Since this is my first review in a while, I don't have much to say. I just posted a half hour ago too, so we'll jump right in to the review:
First Impressions: The peanuty thai sauce smell coming from the microwave is SUPER enticing! As I stir up the noodles, chicken, and carrots I note that the sauce is about the same orange as the carrots, so I'm hoping it won't be too spicy. There are plenty of bite sized chicken pieces and the carrots are about quarter inch rectangles, while the noodles are linguine in size and shape but made from rice.
Taste: On first bite, I would say that the sauce is a little too peanut buttery and sweet for me, but as I kept eating it, the meal became more enjoyable. There's definitely a spicy kick to the sauce, but I've eaten a good few bites so far and haven't needed water yet. I would say that this spice level is just about perfect for me -- any more spicy and it wouldn't be enjoyable. To put it on a scale, I would say it falls slightly below most medium salsas out there. As an aside, I just wanted to note that for the calories & fat content of this meal (260 and 4 grams, respectively) I wasn't expecting such an intense and delicious flavor. It's a rarity to find that in the low-cal and fat industry!
Texture: The carrots have a little life left in them texture wise and give a slight crunch. The chicken is moist and just the texture it should be, except for this one piece I had that was a little larger than the rest and on the dry side. I know frozen food companies have the tendency to basically grind their chicken meat and re-form it into patties or bite sized shapes, but this chicken has the same texture of a sliced boneless breast made at home which is a welcome sign to me. The rice noodles can be difficult for some people because they're naturally soft and a little gummy. I happen to enjoy the lighter flavor of rice noodles and the gummy part doesn't get to me so there's really nothing much to say about them.
Usually the photo would go here, but my camera is packed away in god knows what bag! Sorry!
General Thoughts: This meal is pretty much a slam dunk in the low cal low fat frozen entree world. It hits all the right notes with the slight sweetness of the carrots, the peanut-spice sauce, and the bite size morsels of chicken cooked right. I would advise strongly against this meal if you don't like satay sauces or have issues with noodle texture, since as I said rice noodles by nature have a gummy texture unlike wheat based noodles, but if you're interested in Asian flavors or looking to spice things up at lunch, I strongly suggest this entree to you!
I would definitely buy this again!
Rating: 4.5 stars
Calories: 260
Fat: 4 grams
Smart One's Website with Complete Nutrition Info
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Calm Before the Storm
These past few weeks have been legitimately crazy and hectic. I've moved out from my Summer housing as of August 20th and started moving back to Rhode Island for the school year this past Sunday. In between that I went home for a week, had a few doctor's appointments and tried to cram in as much friend visiting as I could. It wasn't until yesterday that I even really did a lot of unpacking, and I still have stuff that needs to find homes. Today I have to go grocery shopping, get the rest of my stuff in order, and I have a sorority meeting at 6:00 pm. Suffice to say that blogging has been low on my priority list...
As far as my eating has been concerned, it's been all over the place. When I come back into town to see my family and friends, everyone wants to get together and go to dinner. I really appreciate the sentiment but often we go to places that I know I won't have a shot of making a healthy decision at. In order to defray the Restaurant Dieting, I tried hard to eat low-calorie during the days but even that could only staunch the flow of fat and calories so much.
Since I have to go grocery shopping today, I'm looking diligently at the sale flyer for Stop and Shop to save some money and eat healthy. I was absolutely thrilled to see Smart Ones on sale 8 for $10 this week -- even if I gave one of their meals a pretty awful review. I'm excited to get back on the wagon, so to speak, with healthy eating and healthy reviewing! I think I'll also be able to review my first healthy dessert since some of the sale covers that as well. I also saw that one of my favorite fruits, peaches are just $.99 a pound and that Kraft has some new deli flatbread creations on sale that are supposedly low-calorie. Sounds good to me.
Last night I some friends came over and we had some margaritas in my apartment on campus. It was nice to see everyone but I was tired and slowed down early. My apartment is set up so that there's a kitchen, bathroom, sinks, living room and two double bedrooms so we have a good amount of space. My direct roomie, Carolynn, went to visit her boyfriend for the night and has yet to return so I've been chilling with my other roomie Maria. In 2 hours I should be on my way to grocery shopping but until then I'm going to have to eat something which means review time for the blog. Excuse me while I switch costumes and get ready for a new post!
As far as my eating has been concerned, it's been all over the place. When I come back into town to see my family and friends, everyone wants to get together and go to dinner. I really appreciate the sentiment but often we go to places that I know I won't have a shot of making a healthy decision at. In order to defray the Restaurant Dieting, I tried hard to eat low-calorie during the days but even that could only staunch the flow of fat and calories so much.
Since I have to go grocery shopping today, I'm looking diligently at the sale flyer for Stop and Shop to save some money and eat healthy. I was absolutely thrilled to see Smart Ones on sale 8 for $10 this week -- even if I gave one of their meals a pretty awful review. I'm excited to get back on the wagon, so to speak, with healthy eating and healthy reviewing! I think I'll also be able to review my first healthy dessert since some of the sale covers that as well. I also saw that one of my favorite fruits, peaches are just $.99 a pound and that Kraft has some new deli flatbread creations on sale that are supposedly low-calorie. Sounds good to me.
