Frozen foods.. Lean Cusin, smart ones, etc

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  • riirii93_
    riirii93_ Posts: 475 Member
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    They are low calorie and taste alright but they leave me wanting more which leads to snacking later. I'd rather have a "Real meal" and not feel deprived.
  • sarahboyle963
    sarahboyle963 Posts: 4 Member
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    I think like with everything moderation with those is the key. Grabbing one in a bind every once in awhile is fine, but for max results probably a better idea just to make the time to prep something.
  • lmartin136
    lmartin136 Posts: 2 Member
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    I love these for lunches honestly. Yesterday I was craving Chinese food and forced myself to go to the grocery on my lunch and get a frozen meal instead of going to Panda Express, and it hit the spot. What I do when purchasing is I look at the nutritional content. A lot of these WILL leave you starving, but I learned a few tricks from eating these through the years. Look for ones with at LEAST 5 grams of fiber. Smart Ones has a few options. Lean Cuisine USED to have a ton of whole grain pastas, but they've gotten away from that and a lot of their meals will leave you hungry later. Healthy Choice not only has the lowest sodium of the bunch but also has the biggest variety of whole grain options. (And Healthy Choice has a new Simply line that has 'nothing artificial' that is awesome.) Kashi is another favorite brand of mine; they lack variety, but when you eat one of their meals, you are full for the rest of the day.

    Tl;dr look at the nutrition label of any that you are considering buying - I usually lean on whichever brand is on sale that week then grab a few of my favorites of other brands. Typically I find when picking whole grain/lots of veggies options (or at least ones with 5+ grams of fiber), those meals keep me satisfied for longer.
  • murp4069
    murp4069 Posts: 494 Member
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    I have a frozen meal nearly every day for lunch at work and I've been successful at both staying within my sodium limits and my calorie goals. I prefer these types of meals at lunch because I tend to have my largest meal for dinner, so I need lower calories for breakfast and lunch. I do also cook on the weekends and once or twice a week I'll bring a homemade meal for lunch or salad, but frozen meals are my go-to. Of course they are also convenient and reasonably priced - at about $3/each, I can have my work lunches for the week for $15.

    As for brands, I like Lean Cuisine (favorites are Vermont White Cheddar Mac & Cheese, Spinach & Cheese Ravioli, Cheese Tortellini), Smart Ones (favorite is Lasagna Florentine), and Amy's Organic (these are higher calorie and higher priced but every one that I've had is very tasty, my favorite is the Cheese Enchiladas).
  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
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    Colorscheme wrote: »
    markrgeary1 wrote: »
    enzaloccisano wrote: »
    Yeah the sodium on these meals are a killer!

    Exactly. I won't eat them due to sodium, makes my BP spike. Past that I won't eat them either. Ever look at the chicken in them? It's not real chicken, some kind of chicken byproducts with some soylent green mixed in. No thanks.

    How is that helpful for the OP? Surely she can look at the box and decide for herself if it works for her or not. Just because you have bp issues doesn't mean the OP will. She was asking about which ones were good and not, not the sodium content.

    Well thanks for reading. I guess I don't understand why you don't understand. Too much sodium tastes bad, qualified with my personal reasons to avoid a large dose. I don't like gristle and cartilage in my food so I no longer choose to eat low quality food. Not to mention that the veggies and or carbs are very overcooked and mushy. So that's why I wrote what I did, to help the OP make up their mind.


    And your post added value to the OP how?
  • michaelafoor916
    michaelafoor916 Posts: 710 Member
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    healthy choice steamers are really good. only one I haven't liked so far is beef teriyaki but all the others are delicious!
  • amandabullock120
    amandabullock120 Posts: 110 Member
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    kmsoucy457 wrote: »
    I don't eat a lot of frozen meals because of the sodium, but I love Amy's! They're a little more expensive and caloric than the other options mentioned, but they use organic ingredients and have fewer preservatives. My favorites are their bowls, macaroni and cheese, and matar paneer if you like Indian. I could eat that last one every day! Amy's soups and refritos are also tasty.

    YES!! and they have "Smart and Lean" with lower sodium. I love the matar paneer.. I think its about 500mg of sodium.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    Some of the frozen meals are pretty good. I tend to lean towards Amy's as tasting less like a typical 'frozen meal'. I avoid anything frozen that includes pasta like the plague. I like mine al dente, not soft and possibly mushy.

    My biggest problems with them are that I'm always hungry soon after eating them - and they're expensive. I think part of it is that there's more calories in them than if I'd cooked the same meal, and part of it is textural. I like to have some chew in my meals, and steamed stuff out of the microwave just doesn't have that. Now, if I can bake them in a toaster oven it usually helps.

    I vastly prefer bringing leftovers for lunch. Saves me money, tastes better, satiates better.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    ElizabethOakes2 wrote: »
    I used to be big on the Lean Cuisines, especially when I was working in freezing cold warehouse and couldn't face eating cold lunches every day. I love the pasta ones, but for healthier eating, the roasted chicken ones are a bit better for you- The roasted chicken and veggie, chicken stir fry, and the chicken pecan were my favs.

