whats your opinions on lean cuisine microwavable meals?
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I can't stand them anymore and their portions are too small. What I do is cook up recipes from Gina's Skinny Taste (Google it) and freeze them for weeknight suppers...that way I'm controlling the ingredients, portions and I'm getting home cooked food. There's only so many frozen meals a person can take before they all taste like cardboard. And Lean Cuisine is way high in sodium and their chicken reminds me of McDonald's old McNuggets with pieces of gristle in them...yuk!0
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In my opinion....If you just want a quick something to grab and go b/t going, going, going...I say go for it...It's much better than going through a quick drive through and messing up your whole day....I understand being to busy to cook so eat them when needed...It is also better than not eating at all by far!!
Agree. Much better than a Big Mac.0 -
I used to stock up on Lean Cuisines and deli turkey until I realized just how much sodium and simple carbs these had. I don't touch them anymore and have found I can eat just a quickly and inexpensively if I prepare on Sundays for the whole week. I typically grill some extra chicken over the weekend and then use it as filler in a couple of go to options including salads, wraps or casseroles. I am following a low carb plan and so these may or may not work for you but here's my quick list just in case you find one or two winners:
100 calorie package of Wholly Guacamole of a Low Carb Tortilla (60 calories) with 2 T. of Garden Salsa (30 calories) and 2-3 oz of grilled chicken (100 calories). I usually pair this with an apple (60 calories). Other wrap options on the go: Spread a 35 calorie Laughing Cow wedge on a low carb tortilla - any flavor but I like the blue cheese wedge. I then top with 2-3 oz of grilled chicken and depending on my mood I will either add (a) a dash of hot sauce and a cup of raw spinach, (b) 2 T. of Mango salsa and a cup of raw spinach or (c) whatever low carb vegetables I might have roasted during the week and some sprays from a bottle of Wishbone vinagrette.
Make a curry chicken salad by shredding 4oz of chicken (110 calories) and mixing it with 1 green apple chopped up with peel (60 calories), 1 stalk of celery chopped finely (who cares), 1 t. lemon juice (ditto), 2 oz. of plain Greek yogurt (60 calories - I go light here because I like my chicken salad meaty vs. creamy) and then some salt, pepper and curry to taste. I eat this on lettuce and tomato if I have it or by itself if I don't. It can go on some Wasa crackers, celery or a low carb tortilla. I sometimes make a larger batch of the above recipe and add in reduced fat cheddar cheese and reduced fat cream of chicken soup. I then spoon it over a bunch of raw broccoli and bake for 40 minutes @ 350 degrees for a pretty decent family meal that reheats well if it's just you and you are in to leftovers.
I made a dozen hard-boiled eggs on Sunday and go ahead and peel them all. This way I can pull a couple for a quick lunch and/or slice some up to make a protein-packed salad. For example, 2 hard-boiled eggs (160 calories) that have already been peeled and pair them with an ounce (180 calories) of almonds or sunflower seeds, 3 cups of spinach, 1/2 oz. of blue cheese crumbles and some salad dressing spritzer.
Every Wednesday night, my family does BFD night (Breakfast for Dinner). You can't beat an egg white scramble or omelette with low fat cheese and veggies when it comes to filling up with something that is tasty and low in calories. Similarly, when I am lazy, we will have a spontaneous BFD night that includes cereal on top of yogurt with fruit for the kids and for me, I go with 5.3 oz of nonfat Greek Yogurt (160 calories) paired with 1 package of Sunny Cranberry Trail Mix (190 calories) which has golden raisins, cranberries, pepitas and almonds. It's made by Archer Farms (Target).
Hope some of these ideas help!0 -
I used to stock up on Lean Cuisines and deli turkey until I realized just how much sodium and simple carbs these had. I don't touch them anymore and have found I can eat just a quickly and inexpensively if I prepare on Sundays for the whole week. I typically grill some extra chicken over the weekend and then use it as filler in a couple of go to options including salads, wraps or casseroles. I am following a low carb plan and so these may or may not work for you but here's my quick list just in case you find one or two winners:
100 calorie package of Wholly Guacamole of a Low Carb Tortilla (60 calories) with 2 T. of Garden Salsa (30 calories) and 2-3 oz of grilled chicken (100 calories). I usually pair this with an apple (60 calories). Other wrap options on the go: Spread a 35 calorie Laughing Cow wedge on a low carb tortilla - any flavor but I like the blue cheese wedge. I then top with 2-3 oz of grilled chicken and depending on my mood I will either add (a) a dash of hot sauce and a cup of raw spinach, (b) 2 T. of Mango salsa and a cup of raw spinach or (c) whatever low carb vegetables I might have roasted during the week and some sprays from a bottle of Wishbone vinagrette.
