Critique: Four Cheese Ziti Marinara

This will be the last review of this excellent line of the Healthy Choice Baked entrées. Ziti macaroni and sauce are tube shaped pasta's that are characteristic of Italian-American cuisine. The other meals they offer (I've reviewed three others) are of little interest to me.

Other than the Ziti pasta, this boxed TV entree also contain Marinara sauce which is an Italian tomato sauce usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and onions. (Usually a very tasty and nutritional sauce to eat)! The four cheeses consist of fine Parmesan, Romano, Asiago, and mozzarella. (Not the best things for you to eat). So, what we have here is a ying and yang meal deal that will only kill you slowly... you have been warned!

Now what caught my eye originally while surveying the entire line of these 'Baked' products at the grocery store was the word 'ziti'. At first my mind confused it with the word 'titty' and so aroused my interest. Even after I worked it out mentally, I thought it might be an interesting if not a little bit dangerous meal to try. Why dangerous? Well, contrary to culinary lore, eating cheese which contains saturated (read as harmful) fats does not directly cause coronary heart disease – it just doesn't help all that much. So, eating cheese once in a while is probably OK.

The directions, as they are for most all this line, are simple to execute. Slit the plastic and then nuke for four minutes! I like meals like this!

Even though this is a meatless pasta dish, I still liked eating it! I mean those, oh so bad for you, mix of cheeses were hard to resist! This 260 gram meal has 310 calories, 5 mg of Cholesterol and 560 mg of sodium. Not all that bad! I scored it a 7 on a scale of 10!

Critique: HC Roasted Chicken and Potatoes!

According to the package this 180 calorie entree has 'savory slices of chicken breast with redskin potatoes, crisp carrots and tender pearl onions all in a light chicken and herb sauce.' How, I wondered can you go wrong with that offering from the folks at Healthy Choice?

I posted a glowing review concerning their Chicken and Spinach Alfredo offering some time ago and still feel that it was one of the best TV style dinners I've ever had. It is one of like seven of their 'Baked' microwave meals that run on sale for about $2.80 plus tax here in Forsyth Missouri where I make my home.

This meal, like the Chicken and Alfredo also boasts only 560 mg of sodium and just 35 mg of cholesterol! However, please remember that this is an entree and as such, you don't get all that much to eat. But, when combined with a vegetable salad on the side, it does make for a good sit down meal.

Also, like the other entree I have reviewed, it is a slit and nuke affair that doesn't take much over five minutes to get on the table. (I like that in both my TV dinners and my women)! Once again and not to belabor the point, for under $3 you are getting something that is considered a fast food, yet is also healthy for you to eat! If I remember correctly, my last outing to McDonald's netted me only a hamburger and medium fry for something like $7! It was also over 900 calories and chock full of cholesterol and salt! And, while I do admit to slinking over to the 'Golden Arches' from time to time, I surely do not make it a regular habit.

Overall, the taste was pretty durn good! Maybe the carrots were a tad too crisp while the potatoes seemed somewhat so, I guess it's a preference thing. The sauce they used, compliments the entire entree and the chicken tasted like... chicken. Another winner! Score of 8 on a scale of 10.

Critique: Healthy Choice Chicken & Spinach Alfredo!

At $2.79, this 220 calorie offering from the the folks at Healthy Choice has a lot going for it! There's some chicken chunks, spinach and penne pasta – all three of which are up there in my 'like' department. Oh. and that Alfredo sauce isn't too shabby either!

Healthy Choice offers this TV style dinner as one of their line of seven 'Baked Taste' recipes that is actually prepared in your friendly (and fast) microwave. And, at just 241 grams in total wright, you aren't really getting all that much food, (which is another good reason to eat stuff like this if you are trying to diet). In addition, there is only 550 milligrams of sodium to deal with which makes it a low salt item as well. So, overall, I would give this meal high marks in terms of overall nutrition.

As to the preparation, that's also a breeze. It's a 'slit it and nuke it' affair on high for about 4 minutes. I like any TV dinner that has such few instructions. (If I see the words 'stir and reseal', I generally will give that item a pass). Not so with this meal deal or the other offerings of like venue. They're all easy to make. High marks, and smiles, all around.

After nuking this meal deal, I sat down and gave it the taste test. Hmm, the aroma was excellent and everything was hot and very tasty. Most importantly, the pasta was fairly close to al dente – something that the folks at Banquet have never seemed to get a handle on. I think we have a winner here! This meal got a score of 8 on a scale of 10 and yes, I will be trying the other varieties.

Critique: Chicken Romano Fresca

What's on the outside is what's on the inside!

Let me begin this critique with a brief discussion of the word ‘Romano’ which is used in the naming of this dish. Romano is actually a reference to the Romans who made it a habit to introduce the ‘backward Brits’ to the concept of fresh vegetables as part of a healthy lifestyle. One way for the new ‘Romano-British’ elite to demonstrate their high status of that period was to invite their aristocratic neighbors to dine lavishly on food imported from around the Roman Empire. On the other side of the coin, no one seems to know where the hell the term ‘Fresca’ came from. (I think the HC people used it because it sounds so cool when used right after the word Romano). (Hey! Maybe I should change my name! “Hi, DanO Romano Fresca here! Would anyone care for a game of squash?” Then again, maybe not)!