Last night I some friends came over and we had some margaritas in my apartment on campus. It was nice to see everyone but I was tired and slowed down early. My apartment is set up so that there's a kitchen, bathroom, sinks, living room and two double bedrooms so we have a good amount of space. My direct roomie, Carolynn, went to visit her boyfriend for the night and has yet to return so I've been chilling with my other roomie Maria. In 2 hours I should be on my way to grocery shopping but until then I'm going to have to eat something which means review time for the blog. Excuse me while I switch costumes and get ready for a new post!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Gorey Details, Part II
As the title indicates, this is a continuation of my previous blog post about a vacation I took this past weekend with Matt on Cape Cod.
I first went to the Dan'l Webster Inn around 3 years ago on vacation with my best friend, Dan. His dad had read about it and wanted to try the place out and that meal ended up as my favorite meal of all time. They have an early dinner menu where you get 3 complete courses for a great price, though I must say that it was a little better the first time I tried it than the most recent time. It was still an enjoyable experience though. I had the Chicken Fig Marsala, which looked smaller and overall different this time versus what I got 3 years ago. They also had questionable soup choices, so I went with the upgrade to the French Onion soup which was both a little too big for me to finish and slightly too salty. I was sad to hear the choices for dessert were Grapenut Pudding (yuck) or a Chocolate Brownie sundae, but I opted for the sundae as I didn't want to dish out the extra $5 to $6 for a dessert upgrade when nothing was that appealing.
Part of the reason why my first visit to Dan'l Webster was so memorable was the first course of Cauliflower Cheese soup and the dessert of Flourless Chocolate Gateau with Raspberry Coulis. This was my first taste of that fudgey delight of a cake and I've been taken with it ever since, ordering it whenever I get the chance. The Brownie Sundae was better than I expected, but they could have spared some more brownie pieces for goodness sake. Alright I'm just being picky now, I should be grateful that I got that all for about $20 sans tax and tip versus Matt's $27 entree-only Duck Trio that he only half-liked. I tried a piece of duck but there was just something off about it and I couldn't even get past two chews before I had to, ahem, spit it out...
After Dan'l Webster, we went back to our hotel and decided to walk to one of the mini-golf places right near us. I opted to go for the more showy looking Wild Animal Lagoon, which ended up being pricey, annoying, and not challenging at all. I beat Matt by about 4 strokes though, which almost made up for it. I still kick myself for not trying out the smaller Putter's Paradise right next to the hotel which is a local fave and apparently pretty cheap too. Matt was pretty hungry as we both ate dinner earlier than usual and he didn't eat half of what was on his plate, so we did a late night McDonald's run. I got a Double Cheeseburger in spite of everything and I ended up eating half his medium fries and some of a chicken select, too. That was pretty much it for Friday, except that I stayed up late designing a Coheed & Cambria t-shirt for a contest. I thought it was due the next day but luckily the contest was extended until the 25th.
(Urgh, pause for being angry at this school's shit ass internet connection. Had to switch from Blogger to Notepad to finish writing this.)
Sunday consisted of going to Provincetown for the day, but we once again got a late start and had a kind of slow lunch (and crummy), so we didn't get there until about 2 PM. We didn't last too long there, as I wasn't hungry enough to wait around to eat dinner there, then wait for any of the shows that would start at 8 PM or later. By 5:30 PM we were headed back and I felt really regret that I didn't get to spend more time there due to being tired. P-town was one of the vacation spots for my family for a few years (along with Old Orchard Beach) so I felt nostalgic and didn't want to return to Yarmouth. Matt was pretty hungry almost all afternoon, which I didn't know until we went to a later dinner at DiParma that night around 8 PM. We had a half hour wait, which was kind of BS in my opinion but we stuck around because he was digging the place and wanted Italian. Dinner was nice enough, but I hated how slow it was. I wasn't really hungry and was sort of absently eating but I'll tell you their house salad was phenomenal for some unknown reason. I should have just ordered one for dinner, but I wasn't hungry while I ordered and just got something (the steak) I thought would be good enough; it was, don't get me wrong, but not being hungry sucks the life outta enjoying food to me. We missed our chance to get another round of mini-golf in because the two flashy places were way too packed for my liking and by the time we ate, which probably took a good hour and half or more when all is said and done. I figured Putter's Paradise would be closing soon so I didn't bother to go check them out just to get my hopes dashed.
Monday was gloomy and full of light rain, the perfect going home weather. We stopped at the Cape Cod Potato Chip factory for a tour and found ourselves in a 15 minute long line. There was a group of French Canadians in front of us, which provided me with some entertainment (I've taken French ever since Junior High) but ultimately the tour was lame; it's self-guided through the use of a few posters explaining the process accompanied by 4 or 5 big glass windows you can look into. It all funnels into the store at the end, where you pay full supermarket prices for everything. We got 3 bags of chips (all new flavors - 40% reduced fat BBQ, Sweet and Spicy Jalapeno, and Yukon Gold) plus their only flavor of popcorn, which tastes really similar to Smartfood but a bit lighter and fresher.
