I'm currently in the process of shedding pounds. Like anything worthwhile, mostly it just takes determination. But, I don't have to like it.

I've eaten a lot of fruits and vegetables for lunch, but began to tire of all that raw vegetation after 2-3 months. In an effort to bring some flavor to the table while I limit lunch calories, I started grabbing frozen meals out of the basement fridge. My oldest son keeps a different schedule than the rest of us and there's a microwave and fridge in the basement where he can fix his last meal of the night without making a lot of noise (the kitchen is right outside my bedroom - I'll never settle for that set-up again). Although he only weighs 130 pounds, most of what I found in the freezer was Stouffers Lean Cuisine. Not bad. Lots of flavor, which is good since the portions are small (for me). Their biggest meal is only 12 ounces (sort of a Lean Cuisine Hungry Man).

I made the mistake of buying him replacements that were not to his liking. He's been a fussy eater all his life and won't eat anything with mushrooms or rice and a long list of other stuff. Also some of what I bought was Healthy Choice. So I got stuck with the dinners he wouldn't eat. And what a difference! HC is Bland bland bland.

Can anyone suggest any other low calorie frozen dinners? Lean Cuisine passes the taste test and also earns my son-in-law's seal of approval (he has a degree in nutrition). I'm only halfway to my goal and I figure I'll be watching my intake carefully for another 4 months, anyway. I might as well enjoy it as much as possible.

BamaVol, I must first tell you that you are treading on very dangerous ground by dissing Healthy Choice here on FT, home of the Pudding Guy. :)

Seriously though, I have found that the Weight Watchers Smart Ones meals are generally pretty good and offer a fair amount of variety.

Regards, EWC

For me, I find Lean Cuisine has the best variety of frozen meals compared to Weight Watcher's Smart Ones (I only seem to like the creamy pasta entrees from them). I also mix it up by buying Lean Pockets (the pizza varieties) every once in a while. While one Lean Pocket isn't all that filling, having some carrot sticks, a Nutri-Grain cereal bar and/or a piece of fruit helps complete the lunch.

You may also want to look into the Stouffer's (Red Box) Stuffed Peppers. They aren't too high in calories/fat and is very filling.

I agree with Healthy Choice--just awful, bland stuff.

BamaVol, I must first tell you that you are treading on very dangerous ground by dissing Healthy Choice here on FT, home of the Pudding Guy. :)

Seriously though, I have found that the Weight Watchers Smart Ones meals are generally pretty good and offer a fair amount of variety.

Regards, EWC

If I recall the story, he didn't eat all the pudding.

Lean Cuisine for me. My favorite is the Asian-style Pot Stickers. I usually add a green veggie and an apple to round out the portion size to something tolerable.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

You may want to try the new "South Beach Diet" frozen dinners. They are a bit more $$, but seem to have more food and I find to them to be more filling then the Lean Cusines.

I personally can not choke down Healthy Choice meals anymore.

Lean Cuisine all the way! The Heathly Choice and Weight Watchers Smart Ones are NASTY and BLAND compared to the Lean Cuisine meals. Lean Cuisine meals taste pretty decent for "diet" food...sometimes I can't even tell that it's a Lean Cuisine and not a regular Stouffer's red box entree. (But they do taste like TV dinners, so if you're into those, then this might not be the best idea.)

My favorites are:
Cheese Lasagna with Chicken Scaloppini
Chicken Parmesan
Lemon Chicken (although not a huge fan of the rice that it comes with)
Lemon Garlic Shrimp
Roasted Turkey Breast

Leftovers. Seriously, since I started losing weight 13 months and 100 lbs ago, it's been pretty much all leftovers for lunch.

Serves a few purposes
Offers portion control, you make dinner, put some up for lunch before you eat, you don't go back and finish it
It's way healthier. When they did the recall of one of the frozen ones a couple weeks ago it said made in November 2005, expires in 2009. Yeah, four year shelf life
Way less money

Can anyone suggest any other low calorie frozen dinners? Lean Cuisine passes the taste test and also earns my son-in-law's seal of approval (he has a degree in nutrition). I'm only halfway to my goal and I figure I'll be watching my intake carefully for another 4 months, anyway. I might as well enjoy it as much as possible.

Lean Cuisine is also suppose to not have any preservaties, as its from the makers of Stouffers - normally I'm not one to follow brand name reputation but they "seem" fairly reptuable.

-Vincent

LC over HC.

Leftovers. Seriously, since I started losing weight 13 months and 100 lbs ago, it's been pretty much all leftovers for lunch.

Serves a few purposes
Offers portion control, you make dinner, put some up for lunch before you eat, you don't go back and finish it
It's way healthier. When they did the recall of one of the frozen ones a couple weeks ago it said made in November 2005, expires in 2009. Yeah, four year shelf life
Way less money


I missed the recall. Any details or a link?

I do take leftovers sometimes (not possible when traveling of course). I like the idea of fixing lunch before eating dinner. Not possible every night since I have to fix non-diet food for others sometimes.

Some of the Stouffer's red box meals are not that much more caloric than the Lean Cuisine meals. The red box lasagna is only 350 calories!




