunch revolution when her department moved to a building with no cafeteria, and she was tired of bringing leftovers to work. She was AMAZED to see the selection of healthier frozen lunch alternatives, and now she’s hooked.

Latest Reviews by Becky:

Lean Cuisine Dinnertime Selects Jumbo Rigatoni with Meatballs

August 10, 2009 | Reviewer: Becky

Lean Cuisine Dinnertime Selects Jumbo Rigatoni with Meatballs Price: $2.32
Serving: 1 package, 15 3/8oz.
Calories: 390 per serving
Fat: 13%, 8g
Cholesterol: 11%, 35mg
Sodium: 34%, 830mg
Protein: 23g
Carbohydrates: 19%, 56g
Fiber: 28%, 7g
Sugar: 11g
Weight Watchers: 8 POINTS

Lean Cuisine says: Jumbo Rigatoni with Meatballs in a fire-roasted tomato sauce with vegetables.

Becky says: Remember the email that was making the rounds a few years back that highlighted how many millions of dollars a particular airline saved in a single year by removing a single olive from their first-class salads? I’m thinking that in the case of this Lean Cuisine, that extra meatball should’ve survived the cutbacks (if it ever existed in the first place)…it is sorely missed.

Although the choices are minimal, I prefer the Lean Cuisine Dinnertime Selects for lunch. There is just no way that a 200-calorie lunch will get me thru the afternoon – I’ll end up gorging on Cheetos later on and feeling horrible about it. At least these meals have a little more substance to them, while maintaining the lower calorie/fat mantra – it beats McDonalds any day.

All in all, this meal wasn’t bad. Yes, I would’ve loved to have seen just one more meatball, but what’s included already isn’t half bad. The sauce is think and hearty, though a tad bit sweet, and coats the noodles well. The labeling says that there are ‘vegetables’ in the sauces…yes, there are ‘vegetables’ – they consist of lots of tomato, a few slices of carrot, and dehydrated onion…the label claims that red bell peppers make an appearance as well…but I sure didn’t see anything! I dug through my condiment drawer in hopes of finding a packet of parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top…unfortunately all I have right now is honey and hot sauce.

Paired with some veggies and a Diet Coke – this is indeed an acceptable lunch – my belly is happy, and I’m ready to dive back into work.

Diet Exchanges: 2 Lean Meat, 3 Starch, 1 vegetable, 1/2 Fat

Ingredients: tomatoes, blanched macaroni product (water, semolina, wheat gluten), beef, tomato puree (water, tomato paste), carrots, yellow carrots, water, onions, red peppers, modified cornstarch, soybean oil, sugar, garlic puree, soy protein concentrate (with caramel color), salt, parmesan cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), dehydrated onions, basil, potassium chloride, spices, yeast extract, cultured whey, egg whites, xanthan gum, flavor (soy sauce (water, soybean, wheat, salt), yeast extract, dextrose, soybean oil).

Filed Under 8 WW Points, Beef, Four Stars, Lean Cuisine Reviews | 1 Comment

DiGiorno Ultimate – Ultimate Supreme

December 10, 2008 | Reviewer: Becky

Photo of DiGiorno Ultimate for Oven-Fresh Pizzeria Pizza – Ultimate Supreme Price: $5.79
Serving: 1/5 of pizza (150g)
Calories: 360 per serving
Fat: 26%, 17g
Cholesterol: 12%, 35mg
Sodium: 35%, 840mg
Protein: 17g
Carbohydrates: 11%, 34g
Fiber: 12%, 3g
Sugar: 6g
Weight Watchers Points: 8 per serving
Weight Watchers Points: 40 per pizza

DiGiorno says: Pizzeria-style crust topped with a thick, rich Italian recipe sauce, hearty chunks of flavorful Italian Sausage, abundant Pepperoni, mushrooms, and julienne strips of red onion, green and red peppers.

Becky says: Our house is very pro-pizza. We’re also very picky about what is lucky enough to grace our TV trays. While Papa Murphy’s holds the top spot for the cheap goods, we do still have a little room in our hearts for the neglected stepchild stuck in the freezer case. That spot just got a little tighter, as this is the first offering by DiGiorno that I actually enjoyed!!!

First and foremost, my biggest pet peeve about frozen pizza is that half of the cheese bakes off of the dang thing while it’s in the oven, and for that very reason, I had invested in one of those holey-bottomed pizza pans. While not 100% effective in containing spillage, it was better than nothing…I could TRY to salvage the rejected toppings. With this pizza, though; I decided to throw caution to the wind and try the ol’ ‘place pizza directly on rack’ trick again…for sake of writing this review, of course! While it was baking, I kept sniffing…waiting…knowing that that telltale scent of burning cheese was soon heading my way. But nothing happened! When the timer finally went off, and I opened the oven, I was truly impressed by what I saw – all of the toppings stayed intact! It’s a miracle!

Okay, so the label says 5 servings. That may work if you’re under the age of 7. I hate how manufacturers use nutritional labeling to their advantage, to make their product look better than it actually is. In all honesty, this was the perfect size pizza for 2 adults, and that changes things. In the end this just ticks me off, and I mentally scold myself for not going to the gym that morning.

In all honesty, though – this pizza was GOOD. The crust was cooked perfectly, and wasn’t too thick or too thin (it was just a tad bit thinner than a typical hand-tossed pizza). There was a nicely flavored tomato sauce, and it was evenly distributed. The sausage was juicy (although the pieces were a tad bit on the big side), and the pepperoni was thick-sliced and not overly greasy. There were plenty of mushrooms, onion, and green pepper; however, I was disappointed by the pitiful soggy little morsels of red pepper…but 1 out of 6 ain’t bad! The cheese had melted evenly, had a good texture, and stayed on the pizza – that’s enough to make me happy!