We stopped for lunch at Red Robin on the way back, which was another slight disappointment. The Royal Red Robin Burger (I suspect the bun actually) tasted a bit off even though it was my usual order and Matt didn't like what he got. We both wanted to try the special burger (Spicy Honey Glazed Bacon Burger) we saw online, but our table was missing the promotional stove shaped box so we both thought they didn't have the burger in stores anymore. We were wrong. Matt then drove me back to Salem, where I packed up some stuff with my Hello Kitty bike and sent him home. I hated to send him back, but it was already getting darker and gloomier and we had no more reason to beat around the bush.
I guess now that I look back on it, the overall vacation events were kind of mediocre but going to the Gorey House really made up for it. I'm really looking forward to a time when Matt and I can go on vacation and enjoy it fully instead of having a rushed two-nighter crammed in right before I finish up my Summer class. I'm looking forward to doing something fun this Spring Break, but as to what I'm not sure. Neither of us are interested in the typical college Spring Break, though I really want to go on a cruise. It's too bad that just about every cruise will be packed with annoying college kids. I would say that we could go to Montreal but I don't think going farther up North during the cold months is a great idea either. I'll have to brain storm it with him later.
So it's approaching midnight now and I seriously can't go to sleep without studying more. Not sure how much this helped, but I'm handing myself over to the Accounting Gods now!
I first went to the Dan'l Webster Inn around 3 years ago on vacation with my best friend, Dan. His dad had read about it and wanted to try the place out and that meal ended up as my favorite meal of all time. They have an early dinner menu where you get 3 complete courses for a great price, though I must say that it was a little better the first time I tried it than the most recent time. It was still an enjoyable experience though. I had the Chicken Fig Marsala, which looked smaller and overall different this time versus what I got 3 years ago. They also had questionable soup choices, so I went with the upgrade to the French Onion soup which was both a little too big for me to finish and slightly too salty. I was sad to hear the choices for dessert were Grapenut Pudding (yuck) or a Chocolate Brownie sundae, but I opted for the sundae as I didn't want to dish out the extra $5 to $6 for a dessert upgrade when nothing was that appealing.
Part of the reason why my first visit to Dan'l Webster was so memorable was the first course of Cauliflower Cheese soup and the dessert of Flourless Chocolate Gateau with Raspberry Coulis. This was my first taste of that fudgey delight of a cake and I've been taken with it ever since, ordering it whenever I get the chance. The Brownie Sundae was better than I expected, but they could have spared some more brownie pieces for goodness sake. Alright I'm just being picky now, I should be grateful that I got that all for about $20 sans tax and tip versus Matt's $27 entree-only Duck Trio that he only half-liked. I tried a piece of duck but there was just something off about it and I couldn't even get past two chews before I had to, ahem, spit it out...
After Dan'l Webster, we went back to our hotel and decided to walk to one of the mini-golf places right near us. I opted to go for the more showy looking Wild Animal Lagoon, which ended up being pricey, annoying, and not challenging at all. I beat Matt by about 4 strokes though, which almost made up for it. I still kick myself for not trying out the smaller Putter's Paradise right next to the hotel which is a local fave and apparently pretty cheap too. Matt was pretty hungry as we both ate dinner earlier than usual and he didn't eat half of what was on his plate, so we did a late night McDonald's run. I got a Double Cheeseburger in spite of everything and I ended up eating half his medium fries and some of a chicken select, too. That was pretty much it for Friday, except that I stayed up late designing a Coheed & Cambria t-shirt for a contest. I thought it was due the next day but luckily the contest was extended until the 25th.
(Urgh, pause for being angry at this school's shit ass internet connection. Had to switch from Blogger to Notepad to finish writing this.)
Sunday consisted of going to Provincetown for the day, but we once again got a late start and had a kind of slow lunch (and crummy), so we didn't get there until about 2 PM. We didn't last too long there, as I wasn't hungry enough to wait around to eat dinner there, then wait for any of the shows that would start at 8 PM or later. By 5:30 PM we were headed back and I felt really regret that I didn't get to spend more time there due to being tired. P-town was one of the vacation spots for my family for a few years (along with Old Orchard Beach) so I felt nostalgic and didn't want to return to Yarmouth. Matt was pretty hungry almost all afternoon, which I didn't know until we went to a later dinner at DiParma that night around 8 PM. We had a half hour wait, which was kind of BS in my opinion but we stuck around because he was digging the place and wanted Italian. Dinner was nice enough, but I hated how slow it was. I wasn't really hungry and was sort of absently eating but I'll tell you their house salad was phenomenal for some unknown reason. I should have just ordered one for dinner, but I wasn't hungry while I ordered and just got something (the steak) I thought would be good enough; it was, don't get me wrong, but not being hungry sucks the life outta enjoying food to me. We missed our chance to get another round of mini-golf in because the two flashy places were way too packed for my liking and by the time we ate, which probably took a good hour and half or more when all is said and done. I figured Putter's Paradise would be closing soon so I didn't bother to go check them out just to get my hopes dashed.
Monday was gloomy and full of light rain, the perfect going home weather. We stopped at the Cape Cod Potato Chip factory for a tour and found ourselves in a 15 minute long line. There was a group of French Canadians in front of us, which provided me with some entertainment (I've taken French ever since Junior High) but ultimately the tour was lame; it's self-guided through the use of a few posters explaining the process accompanied by 4 or 5 big glass windows you can look into. It all funnels into the store at the end, where you pay full supermarket prices for everything. We got 3 bags of chips (all new flavors - 40% reduced fat BBQ, Sweet and Spicy Jalapeno, and Yukon Gold) plus their only flavor of popcorn, which tastes really similar to Smartfood but a bit lighter and fresher.