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I originally purchased this entrée alongside another similar dish called ‘Lemon Herb Chicken’ both of which are made by the folks at Healthy Choice. They are part of a group of entrees that are ‘steamed in situ’, which basically means you leave the plastic cover in place while nuking the contents on high for about four minutes. (Somehow this makes it a healthier experience according to HC, although I’m not really sure why that would be so).

At only 230 calories and with low levels of cholesterol and sodium, this meal passes muster when it comes to good nutrition. (I’ll give credit where credit is due). HC does make an effort to keep some ingredients that can be bad for you (like sodium) at lower levels than what is found in other similar frozen offerings. In general they will cost a bit more, but if you suffer from hypertension, I feel they are worth it! Now, what about the scoring?

Category                    Score                              Comments

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Appearance:                  8                Very appealing  

Smell:                            8                Wholesome and good

Texture:                         8                Pasta done right and meat was perfect!

Taste:                             8                A satisfying blend of taste sensations!

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Average:                         8                We got ourselves a winner here!

This offering by the folks at HC hit a home run in my opinion. Low calorie impact and great taste combine to make this a meal to try and then to stock up on!

Disclaimer: All content in this post is the sole opinion of the author and may not reflect that of other readers.

Critique: A Healthy Choice Meatloaf Meal throw down!

With all due apologies to Bobby Flay, I went out and bought myself a Healthy Choice Meatloaf Meal in an effort to see why the sky high price of $4.15 makes this TV dinner so much better than an identical Banquet version I reported on earlier in the year, and which cost only a buck to boot! I mean who is jacking who? While the Banquet meal tasted like a dream, for three bucks more, this one had better taste like a ‘wet dream’! Let the TV dinner throw down commence!

First off, I wanted to take a look at and compare some key nutritional items between the two meals. They have, after all, pretty much the contents; a serving each of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn and in the case of HC a desert! Here’s what I found:

Meal             Weight      Calories       CFF       Cholesterol    Sodium (mg)

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Banquet         269            280          150                40                  1000

H.C.                349            350          80                 35                  550

OK then, some interesting numbers here. Remembering the cost differential was three bucks, I figure that the were it not for the desert I'm good to go with Banquet. That is, for the same money, I can get three of the Banquet meals. HELLO! Anyone argue with that? OK, so what if I'm getting hosed with sodium!  But, I mean is that difference really worth worrying about unless your old and hypertensive like myself? I dunno, you be the judge! Let’s move on to taste, shall we?

Taste

All things being equal, the overall taste is what I remember the most. Sure, the salt may pickle me and the cholesterol may clog my arteries, but the thing that really counts is taste! Healthy Choice doesn’t let you down on this count. The meatloaf was just the right texture and had a great aroma. The corn and mashed potatoes were also good, but the real seller was the desert. Anytime you serve apple bits in a sugary syrup you got my attention! I’ll also venture a guess it was the Apple Cranberry Crisps that added all the extra calories, but it did help make the meal, so it’s forgiven. High marks also for overall smell and texture.

This meal gets a solid 8 in my book and the old adage is evidently true; you do get what you pay for! While I would still buy the much cheaper Banquet product (mainly because I am cheap), people who can afford to spend the extra money should opt for Healthy Choice version.

Critique: Healthy Choice Chicken Red Pepper Alfredo

OK, after reviewing and then consuming some, shall we say, less than wholesome frozen meal as of late. I decided it was time to step up to one of the Healthy Choice entrees. We are, after all, what you eat! For this go around, I decided on the Chicken Red Pepper Alfredo meal more due to the fact that I liked the title than anything else. This is one of the ‘Café Steamers’ offerings that is supposedly a ‘fresh taste' unlocked by steam meal a deal. Anyhow, it has some chicken and pasta in it; two ingredients that suit me to a tee. This dish also employs a device called a ‘DuoTray Steamcooker’. Sounds advanced! This meal which costs close to $5 in 2011 is well above other TV dinners I’ve critiqued so far, but golly, I wanted to experience what the rich folks eat for a change.

As you might surmised, the nutritional content is head and shoulders above other (read much cheaper) meals I’ve eaten. The old adage that you get what you pay for definitely applies here. I have to admit, though, I like what I’m see on the label. Calories are a modest 260 for this 292 gram meal. Only sixty of these come from fat. Cholesterol is a livable 40 mg and the sodium was a meager 510 mg. This represents some of the best nutritional  figures I’ve seen so far on a packaged frozen product.

Click to enlarge

 On to the preparation. After reading the instructions, I determined that below the meal was a tray of sauce of some kind. After microwaving everything on high for about four minutes, I removed the steamer tray and poured the sauce over the rest of the meal. Got to admit, it smelled pretty darn good. For the over all taste grade, I would award this a sold B or a 7 on a scale of one to ten. And, even at five bucks (purchased in Branson mo.), this meal gets it done in both the nutritional and taste department. Note: When I purchased the same meal in Forsyth, Mo some months later, it cost only $4! Hmm, must be de-flation at work!