Overall, I was impressed by this – and will buy it again if the need arises, and I’m not at a store that offers my favorite frozen pizza (Culinary Circle – the Albertsons brand) Supreme with Roasted Vegetables). Thanks DiGiorno, for helping me to believe in frozen pizza once again!

Filed Under 8 WW Points, DiGiorno Reviews, Five Stars, Four Stars, Frozen Pizza Reviews, Pork | 7 Comments

California Pizza Kitchen For One Crispy Thin Crust Sicilian Recipe Pizza

August 6, 2008 | Reviewer: Becky

Photo of California Pizza Kitchen For One – Sicilian Recipe Pizza – Crispy Thin Crust Free from CPK
SRP: $2.99
Serving: 1 pizza, 5.5 oz
Calories: 450
Fat: 34%, 22g
Saturated Fat: 40%, 8g
Cholesterol: 12%, 35mg
Sodium: 34%, 820mg
Protein: 21g
Carbohydrates: 14%, 42g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Weight Watchers Points: 10 Points

California Pizza Kitchen says: Crispy thin crust pizza topped with zesty marinara sauce, Italian sausage, reduced fat mozzarella cheese, fontina cheese, spicy ham, salami, parmesan cheese, and basil.

Becky says: I’ve been pretty spoiled this week – being stuck in all day meetings means ordering lunch with the company’s money. So, to celebrate the return to my desk, and the simple fact that it’s Friday, I’m treating myself to this completely non-healthy pizza (I’m leaving it up to Abi to figure out the WW points for this puppy…).

This pizza has potential, it really does. If only they had actually remembered to put sauce on it, then we’d be in business. The directions were straightforward and easy to understand; they went so far to suggest that I set the pizza to the side of the microwave while cooking it to ensure even cooking. Of course, I tried this, and by golly, it works – the pizza was evenly dry all around! After Abi’s disastrous experience with the cooking tray on her DiGiorno For One Garlic Bread Crust Supreme Pizza, I made sure to put a plate under my tray. Fortunately, the only thing that oozed off was a little cheese. Hmm, I guess that’s what happens when you forget to put the sauce on a pizza.

As far as toppings go, I was glad to see that they were evenly distributed, and cooking did not cause them to dry out at all. And cheese! With 22g of fat (and 8g saturated!) in this thing, there sure as heck better be cheese. It was present and fulfilled all cheese requirements. I’m so used to eating Lean Cuisine pizza that the notion of cheese on a pizza was a concept nearly lost to me. Thank you, California Pizza Kitchen, for bringing the memory back. I’ll just ignore the fact that I’ll be eating salad for dinner-dry salad-to make up for this dieting catastrophe of a lunch.

For future pizzas, repeat after me: “Sauce is good. Sauce is good…”

Filed Under California Pizza Kitchen, Four Stars, Pork | 3 Comments

Lean Cuisine Herb Roasted Chicken

June 12, 2008 | Reviewer: Becky

Photo of Lean Cuisine Herb Roasted Chicken Price: $2.32
Serving: 8 oz
Calories: 180
Fat: 5% 3.5g
Cholesterol: 11%, 35mg
Sodium: 23%, 540mg
Protein: 18g
Carbohydrates: 7%, 20g
Fiber: 12%, 3g
Weight Watchers Points: 3 Points

Lean Cuisine says: Chicken breast and creamy herb sauce, roasted potatoes and vegetables

Becky says: I love me some chicken and ‘taters. I live in Idaho – I think that’s a prerequisite to live here. Now, I won’t mention that ‘chicken and potatoes’ really means ‘fried chicken and potato wedges. Uh, wait . . . okay, well, I won’t mention the mounds of sour cream that I dip my potatoes into. Er, so I’m feeling honest today! Yes, I need to eat healthier. I do pretty good during the day, but the minute I walk in my front door, any attempt at healthy goes out the window, all thanks to my chef husband who flips his lid anytime ANYTHING ‘low fat’ occupies space in the kitchen. They do say opposites attract.

When I picked this meal up, I had mixed feelings. It looked promising, but with less than 200 calories, how long would it be before I’m raiding the bottom of my purse for change so I could make a selection from the vending machine? I’m up for the challenge!

UGH – this is yet another one of those meals where they torture you with cooking at 50% power. Luckily, I have that cooking method down to a fine art. 10 minutes later, I peeled back the plastic and was disappointed. It looks PUNY. But, using the ‘don’t knock it until you try it’ school of thought, I dug in.

WOW. Don’t judge this book by its cover! The sauce (which contains mushrooms) in this dish is fantastic. There’s enough to stir into the potato/veggie (which consisted of broccoli and a few red pepper pieces) mixture, as well. Only mildly salty, this sauce packs a lot of taste, and for that I was grateful. The chicken was tender, although tough to cut (yes, I did break a tine on my standard-issue plastic fork before I went in search of a knife), was moist and tender. All in all, this was a great dish, much better than I expected – I just wish there had been more substance to it!

Update – Okay, so it’s 2½ hours later, and I’m hungry again. Not a good sign, especially considering the fact that it’s going to be 5 hours until dinner. I have a feeling that I’m going to succumb to the power of Cheetos. Remind me to get some healthy snacks to bring to work!

Filed Under 3 WW Points, Chicken, Four Stars, Lean Cuisine Reviews | 11 Comments