Also, go to Trader Joe's. They have plenty of frozen meals that are tasty, satisfying, and very reasonably priced.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/414516/trader_joes_to_open_in_atlanta/index.html?source=r_science

Trader Joe's to Open in Atlanta
By Christine Van Dusen, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Mar. 4--It's official: Trader Joe's finally is coming to Atlanta.

After scouting the market for the last four years, the California-based company -- whose 200 or so low-priced, small-sized, gourmet markets have attracted a rabid following -- will set up shop here sometime this year, said spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki.

Trader Joe's has not signed any leases yet, she said, and any speculation on the number of local locations or opening dates would be premature. She declined to discuss any other details.

Already the local fans are salivating. They call Trader Joe's a happy medium between high-priced gourmet shops and traditional supermarkets, singing the praises of the company's cheap-but-healthy-and-yummy frozen meals, "Two Buck Chuck" wines, unsalted macadamia nuts, bottled juices, unique breads and friendly staffers dressed in Hawaiian shirts.

"You never know what you're going to find, and it's always a pleasant shopping experience," said Leanne Patterson, a transplant from California who works at IBM. "It's one of the places that I miss the most when I think of California."

Also, go to Trader Joe's. They have plenty of frozen meals that are tasty, satisfying, and very reasonably priced.

Mmmmmm Trader Joe's is an awesome store - lots of good stuff.

-Vincent

Some of the Stouffer's red box meals are not that much more caloric than the Lean Cuisine meals. The red box lasagna is only 350 calories!

Also, go to Trader Joe's. They have plenty of frozen meals that are tasty, satisfying, and very reasonably priced.

I'll look at the labels on regular Stouffers. Thanks.

If TJ's will build in the western suburbs, I'll add a monthly trip - I already head for BHM once a month for real groceries.

Google Smart Ones recall for some of the stories, they had traces of dairy or something, it was in December I believe.

I have tried about all of them and I have to agree that LC is the best, next would be Smart Ones, then South Beach. Would agree that HealthyChoice is bland. I also try to "spice it up" a little sometimes with Lean Pockets or Lean Subs.

Lean Cuisin has a line called Dinnertime Selections (or something like that) that are a little bigger and can satisfy me for lunch. I have tried most varieties and they are consistently good.

LC over HC.

Most definitely. I also try to cook large batches of healthy recipes on weekends and freeze lunch portions. I find it difficult to get into the habit of doing this consistently, but once I start I am so happy with it I keep going.

If only I could get myself back on my own bandwagon. . .

I sometimes eat these are work for lunch and much prefer Lean Cuisine. They seem to have a bit more flavor.

Lean Cuisine for me. The Thai-Style chicken is good ^

http://www.seattlesutton.com/home.asp

--

You may want to try the new "South Beach Diet" frozen dinners. They are a bit more $$, but seem to have more food and I find to them to be more filling then the Lean Cusines.

I personally can not choke down Healthy Choice meals anymore.

Really? I tried two South Beach frozen dinners and seriously could not eat them - they were that bad. I don't eat a lot of frozen dinners, but those were the only ones I've ever had that I could not eat. Lean Cuisine would be my choice.

http://www.seattlesutton.com/home.aspMy great aunt tried them before she went into assisted living facility. It was absolutely inedible.

I keep Stouffer's red box Macaroni & Cheese in the freezer, maybe eat it once every two months. But living alone, I'm a big fan of cooking one Sunday and maybe one weeknight per month and filling the freezer. I use the 8 oz and 16 oz hot-and-sour soup containers (GFS has them if you have one in your area). I'm more of an assembler than a cook, and I can still make stuff that destroys most boxed frozen food.

I'll make 3-4 different things on a Sunday, or two things on a weeknight, and get 3-5 dinner portions of each.

HC is essentially tasteless - to call it bland is to suggest that whatever flavor the original ingredients once had, survived the processing.

I like the LC Steak Tips with Portabello and the Herb Chicken (also the 3 Cheese Chicken) (read the labels for sodium and sugar content).

My great aunt tried them before she went into assisted living facility. It was absolutely inedible.
isn't all "healthy" pre-made cuisine?

They're both good, I just wish the portions were bigger. But I guess then they would not be so lean and healthy.

I was attracted by the price/weight/calories ratio. $1.25/8 oz/130 calories - so I bought 2 Roasted Turkey with Vegetables. OMG, what cr@p! If you ever wondered what a Chicken McNugget would like and taste like if you peeled off the breading, this is it. Except they were turkey mcnuggets. The green beans and gravy were fine, but I couldn't eat the chopped and formed turkey. It's 3:45 and I want my dinner now.

Since this was bumped I'll jump in here because I've started some new routines that use the frozen dinners particularly for lunch at work (which has been a big problem for me eating crap). The worst thing nutritionally about frozen dinners is still the sodium, I think. But right now that's the least of my worries.