Make a curry chicken salad by shredding 4oz of chicken (110 calories) and mixing it with 1 green apple chopped up with peel (60 calories), 1 stalk of celery chopped finely (who cares), 1 t. lemon juice (ditto), 2 oz. of plain Greek yogurt (60 calories - I go light here because I like my chicken salad meaty vs. creamy) and then some salt, pepper and curry to taste. I eat this on lettuce and tomato if I have it or by itself if I don't. It can go on some Wasa crackers, celery or a low carb tortilla. I sometimes make a larger batch of the above recipe and add in reduced fat cheddar cheese and reduced fat cream of chicken soup. I then spoon it over a bunch of raw broccoli and bake for 40 minutes @ 350 degrees for a pretty decent family meal that reheats well if it's just you and you are in to leftovers.
I made a dozen hard-boiled eggs on Sunday and go ahead and peel them all. This way I can pull a couple for a quick lunch and/or slice some up to make a protein-packed salad. For example, 2 hard-boiled eggs (160 calories) that have already been peeled and pair them with an ounce (180 calories) of almonds or sunflower seeds, 3 cups of spinach, 1/2 oz. of blue cheese crumbles and some salad dressing spritzer.
Every Wednesday night, my family does BFD night (Breakfast for Dinner). You can't beat an egg white scramble or omelette with low fat cheese and veggies when it comes to filling up with something that is tasty and low in calories. Similarly, when I am lazy, we will have a spontaneous BFD night that includes cereal on top of yogurt with fruit for the kids and for me, I go with 5.3 oz of nonfat Greek Yogurt (160 calories) paired with 1 package of Sunny Cranberry Trail Mix (190 calories) which has golden raisins, cranberries, pepitas and almonds. It's made by Archer Farms (Target).
Hope some of these ideas help!
Love these suggestions....This may be a silly question but how long can cooked chicken last in the fridge?? All week? Just for future reference b/c I only cook for me and a VERY picky 3yr old so it won't go quickly...Thanks for any help!!!
ETA: Btw, it's great that you have your kids eating healthy as well...These ideas sounds delicious and I am sure my son would like some of them as well...You just don't see many people feeding their kids healthy these days just b/c of how busy life gets and b/c kids always like McD's....A little too much!!
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Yuck. Also not enough food!0
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the sodium alone is reason to avoid these.
Not saying for life but it should not be a regular option in anyones diet.0 -
I learned not to heat food in plastic when I developed severe endocrine imbalances a couple of years ago. Plastic food trays are full of chemicals that get into your food when you heat them. Between that and the high sodium/low nutritional value of most of those meals, no thanks.
Now I spend some time on the weekends "cooking ahead" to make my own quick and easy meals for later. It's so easy to roast some chicken or other meat, slice it up, use a food scale to weigh out desired portions, seal them in snack size zip-lock bags, and freeze them. I do NOT heat in the plastic bags. I put food into a glass or ceramic bowl for heating in microwave.
Combine with a variety of frozen veggies, make quick sandwiches or salads - I end up with a wonderful variety of good healthy food using this approach. And I'm in control of what's in there.0 -
I haven't bought one in over 4 mths. I use to eat them a lot for portion control but when I started watching my sodium content and only eating whole wheat pastas etc, I got rid of them. They are ridiculous in sodium content, around 1000 mg for one dinner, and I just didn't find them nutritionally filling. I work late, go to school all day and workout 6 days a week so I'm pretty busy too but I rather pick something better over convenience.0
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Don't do it. The amount of Sodium is horrible. Just go ahead and put the extra work into making it fresh.0
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chillies, soups, pot pies, all freeze well.. portion them out and make your own "dinners" .0
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they are not all the bad except for all the sodium, try "Healthy Choice" entrees as they do have less sodium. I still would try to eat not more than 1 or 2 a month0
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I like Healthy Choice meals that I use for dinner and I use Slim Fast during my lunch and sometimes breakfast. Healthy Choice to me has lower sodium and overall I like the choices better.0
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Well, I for one can't stand them (see ticker)
:laugh: I feel that way about Smart Ones or whatever it's called. Two bites, scrape the inside of the container, go to the fridge to find more food.0 -
I eat the steamer ones occasionally they are okay if there isn't too much sodium0
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They are expensive, don't taste very good and aren't very filling.
You can find them on sale almost every week. I look for the sale and stock up.Can't make a meal for 2 bucks. Add a side salad some extra veggies and it's good for me.
I stay away from the pizza's and high carbs entrees0 -
They are expensive, don't taste very good and aren't very filling.