We stopped for lunch at Red Robin on the way back, which was another slight disappointment. The Royal Red Robin Burger (I suspect the bun actually) tasted a bit off even though it was my usual order and Matt didn't like what he got. We both wanted to try the special burger (Spicy Honey Glazed Bacon Burger) we saw online, but our table was missing the promotional stove shaped box so we both thought they didn't have the burger in stores anymore. We were wrong. Matt then drove me back to Salem, where I packed up some stuff with my Hello Kitty bike and sent him home. I hated to send him back, but it was already getting darker and gloomier and we had no more reason to beat around the bush.
I guess now that I look back on it, the overall vacation events were kind of mediocre but going to the Gorey House really made up for it. I'm really looking forward to a time when Matt and I can go on vacation and enjoy it fully instead of having a rushed two-nighter crammed in right before I finish up my Summer class. I'm looking forward to doing something fun this Spring Break, but as to what I'm not sure. Neither of us are interested in the typical college Spring Break, though I really want to go on a cruise. It's too bad that just about every cruise will be packed with annoying college kids. I would say that we could go to Montreal but I don't think going farther up North during the cold months is a great idea either. I'll have to brain storm it with him later.
So it's approaching midnight now and I seriously can't go to sleep without studying more. Not sure how much this helped, but I'm handing myself over to the Accounting Gods now!
The Gorey Details, Part I
My time stuck in Summer classes it just about over, as I have my final tomorrow night and will be moving out Friday evening. I started off on the right track studying today, but after a half hour (maybe less) I decided to reward myself with an episode of Darker Than Black which ended up turning into about 4 episodes. I figured 'Why not just finish the series now, start studying again around 8 and be distraction free?' Well it didn't work out so well... now it's almost 10 pm and I STILL haven't touched it again.
I'm going to really try and sit down and focus once I'm done blogging. I'm hoping that if I can get some of this gobbledygook out of my head it'll let me concentrate.
For one, I've been on a sort of hiatus from here as I both ran out of foods to review and because I went on a weekend vacation to Cape Cod with my boyfriend Matt. It was nice to get away, but I was sweating over the grade I would receive Tuesday (as in yesterday) in Accounting. Turns out I got a 75, which isn't great but is far better than what I expected. Now if I can manage to slip by with an overall C in this course I'll be grateful, but 30% of my grade hinges on this final (or, I should REALLY be studying right now!)
Last Friday I took the 'Great Voyage' from Salem to Rhode Island which started at roughly 2 PM and ended when I was picked up at 5:30ish PM. Usually it's an hour by local bus plus another hour to hour and 15 minutes by train into Providence, where I get picked up. Then it's another 30 minutes to Matt's which I usually don't count because I have his company to keep me occupied and I'm so happy to not be surrounded by crying kids, smelly people, and the crazies that ride the MBTA.
Friday was pretty low key. We had half-assed plans with Matt's buddies to go to hibachi at Shogun which would be the 3rd week in a ROW we both went, so I'm kinda glad they fell through. Instead we went to eat at Carrabba's where I had a nice pomegranate martini and a small plate of their Pollo Rosa Maria. Not that I was counting much of what I was eating as it was vacation, but even if I were curious I can't make much sense out of Carrabba's Nutrition Information Page. Not only does it not list the Pollo Rosa Maria or the Cavatappi Amitriciana, I'm not sure how to interpret their system. How many calories and grams of fat are in a unit of fat?
Afterwards, we stopped by the new Target Supercenter to get me some flip flops. I love Target, and I could give a hoot less about their recent controversy over giving money to this or that politician. I would have browsed in there longer, much to the chagrin of Matt, but we had first gone to Trader Joe's and bought some frozen foods. I got a box of Chocolate Mochi ice cream which I didn't get to try yet because I was so full all Friday and we left early Saturday. Here's a nifty blog post with photos and a better description of the product if you're interested, or you can head to the distributer's web site and in the upper right hand corner find a link to order up any combo of 5 boxes to be delivered at home (for the more adventurous). I'd be interested in trying all their flavors, but I know Matt would especially love the Red Bean one and Kona Coffee one entices me. They're not exactly healthy, but per 2 mochi, it's only 230 calories and 7 grams of fat. I can live with it.
Friday finished up with some cleaning (a condition given to us by his mom but it needed to be done anyways) and some True Blood. Saturday we got up early-ish but due to his step dad borrowing the car and Matt's horrible penchant for packing last minute, we barely got out the door by 10:15 AM. We stopped at our favorite joint, McGovern's, to try out their weekend breakfast and it was solid. We were on the road a little after 11 AM but managed to get snarled in an hours worth of traffic, which left us both edgy and brought up a little arguing.
We went to our first destination, Cape Cod Beer, for a surprise brewery tour and tasting. It was more of a surprise for Matt since I hate beer but it ended up being a wash. The place was tiny as hell and crowded. I figured it would have been emptier since it was a great beach day. We left, discouraged, for our next destination: The Edward Gorey House.
