Boxed/Packaged Meals (Good or Bad?)

I don't really care for them. My mom used to buy them when I lived at home 'cause they were cheap. I will say the Banquet chicken pot pies are divine. Yum. Love pot pies! Anyway... they never really filled me up so I usually don't reach for them. The only thing I'll buy occasionally just to stay away from the real thing are Michelina's Gourmet Pizza Roll Snacks. Taste similar to Totino's pizza rolls but not as high in calories or fat, not as big, and I can stop at 11 which is the serving size. So yummo!

Ooooh, thanks for the tip on the pizza rolls! I LOVED those Totino kill-your-calorie-day ones! I might look into Michelina's.

The Michelina's buffalo chicken rolls are also really good and will fix that hot wing craving! I I will eat these on occasion. In fact, when I first started working from home, I stocked up on the Michelina's low cal meals because they were cheap and I knew I couldn't trust myself to make a "healthy" lunch when left on my own in my well-stocked kitchen. They did the trick until I adjusted to my new work environment.

They are high in sodium and even South Beach says to eat a salad along with their frozen meals (do they even sell those anymore?), so nutritionally they are a bit lacking. But if you're only eating them as one meal a few days a week, and you make sure to get more veggies in along with them, I see nothing wrong with them. Especially if your alternative would be to Hoover up everything in your fridge or hit the nearest fast food chain....of which I have been very guilty!

So I guess everyone on here who voted for 'yes" missed the segment on the Today Show this morning? They actually took some of these frozen meals to an independent lab which found huge errors in the calories and fat that is advertised. When questioned about this, the company spokesperson said, it's an average and the FDA doesn't require us to be accurate.

So if you want to eat one of those frozen meals, go right ahead but buyer beware!!! You won't catch any of them in my house, sodium is way too high anyway. I would rather make a quick meal out of stir fry veggies and a protein or take a rotisserie chicken apart and put 4 oz in a tortilla wrap with some tomato and hummus any day rather than eating those frozen boxes.

Yes! I saw the online video of this yesterday and honestly, wasn't that shocked. Greatly disappointed though. That one with 350% more fat was pretty bad though! Geesh! The FDA I guess only mandates these companies to be, what was it, around 20% of the actual fat and calorie content? Bleh.

Frozen meals are really handy when one is in a rush, but because of the sodium content, I usually only have about 1 a week. Lots of prepared foods are really off the wall with their sodium levels, but I think some are starting to come around. I see more labels than ever which claim lower sodium content.

Having said that, I like some of the variety you can find.. Amy's meals, Tandoor Chef, etc give you a taste of the more exotic, without having to buy expensive or odd ingredients or spices.

If buying something mainstream, or if it's on sale, I chose Lean Cuisine's Spa entrees, as they have more veggies, whole grains, less salt. Someone mentioned the lemon chicken... that's my fav too, or the salmon.

But truly, it's better to cook at home, with fresh ingredients. I often make a hearty, whole meal soup, with lots of veggies, whole grains and some protein. I can control what's in it, use up leftovers, take advantage of sales and it's really easy.. just cutting up and throwing things into a pot or slow cooker. I freeze leftovers in meal size containers. Easy to thaw, heat and eat. That's my favorite "frozen meal".