InnovAsian Chicken & Broccoli

Wow! As you may know, the quest for nut-free Chinese food is among my most difficult and desired. So whenever I go to a new grocery store, I check to see if there is anything which might fulfill this craving. Enter Wal-Mart, and enter this delicious meal which is also so easy to prepare. You microwave the chicken and broccoli and pour some sauce over it. I thought "this is probably going to be gross" and then when I smelled the sauce, which was gingery and sweet, I thought "oh no...". But I was wrong! I was very wrong! This is filling and delicious and actually tastes pretty similar to (not great) takeout Chinese!! It IS a little bit sweet and spicy, kind of like General Tso's, and the chicken is breaded, but it's really good tasting chicken and the sauce is really nice. The broccoli is fine; nothing to rave about, but the chicken is really good. I only used about half of the sauce and this seemed to be the right amount. Glory hallelujah!

Overall
Cost: 4/10 (I don't remember but I think it was about 7$ -- not so great for 1 nice meal)
Taste: 9/10 !

Lean Pockets - Supreme Pizza

More like Supreme Disappointment, am I right? Only not really, because it's a well-known fact in my life that  hot/lean pockets really just aren't very good. Probably the same fats/calories as a delicious sandwich, but instead we have this soggy tube of  ~3 processed meat cubes and goopy sauce-laden cheese. It isn't bad, it just really is not good. I always make one and then the other one remains in the freezer for months until I'm desperate for a quick food (that isn't even filling!!!!!!). My advice: pass on the pockets.

Overall
Taste: 5/10
Cost: 7/10

Healthy Choice Chicken Romano Fresca

Laura says:

The Healthy Choice meals are, I think, some of the least expensive in the frozen meal section and I had some really good luck once with a barbeque steaming tray Healthy Choice meal that I barely remember except that I remember it being one of the best frozen meals I've ever had. This one has broccoli and chicken in it, both of which I'm a big fan of so I was pretty excited for it. But I have to say, I didn't really like this meal. I didn't finish it and left most of the peppers and noodles, as well as the whitish, very thin gravy. I'm just not a fan of the overall taste even if I like the elements (besides the gravy) individually. There is a good amount of broccoli, peppers, and chicken, but it's the flavoring in the gravy that ruins it for me.  3/10

Lean Cuisine Traditional Pepperoni Pizza

Laura says:


To be fair, I like most microwaveable pizzas more than other people seem to like them. The flavor's pretty good and the pizza isn't too tiny. I like that the crust is fluffier than it is crispy so it feels bigger than most frozen personal pizzas. The pepperoni is kind of lacking in flavor, but the sauce of the pizza is what I think I really like, flavor-wise. 7/10

Lean Cuisine Meatloaf and Whipped Potatoes

Laura says:

I really like this frozen meal, actually. The meatloaf tastes very vegetable-y in a way that's actually good, like it's more related to spaghetti sauce than a traditional meatloaf. The potatoes are just alright but since the meatloaf taste is good enough you can kind of eat it all together and it all tastes better as a result. I'm not sure the difference between potatoes being whipped or mashed so these potatoes just tasted like standard frozen-meal mashed potatoes. It's one of the more filling Lean Cuisines since usually they leave me kind of hungry afterward, so if you're looking for more of a meal this meatloaf one is at the top of my list. 7/10

Old El Paso Hard & Soft Taco Dinner Kit

As far as at-home taco kits go, this is my favorite one! The taco seasoning is good, but not too spicy or overpowering, and the hard and soft shells are both good. The taco sauce included tastes like your standard taco sauce, so I usually use it because I don't want to bother buying a jar of taco sauce for at-home use. I recommend pairing this with some delicious yellow&white corn! Yum!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 8/10

Lean Cuisine - Spaghetti with Meatballs

This is very similar to the "spaghetti with meat sauce" lean cuisine, except instead of mushrooms, the sauce features exactly 5 meatballs. The pasta is fine- kind of thin and sticky, but it tastes good. The sauce is fine too. So why do I dislike this meal so much when compared to the meat sauce one? spoiler alert: i think it's because I'm allergic to the meatballs. They have soy protein galore in them, so if you too are sensitive to soy protein then I don't recommend this. Also the meatballs don't taste very good anyway in my opinion. But I could only eat 2 of them. I bet some people (Laura maybe) would like this meal fine, though.