Now I admit, I had already seen photos and read up a bit on The Edward Gorey House. I figured since it was so small I'd probably run through it in 20 minutes and then leave disappointed. Matt has read some Gorey stuff but he isn't a buff like I am, which also added to my apprehension. I'm trying to work on my self-centered habits of forgetting to 'take one for the team' and do things he might like but are boring for me (hence brewery tour) but it's pretty hard because Matt is really generous and self-sacrificing. I digress.
When we drove up, I first saw an iron wrought statue of The Doubtful Guest (a penguin like character from a Christmasy Gorey story) which happens to be Matt's preferred (or only favorite) Gorey character. We stopped to take a picture or two and read some plaques outside about Gorey's stone serpent and magnolia tree before stepping inside. When we got in, there were about 3 other guests at the house and some volunteer staff. We both bought year long memberships for $20 each which gets us free entry to the museum for a year, a member pin, and 10% off merch from the gift shop (a sweet deal). It's also 100% tax deductible, as the proceeds go directly to maintaining the house. Gorey also has a charitable trust set up for local animal shelters and related wild life causes so how can I not support these guys and his memory?
After signing up for memberships we got a nice guided tour by a guy from San Francisco. He was an Historic Preservation major there to work for the Summer with his partner (who was an Art History major or some such). They got to live upstairs in the house for the Summer which makes me a little jealous. I'll also note that Ombledroom, the resident cat, was sick and kept away from the museum downstairs much to my disappointment. In any case, we got an excellent tour where I actually learned a bunch of new factoids about ole Ed -- did you know he was basically a hoarder? I didn't until then! I highly urge any of you that visit the Cape to go see the house. It's only $5 admission and if you're into dark humor, history, art, or anything of that nature it's a hidden gem!
After our tour, Matt and I started to explore the house a little more. We got these 'Gashlycrumb Tinies' scavenger hunt pamphlets and spent a good twenty minutes frantically searching the house for all 26 references to the children in the story. We got a hint for the first one and a little help at the end too (we got stuck on 'N is for Neville who died of ennui"). Our prize wasn't anything huge, just a postcard with Gorey art on it but it was such an innovative and engaging way to explore the house. I didn't stop and read every single thing but we both plan to hit the house up again so I think of it as leaving room for discovering more stuff in the future.
After an hour, we left the EGH with some swag and smiles, pleasantly surprised by how much we loved the house. It was the number 1 highlight for me on our trip and I bet Matt would say the same. We drove around a little and finally killed enough time to check into our hotel (a 4 PM check in is pretty late and odd in my book) which was probably one of the better hotels I've been in. It was the perfect size, though maybe a little small for being billed as a 'suite'. King size bed, flat panel TV that rotated, a nice desk, wet bar/micro fridge area, and a couch that doubled as a full size pull out. We had just enough time to sit for a few minutes and get dressed for our dinner reservations at the Dan'l Webster Inn.
This post to be continued in the next part, as I've already written a lot and want to break things up for the reader (as if I actually HAD readers :P ).
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Crawling Up the Walls
As I started going on about in my last post, I'm going crazy with boredom stuck in my room here in Salem. My closest friends (geographically) are either not here (one's at my regular school down in RI, another out of the country), leaving for someplace soon (the Cape, where I will be Saturday), or at work. Now I'm not saying that I necessarily need a friend in order to go out or enjoy myself, but I guess I just don't see the point in schlepping it an hour to Boston just to wander around aimlessly spending too much money and eating a million calories.
I'm not sure if this is a quirk unique to me, but I find the more bored I am the more in actuality I have to do. Right now I could be cleaning my room, washing dishes, starting to pack for the weekend & move out, putting away laundry, showering, or studying for a test I have tomorrow. Yet none of this is fun and I'm a horrible procrastinator. Of course, when I have a million things going on like heading to class that's when I want to organize photos on my computer or make a fabulous meal. Go figure.
On days like this, I usually head over to CinemaSalem and catch a flick. They're a small local theater, with only 4 screens. This means pickings are slim -- this week, the only thing that interests me is Inception, which I saw at CinemaSalem when it first came out. Next week is similar, since I'm not interested in Salt and I don't care much for Steve Carrell. The original French movie of Dinner for Schmucks was pretty good so I also fear that the American version will do a disservice to its forefather. And to be brutally honest, as this point I just want some freaking movie theater popcorn.
I found this article from 2009 pretty interesting. It's WebMD's summary of a report from the Center of Science in the Public Interest on movie theater popcorn from various theater chains in the US. I knew that popcorn was laden with salt and empty calories, but it stings a little to see exactly how bad it is for you. It seems that since most chains use coconut oil to pop their corn, it adds a lot of fat and calories. This is even before butter topping comes into play, guys! Since I have a soft spot in my heart for popcorn, I'm not about to give it up when I go to the theaters, but instead I will share a medium size with my boyfriend and opt for a diet beverage (why add an extra 200+ calories, it's just insult to injury at that point).