I've tried various Lean Cuisines and found them good. The "Spa Cuisine" line is interesting in that each one has whole grain rice or pasta. For variety, I've gone digging in my supermarket's health food frozen section, which is separate. Many of the things in there are vegetarian, but those can be good (Amy's for instance, at least some of them). Not all of them are, though, and you can find some interesting other stuff in there. (This of course depends upon your store's layout; they may not be separated like that.) In general I'm focusing on the calorie intake more than the overall content, and it's possible to get some things there that rival the calorie count of the LCs. One of my favorites is Ethnic Gourmet's Chicken Tikka, and it's only I think 200, maybe 220 calories for the box.

My fave, by far, is Amy's Organic. You can actually still identify the veggies and such included in them! No meat though, so if you're a total carnivore they probably won't appeal. Just be careful to avoid the vegan items containing soy "cheeze" as you transition into the diet food. Like the other frozen dinners, Amy's is still quite high in sodium, but I like the flavors and the serving sizes and ingredients are pretty good.

I love the Lean Cuisine french bread pizzas and their Swedish Meatballs (the one frozen dinner I buy in multiples).

I think HC and WW taste like cardboard... too many chemicals too.

Hot Pockets makes "Lean Pockets" sandwiches that aren't bad either.

Hot Pockets makes "Lean Pockets" sandwiches that aren't bad either.

I like the taste, but a serving is only one sandwich and that doesn't satisfy me at all. Of course, I supplement all of these with multiple servings of fruit and vegies. But, still, I'd like 9-12 oz of food in my frozen dinner.

edited to add: I just finished a South Beach frozen entree - Szechwan Style Pork. 10.8 oz and lots of flavor. 2 minor complaints: chewy meat and 880mg sodium. Winn Dixie is featuring Lean Cuisine for $2 each this week so it may be a while before I eat anything else for lunch.

I've tried Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice. I do not prefer one brand over the other but I simply decide on what dish I'd prefer. I usually pick a frozen meal with vegetables and seafood. Hard decision, they both have great healthy meals, and they are easy to prepare.

I've tried Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice. I do not prefer one brand over the other but I simply decide on what dish I'd prefer. I usually pick a frozen meal with vegetables and seafood. Hard decision, they both have great healthy meals, and they are easy to prepare.

Heh, I run the opposite way when it comes to seafood. I love fish and eat it often at restaurants and use it in more involved cooking at home, but in these frozen meals I've found it pretty much hopeless. Sticking with chicken, beef, turkey or pork in the frozen meals seems to be safer.

I'm going through about 15 different LC entrees at the moment. One for lunch each day of the work week. So far they have been good. I think more flavorful than HC dinners. But not always very filling for long periods of time.

Thanks to MMMinTX for the Amy's tip. The local Wal-Mart Supercenter doesn't carry much variety, but the one I had was excellent - wonderful flavor. Vegetarian Indian; it was chickpeas, peas and rice with a couple cubes of cheese. I disremember the name of the dishes.

I finally came across a bland Lean Cuisine - the stuffed cabbage. It was pretty much what you would expect from a diner. Nothing a little Cholula didn't take care of, though. Then there was the wind afterwards ... :eek:

Glad you got to find Amy's; my regular supermarket here doesn't carry the variety that Whole Foods does, but they do have options of pasta/lasagna, Indian as you mentioned, and some Tex-Mex flavors like burritos. They also make some pretty flavorful small (but larger than single serving) frozen pizzas - my favorite has pesto, tomatoes, and broccoli. For the same general price range as some of the other frozen meals, but higher quality ingredients and somewhat less sodium, I've been quite pleased.

I'm currently in the process of shedding pounds. Like anything worthwhile, mostly it just takes determination. But, I don't have to like it.

I've eaten a lot of fruits and vegetables for lunch, but began to tire of all that raw vegetation after 2-3 months. In an effort to bring some flavor to the table while I limit lunch calories, I started grabbing frozen meals out of the basement fridge. My oldest son keeps a different schedule than the rest of us and there's a microwave and fridge in the basement where he can fix his last meal of the night without making a lot of noise (the kitchen is right outside my bedroom - I'll never settle for that set-up again). Although he only weighs 130 pounds, most of what I found in the freezer was Stouffers Lean Cuisine. Not bad. Lots of flavor, which is good since the portions are small (for me). Their biggest meal is only 12 ounces (sort of a Lean Cuisine Hungry Man).
.
I made the mistake of buying him replacements that were not to his liking. He's been a fussy eater all his life and won't eat anything with mushrooms or rice and a long list of other stuff. Also some of what I bought was Healthy Choice. So I got stuck with the dinners he wouldn't eat. And what a difference! HC is Bland bland bland.

Can anyone suggest any other low calorie frozen dinners? Lean Cuisine passes the taste test and also earns my son-in-law's seal of approval (he has a degree in nutrition). I'm only halfway to my goal and I figure I'll be watching my intake carefully for another 4 months, anyway. I might as well enjoy it as much as possible.




When I was eating them, Lean Cuisine but have given them up. Way too much salt and I have lost more quickly since doing so. I never eliminate any food groups. Its all about portion control. Weight Watchers works best for me (not including any frozen meals)