You can find them on sale almost every week. I look for the sale and stock up.Can't make a meal for 2 bucks. Add a side salad some extra veggies and it's good for me.
I stay away from the pizza's and high carbs entrees
Actually, when you cook from scratch, food is very inexpensive. I make meals for less than $1.50 a person and we eat very well.0 -
Wow, yeah I'd say judgemental! Spend days on end at hospitals with ill family members, try to fit in exercise, work, laundry, all of the yardwork, home maintenance AND then come home and prepare a meal from scratch? Yeah, I guess on those days I'm lazy when it comes to my meal but there is such thing as mental and physical exhaustion and I pray you never get there!Throw them away.
this
take some responsibility and eat real food. many people justify eating this crap by saying they are just too busy. thats bs. its because they are lazy
Wow. Judgemental much? I eat them. Not every day, but I eat them. I work outside the home and have two small children. Sorry if you don't consider that to be "busy" but I'm on the move from the moment my youngest wakes up (usually between 5-6am) to the moment they hit the sack. Don't judge a book by it's cover. You never know what a person's day is like.
Yeah there is no room for judgement here. Of course we all want to cook our meals from scratch each day and eat clean. This just isn't reasonable for 99% of people and I won't feel bad about that. Eat on frozen meal lovers, eat on.
you dont have to cook from scratch to avoid putting crap like lean cuisine in your body. a can of salmon or tuna and an apple or orange is faster than waiting for a lean cuisine to heat up and about the same price.
there is no excuse for putting this factory food with salt added into your body. none.0 -
Wow, yeah I'd say judgemental! Spend days on end at hospitals with ill family members, try to fit in exercise, work, laundry, all of the yardwork, home maintenance AND then come home and prepare a meal from scratch? Yeah, I guess on those days I'm lazy when it comes to my meal but there is such thing as mental and physical exhaustion and I pray you never get there!Throw them away.
this
take some responsibility and eat real food. many people justify eating this crap by saying they are just too busy. thats bs. its because they are lazy
Wow. Judgemental much? I eat them. Not every day, but I eat them. I work outside the home and have two small children. Sorry if you don't consider that to be "busy" but I'm on the move from the moment my youngest wakes up (usually between 5-6am) to the moment they hit the sack. Don't judge a book by it's cover. You never know what a person's day is like.
Yeah there is no room for judgement here. Of course we all want to cook our meals from scratch each day and eat clean. This just isn't reasonable for 99% of people and I won't feel bad about that. Eat on frozen meal lovers, eat on.
you dont have to cook from scratch to avoid putting crap like lean cuisine in your body. a can of salmon or tuna and an apple or orange is faster than waiting for a lean cuisine to heat up and about the same price.
there is no excuse for putting this factory food with salt added into your body. none.
I eat them often for lunch and I rarely go over my sodium when I have them.0 -
I also meant to add something else I do (it may or may not be feasible for you). I cook dinner 5-6 times a week. I cook for 3-5 people (sometimes stepkids and lots of guests!). I cook portions for 8-10 people. I put the difference in bags and freeze them into portions that I can count. Then I stick them in the microwave, and they are done pretty quickly. This might be a great alternative to lean cuisines if you are on the fence about some of the nutritional issues that they present. They last 2-4 weeks in the freezer, and taste delicious! Some things freeze better than others (for example, pasta freezes better than salad). This might be a quick alternative to setting aside a few hours a week to cook for yourself. It does only work really well if the family is eating healthy food!
One of my favorite frozen meals is wheat or veggie pasta (either works, but I lean towards veggie pasta for the bonus vegetable count) with Prego Veggie Smart Sauce and ground turkey cooked in. I set aside 1/2 Cup of noodles, 1/2 Cup sauce with meat in it. I don't know the calorie count, but you're looking at 3-5 servings of veggies in one meal, a handful of protein, and all deliciousness!0 -
invest in a crockpot and spend one day a week prepping meals for the week (maybe while your baby is napping?). Freeze what you won't eat in the next day or two. Then take out what you want to eat the night before and either thaw it in the fridge, or put it in the crock pot overnight. You can google recipes or find a bunch here.
I started doing this a month ago and now I don't have to worry about eating healthy. My biggest enemy in eating healthy is time, so this helps me avoid that. Knowing I have a warm meal waiting for me when I get out of work stops me from popping in a frozen meal or even worse, stopping at a fast food joint for a greasy dinner.0 -
Wow, yeah I'd say judgemental! Spend days on end at hospitals with ill family members, try to fit in exercise, work, laundry, all of the yardwork, home maintenance AND then come home and prepare a meal from scratch? Yeah, I guess on those days I'm lazy when it comes to my meal but there is such thing as mental and physical exhaustion and I pray you never get there!Throw them away.
this
take some responsibility and eat real food. many people justify eating this crap by saying they are just too busy. thats bs. its because they are lazy
Wow. Judgemental much? I eat them. Not every day, but I eat them. I work outside the home and have two small children. Sorry if you don't consider that to be "busy" but I'm on the move from the moment my youngest wakes up (usually between 5-6am) to the moment they hit the sack. Don't judge a book by it's cover. You never know what a person's day is like.