While on the topic of nutrition information, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Boston Market, one of Matt's (and mine now too I supposed) favorite places to eat has some decent lower calorie and fat offerings. Usually I won't eat anything off a bone, but when they had their 25th anniversary special I tried their 1/4 white chicken breast plate and found I really liked it. Without the skin, the generous portion of chicken is only 240 calories and 4 grams of fat! I usually only like skin when it's really crispy and freshly out of the oven, so I have no problem skipping on the soft, greasy skin of Boston Market's chicken. I really appreciate their meals under 550 calorie page, which includes 6 different plates (one meat and two regular sides) as well as 3 lunch-minded options (half sandwiches with either a salad, fruit, or steamed potato side).
Of course, there were also some (bad) shocks when I looked up the Market's nutrition facts. For instance, their turkey club/blt also has over 50 grams of fat, just like the equivalent sandwich at Bruegger's I spoke about a few posts ago. Their large meatlof serving by itself has 45 grams of fat and 720 calories (WHOA!) and forget any of their leafy greens - the full sized meal salads range from 570 calories and 31 grams of fat for the Asian to 670 calories and 45 grams of fat for their Mediterranean. I hope that's counting the dressing, because that's incredibly hard to swallow for so called 'healthy' food.
I'm a sucker for most macaroni & cheese out there, and Boston Market has some of the best in the quick service food industry. While a regular side has 300 calories and 11 grams of fat, I expected it to be a lot worse. Compare it to their large coleslaw which weighs in at a whopping 1,070 calories with 103 grams of fat. That's half your daily calories and just about two days worth of fat in ONE side serving. Just what kind of mayonnaise are these people using?!
While browsing through their menus of sides that I would eat, I found several viable alternatives to my usual mac 'n cheese and mashed potatoes with gravy combo. The sweet corn, green beans, and steamed veggies all clock in at 170 calories or under with 4 grams of fat or less, while the cinnamon apples sit at 210 calories with 3 grams of fat. Since I'm cutting down on my Restaurant Dieting, I'll likely still opt for at least one side to be their macaroni and cheese as a little treat, but even the worst combination out of the choices I listed with my 1/4 white chicken breast stand by comes in at around 750 calories and 18 grams of fat. I call that a success considering it's both fast food and a once in a while outing.
I just managed to both kill an hour and pretty much convince myself to go to Boston Market and the movies in Boston all at once. I'm hoping to restrict myself to a small popcorn and am even willing to forgo the mac and cheese in the name of healthy today. Maybe not the healthiest decision I could have made, I'm seriously gonna go crazy if I have to sit here any longer.
Happy Trails!
I'm not sure if this is a quirk unique to me, but I find the more bored I am the more in actuality I have to do. Right now I could be cleaning my room, washing dishes, starting to pack for the weekend & move out, putting away laundry, showering, or studying for a test I have tomorrow. Yet none of this is fun and I'm a horrible procrastinator. Of course, when I have a million things going on like heading to class that's when I want to organize photos on my computer or make a fabulous meal. Go figure.
On days like this, I usually head over to CinemaSalem and catch a flick. They're a small local theater, with only 4 screens. This means pickings are slim -- this week, the only thing that interests me is Inception, which I saw at CinemaSalem when it first came out. Next week is similar, since I'm not interested in Salt and I don't care much for Steve Carrell. The original French movie of Dinner for Schmucks was pretty good so I also fear that the American version will do a disservice to its forefather. And to be brutally honest, as this point I just want some freaking movie theater popcorn.
I found this article from 2009 pretty interesting. It's WebMD's summary of a report from the Center of Science in the Public Interest on movie theater popcorn from various theater chains in the US. I knew that popcorn was laden with salt and empty calories, but it stings a little to see exactly how bad it is for you. It seems that since most chains use coconut oil to pop their corn, it adds a lot of fat and calories. This is even before butter topping comes into play, guys! Since I have a soft spot in my heart for popcorn, I'm not about to give it up when I go to the theaters, but instead I will share a medium size with my boyfriend and opt for a diet beverage (why add an extra 200+ calories, it's just insult to injury at that point).
While on the topic of nutrition information, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Boston Market, one of Matt's (and mine now too I supposed) favorite places to eat has some decent lower calorie and fat offerings. Usually I won't eat anything off a bone, but when they had their 25th anniversary special I tried their 1/4 white chicken breast plate and found I really liked it. Without the skin, the generous portion of chicken is only 240 calories and 4 grams of fat! I usually only like skin when it's really crispy and freshly out of the oven, so I have no problem skipping on the soft, greasy skin of Boston Market's chicken. I really appreciate their meals under 550 calorie page, which includes 6 different plates (one meat and two regular sides) as well as 3 lunch-minded options (half sandwiches with either a salad, fruit, or steamed potato side).
Of course, there were also some (bad) shocks when I looked up the Market's nutrition facts. For instance, their turkey club/blt also has over 50 grams of fat, just like the equivalent sandwich at Bruegger's I spoke about a few posts ago. Their large meatlof serving by itself has 45 grams of fat and 720 calories (WHOA!) and forget any of their leafy greens - the full sized meal salads range from 570 calories and 31 grams of fat for the Asian to 670 calories and 45 grams of fat for their Mediterranean. I hope that's counting the dressing, because that's incredibly hard to swallow for so called 'healthy' food.
