Price: Free/$2.56 (on sale)
Serving: 9 oz.
Calories: 240 per serving
Fat: 5%, 3.5g
Cholesterol: 11%, 30mg
Sodium: 21%, 490mg
Protein: 9g
Carbohydrates: 11%, 34g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 14g
Weight Watchers Points: 5 Points

Smart Ones says: White meat chicken with diced mangoes in a honey barbeque sauce and orzo pasta

Chaviva says: Oh Smart Ones, you’ve finally done it! A Smart One I will look forward to purchasing in the future. My only two beefs on this chicken meal are that

1. It lacks any fiber. At all. Note zeros above.
2. The barbeque flavor is completely missing.

Luckily, I chose this dish because I was stoked about the idea of a mango sauce. I cooked the package in the microwave according to the instructions and after it’s few minutes of sitting idle, I dove in. I was trying to decide whether the bbq flavor was meant to be in the sauce, which essentially just looked like a mango chutney, or if it was some type of flavor cooked into the chicken. Either way, the flavor was not apparent, though there definitely was a zing and bite to the chicken and mango sauce. The orzo pasta was delicious, though I have no gauge as I’ve never had orzo pasta before. It has a slightly cheesy flavor to it, which I didn’t mind. I’m pretty sure the mix-ins were spinach and red pepper, and I dumped the orzo pasta over into the
leftover mango sauce.

I think the pro to this dish was that it wasn’t all watery like a bulk of the Smart Ones I’ve purchased. That extra watery goo just rains on my eating healthy parade, and it often turns me off from an entire brand. But this one was spot on. The mango sauce was not watery and didn’t require any mixing in with spare moisture left by the chicken. The orzo also lacked any overly liquidy content, making it just darn near perfect.

I’ll admit that I ate this dish super fast – it was that good. I could probably go for a whole additional one, but at 5 points it pretty much rings in as a good dining choice for Weight Watchers folks. I imagine that the point value would drop dramatically if there were some fiber enjoined in this fruity concoction. So I implore you, pick up this fruit creation and enjoy. And avoid those other Smart Ones (especially the Chicken Santa Fe, oy, that gets a 1 star on my radar, if even that).

Now to go find some more fruits to fill the void left by the consumed mango sauce … oh, and sorry for the poor photo quality – my small, convenient digicam is broken, so the blackberry is serving as my on-the-go camera for work photos. I can guarantee that the colors of the mango sauce and the chicken and orzo are much more appetizing and bright than this photo portrays!

[The folks at Smart Ones’ PR company sent coupons for free meals to reviewers as part of their ‘Fruit Inspirations’ promotion. Yes, we got this meal for free. Actually, Chaviva got one for free. I paid for one and until I saw this review, I was trying to figure out how I could trick George into eating it. -Ed.]

Price: $2.00
Serving: 1 meal, 10.3oz.
Calories: 260
Fat: 9%, 6g
Cholesterol: 12%, 35mg
Sodium: 25%, 600mg
Protein: 22g
Carbs: 9%, 27g
Fiber: 16%, 4g
WW Points: 5 Points

Healthy Choice says: Savory white meat chicken is covered with a tangy roasted red pepper alfredo sauce and served over tender linguini pasta with a side of fresh broccoli florets.

Adina says: Disclaimer: I might have eaten my body weight in sugar this morning, so there is a very good chance this review will be highly delirious and/or incoherent. I’m sorry.

I would like to start off this review by just shouting the word chicken over and over again, partially to release some of this excess sugar energy and partially because I think the best way to celebrate good food is by shouting. CHICKEN CHICKEN CHICKEN YUM YUM YUM. I have a pretty loyal dislike for white chicken and also for pepper. White chicken because it is always dry and chewy, and pepper because it is just so . . . peppery. This chicken was peppery but in a really good way – all zingy and zesty and party-ish in my mouth. Like pop rocks, but with less pop and more rock. Plus, it was so tender and non-chewy and just melt in your mouth-y.¹

The broccoli florets were crispy and quickly consumed, which should be counted as a huge moral victory for any food maker since I liken vegetables to cute little green bundles of death.

For those not already in the Adina know, I only buy microwave meals that feature noodles. This is because I try to have at least one type of noodle product during both lunch and dinner. It’s true – on any given day, I will eat cottage cheese and noodles for dinner, with a side of ramen and kraft macaroni and cheese (with a hot dog mixed in, if I am having protein cravings).

Sadly, I found the noodle part of this meal the most disappointing. Not so much because they were not good (it is fairly hard to mess up microwave meal noodles unless you are Chef Boyardee) but because the sauce was so…Healthy Choice-y. It is an art form, really, how Healthy Choice continues to make bland sauce. They must get loads of letters that read: “YER SAUCE SUX” and “your mama has more flavor than your sauce” or equally profound notes, and yet they continue to mass produce horribly bland sauce. Why is that? Are they trying to kill us à la pure food boredom? I had so much hope for this sauce, after my pleasant encounter with the Chicken Tuscany Café Steamer, but was sadly let down.

So I am giving this meal a 4 overall, although I would rate the chicken a 700. CHICKEN CHICKEN CHICKEN. Sigh so good.

¹ I am trying to end as many words in this review with “y”. I have no idea why but at least I have a realistic goal, versus my unattainable goal of taking a multivitamin with breakfast every morning. Ha!

