Price: $4.19
Serving: 1 pouch, 3.25oz.
Calories: 70
Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 0%, 0mg
Protein: 5g
Carbohydrates: 4%, 13g
Fiber: 16%, 4g
Sugar: 4g
Weight Watchers Points: 1 Point

Birds Eye says: The bags inside this package are special. Simply place one in your microwave and watch it inflate as it perfectly steams your vegetables right in the bag! Your vegetables retain their natural goodness, crisp texture and fresh taste. Steaming with Birds Eye has never been easier.

Abi says: I bought these peas because I thought it’d be good to branch out from Green Giant’s vegetable monopoly on Heat Eat Review. Also, I was curious as to whether these peas would be better than the 99¢ bags of peas that I usually use. Would I really notice that steaming was better than boiling or microwaving in a bit of water?

Uh, no. These peas are no better than the cheap ones from the bag. They taste just like every other frozen pea product I’ve ever had in my life. Really, this product is just the 100-Calorie Portion version of vegetables. Except that plain vegetables are low calorie in the first place. Have you ever heard of anyone getting fat off of plain sweet peas? Probably not.

Sure, these peas were fine, but they weren’t worth four times the price of regular peas. Also, they didn’t do anything to speed up my couscous-making process. Usually I throw in the peas just before the water boils, giving them time to heat and steam along with the couscous, a process faster than heating the peas separately in the microwave.

“But Abi,” you’re saying “won’t these peas be great for me as a person who work in an office? I can just steam a few at a time!” and to that I say “Get yourself one of those Green Giant vegetable packages. They contain two servings and involve vegetables that you can actually stab with a fork.”

Price: $3.99
Serving: 1/2 package, 5oz.
Calories: 200
Fat: 27%, 17g
Cholesterol: 14%, 45mg
Sodium: 22%, 540mg
Protein: 5g
Carbohydrates: 2%, 6g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 2g
Weight Watchers Points: 5 Points

Deep Foods says: Paneer prepared in the tandoori style and simmered in an authentic and richly-spiced sauce

Abi says: I’ve never been to India, so I don’t know how authentic from-India food tastes. Sure, I’ve eaten at a lot of Indian restaurants, but I have no idea whether I’m eating real food or the Indian version of Taco Bell.

But I don’t take authenticity too seriously when something is so freaking delicious. This paneer makhani contains only pronounceable ingredients* and is bursting with the rich and subtle flavors that highlight my favorite Indian foods. My mouth is watering just thinking about how much I enjoy this dish now that I’ve taken it out of the running for lunch and made it a part of a simple, delicious dinner.

In the photo you can see a rotisserie chicken, couscous and the paneer. It isn’t a well balanced meal because it is completely lacking vegetables, but I’m not too worried about that because it took all of five minutes to put together this meal.

Yes, five minutes. Thank you Whole Foods chicken.

Each dish of Paneer Makhani contains 2-3 servings, making it a simple way to round out a meal in need of spice. If you’re worried about the extreme amount of fat in each serving, you can definitely use this as a sauce instead of a side and split it four ways. The tomato-based (or should I say cream-based?) sauce is mellowly spicy, making it flavorful without being overwhelming. The sauce and cheese combination is extraordinarily rich, so you’ll want to steer toward plain accompaniments. There are about 12 cubes of cheese per package and while that seems like very little to be sharing with others. Everything in the tray is so delicious that I wish Deep Foods just sold this sauce in little foil pouches I could pull out of the cupboard at any time.

*Ingredients: Tomatoes, Water Onions, Cream, Paneer (milk, part skim milk, vinegar, salt), Canola Oil, Cashews, Spices, Milled Cane Sugar, Sea Salt, Garlic, Butter, Oleoresin of Paprika, Turmeric, Fenugreek Leaves

Price: $2.00 on sale
Serving: 1/2 cup, 3.5oz.
Servings per Package: 2
Calories: 45
Fat: 3%, 2g
Cholesterol: 2%, 5mg
Sodium: 9%, 220mg
Protein: 1g
Carbohydrates: 2%, 2g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Sugar: 3g
Weight Watchers Points: 1 Point

Green Giant says: Sliced carrots, zucchini quarters and sliced green beans lightly tossed with rosemary butter sauce

Abi says: I’m in Las Vegas right now for the Food Marketing Institute’s annual convention. So far I have attended seminars on food trends and sampled a lot of truly odd items, including an energy drink that contains collagen.

