Price: $2.99
Serving: 1 meal, 10.6 oz.
Calories: 300
Fat: 12%, 8g
Cholesterol: 8%, 25mg
Sodium: 23%, 560mg
Protein: 21g
Carbs: 11%, 34g
Fiber: 20%, 5g
WW Points: 6 Points

Healthy Choice says: We broil lean chicken tenderloin chunks, combine them with a colorful medley of zucchini, spinach and sun dried tomatoes and serve over linguini pasta tossed in a flavorful Parmesan sauce.

Adina says: I am not someone who likes my food steamed. I like it breaded, deep fried, saturated in fat, glazed, covered in gravy, chocolate sauce, bits of bacon, etc. I accept that some food must be boiled (noodles) in order to be married to less healthy mediums (alfredo sauce) to create one, harmonious meal. Rarely will you find me saying “Ohh, let’s steam dinner tonight” or “I’ll take the healthy steamed option please, with a side of broccoli.” And when I say rarely, I mean you can just go ahead and shoot me when that day comes because my life will so be over.

But (and this is possibly the hugest “but” since Baby Got Back hit record stores in 1992), this meal was sort of definitely a delightful dining experience. Dare I say that Healthy Choice finally did something right? God, that feels so wrong to say and yet . . . my mouth doesn’t lie. This meal, it was unbelievably tasty.

The zucchini was perfectly steamed. It tasted much like how I would imagine zucchini would taste if I ever steamed it and then ate it. It was tender on the inside and faintly crisp on the outside. It looked so green and fresh that I actually ate it first. Before the noodles. I KNOW. To me, eating vegetables before noodles is sort of akin to choosing a Brazilian bikini wax over napping. It is just plum crazy. And yet, it was my reality this afternoon as I pushed the noodles to the side to find that last bite of zucchini yumminess.

Not to say the noodles weren’t good. Oh they were good. Especially considering that the sauce was FedExed from HEAVEN. Seriously, the taste is so zesty and unexpected.

It was flavorful and bitey and the picture on the container actually doesn’t do the spices justice. Has that ever happened before? Where the food was actually BETTER than how it looked in the picture? WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY HEALTHY CHOICE?

The chicken was a little dry, but it tasted like dry REAL chicken. As far as white meat goes, this was probably better than any piece of white meat I can cook. I truly believe white meat has like a 2 second window of tenderness and then BAM it’s dry. Anyway, it didn’t matter if it was a tad dry because it just complimented the texture of the melt-in-your-mouth veggies.

So yes, I am giving this Healthy Choice meal 5 full stars. I back this meal with my life. Steaming your food separate from the sauce is brilliant. The steaming locks in the individual flavors, and the sauce accentuates rather than overpowers the meal. Congratulations, Healthy Choice. You have moved from “sucks so bad” to “edible and sort of delightful”. Be proud, be very proud.

Price: $1.89 + tax
Serving: 4oz
Serving Size: 1/2 Package
Calories: 60 per serving
Fat: 4%, 3g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 11%, 260mg
Protein: 2g
Carbohydrates: 3%, 8g
Fiber: 12%, 3g
Weight Watchers Points: 1 per serving
Diet Exchanges: 1½ Vegetable, ½ fat, Carbohydrate Choices: ½

Green Giant says: Perfectly steam cooked every time through our new steam seam, Simply Steam Seasoned Vegetables use special blends of herbs & seasonings to accent the natural taste & goodness of delicious Green Giant vegetables.

Becky says: I love steamed veggies, and since this product came out on the market, I ALWAYS have a few boxes in the freezer. Who wants to take the time to take out the steamer basket for the stock pot, wait for the water to boil, wait for the veggies to cook, and then try to fit the pot, steamer basket, and lid into the dishwasher? Not me!

These veggies are SIMPLE to make – all you do is take it out of the box, nuke it, cut open the bag, dump the veggie/sauce mix into a pretty bowl, and ta-da! Fresh steamed veggies, and no dirty pots in sight. The veggies come out perfect every time, crisp, colorful, and tasting fantastic. Who could ask for anything more?

Lately, I’ve been bringing these to work with me as an add-on to my lunch. The only thing discouraging here is that I don’t want to eat just half of the package (it serves 2), so therefore, I’m getting double of the nasties that make an appearance (fat, sodium, etc). But hey, I’m getting my veggies, so I’m just thinking that everything else just cancels each other out.

If you DON’T have this in your freezer right now, something’s wrong. You need to go buy right now. You no longer have an excuse for not eating your veggies. And for that, I’m not sorry!

However, I am sorry that I’m still waiting for my Brussels Sprouts. C’mon Green Giant!

