Price: $5.49
Serving: 1 tray, 7.1oz
Calories: 370 per serving
 Calories from Fat: 50
Fat: 8%, 5g
 Saturated Fat: 4%, 1g
 Trans Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 25%, 75mg
Sodium: 37%, 890mg
Protein: 17g
Carbohydrates: 22%, 65g
Fiber: 13%, 3g
Sugar: 10g
Weight Watchers Points: 7 POINTS

Glutino says: Traditional Thai brand dish prepared with tender strips of chicken breast meat, rice noodles, and a variety of vegetables in a mild lime infused sauce. Chicken used is raised without antibiotics. Product of Canada.

Kelly says: I was diagnosed with Celiac disease about 6 months ago and have had to make some major life changes – one of the biggest and most difficult was giving up my local Thai places. I am a Thai food junkie! But with an extreme intolerance of wheat products, anything that’s touched soy sauce is a huge danger to my system. We’re talking irritable bowels of epic proportions because someone used the same spoon to stir two different dishes.

So, I went without Thai food for awhile – then I tried cooking it myself using cookbooks and the Internet and now I’m pretty good at making a curry. But curry isn’t everything, and sometimes a girl just wants a quick, well-balanced (uh, spice-wise, not nutrition-wise) lunch that involves lots and lots of noodles.

Nooooooodles.

And chicken, because approximately 17 minutes after consuming a bowl of noodles I am hungry. Life a wolf.

Awoooooo.

I microwaved this meal for 3 minutes, stirred (mashed up the noodles with a fork), then microwaved for another 1.5 minutes. It is a very standard microwave cooking experience. What isn’t standard is the extremely uniform (brown) color of this dish. After years of not enjoying food, I finally know how to eat and now I’m heating up a tray of sludgy brown noodles? Ugh.

But looks aren’t everything.

These brown rice noodles are smushy and rubbery and could not be much more different than freshly made pad thai, the chicken is plain old chunks of chicken, and the but the FLAVOR is A-MAY-ZING. I can taste individual notes of tamari, lime, tamarind and garlic, I can discern sweetness, I can have a pad thai party in my mouth.

Here’s my conundrum: this meal is delicious. But it is ugly. It is mighty tasty. But it is TINY. Minuscule. Alarmingly small. It makes me sad just to look at it. Also, it is really expensive. Gluten-free frozen meals are almost always NOT on sale. This is why I pack my own lunches. But sometimes I go out with friends the night before and don’t make dinner and thus don’t have leftovers. And in those cases, I should probably keep an array of gluten-free frozen meals in my home, including this lovably ugly pad thai.

Price: $2.99
Serving: 1/2 cup, 4oz
Servings per box: About 3.5oz
Calories per serving: 220
 Calories from Fat: 130
Fat: 23%, 18g
 Saturated Fat: 46%, 9g
 Trans Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 16%, 45mg
Sodium: 9%, 210mg
Protein: 4g
Carbohydrates: 7%, 21g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Sugar: 2g
Weight Watchers Points: 5 POINTS

Trader Joe says: Trader Joe’s Steakhouse Sides are where comfort food and elegant dining find common ground. These are substantive side dishes that will simultaneously remind you of Mom’s kitchen and a fine steak house.

Creamed Corn is a savory side of fresh white corn blended with Asiago cheese, butter, cream and just a touch of real maple syrup to finish it off. It’s delicious with any kind of grilled meat, and complements seafood especially well. Trader Joe’s Steakhouse Sides – when you need to put your best food forward.

Abi says: Corn is one of the best parts of summer. Unfortunately, it goes from perfect to bland after just a couple of days in the fridge. Plus, corn is crazy expensive in Palo Alto ($1 per ear – yikes!). But oh my goodness do I love corn, corn that’s barely blanched and crisply sweet, corn that’s cut off the ear and mixed with a bit of butter and brown sugar, corn that’s grilled and then sprinkled with fresh lime and chili powder. Corn, corn, corn!

Alas, come October there will be no more fresh corn. And that is why I am giving you a chance to stock up on Trader Joe’s creamed corn right now. This is perhaps the easiest side dish I have ever consumed, easier even than those steam-pouches of vegetables. This is corn in a buttery, sweet and salty cheese sauce. Not a velveeta-y cheese sauce, no this is more of a savory, clumpy medium that indicates real cheese, real delicious cheese.

The heating process is simple: put in microwave for 3 minutes, stir, then microwave for 2 more minutes. Yeah, the box has all of this “5 minutes at 50%” junk but I am telling you that you will waste multiple minutes trying to heat food that way. Another downside: the weird serving size. According to Trader Joe’s there are 3.5 servings in this package. Honestly, there are 3 side-dish sized servings that will satisfy starved adults. And when potluck time comes this fall and winter, all you have to do is buy 2 or three packages of this corn, throw some freshly-chopped (or deep fried) sage on top and you’ve got a dish that appears to have been cooked by an actual person.

Ingredients: Sweet white corn, heavy cream, unsalted butter, asiago cheese, maple syrup, rice starch, salt, black pepper.