Overall:
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 4/10

Lean Cuisine - Beef Portabello

This meal was alright. The potatoes were quite good, they weren't just a pile of mush but instead had some redskin skin and a good flavor. The beef pieces and mushrooms were OK, but the gravy didn't taste that good to me. Something was a little "off" about it, but not TOO "off". I ate it all, is what I'm saying here.

Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Lean Cuisine - Angel Hair Pomodoro

To be fair, I only got this because it was on sale and I never had it before. Nonetheless, it wasn't really my thing. It's basically pasta and some runny sauce with parmesan cheese, which I wouldn't like even if it weren't in the form of a frozen meal. In fact, I like it better without the sauce. This reminded me a little bit of spaghetti-os or a chef boyardee canned spaghetti thing, but perhaps a little better. So, I won't get this one again, since there isn't much to enjoy here (as opposed to the one with meat sauce, which has tasty sauce and mushrooms and which I do like).

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 4/10

Lean Cuisine Roasted Vegetable Pizza

This pizza is all right. Actually, it was better than I expected. Obviously it doesn't taste like a stereotypical pizza, more like a small healthy circle with a bit of low-fat cheese on top and some tomato pieces, but all together it's not bad. The crust is thick, soft, and almost buttery, and the flavor overall is pleasant. It's not very big, but it's filling enough to be a quick dinner (or lunch). It's easy to make and it's a good deal if it's on sale.



Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 6/10

Healthy Choice Pineapple Chicken

This pineapple chicken, consisting of a few pieces of tempura-battered chicken, carrots, pineapple, red pepper, grainy rice, and mild sauce, is like a poor man's version of sweet and sour chicken. Everything is OK, I guess, but it kind of tastes like a Banquet frozen meal (i.e. bad quality stuff) even though it is of a higher caliber, supposedly. The rice is the exception; it's clearly a healthy, whole-grain type rice and it tastes fine, although it is a bit crunchy which is almost offputting after eating a bunch of typical soggy white rice in other frozen meals. The flavor is OK, not great, and the chicken is pretty good. I prefer the sweet and sour chicken, though, so I'll probably just get that next time. The sauces in the two are almost identical, after all.

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 5/10

Lean Cuisine Chicken Marsala

There are worse things than lacklustre frozen meals, I know, but even so I was kind of disappointed with this. I like "regular" chicken marsala a lot, but this meal tastes nothing like that. The sauce is very different - not very mushroomy or marsala-y, instead it kind of just tastes like brown gravy. The copious noodles/random green beans are pretty flavorless, and the two chicken patties are OK but rather thin and highly processed. There are also some bread crumbs throughout the meal -- I'm not sure what that's about. I won't buy this one again!

Overall:
Cost 6/10
Taste 4/10

Stouffer's Meat & Sauce Lasagna (made with whole grain pasta)

When I think of frozen lasagna, this is what I think of! And it's...all right. I vastly prefer the veggie version, but this is OK too. My main issue with it is the "meat", which is a bit sausagey for my taste and kind of makes my mouth itch to boot. The sauce is good pasta sauce, there's a good amount of cheese (i.e. not too much) and the noodles aren't cold or burnt. It's well-made, I guess I just don't really like meat lasagna very much. Also it takes almost 10 minutes to cook! I'm hungry NOW! :P

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 5/10

Lean Cuisine Chicken Enchilada Suiza

Overall, this is one of my favorite Lean Cuisines, although I have to admit it's mainly because of the sauce. The rice and enchilada themselves are both pretty good, but not great, and pretty dry. Luckily, there is a good amount of "sour cream sauce" which is nice and spicy/cheesy and makes everything taste great. I really like it. The chicken inside the enchilada isn't fresh, chunky chicken, it's quite smooshy and processed, but that's fairly typical for this kind of enchilada. Honestly it doesn't have much flavor on its own, and even the rice is fairly bland despite the corn and peppers in it. The sauce is really good though!
Oh, and allergy tip - there's a very similar Smart Ones frozen meal called chicken enchiladas suiza, and it has a nut allergy warning, so don't buy that one!!!