During one session about the latest and greatest items in the processed food world, the speaker highlighted functional foods (also known as Nutraceuticals, which I often confuse with [don’t click on this link ->] Neuticles). She showed images of this item, the Green Giant Healthy Weight Vegetables and the Green Giant Immunity Boost. The last of which I haven’t purchased because peppers will inevitably turn mushy and I don’t feel like heating up a steam bag full of disappointment.

Basically, she talked about how companies are simply combining things that are already good for you and making catchy names. It is slightly different than products like Vitamin Water, which isolate supposedly healthy items and mix them with coloring and sugar.

In this case, Green Giant provides the consumer with thickly sliced carrot coins, still-crisp green beans and mushy, off-putting zucchini, all drenched in a buttery rosemary sauce. A rosemary sauce that features the equivalent of a single leaf of rosemary.

Once again, this is not really enough vegetables for two people, especially when you realize that the zucchini, which makes up a significant portion of the meal, is pretty unfantastic. I’d approximate entire package as having the volume of approximately 1.75 keyboard mice. Mouses. Computer-based pointing devices. The mouse was invented just a few miles from where I live. I am slightly obsessed with it, though I use them rarely.

I am not obsessed with the butter-like sauce, which features a distinctly unnatural viscosity. It turns out that enzyme modified butter is butter that’s been melted, had water added to it and then been treated with an enzyme to release the chemical chains that are holding back the intense butter flavor we all love. The enzyme they use? Streptococcus lactis.

I took a crash course in flavor chemistry because it tastes fake and takes away from the vegetables rather than adding to them. While I enjoy a bit of seasoning, I don’t need my greens greased.

Also, I still have to wear glasses. Way to go, Green Giant.

Price: $3.00
Serving: 1 cookie, 1.28oz.
Calories: 200
Fat: 18%, 12g
Cholesterol: 7%, 20mg
Sodium: 6%, 150mg
Protein: 5g
Carbs: 7%, 20g
Fiber: 5%, 1g
Sugar: 14g
Weight Watchers Points: 5 Points

Trader Joe says: Nothing

Abi says: Before I get your hopes up too high, I should point out that these cookies are not as good as the chocolate chip ones. Did you really think that peanut butter cookies (or any sans-chocolate cookie) could win? No, it cannot. Chocolate is always the winner.

The other downside of these cookies is that while they seem all healthy with the ‘Gluten Free’ splashed everywhere, they are actually quite calorieriffic. A 1.28 ounce cookie clocks in at 200 calories. Yowzers. I could eat four, no problem. Which makes it all the more silly that earlier today I pulled a Stouffer’s meatloaf entree out of the freezer and then put it back because it was about 640 calories and seemed like too much food.

Also, the Stouffer’s company was joyous about the fact that there were two meatloaves in the package. If I find a single hamburger filling I probably don’t need two loaves of meat. Yeesh.

Yet I will gladly consume many, many cookies. Mmmmm. Each of these Trader Joe’s peanut butter cookies features the heft of a large clam fresh from the ocean, still filled with the brine of the sea. They are delightfully weighty, meaning that you’re not likely to grab more than two at a time. Well, until you finish those. Then you will get more. The cookies are crumblier than I’d like, which is likely related to their lack of gluten. This means that you’ll need to show care when you eat each cookie, handling them gently lest they turn to sand in too-rough hands.

The peanut butter shines through here with a gentle nuttiness that brings back elementary school sack lunches. The cookies weren’t too salty or too sweet, just simple and balanced.

You can easily make your own gluten free peanut butter cookies and forego this pre-made gluten free cookie dough. But if you’re into convenience (and not into washing dishes) and want the ability to bake just a few cookies at a time, pick up a box the next time you’re at Trader Joe’s.