Frozen microwaved food...

Options
2»

Replies

  • DeBlue
    DeBlue Posts: 254 Member
    Options
    Don't overlook an opportunity to learn to cook fast fresh meals for yourself. If you are armed with a microwave you can create some awesome meals in a flash and control the sodium! Pasta is the easiest. Look for the whole wheat noodles - they work well and taste great! Cooks in five minutes. Throw in favorite veggies and find a nice bottled sauce (read labels some are wonderful). You'll have a tasty nutritious meal and be surprised how making it yourself helps you appreciate the food without gulping it down and grazing for more. (Yeah thats what I find myself doing). Amazing you can do this in the time it takes to microwave a frozen prepackaged meal. Really.
  • MisdemeanorM
    MisdemeanorM Posts: 3,493 Member
    Options
    Look for the whole wheat noodles - they work well and taste great! Cooks in five minutes.

    And reheat in only 2!! I lived off a giant pot of chicken and pasta with broccoli for lunch for over a week!
  • jennylynn84
    jennylynn84 Posts: 659
    Options
    What pasta sauce are you guys buying? What I find at the store has often has at least 500-600 sodium in it.
  • Ge0rgiana
    Ge0rgiana Posts: 1,649 Member
    Options
    What pasta sauce are you guys buying? What I find at the store has often has at least 500-600 sodium in it.

    The Classico sauces are usually pretty good. There's another one I can't remember the name... Francesco or something like that. Message me and I'll look it up for you later. :happy:
  • esorcel
    esorcel Posts: 459 Member
    Options
    What I do with frozen foods (although I don't typically buy meals) is to eat half serving with frozen veggies, and eat the other half with frozen veggies at a later time. Almost everything I eat is frozen because since I started this site, I have limited time for counting the calories in cooked foods. Try to mix the food with healthier options that don't contain sodium like veggies, and you'll do fine.
  • sexygenius
    sexygenius Posts: 1,078 Member
    Options
    if you must have frozen food...stay away from marie calander's, those are some of the worst for you... kashi makes great frozen meals..OMG the mayan harvest is soooooooooo freaking good!!!!! my dad LOVES it, and so do i!
  • Cristy_AZ
    Cristy_AZ Posts: 986
    Options
    Agree with these posts, had to stop the healthy choice quick fix meals because of the sodium. Also gave up canned soup. Now I premake things like black bean soup, salads, even healthy muffins with carrots, zuchnin and fruit. With some pre planning and careful shopping you can take along meals to heat up in the oven as well as healthy snacks. Saves money and waste of all that packaging, tastes better and is better for you!!
  • ZebraHead
    ZebraHead Posts: 15,207 Member
    Options
    :flowerforyou:
    You will be well on your way to leaving your 'old' lifestyle behind by staying away from frozen, prepared, processed foods and meals.

    Your new lifestyle is knocking! Open the door step through and don't look back. Take that next step and get rid of this boat anchor holding you in the past....
    :flowerforyou:
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
    Options
    What pasta sauce are you guys buying? What I find at the store has often has at least 500-600 sodium in it.

    we use Bertolli sauce with whole wheat pasta.
  • elainegsd
    elainegsd Posts: 459 Member
    Options
    As I started eating more healthily, the frozen stuff started tasting really bad. Salty, like preservatives, etc. I started cooking in larger batches, and using the leftovers to make my own frozen meals that fit my health goals and taste buds better. I even invested in some metal pans with paper lids (like you get your leftovers in at some restaurants) to package certain recipes in so that I can pop the container in the oven.

    I have chicken soup, turkey chili, turkey burgers, lentil stew, baked ziti, bbq teriyaki chicken and a few other things in my freezer right now. Most are packaged as single meals some are packaged as meals for 2-4 people. I package up protein and carbs (and sometimes veggies too), then add fresh or frozen veggies to complete the meal if needed. I can have a healthy meal in about 10 minutes, either at work or at home. Not too salty, not too greasy, not full of all kinds of preservatives and ingredients I choose not to pronounce, etc.
  • jimmydeanbakker
    jimmydeanbakker Posts: 333
    Options
    I put one of those TV dinners into the myfitnesspal app, and I pretty much quit eating them. The sodium content is off the charts big time.
  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
    Options
    I use prego chunky garden combo. Chunky anything seems like a good idea in my head. More whole foods = less processing.
  • chelekaz
    chelekaz Posts: 871 Member
    Options
    I personally love the Healthy Choice. I know there are those who look at frozen meals like devil food :devil: but I have found these very helpful. I've done the research on the different brands and yes, sodium is there however.... if you are keeping a close eye on your sodium levels this is something to keep in the back of your mind. I use one every day (usually lunch). They are proportioned nicely, Wal Mart has them for $2.50 (locally in PA) and that is for the big meal, steamers are less. Coupons available online for $1 off of 2.

    And, even w/ eating these almost every day, my sodium content comes well under what the site recommends.
  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
    Options
    I've found that, with most processed foods, if the sodium is low, almost everything else is, too!
  • nisharae
    nisharae Posts: 204
    Options
    Just a quick add in.. I believe its Lean Cuisine that has a "spa" line that is all natural no preservatives... It helps me to feel a little bit better about eating a frozen meal.. and calorie count on some of them is VERY LOW. ie. The Salmon with Basil and orzo rice :
    Calories 220
    Fat 6g
    Fiber 5g
    Protein 16g
    Sodium 600mg
    Carbohydrates 26

    They have 15 other meals as well.. I like this one because the calories and carbs are so low....

    Just thought I'd add this in :D
  • nsueflorence
    nsueflorence Posts: 295 Member
    Options
    Frozen food is another type of FAST FOOD. Chemically processed with unneeded additives. Its like saying I can anything as long as I stay under x amount of calories. I guess that is true if you want to be skinny FAT.

    But personalty I got in this position being lazy. Frozen food to me is just saying I'm not worth the time it takes to get healthy.
  • brittlynne3579
    brittlynne3579 Posts: 217 Member
    Options
    I read that the best frozen meals are Lean Cuisine or Kashi, but they, just like everyone has said, still have an extreme sodium content!
  • Valtishia
    Valtishia Posts: 811 Member
    Options
    I look at the sodium first... my husband laughs cause I will actually yelp and shoot stuff back on the shelf as if it just bit me or something cause high sodium insults me so bad lol
  • chelekaz
    chelekaz Posts: 871 Member
    Options
    Again it is about moderation. And if someone uses a Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine Meal as one of their choices I don't think that anyone should be stating that they are lazy - or inferring it. I for one would much rather have one of these meals than get trapped at home with not having an alternative to something that my family is having. Or worse yet, on Friday's when we do take out w/ my step daughter give in to the pizza, wings, chinese, etc. As a full time working mother of 2 young kids my day is filled with enough chaos and stress so if that "unhealthy lazy processed frozen" meal allows me to have a lunch that does NOT consist of McDonald's, Burger King or worse yet... a candy bar or cookies .... then it works for me. Not everyone has the time and ability to make all of the fresh meals and freeze them... yes, we would in an ideal world but that world does not yet exist for everyone out there.

    Yes everyone needs to watch sodium intake but if you are tracking your sodium, like I do, then I can see that I am still on average 750 below their number.

Categories