Any good suggestions for heart-healthy frozen dinners?
I like to keep one or two ready meals, in the event I get hit with the flu or something, and just don't feel like cooking. I already have frozen soups, etc. but I'm just looking for back-ups.
I haven't been down the frozen prepard food aisle in years, so I am completely clueless.
Frozen dinners & I do not enjoy each others comapny usually. But I understand your thought to keep some on hand for when needed. Healthy Choice? Not sure if they are hearth healthy really though. Found a link...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.webmd.com/diet/features/top-12-healthy-frozen-dinners
I don't tend to like too many of the frozen meals, so I stayed away from them for years. But when I got lazy a few months ago and didn't want to cook, I bought some, and was surprised at how some had increased in quality.
ReplyDeleteThe Healthy Choice Chicken Parm is actually edible. :) The Kashi ones I've tried (had one with pesto, pasta n veggies that I loved with parmesan on top) were good. I was not wild about the Amy's frozen, sadly, though I like several of her canned lower sodium soups and chilis.
Definitely try one of the Kashi and see. They often tend to be nice in fiber. And try the Healthy Choice ones (but I hated the salisbury steak, nasty).
Ann, I am not a picky eater - there are very few things I don't like. I often feel as if I rowing upstream with my philosophy on frozen dinners, but having utilized them often over the past 25 (yes, that's correct!) years, I can vouch for much improvement in quality and variety. The only way for you to know what tastes good to you is to experiment with a few different varieties and brands. As with any food or any recipe, what tastes good to me may not float your boat in the least. I happen to really enjoy the WW Smart Ones Salisbury Steak with Macaroni & Cheese. Overall, my favorite brands are the Smart Ones and Lean Cuisine. My grocery runs one of the major brands at good sale prices just about every week. Hope that helps - just experiment and make up your own mind.
ReplyDeleteOh, great information! Thank all of you so much! I actually hope not to need a frozen dinner, but the time to get one is before I'd actually need it. You know how that goes. In the past, I could leave it up to hubby to "fix" a meal if I came down with the flu, but that usually meant fast-food: burgers, subs, or pizza ... none of which is on my diet. :D
ReplyDeleteThe only one I've ever really been blown away by is Amy's pesto tortellini. That was wonderful. Everything else has just been ok for me.
ReplyDeleteI like to mix frozen veggies together with some veggie burger and some seasoning. It is WAY less sodium than a regular frozen dinner and you can customize it based on whatever you are currently craving.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I don't have any suggestions. But I am glad to be reminded that I too need to put some things back in the freezer and for the very same reasons you do. You just never know when you'll need to rely on them. Now if I could only find the time!!!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE cooking but now that I live alone, it's hard to make single portion meals, so I've been making regular recipes and freezing two to four portions right away - I made soups a few weekends ago, and I've found that ratatouille freezes pretty well! I don't have a microwave at home but we have one at work, so I usually bring a Lean Cuisine meal for lunch - the Weight Watchers ones are good when I'm craving comfort food, but the LC's are slightly better, I think, for salt, fat, and definitely more veggies. I love the butternut squash ravioli!
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