Price:$2.69
Serving:1 burrito, 7oz.
Calories:360 per serving
Fat:13%, 9g
Cholesterol:17%, 50mg
Sodium:40%, 960mg
Protein:21g
Carbohydrates:16%, 49g
Fiber:11%, 3g
Sugar:2g
Weight Watchers Points: 7 Points

Trader Joe says: Nothing. I guess they had nothing clever to say about this product.

Angela says: I like to think of myself as a connoisseur of burritos. Frozen, fast food, homemade, breakfast, I’ve tried (and loved) them all. And around here, they’re not hard to come by. So when I was shopping in Trader Joe’s for something to eat for lunch at work, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try a burrito I’ve never tried before.

Enter this little guy, the Chicken Chile Verde Burrito. First things first, it comes in pack of two. The pack is not resealable, so I suggest just bringing one to work and leaving the other at home, unless you trust the freezer at your office, which I don’t. The instructions tell you to first defrost the burrito on 50% power for two minutes, and then cook on full power for one minute, which is what I did.

Now, generally I associate Trader Joe’s with (mostly) healthy food. Upon reading the ingredients, I realized that this burrito may not be much different than the ones you find in your regular grocer’s freezer section. The amount of salt is really what got me. 40% of your daily value? Wow! I’m not one to be discouraged by nutritional information, so let’s get to the eating part.

Upon first look, the burrito is definitely a little wimpy looking. Not that most frozen burritos aren’t, but maybe I just had my hopes up too high. Also, it’s a little soggy and difficult to pick up. So those who care about dripping sauce on their clothes might want to grab a fork and knife for this one. Inside, there is a lot of Chile Verde, and every few bites there is some chicken. I suggest that TJ’s changes the name around to better suit this ratio. The Chile Verde is kind of slimy, and maybe a little too salty. I guess that’s where the 40% daily value of sodium comes in. Last but not least, the end of the burrito is all tortilla, as it is with most frozen burritos. It gets kind of hard when you microwave it, so I recommend not eating that part.

So all-in-all, this burrito is edible, but not really delicious. I will probably eat the second one if I’m in a pinch, but I’m not sure I would buy this particular variety ever again.

Price: $2.75 (4/$11 sale, Safeway)
Calories 920
Total Fat 54%, 35g
Saturated Fat 35%, 7g
Cholesterol 42%, 125mg
Sodium 39%, 930mg
Carbohydrates 24%, 71g
Dietary Fiber 5%, 6g
Sugars 34g
Protein 34g
Weight Watchers Points: 21 WW Points

Hungry-Man says: Fried chicken patties coated in a floured buffalo style seasoning with french fries, corn & a brownie.

Nicole Says: If chocolate milk comes from chocolate cows, where does chocolate corn come from? At some point in its short life, my Hungry Man meal must have defrosted pretty well, because not only did I have a significant portion of corn enter my brownie section, but some of the kernels were actually frozen in. So I had no choice but to bake them in. And that’s after 5 minutes of digging conglomerated frozen corn out of said brownie section.

The cooking is also less-than-straightforward. Remove film over all except corn, five minutes cook time, remove brownie (not so easy to scrape it all out) and then back in to nuke for two more minutes.

I went into this with some skepticism. Buffalo Chicken and a Brownie? Is this for overweight pre-teen males (1 LB. OF FOOD)? Although, hey, I’m excited about the brownie.

So beginning with the safest route, the fries are good, not too soggy, but they could use a touch of salt (and why, oh, why, don’t I have a small ketchup bottle at the office?) There are a lot of fries here - maybe a McDonal’ds Medium? But thick and crinkle-cut, like classic frozen fries.

The corn is buttery in flavor without being in a soupy pool of buttery water. There’s also a slight sweetness to the corn, but that could be bits of brownie mix baked on. In the brownie-to-corn direction, this is not a tragedy. The serving size is slightly larger than your average section-meal’s veg serving.

Four chicken strips sit atop my fries, each about the size of two McD’s nuggets - looking sort of splotchy red-and-yellow and … crispy?! Upon closer inspection, there is some visible sogginess on the bottom of a couple strips. Perhaps they should be flipped at the cooking-interruption point where the brownie is removed to crisp on both sides? Because the tops and sides are actually crispy, and I’m totally impressed. I think it’s the fact of cooking atop the fries that helps this out - on the undersides, the soggy sections were only those touching plastic during the cooking process rather than resting atop french fries.

(It’s too bad country/chicken-friend steak/chicken goes so well with smashed potatoes. Otherwise we could cook that atop fries, too, and make Nicole’s world complete.)

The “buffalo” flavor of the strips is questionable. I was expecting a sharp, tangy vinegar-hot sauce experience, but the tang isn’t really there. However, there is a subtle, slowly building spice and heat flavoring the strips, and it’s damn tasty. If you like REALLY spicy food, well, you’d better have your bottle of hot sauce handy.

After chicken-strip-happiness began, I decided to interrupt for a mid-meal dessert, out of fear that a less-than-great brownie might leave me on the wrong foot. The brownie (corn and all) is very so-so. It is chocolately but not very sugary (slightly towards bitter), pretty moist in texture. I think that chocolate lover (not connoisseurs, but lovers) would be very pleased. I, myself, am glad I have some crispy spiciness left.

Surprise, surpise, this meal is quite filling. I think that the spiciness of the chicken combines with the 1 LB. OF FOOD to make me . . . full . . . and happy . . . I will absolutely buy this meal again, but I may save it for dinner, because I might just be ruined as far as working goes for the next 30 minutes.

[Nicole, there’s another one in Kitchen 2. -Ed.]