Price: $1.50 (on sale)
Serving: 1/3 box, 1 cup prepared
Calories: 220
Fat: 7%, 5g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 24%, 570mg
Protein: 8g
Carbohydrates: 13%, 39g
Fiber: 10%, 2g
Sugar: 8g
Weight Watchers Points: 4 points

Near East says: A delicate and flavorful dish consisting of 100% semolina wheat couscous combined with savory roasted garlic, onion and olive oil.

Abi says: Dear readers, please allow me to completely revolutionize your dinner time. If your are unfamiliar with couscous, don’t be scared. If you are familiar with couscous you’re nodding your head right now thinking ‘Dang, why don’t I make couscous all of the time?!?!’ I am appalled that I haven’t written about couscous before now.

For the uninitiated, couscous is basically tiny pasta balls. It is not a grain, like rice or bulgar, but essentially super-chopped spaghetti. But it is 18 times better than spaghetti because it is the easiest pasta ever invented. Also, it will not get marinara sauce on your white shirt. Oh, you are saying ‘What is easier than boiling water, putting in pasta and then draining it?’

Consider this couscous workflow:

• Measure 1 1/4 cups of water into a pot. Add a glug of olive oil and the seasoning packet, bring to a boil.
• Stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat.
• After five minutes lift lid from pot, fluff couscous and serve

How insanely easy is that? You can’t even think of anything easier! Making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is more difficult! Okay, faster - but you have to use a knife!

Now, this couscous from Near East is ‘instant’ couscous, which accounts for its super-speedy cooking time. Near East carries a wide variety of instant couscouses, but I have to say that the Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil variety holds a very special place in my heart. I like it because each box comes with enough seasoning that I don’t have to flavor the other ingredients I add to the dish. Shown here are chicken and peas. I’m also enamored of the serving size. Sure, 1 cup of food doesn’t seem like a whole lot, but once you add a chicken breast and a cup of vegetables you’ve got a remarkably filling, colorful, delicious meal for three.

Or if there are two of you, you can put the 3rd serving in a refrigerator box (anyone want to buy these for me so that I can stop using Ziploc containers?) and one of you can have it for lunch the next day. Couscous reheats beautifully.

You might be confused by my enthusiasm now, but once you give yourself over to the cult of couscous you’ll finally understand what fueled the Islamic Golden Age.*

*This statement is speculation based on a combination of claims in two Wikipedia articles. It should in no way be construed as a definitive statement on the existence of couscous in 7th century Arabia.

Price: Free from Hormel
Serving: 1 Container, 10 oz.
Calories: 210
Fat: 8%, 5g
Cholesterol:17%, 50mg
Sodium: 24%, 580mg
Protein: 20g
Carbs: 7%, 22g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Sugar: 4g
Weight Watchers Points: 4 points

Hormel says: Beef Steak & Peppers with Savory Sauce & Noodles. Created for a healthy lifestyle. Ready in 90 seconds!

Matt says: The title of the meal is “beef steak & peppers,” which is not to be confused with “pepper steak” of Chinese fare. Beef is definitely the star here. For a meal that sits in the cupboard at room temperature the beef is surprisingly tender, and for the package size there is plenty of it. As promised the meal is very hot in 90 seconds.

My main complaint is that everything tastes like the beef gravy, meaning only the meat stands out. The gravy has a mild peppery flavor, but not enough oomph to make it spicy. Considering that this dish contains 580mg of sodium (24% of my daily intake) I’m surprised it doesn’t taste salty.

The noodles are present en masse. However, they are so soft they merely create a mushy bed to hold the meat. There are carrots, onions, mushrooms, and green and red bell peppers present in the dish but they are lost in the mushy-meat mess. The carrots and peppers are cut into strips that are similar in shape to the noodles. In one’s mouth the noodles and vegetables are indistinguishable in flavor and texture.

Because of the packaging for the shelf, the texture difficulties are somewhat unavoidable. Regardless, I would have liked a little more spice to the sauce to liven things up. How about bigger cuts of the vegetables? While the meal in edible, it is nothing that will force a midnight run to Safeway.

