Yesterday I posted on Joy's Amazing Journey about an e-mail I got from Healthy Choice regarding their new product line, Cafe Steamers. That afternoon I picked up two of the dinners, the Grilled Whiskey Steak for me and the Grilled White Meat Chicken & Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo Sauce for Janet. I promised you a review once I taste-tested the dinner.
Once I took the dinner out of the box I realized how small all frozen dinners really are, even these. These Cafe Steamers, gram for gram, are the same size as an average Smart Ones and Lean Cuisine. It's the "all in one bowl that looks like a colander" that makes this particular meal seem smaller. But I loved the ease of cooking. No piercing, no cutting little film coverings, then peeling back after half the cooking time, stirring, then zapping for another 2 minutes. You take this baby outta the box, stick her in the microwave for a few minutes and you're done. Finis!
Just lift out the colander, dump the stuff into the bowl underneath, stir with the sauce that was in the bottom of the bowl that was steaming your food, and eat. And it was good! I mean really, really good.
On the plus side:
- WW points are given on the packaging.
- Dietary exchanges are also given (you'll know how many veggie servings you got).
- The veggies were perfectly cooked. And I mean PERFECTLY. The green beans were crisp and vibrant. The red-skinned potatos were tender, not rubbery like other frozen meals. The steak tips were tender and juicy.
- Half the sodium as many of the Smart Ones and Lean Cuisine that I've seen.
On the minus side:
- I haven't seen many "diet" or "healthy" meals with saturated fat lately. These dinners do have some saturated fat and cholesterol. Not much, but it's there.
- The portion size seemed small to me for some reason. With most meals having one serving of vegetables, that is half a cup of veggies. Not a whole lot. But to be fair, the portion size is equivalent to the Smart Ones, just under 300 grams in weight. And it may look smaller because of the unique packaging that steams everything in one dish.
- I paid $3.99 per meal at Shaw's Supermarket. That's more moola than what you shell out for Smart One's and Lean Cuisine. Is it worth it for perfectly steamed veggies and half the sodium??? Perhaps.
I'm not a real big convenience eater. I make it a point to eat clean, so I stay away from most processed foods. Even though I love the idea of a frozen dinner prepared in a unique way that keeps the foods appetising, I'm not sure this is enough to bring me to the dark side. For now, I'll stick to my tried and true diet that has gotten me this far (nearly 50 nasty pounds gone!) and still going strong. But it is nice knowing that if I ever get desperate enough for some steak and potatos I have some options that won't kill me at the scale.