I'm a sucker for most macaroni & cheese out there, and Boston Market has some of the best in the quick service food industry. While a regular side has 300 calories and 11 grams of fat, I expected it to be a lot worse. Compare it to their large coleslaw which weighs in at a whopping 1,070 calories with 103 grams of fat. That's half your daily calories and just about two days worth of fat in ONE side serving. Just what kind of mayonnaise are these people using?!
While browsing through their menus of sides that I would eat, I found several viable alternatives to my usual mac 'n cheese and mashed potatoes with gravy combo. The sweet corn, green beans, and steamed veggies all clock in at 170 calories or under with 4 grams of fat or less, while the cinnamon apples sit at 210 calories with 3 grams of fat. Since I'm cutting down on my Restaurant Dieting, I'll likely still opt for at least one side to be their macaroni and cheese as a little treat, but even the worst combination out of the choices I listed with my 1/4 white chicken breast stand by comes in at around 750 calories and 18 grams of fat. I call that a success considering it's both fast food and a once in a while outing.
I just managed to both kill an hour and pretty much convince myself to go to Boston Market and the movies in Boston all at once. I'm hoping to restrict myself to a small popcorn and am even willing to forgo the mac and cheese in the name of healthy today. Maybe not the healthiest decision I could have made, I'm seriously gonna go crazy if I have to sit here any longer.
Happy Trails!
Lean Cuisine Market Creations: Asiago Cheese Tortelloni
Doing this whole review and blog thing has been really helpful is passing time up here during my Summer classes, which fall on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Since I couldn't get a job (for reasons such as not having a car, or not being here long enough to merit training and a hire) I usually go home or to Rhode Island for the weekend but inevitably come back for the (sometimes Monday) Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday gauntlet. It's nice knowing that only 3 classes stand between me and a week and half Summer 'vacation' but let me tell you does time pass SLOWLY being cooped up in dorm room with no TV and hardly anyone you know within an hour's drive radius.
Since this was actually my last frozen meal I had stockpiled in the freezer, I was thinking of hitting up the grocery store later. Much to my chagrin, only Smart Ones are on sale this week (6 for $10 isn't bad, but I remember how awful their Chicken Carbonara was...) and I have no other (easy) way to get to Market Basket or any other retailer but Whole Foods. I know Kashi has some supposedly great tasting low-calorie frozen options, but I'm not ready to take the $4+ dive on one meal that's probably a little too sticks and grainy for my tastes. Seriously, I can't stand brown rice or grainy pilafs! The thought crosses my mind that I might be making my own dinner tonight, but with my limited amount of ingredients (ok I have the chicken and the pasta, but no marinades/sauces/spices makes for a nasty dinner) I'm not sure if that's the best route.
Enough with the chit-chat, on to the review!
First Impressions: Smells pretty good as I walk to the microwave to get the pouch and pour it into my bowl. As with the first review of this product line I did, I notice the sauce looks like a little thin and the color is too orangey-yellow for me, but it still coats my fork a bit and ends up getting just the tiniest bit thicker after a few minutes. I was a little disappointed at the size, feeling that a few more veggies could have been tossed in.
Taste: I took a bite of the green zucchini and it was as it should taste, but I warn you I'm not a huge zucchini supporter. Veggies are veggies, so the real test here is for the tortelloni. One of them alone is a mouthful, so I try half of one as to draw out the eating process and savor it, which is a known technique for eating less. It's not as outright cheesy as I'm used to, but it has a deeper, almost richer cheese flavor than traditional ricotta/mozzarella filled pasta is. It was difficult to get a little bit of everything into one bite, as the veggies are pretty chunky, but once I did the combo was delicious! The veggies on their own I don't love, since they're some of my least faves all together, but they balance each other out well enough and you get a nice asiago hint from the tortelloni. The only gripe I could have is that Lean Cuisine advertises this as a 'vodka' sauce which leaves me hanging; I've had many different vodka sauces before and this doesn't qualify to me as one. (Which is not to say the sauce is bad, I just feel like 'tomato cream' sauce or something would have been better)
Texture: Everything is as should be - the veggies are steamed soft but still have some crunch left in them with the exception of the tomatoes, which are stewed. I hate raw tomatoes, and since these still have a slight taste of rawness to them, I try to avoid eating them by themselves but I imagine if you enjoy a tomato in any format then that would be a great thing. So far every dish I've reviewed has had pasta in it, including this one, so I don't know what else to say about the tortelloni. There's really no way to cook filled pastas wrong except if they are underdone and gummy or overdone and mush. This dish has neither problem, so I think on all fronts the textures are about as perfect as you can get.
Usually the photo goes here, but I took the picture without having my flash card inserted and it's on my camera's physical memory... and I have no idea where my cable is. Sorry guys!
General Thoughts: So I must caution that this dish was absolutely fine -- the only 'flaws' with it have to do with my personal tastes. I'll be giving this a rating a little lower than it might actually deserve because of that, but it probably deserves a solid 4.5 stars. Food tasters are supposed to be impartial, but taste is something so personal and unique that I don't see how one can't include their own biases!
Anyways, Lean Cuisine did very well on this entree and it left me fuller than I excepted based on the portion size. My only wish now is that I could find (if it's even out there) a low-fat garlic bread to enjoy all these Italian dishes with! Mangia!
