Price: $2.50 (on sale)
Serving: 1 package, 10.3 oz.
Calories: 240
Fat: 8%, 5g
Cholesterol: 8%, 25mg
Sodium: 25%, 600mg
Protein: 22g
Carbs: 8%, 23g
Fiber: 16%, 4g
Sugar: 1g
Weight Watchers Points: 4 Points

Healthy Choice says: Grilled white meat chicken and roasted red pepper alfredo sauce with linguini pasta and broccoli florets

Abi says: I had a really strange Instant Message conversation with Nicole yesterday. She was writing to inform me that there were a couple of Lean Cuisine Panini in the freezer with HER written on them in black Sharpie. I wasn’t sure why she’d buy these because we’ve already reviewed the Lean Cuisine panini and really she doesn’t have to buy food for the other HER reviewers, that’s my job.

It turns out that the folks at Stouffer’s, Lean Cuisine’s parent company, had shipped us a freaking enormous box containing two panini boxes. Not that I mind getting panini in the mail, but we’d really appreciate some advance warning. Why? Because it is important to dispose of dry ice in a safe manner. That’s why.

This shipment, combined with Colleen’s comment about the lack of Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers reviews on HeatEatReview, got me wondering about why Healthy Choice has never sent us a single frozen meal. And it isn’t just Healthy Choice, it is the entire ConAgra line.

Then it hit me, we at HeatEatReview.com do not have a good history with Healthy Choice meals. As of July 20, 2007, the average Healthy Choice meal on HeatEatReview.com has a rating of just 2.32 stars. Ouch. This isn’t the first time I’ve thought about my relationship with Healthy Choice.

The morning after I consumed the Cafe Steamers version of Grilled White Meat Chicken and Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo Sauce I came to a stunning realization about Healthy Choice products: they produce the worst microwave meal chicken I have ever had the misfortune to consume.

That’s all it is: the worst chicken ever.

Yet ConAgra is the same company that produces Marie Callender meals, a frozen food line that is graced with fantastic chicken. I’m seriously confused. Does being on a diet or trying to eat healthy food mean that you’re subject to the purgatory that is ground and formed and fake-grilled chicken? Healthy Choice says yes, but Kashi and Lean Cuisine say ‘No, you don’t have to eat that weird ground-up-chicken junk.’

If you don’t mind chicken that features a foamy texture and little to no flavor, then you’d probably like the main ingredient in Healthy Choice’s grilled white meat chicken and roasted red pepper alfredo. If you don’t enjoy Healthy Choice’s unusual take on chicken, then you’ll need to deal with the strangely bland roasted red pepper sauce (top ingredients: sweet red pepper, high maltose corn syrup solids, and salt).

Too bad the primary ingredients in this meal are so lackluster; the broccoli and linguini benefit tremendously from the new cooking style, emerging from the microwave perfectly steamed.

[Tanya at Iateapie.net has a great description of how the steamers work and she gave the Roasted Chicken Chardonnay 3.5 kisses. -Ed.]

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.

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.

Price: $2.14 (on sale)
Serving: 1 meal, 11.5 oz.
Calories: 280
Fat: 8%, 5g
Cholesterol: 8%, 25mg
Sodium: 25%, 600mg
Protein: 13g
Carbs: 15%, 44g
Fiber: 20%, 5g
WW Points: 5 Points

Healthy Choice says: Delicious shrimp tossed with bow-tie pasta in a creamy garlic basil sauce, complemented with a side of green beans and carrots and tart cherry crisp to offer a complete, satisfying meal.

Adina says: I have to say off the bat, for 5 points and a giant tray of food, this meal is not a bad deal. I was amazed at how non-mushy the shrimp were and how crisp the vegetables were. Texture wise, this meal was two thumbs up (in microwave meal land of course, not in the real food world).

Taste wise, the sauce is like every other Healthy Choice meal - BLAND. By any other name, it would still taste bland. I swear, HC must have a giant vat of tasteless sauce and just dump it on every one of their meals. "Oh Beef Tips Portobello? I think you need a little kick in the beef butt by our special BLAND sauce! And how about you, my little Herb Baked Fish? Would you like to take a swim in our BLAND sauce lake? Oh, and who could forget the Chicken Carbonara! BLANDissimo!" Seriously, it is the only word I can think of that truly encompasses every one of their meals.

If you can get past the fact that you are eating tasteless food, this is not a bad option. I am full (which is a rare, rare thing after a 5 point meal) and I can totally splurge on a skinny cow for dessert tonight. Since everyone who is going to eat this meal knows from the get go that the sauce is bad, I am going to tilt the scales a bit and give it a 3, for trying.

Tanya at Iateapie.net gave this meal 4.5 kisses for nutrition [Read her review]