    The slightly healthier and more budget conscious trick is to make a big crockpot of something on the weekends, then freeze it in portions then you always have something fast to grab on your rush out the door.

    This is what I do also. And dinners during the week, there's only 2 of us, but I always cook double or triple the amount that I need and freeze individual portions.

    My problems with the frozen meals was that for the calories, I was always still hungry. I've seen lots of people say to just add some more frozen vegetables to help add some volume of food, which may help.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    On a side note, a happy medium of sorts might be to look at pre-cooked pre-packaged foods like pulled pork, chicken breast, etc. They are often times high in sodium (if that matters to you), but you can pair or mix them with other packaged things (salsa, cheese, salad, veggies/fruit) for a more well-balanced meal with virtually no actual cooking.
  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
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    markrgeary1 wrote: »
    Colorscheme wrote: »
    markrgeary1 wrote: »
    enzaloccisano wrote: »
    Yeah the sodium on these meals are a killer!

    Exactly. I won't eat them due to sodium, makes my BP spike. Past that I won't eat them either. Ever look at the chicken in them? It's not real chicken, some kind of chicken byproducts with some soylent green mixed in. No thanks.

    How is that helpful for the OP? Surely she can look at the box and decide for herself if it works for her or not. Just because you have bp issues doesn't mean the OP will. She was asking about which ones were good and not, not the sodium content.

    Well thanks for reading. I guess I don't understand why you don't understand. Too much sodium tastes bad, qualified with my personal reasons to avoid a large dose. I don't like gristle and cartilage in my food so I no longer choose to eat low quality food. Not to mention that the veggies and or carbs are very overcooked and mushy. So that's why I wrote what I did, to help the OP make up their mind.


    And your post added value to the OP how?

    Because I actually gave her a list of the frozen meals that I like from the brands she asked about.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Keep in mind that, from what I could tell, OP never defined what good meant. So sodium might matter to her, it might not. Taste suggestions might matter to her, it might not.

    There really isn't a wrong answer here. There really isn't a right one, either.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    I personally find them unpalatable and they're very small portions for the calories...so for me, no...not good.
  • Rachel0778
    Rachel0778 Posts: 1,701 Member
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    I used to eat them all the time in my weight watchers days, but I got bored quick and they didn't really fill me up.

    I second the crock pot. I pintrest quick easy crock pot recipes (or recipes in general). It takes only a small amount of time on the weekend but saves a ton of money and you get a wider variety of food and a larger portion with less sodium and a higher nutrient value than the pre-packaged counterpart.

    Frozen meals are fine to start out with as a crutch, but once you get bored/hungry there are definitely better cooking options out there!

    For frozen meal recommendations I love Amy's/Trader Joes. Their flavor profiles are fantastic and I tend to feel fuller on theirs than the Lean Cuisine/Smart Ones varieties
  • brittyn3
    brittyn3 Posts: 481 Member
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    I love lean cuisines - they scratch my itch if I'm craving something outside my calorie range. And they are a super easy and cheap lunch option. I just eat slow and enjoy every bite. I workout right after work, so being hungry usually isn't an issue and I can hold off until after workout dinner, but I also prefer to save my calories for dinner time. I also love anything that's Amy's Organic meals. The spinach pizza bites are to die for. Lean Cuisine really stepped up their game. The sandwiches are my favorite, next the pizzas, next the pasta's. The breaded tilapia is quite wonderful.
  • valkc1953
    valkc1953 Posts: 32 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Good information. I love Amy's organics (baked ziti is a fave) & some of the Healthy Choice. Good for portion control. I do find most of the time my salt intake is a bit over when I eat one.
  • angelamichelle_xo
    angelamichelle_xo Posts: 646 Member
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    i use my crockpot for huge meal preps.
  • kthompson601
    kthompson601 Posts: 174 Member
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    I think it's smart to have a few frozen foods or canned soups on hand for those days when you just CANNOT make yourself cook, or when you're sick of leftovers. I like the black box Lean Cuisines and the Amy's Meals, in particular. Soups, I try to go with the low sodium Healthy Choice options, and drain out a lot of the broth--that's where the salt is. It's not an every day habit, or even every week habit, but it feels good to have a few favorites in the freezer just in case. That keeps me from going to a drive-thru sometimes--"I don't feel like doing any prep, I should just go to McDs...wait, no, I can heat up that frozen veggie lasagna. That's better."
  • MarvinSanderford
    MarvinSanderford Posts: 10 Member
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    For me, as a rather big guy, I shy away from the frozen meals because of the sodium. But with that said, I enjoy the LC, and the Evol the most in the past. Of course, dare i say the obvious? Make the stuff at home, then freeze it in portions and you have the best of both worlds.
  • MsLindaC2015
    MsLindaC2015 Posts: 51 Member
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    Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice and any others that are on sale and in my calorie budget. I especially like the Sweet and Sour Chicken.

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