Price: $3.49
Serving: 1 box, 9oz
Calories: 330 per serving
   Calories from Fat: 190
Fat: 32%, 21g
   Saturated Fat: 39%, 8g
   Trans Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 14%, 40mg
Sodium: 35%, 850mg
Protein: 9g
Carbohydrates: 8%, 25g
Fiber: 6%, 1g
Sugar: 3g
Weight Watchers Points: 8 POINTS

Trader Joe says: Paneer Tikka Masala with Spinach Basmati Rice – Authentic Indian Recipe

Abi says: I love Indian food. I like the rich flavors, the enthusiastic use of seasoning, the way you can eat with your hands using rice and/or naan. I like that there are dishes with cheese and dishes with meat and dishes with neither cheese nor meat.

What I don’t like is that paneer tikka masala doesn’t travel well. Sure, I can throw some leftovers in a plastic container, but the constant fear of a purse full of sauce is a huge deterrent. I’m talking serious fear here. I love my purse. I love paneer tikka masala. I don’t want my purse to get any paneer tikka masala lovin’. What can I say? I am a jealous lady.

You know who else is jealous? Everyone who saw this meal, from my commute buddy to coworkers, people either saw the box and said ‘Wow, that looks really good. I need to start bringing frozen food to work.’ or they endured the amazing aromas of my lunch and said ‘I am going to go get some Indian food now. Also, I hate you Abi for making me spend money instead of eating my sandwich in peace.’*

This meal weighs in at just 9 ounces, but provides such a hearty portion of tikka masala’d paneer that I was worried I wouldn’t have enough rice. The tikka masala is fragrant with spices that must come straight from heaven. The individual cheese cubes are not quite in the same abundance as shown on the box. In fact, the picture on the box is only really a “Serving Suggestion” if the suggestion is “Buy two boxes of the meal and put them on the same plate.”

Alas, I can’t tell you much about the spinach rice. In my enthusiasm to consume this meal I completely forgot to taste it solo. I just mixed everything together into one rather unattractive mass of super-delicious food. So, as a sauce-conveying mechanism, the green rice is awesome. As a stand-alone meal component I’m at a loss.

What I can tell you is that Trader Joe’s knows what they’re doing with this meal. There is exactly enough rice for the paneer and sauce, the flavor of the tikka masala is divine without being overly spicy (I adore spicy, this was medium intensity), and there’s no chance that the meal will end up all over the inside of your purse. Could this meal get any better? Yes, it could include a chocolate lava cake, then it would be perfect.

Bravo, Trader Joe’s!

*Not an actual quote. More like the gist of a quote. Yes, that person did go buy Indian food.

Price: $2.50 – sale at Whole Foods
Serving: 1 package, 9.2oz
Calories: 400 per serving
  Calories from Fat: 140
Fat: 25%, 16g
  Saturated Fat: 35%, 7g
  Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 15%, 45mg
Sodium: 16%, 390mg
Protein: 4g
Carbohydrates: 18%, 55g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Sugar: <1 g
Weight Watchers Points: 9 Points

Gluten Free Cafe says: For gluten-sensitive consumers who don’t want to sacrifice taste, Gluten Free Cafe offers delicious, all-natural gourmet gluten-free frozen foods bursting with bold flavor and rich herbs and spices. Like Fettuccini Alfredo, an Italian classic – tender rice noodles smothered in a delicious creamy parmesan and romano cheese sauce.

Abi says: It took a horrible cold and a trip to Whole Foods to purchase a neti pot (I chickened out. Also, neti pots are expensive!) to introduce me to Gluten Free Cafe’s line of foods. Ever on the hunt for a great microwaveable cheese sauce, this dish looked up to my challenge.

And what a challenge it was. In all of my frozen meal eating, the only cheese sauce containing meals I’d really liked weren’t office friendly. And those microwavable ones? Sigh. Marie Callender’s Fettuccini with Chicken and Broccoli? Bland. Michael Angelo’s Grilled Chicken in Creamy Garlic Sauce with Pasta? Bland. South Beach Diet Chicken Alfredo a la Roma? Bland, also from the emails I’ve been getting it seems that South Beach foods now only exist in theory.

So I grabbed this on-sale meal, prepared for another trip to blandville, and then forgot about it for two months. Fortunately, even when it is 75 degrees where I live, it will only be 57 degrees in San Francisco, where I work. A day with a high of 57 is an optimal day for cheese sauce.

After pulling the box from the office freezer in a moment of triumph, I realized I was about to eat a meal that consisted solely of white noodles in white sauce. Mmmm, variety. Before we get into the prebiotic fiber that makes digesting a usually fiberless meal a bit easier on the body, please know that the cooking instructions listed on the box are going to totally screw you over. Instead of cooking on high for 3 minutes, stirring, and cooking on high for another 2 minutes, stir as often as humanly possible. This sauce has the impressive ability to form solid masses of overcooked dairy, an unfortunate side-effect in the microwaving process.

If you do happen to adhere to a strict stirring schedule, one that will most likely annoy your fellow officemates who are waiting for the microwave, you will be treated to a bubbly, creamy mass of noodles bathed in sauce. And what’s in that sauce? Normal stuff like cream, parmesan cheese, uh, corn starch and flavoring. Okay, so you can’t have it all. Keeping this meal from attaining a five-star rating is the somewhat imperfect experience of eating semi-gooey rice noodles when you prefer your pasta al dente.

If I lived in a cold land and required gluten-free products, I’d definitely keep a couple of these in the freezer. Being able to digest gluten, I probably won’t buy this again because the stuff at Whole Foods is far too expensive for everyday consumption.