Critique: Michelina's Fried Chicken Fritter

I'm a real sucker for any TV dinner (no matter how minuscule it might be) that can be had for just a buck, so I sprang a moldy dollar out of my wallet and bought one! I was a little concerned about that word 'fritter', however and so looked it up as soon as I got home...

Fritter – def: a small piece of food that has been coated in a flour and egg mixture and fried.

Well gee, that didn't sound too bad! Although, that word 'small' concerned me to some extent. At just 227 grams for the entire meal, including the mashed potatoes, I had the distinct impression that my culinary brush with poultry would be somewhat fleeting! Also, the nutritional panel indicates the meal is practically swimming in salt! Twelve hundred milligrams is about half the recommended daily intake, and that's for a young healthy adult! The other parameters didn't bother me so much and the measly 310 calories for the whole meal indicated that I might need to supplement it with some sort of side dish.

Like many meals of similar elk from Michelina, this is a peel the edge up, nuke, stir and nuke again meal to prepare. The stir part is the potatoes and occurs after 3 ½ minutes on high – then you nuke it again for another minute and a half. Not to difficult. I just wish they could figure out how to sell mashed potatoes that don't require the mixing.

Commercial picture. Well, it looks pretty decent!

My amateur picture!

For a side, I elected to add a small amount of green beans, mostly for added bulk. I then compared my preparation against the commercial picture they have on their web page. Hmmm...

Comments posted on their site were few with most saying that while the flavor was rated as good, some felt that the portion was too small while others felt the salt was an issue also. How did I feel about this dollar dish? I gave it a 7 as I thought it was fairly tasty! But, I really felt that this might be better served to really young kids. There's just not enough there to satisfy even a smallish adult!

Critique: Lean Cuisine’s Herb Roasted Chicken!

Talk about a tale of two cities. Whereas my review of the Glazed Chicken offering from the folks at Nestle (no longer exists as of 2015) was less than sterling, this meal was a horse of a different color! I was so very pleasantly surprised that I made the decision to buy more of this at the store while it was still on sale for $2.50. But, before I get to gushing too much, let me cover one oddity.

When you prepare this in the microwave, you are instructed to make a slit in the plastic covering (no biggie) then place it in the microwave and cook it AT HALF POWER for nine minutes! Say what! I wasn’t even sure how to set the power on my microwave. Heck, I didn’t even know there was a power setting. But, after I finally figured it out it was no problem. What I don’t quite understand is why the dish need such treatment. Perhaps I’ll write the company to find out.

Back to the taste. This mix of chicken, potatoes and other veggies is offered in a white cream sauce the combination of which is very similar to a meal my mom made when I was a child. Total comfort food here. Also, at only 170 calories, I could enjoy some additional sides without messing my diet up too much. Bonus points for that!

I give this meal a 9 on a scale of ten and urge everyone to give it a try!

Update: Here is the response from ConAgra concerning the need to use 50% power: "
Thank you for taking the time to contact us about LEAN CUISINE® Herb Roasted Chicken. We welcome questions and comments from loyal consumers such as yourself and appreciate this opportunity to assist you.

We have read your email. This is how we tested this particular product for the best quality. With some microwaves, 50% power is synonymous with power level 5, medium, medium-low and in some instances, defrost. If your microwave only has a high setting, you can cook the product on high power for half the amount of time. If the product is not thoroughly cooked in that amount of time, continue cooking on high but check after a minute or so to prevent overcooking."

Update: In 2015 the cooking instructions had been changed to simply, place in the microwave and cook for 6 1/2 minutes!