Price: $5.99 (on sale for $4.00)
Serving: 1/3 Pizza, 4.66oz.
Calories: 360 per serving
Fat: 28%, 18g
Cholesterol: 5%, 15mg
Sodium: 28%, 680mg
Protein: 13g
Carbs: 12%, 37g
Fiber: 16%, 4g
Weight Watchers Points: 8 Points

Amy’s says: This variation of our basic cheese pizza has a layer of pesto and fresh tasting tomato sauce atop a whole-wheat crust. Parents will appreciate the extra nutrition of the crust as well as its great taste.

Abi says: I have the remedy for the problem that you don’t even realize exists. The solution is Amy’s Cheese and Pesto Pizza. Last year I complained that Amy’s cheese pizza was that it was all fine and dandy so long and one didn’t mind being bored out of their mind. Well, it is almost as though someone at Amy’s heard me and made a pizza that offered the simplicity of cheese with the oomph of pesto and the heartiness of a whole wheat crust.

Part of why I’m excited about this pizza is that the pest on it is even better than the pesto in the legendary Amy’s Pesto Tortellini Bowl. Yes, I realize that it is probably the same pesto, but the pizza is just so much more amazing because the pesto is paired with a delightfully tangy tomato sauce, cheese, and chewy crust.

Half of this pizza, plus a couple of beers and a couple of chocolate chip cookies will be more than enough to get you through the next round of NFL playoff games or tomorrow night’s primary in New Hampshire.

SRP: $3.99
Serving: 1 tray, 9.5oz.
Calories: 360
Fat: 8%, 5g
Cholesterol: 10%, 30mg
Sodium: 37%, 890mg
Protein: 16g
Carbs: 15%, 46g
Fiber: 12%, 3g
Weight Watchers Points: 6 Points

Kahiki says: Grilled white-meat chicken with no added antibiotics. Served with vegetables and brown rice in our signature zesty sauce.

Abi says: I was torn when Tim Tsao, the VP of Sales and Marketing (and son of the company founder) at Kahiki contacted me after reading Jess’s review of Kahiki Sweet and Sour Chicken and offered to send a case of their reformulated entrees. Being a person intrigued with reformulated recipes and nearly incapable of declining free frozen meals, I accepted the offer. I’d just read about their makeover in an issue of Refrigerated and Frozen Foods Magazine (yes, I subscribe) and I was curious about the new Naturals line.

“But,” I told myself when the package arrived at my office (a.k.a. home) “You are going to be strict about these meals. You are not going to let their freeness affect what you say in your review. You will be firm.” Yeah, I gave myself a talking-to. And then the meals sat in my freezer for a month. What if I didn’t like them? What if I broke Tim’s heart?

Finally, I decided to start with the General Tso’s Chicken. Never a fan of the chicken in my youth due to its unidentifiable pieces of fried dark meat (hey, I couldn’t tell what was in there), I looked forward to trying a healthy non-fried version.

Can I just say ‘Wow’. Wow. Not a Carolyn Hax ‘Wow’ of disbelief about what your mother-in-law just said about your grandma’s apple pie recipe. No, this is a wow of yum. The General Tso’s sauce is spicy, wonderfully spicy. It has enough tingle to almost make your nose run with the spice, but not enough heat to make you get up and get a glass of water right at that moment. The chunks of chicken breast are moist, lean, and feature weird grill marks that look really fake but I forgive them that because they are delightfully smoky. Sure, that grilled flavor comes from vegetable oil, but by the time I learned that I’d already consumed the entire meal and used my finger to lick the remaining sauce out of its section of the tray.

Under the chicken you see in the photo is a little village of broccoli, drenched in that fantastic sauce. There were also two insignificant carrots. And maybe a water chestnut. I’m not sure what it was, but I ate it because it was in the zesty sauce. Mmmm, sauce.

The rice is brown rice. It is boring. There is an amount appropriate to the other items in the tray. It is actually very pale and non-nutty for brown rice. It seems more like white rice. Or maybe beige rice. Perhaps it is a new strain of non-healthy-seeming brown rice. I do not know because I am not a rice scientist. Lacking a rice-science background, I’m going to assume that the rice was ultra-nutritious.

This meal is not your typical restaurant Genera Tso’s. It is a healthier adaptation that features a cringe-free ingredients list (how often does that happen?) and no mystery breading. Thinking about other General Tsos’ meals I’ve tried for HeatEatReview.com (Healthy Choice General Tso’s Chicken and Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers General Tso’s Chicken) I have to say that Kahiki’s variety leaves them in the dust. Sure, it lacks that deep fried hallmark coating of restaurant General Tso’s, but when I caught myself eyeing another box of it at Whole Foods, I knew that I’d found a gem.