Yeah there is no room for judgement here. Of course we all want to cook our meals from scratch each day and eat clean. This just isn't reasonable for 99% of people and I won't feel bad about that. Eat on frozen meal lovers, eat on.
you dont have to cook from scratch to avoid putting crap like lean cuisine in your body. a can of salmon or tuna and an apple or orange is faster than waiting for a lean cuisine to heat up and about the same price.
there is no excuse for putting this factory food with salt added into your body. none.
You're right. There's also no excuse for your attitude. None. For the record, the poster asked for opinions on the meals themselves, not the people who eat them.0 -
Most of the time I cook from scratch but the lean cuisines are soooo convenient sometimes. I believe in everything in moderation.
Thai chicken and rice and beans with sauce are my favs.0 -
I find that lean cuisine is merely low calorie alternatives.
You get lots of artificial fillers, processed stuffs. Not alot protein, minimal anythign else. Not to mention the contents could feed a child.
I prefer Amys, while little more expensive are all good ingredients that I can actually count towards my daily. While they are better than mcdonalds, they are no panacea to healthy. Eat an oatmeal cookie and a glass of milk instead.0 -
From reading the other comments, I'm sure that lean cuisines are not very good for you and you could easily find another healthy alternative. BUT, (and coming from an inexperienced 16 year old girl's point of view...), my experience with lean cuisine has been great! It doesn't seem to have set me back at all on my weight loss goals. Then again, I only buy the lowest calorie lean cuisines, and at most I eat one a day while all my other meals consist of extremely healthy foods. Also, I usually have quite high intensity workouts, and I have a high metabolism. But that's my opinion on lean cuisine meals!0
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The amount of judging others, simply because they are not at the same place as 'you' in their journey is rather depressing.
To the OP, while the sodium content (as mentioned repeatedly) is high, for the occassional meal like you suggested, they work fine. My husband and I love them (talking generally - Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones, Healthy Choice, etc). My husband was really surprised at how much better many of them are now than when he tried them years ago.
To others - my husband and I are in the early stages of our MFP journey. We are using these types of meals for at least one meal a day right now for 2 main reasons:
1) portion control - we are trying to learn what an actual meal SHOULD look like, and in the process discovering that we don't need as much food as we used to think we did (surprise, surprise-but it's a lesson we needed to learn). And yes, the ones we are eating DO fill us up, and leave us feeling satisfied;
2) accountability - We want to start learning to make more meals (my husband made the Taco Cupcakes today :-)), but right now, as relative newbies, we're worried about making sure our tracking is accurate. With the frozen meals, there's no guess work.
And yes, we are losing weight, probably more rapidly than we technically should be - I'm down 19lbs in two months (ish), and he's down 26lbs in the same time.
I'm sorry if I'm coming across harshly myself - sometimes everyone needs to remember that everyone isn't the same, and what works for one person, may or may not work for others.0 -
I eat them regularly, they fit into my macros so it's not a problem the sodium may be a bit high, but I don't go over in sodium, carbs may be a bit high for some people too, but I don't go over those eather. So I don't understand why people hate them so much. I'm a college guy, I'd say 80 percent of us opt for frozen or fast food. I used to eat frozen things before I started my journey too, but now it's meals like these and not corn dogs, hot pockets, hungry man dinners etc. So my opinion on it is: if you fit it into your cals and macros then there is no problem with them. I had one today, after softball, before gym...I liked it, paired it with a nice Greek yogurt and it was a nice, low cal dinner that fit into my macros fine. 0
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Well, I for one can't stand them (see ticker)
lol actually I used to eat those 4 lunch every day b4 I decided to kick processed foods. They filled me up just fine.0 -
processed junk!0
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My mom and granny like them and have maintained their weight eating them during the week. I personally don't eat them, because they are too expensive for me to buy all the time, and most have lots of ingredients in them that I can't eat due to gastroparesis (for example, beans and spicy stuff).
If you absolutely must have one, I'd try the Kashi or Amy's TV dinners. Most have organic ingredients and have healthy ingredients. My favorite Amy's TV dinner is veggie lasanga (my caregiver grinds this up in a food processor, so its easier for me to digest).0 -
I love them. They're low calories, delicious, and they fill me up. But to each their own, a lot of people don't like them.0
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