Price: $3.00
Serving: 9 oz.
Calories: 190
Fat: 12%, 8g
Cholesterol: 17%, 50mg
Sodium: 28%, 680mg
Protein: 19g
Carbohydrates: 4%, 11g
Fiber: 13%, 3g
Sugar: 3g
Weight Watchers Points: 4 Points

Smart Ones says: It’s a sophisticated dish with tender cuts of roast beef and portobello mushrooms, smothered in a tangy vermouth sauce, and a mix of crisp broccoli and cauliflower on the side. So delicious, so satisfying… and another little way you can be good today.

Sarah says: This meal sat in my freezer for quite a while. For some reason, there was always something else that seemed more palatable. But in my recent quest to get a hot body for the summer, I’ve been more careful with my caloric intake. Since I’m going out for dinner tonight, at only 190 calories this meal was the clear winner for lunch.

When I removed it from the microwave, I wasn’t overjoyed at the smell. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a bad smell per se, but it wasn’t amazing, either. I have to tell you though, I was pleasantly surprised at the taste! Ok, so the veggies needed a tiny bit of salt and pepper, but after that, this meal was none too shady.

The things I enjoyed, in list form:

1. The meat. The box didn’t lie, the roast beef was tender indeed. And delicious! And plentiful, and filling, and the list goes on and on. I have nothing but good things to say about the roast beef, which is good, since that is the name of this meal. Seriously Smart Ones, “Roast Beef?” Not, “Roast Beef and Vegetables?” Or even “Delicious Roast Beef?” You should talk to the people in your creative department. Or maybe hire me.
2. The vegetables tasted like real vegetables. I don’t really like the green stuff in general, so I’m extra picky when it comes to the frozen ones. But while I wouldn’t agree with the official description of “crisp,” I did think they were pretty good.

…And I guess that’s it. I liked the meat, I liked the veggies, and that’s pretty much all there was to this meal. The sauce wasn’t so bad either, though I wouldn’t call it “tangy.” All in all, for 190 calories, I feel full and decently satisfied. That’s what I look for in a microwavable lunch.

Oh, one final note - I don’t know if you can tell from the picture, but they definitely show little red things (Peppers? Tomatoes?) in the veggies. It was clear to me when I opened it up that that was a dirty lie. Sort of. I did find ONE of those little buggers (Conclusion: definitely a pepper) buried under a piece of broccoli. Frankly, this didn’t affect my judgment of the meal because I freaking hate peppers. AND tomatoes. But as a good reviewer, I thought I should alert you to this little fact. You’ve been warned, pepper-loving freaks.

Price: $3.00 on sale
Serving: 1/12 pan, 1.42oz.
Calories: 170
Fat: 12%, 8g
Cholesterol: 7%, 20mg
Sodium: 4%, 85mg
Protein: 2g
Carbs: 8%, 23g
Fiber: 4%, <1g
Sugar: 16g
Weight Watchers Points: 4 Points each

Duncan Hines says: First brownie that comes frozen and ready to bake, packaged in convenient, oven-ready trays - no prep and no clean-up necessary.

Abi says: After my disappointing experience with Trader Joe’s Ready to Bake brownies I wasn’t excited to try out the Duncan Hines variety. I don’t even like Duncan Hines’ boxed brownie mix: if I’m using a mix I prefer the Betty Crocker one that comes with a syrup pouch. But I knew that there was room in Josh’s freezer and these pre-mixed brownies were sale at Safeway. Frozen batter, how you tempt me.

Preparation was easy: preheat the oven, pop in the unwrapped tray and wait for 1/2 an hour. While waiting, the scent of cocoa filled the house, tempting those who made the rather unfortunate choice of giving up chocolate for Lent. I suppose that sort of sacrifice made Easter all the more awesome. When the brownies were done I sliced them into an inappropriate number of servings (10 instead of the recommended 12) based on there being 5 people in the brownie-eating pool. And then I put them on the coffee table and learned that these brownies are only appealing to drunk people. Perfectly sober people are not tempted by mediocre baked goods when outside of an office environment.

These are better than the Trader Joe’s brownies, but that’s akin to saying that gas station coffee is superior to dirty water. Only 4 brownies were consumed on the first go-round. The next night of basketball saw the consumption of just 3 more brownies. By Saturday evening I realized it was a lost cause and tossed the rest of the brownies. Will I ever find a pre-made brownie as good as anything on Anna’s brownie recipe list?