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 8/10

Stouffer's Macaroni & Beef

Apparently, this is a frozen food classic. Well, I'm sorry, America, but this is absolutely disgusting. It's not the quality that's the problem - the noodles are cooked fine, the portion size is fine - but the flavor is, in my opinion, 100% terrible. The sauce and the beef have a strange flavor: it isn't tomato sauce, it isn't cheese sauce, and it isn't a mixture. It's a bit like canned ravioli mixed with ketchup and chili sauce and some chunks of tomato. I won't be getting this again - but hey, some people like it!



Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 3/10

Hungry Man Popcorn Chicken and Honey Rum BBQ Sauce

First thought: Wow, these Hungry Man dinners sure are bigger than lean cuisines! At roughly the same price when not on sale, it makes me feel like I'm wasting serious money on buying lean cuisines and the like. But for some reason, I keep doing it, possibly because Hungry-Mans (Hungry-Men?) don't leave me feeling too great afterwards. Anyway, on to the review.
The popcorn chicken here is fairly tasty and fairly large. They're basically 6 round chicken nuggets with a bit flakier of a coating than normal. Fun fact: after eating most chicken nuggets, I have an slight allergic reaction and get all itchy - I have no idea what it is, but kid's cuisine, banquet, swanson - all their chicken is right out. These chicken didn't cause any reaction, though, which I thought was cool. Maybe they don't use as many preservatives or something. (As you can see, my specific allergies are a mystery even to me.) But so the chicken is pretty good! It doesn't even require sauce, which is good, because the "spiced rum bbq sauce" isn't my favorite. It's got a strong flavor, and it's kind of sweet and - spiced, I guess? So a little goes a long way, and I didn't really use it much. The green beans have tiny onions mixed in, and they're just average. Not too crispy, but not inedible or anything. Same for the mashed potatoes - they're OK, I ate them all, but they could have used a bit more flavor.

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 5/10

Laura says "Chicken nuggets and potatoes, yum yum! I like the sauce but not the beans. 7/10"

Lean Cuisine Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

This is a classic lean cuisine! It's pretty good - it doesn't taste like a "healthy meal" or anything, and it's pretty filling. The downsides: the noodles are kind of limp and soggy sometimes, or, alternately, crispy. They also clump together! But the flavor is pretty dead-on and there's a good sauce distribution. I like the inclusion of mushrooms very much, and there isn't much else in there - noodles, sauce, mushrooms, and a few tiny meat clumps. When I don't know what to buy, I usually end up grabbing one of these!



Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Laura says "I love it, the sauce! Yum yum. 8/10"

Celeste Pizza for One, Deluxe

Well, this definitely isn't healthy, but it is tasty! Although I think the recipe has changed a little bit for the worse over the last year, it's still good. This pizza is fairly small compared to the typical frozen pizzas, but it is "for one", after all. It has a much different taste than other frozen pizzas - less crust, different sauce and seasonings, a bit more soggy. The sausages are good, as is the cheese. It's super easy to cook and it's usually only a dollar! I will probably will buy this again when I need a pick-me-up.



Overall
Cost: 8/10
Taste: 8/10

Laura says "Yum, pizza! 7/10"

Lean Cuisine Garlic Chicken

This Lean Cuisine is one of my favorites - in fact, it's one of my favorite frozen meals! That it's healthy is a bonus. It steams in a bag in the microwave and then you just pour it into a bowl, and it's always cooked just right. The meal consists of bow-tie pasta, chicken, broccoli, asparagus, carrots, and maybe some other veggies that don't stand out all in a tasty cheesy-garlic sauce. The veggies are good quality and the pasta is too. I will admit that the chicken isn't the best quality chicken - it's a little "processed"/cardboardy, but the sauce usually masks this deficiency. The portion size is decent, especially for a lean cuisine, and I'm usually satisfied afterwards. I will definitely buy this one again!




Overall
Cost: 5/10 (But if it's on sale, 7/10)
Taste: 8/10

Lean Cuisine Pepperoni French Bread Pizza

Hmm. This pizza was OK, but the flavor wasn't really very good to me. The texture was great, and the portion was fairly good. I just didn't like the taste of the sauce or pepperonis very much, and of course, the cheese has that "low fat cheese" style going on. Nevertheless I did eat it all happily, so I might buy this again if I were desperate for pizza or something. It's very easy and fast to cook, and the crust was quite good.



Overall:
Taste: 5/10
Cost: 6/10