Price: $3.29 ($2.79 on sale)
Serving: 1/2 tray, 5 oz.
Calories: 130
Fat: 9%, 6g
Sodium: 19%, 450mg
Protein: 5g

Green Guru says: Exotic lentils and split peas. A flavorful and complex recipe makes this blend of dals a tantalizing compliment to any meal.

Kate says: This is not the best dal that I’ve ever had, but it isn’t bad either. Unfortunately for this dish, lemon dal happens to be the best recipe I know, so I have pretty high standards. I’m going to call this OK. If it came with rice, it would probably be upgraded to good. It could use a little more spice and a little more thickness. That said, in the sea of atrocious frozen food, this is still pretty darn good.

Price: $3.19
Serving: 1 tray, 10 oz.
Calories: 300
Fat: 4%, 3g
Sodium: 28%, 680mg
Protein: 17g
WW Points: 6 Winning Points
Diet Exchanges: 1 1/2 Lean Meat, 2 Starch, 1/2 Fruit, 1/2 other carbohydrate

Lean Cuisine says: Tender, roasted chicken tenderloins tossed in a traditional sweet and sour sauce made from soy sauce, pineapple juice and tomato. Hand-picked red and green peppers, julienne carrots and golden pineapple tidbits finish the dish which is over a bed of long grain white rice

Jess says: My mom has this ridiculous obsession with Americanized Chinese food. Literally this woman could eat Chinese -style food for every meal, every day of the week, and be completely content with her life. I find this odd for a woman whose family lines are straight White Russian. Culturally speaking she should be craving borscht and blintzes. Instead she’s looking for egg rolls and baby corn. As a teenager, my lame rebellious move was to boycott all Chinese establishments just to piss off my mom. If she wanted to break bread with me, it wasn’t going be in Fortune Cookie form (yeah, I can’t think of any other Chinese food bread-like product, which is probably a part of the problem). So she had to choose between her favorite meals or quality bonding time with her only daughter. In the end I think she just made us each get our own take-out orders from the place of our choice. The woman is clever.

Now that I’m living away from home, I’ve recently started getting back in business with Americanized Chinese food. And with this meal, Lean Cuisine made me glad that I did. The sauce is more sweet than sour. The pieces of pineapple add a nice little sugar kick. (Abi later informed me that I was getting a 1/2 serving of fruit – right on, LC. I need those nutrients!) Plenty of chicken and its not breaded which can be kind of annoying in the restaurant version of this meal. That’s right LC, let’s keep it healthy. There is a good sauce to rice ratio (this is key to a good microwavable eating experience). There are also many colors of peppers, so that the meal is not only tasty but pleasing to the eye. I damn near licked the sauce left over in the bowl afterwards and then thought about calling my mom to tell her that I loved her. But Sunday is Mother’s Day, so I’ll probably just hold out until then.

This Thursday we present Anna, the first guest reviewer on www.HeatEatReview.com. She’s the winner of the Pillsbury Bake-Off and documents her obsession at Cookie Madness. Anna’s in the middle of a kitchen remodel, which means that she’s eating frozen food and contributing (at least once) to Heat Eat Review.

Price: 1 box for $3.69
Serving: 1 riblet, 5 oz.
Calories: 160
Fat: 7%, 4.5g
Sodium: 41%, 990mg
Protein: 32%, 17g
WW Points: 4 Winning Points

Gardenburger says: Juicy and tender veggie riblets with a slow-cooked, hickory-smoked flavor. And don’t forget the smoky BBQ sauce. Cowboys never ate this good.

Anna says: You may have noticed Garden Burger Riblets in passing. Perhaps you stopped to read the box. Or maybe, like me, you moved on past the riblets withthe image of some funky vegetarian version of the meat component of the old McDonald’s McRib sandwich. Remember that? If you don’t, you are lucky. What brought me to finally buying riblets was an enthusiastic recommendation by Hungry Girl, who gave riblets a big thumbs up.

My thumbs are slightly tilted. The best I can describe riblets is as a soy burger that has been molded into little ribs and smothered in sweet barbecue sauce. Riblets are good if your expectations are in check. They’re about as similar to pork ribs as a cheese sandwich, but with 16 grams of protein and 230 calories, they’re a good way to get some protein under your belt before moving on to cookies or dessert.

You can cook riblets in the microwave or wrap them in foil and bake them in the oven the same way you might bake actual ribs, which is what I did. Here is a picture of an actual riblet -the one I ate. Will I buy these again? Maybe. I’ll decide after I eat the second one. They come two in a box.

Price: $1.99
Serving: 1 tamale, 5 oz.
Calories: 280
Fat: 23%, 15g
Sodium: 27%, 640mg
Protein: 8g
Fiber: 20%, 5g

Nutritionally
Taste-wise

Trader Joe says: Handcrafted cheese and green chile tamales wrapped in corn husks

Amy says: I made a HUGE mistake before consuming this meal. While leaning over Abi’s shoulder I noticed the amount of fat in the product. My jaw dropped and then my head exploded when Abi informed me that the 15 grams of fat is in one, ONE pinche tamale!!! And the sodium is through the roof too! Dios mio!! I was ready to plop down and eat both of the tamales, but upon revealing the true nature of this beastly tamale I had to re-think my game plan.

The fat discovery likely played a large role in my lack of excitement for the tamales. I dare say that it made the tamale a bit sour at first bit. Yeah, dig the psychosomatic bit. About halfway through the first tamale I realized two things: 1) I was starting to enjoy the taste of the tamale, and 2) that there was no way I could eat the second tamale. This lightened my mood quite a bit and improved the flavor of the meal. I also took it upon myself to drizzle some (spill a ridiculous amount of) Trader Jose’s Mexican Sauce on the side of the plate. This ‘Mexican Sauce’ added to the tastiness of the lunch, but not so much to the fat content. The tamale was pretty tasty, filled with a generous serving of cheese and little bits of green chiles. The corn mush was not too mushy, but not too dry and each tamale held up in the microwave, aside from the cheese spilling out the ends. However, overall I would say that the taste of this meal does not make up for the outrageous fat and sodium content.

I learned an important life lesson today: I should either read the nutrition facts before buying the product or not buy it at all.