Rating: 4.5 stars (My personal taste rating is about 3 stars)
Calories: 270
Fat: 7 grams
Lean Cuisine Website with Complete Nutrition Info
Since this was actually my last frozen meal I had stockpiled in the freezer, I was thinking of hitting up the grocery store later. Much to my chagrin, only Smart Ones are on sale this week (6 for $10 isn't bad, but I remember how awful their Chicken Carbonara was...) and I have no other (easy) way to get to Market Basket or any other retailer but Whole Foods. I know Kashi has some supposedly great tasting low-calorie frozen options, but I'm not ready to take the $4+ dive on one meal that's probably a little too sticks and grainy for my tastes. Seriously, I can't stand brown rice or grainy pilafs! The thought crosses my mind that I might be making my own dinner tonight, but with my limited amount of ingredients (ok I have the chicken and the pasta, but no marinades/sauces/spices makes for a nasty dinner) I'm not sure if that's the best route.
Enough with the chit-chat, on to the review!
First Impressions: Smells pretty good as I walk to the microwave to get the pouch and pour it into my bowl. As with the first review of this product line I did, I notice the sauce looks like a little thin and the color is too orangey-yellow for me, but it still coats my fork a bit and ends up getting just the tiniest bit thicker after a few minutes. I was a little disappointed at the size, feeling that a few more veggies could have been tossed in.
Taste: I took a bite of the green zucchini and it was as it should taste, but I warn you I'm not a huge zucchini supporter. Veggies are veggies, so the real test here is for the tortelloni. One of them alone is a mouthful, so I try half of one as to draw out the eating process and savor it, which is a known technique for eating less. It's not as outright cheesy as I'm used to, but it has a deeper, almost richer cheese flavor than traditional ricotta/mozzarella filled pasta is. It was difficult to get a little bit of everything into one bite, as the veggies are pretty chunky, but once I did the combo was delicious! The veggies on their own I don't love, since they're some of my least faves all together, but they balance each other out well enough and you get a nice asiago hint from the tortelloni. The only gripe I could have is that Lean Cuisine advertises this as a 'vodka' sauce which leaves me hanging; I've had many different vodka sauces before and this doesn't qualify to me as one. (Which is not to say the sauce is bad, I just feel like 'tomato cream' sauce or something would have been better)
Texture: Everything is as should be - the veggies are steamed soft but still have some crunch left in them with the exception of the tomatoes, which are stewed. I hate raw tomatoes, and since these still have a slight taste of rawness to them, I try to avoid eating them by themselves but I imagine if you enjoy a tomato in any format then that would be a great thing. So far every dish I've reviewed has had pasta in it, including this one, so I don't know what else to say about the tortelloni. There's really no way to cook filled pastas wrong except if they are underdone and gummy or overdone and mush. This dish has neither problem, so I think on all fronts the textures are about as perfect as you can get.
Usually the photo goes here, but I took the picture without having my flash card inserted and it's on my camera's physical memory... and I have no idea where my cable is. Sorry guys!
General Thoughts: So I must caution that this dish was absolutely fine -- the only 'flaws' with it have to do with my personal tastes. I'll be giving this a rating a little lower than it might actually deserve because of that, but it probably deserves a solid 4.5 stars. Food tasters are supposed to be impartial, but taste is something so personal and unique that I don't see how one can't include their own biases!
Anyways, Lean Cuisine did very well on this entree and it left me fuller than I excepted based on the portion size. My only wish now is that I could find (if it's even out there) a low-fat garlic bread to enjoy all these Italian dishes with! Mangia!
Rating: 4.5 stars (My personal taste rating is about 3 stars)
Calories: 270
Fat: 7 grams
Lean Cuisine Website with Complete Nutrition Info
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Smart Ones Chicken Carbonara
I don't have much of a pre-amble on this one, other to say that as a kid and young teen I remember the 'Lady in Red' commercials for Smart Ones. Also, my mom has tried Weight Watchers a few times and since this line is affiliated with it (the 'points' per meal are clearly indicated on this box, this one being 5 points) I figure it must be pretty legitimate food. Read on and see how it goes down:
First Impressions: The fake smokey smell of this meal is slightly unappetizing and since taste is largely a function of what we smell, I grimace thinking about having to eat this meal. It looks nice enough, with the peas, mushrooms, chicken, pasta, and turkey bacon all evident. I even see some tender onions, which means they took the recipe to heart -- most forget the smaller details such as this but I appreciate it being 25% Italian. I dive into the first bite tentatively.
Taste: The sauce is pretty tasty - it has a definite smokey flavor but it's not overboard, so I'm wondering if the turkey bacon or chicken is the cause of the heavy smoke scent this meal gave off. My first piece of chicken is reassuring - it's not overpowering in smokiness so I'm left suspecting the bacon, which I later find out leaves a bad smoke aftertaste in my mouth. As a whole, the flavors mesh well and work alright on their own. However since I'm trying to eat this with a big spoon, it's hard to get a decent sized bite. I'm cursing the people who stole most of my silverware earlier on in the Summer at this point.
Texture: So the chicken is fifty-fifty between being chewy and a little fatty in consistency and being kinda dry in the center for larger pieces. Not the best chicken I've had from this genre of frozen foods, and I'm a little disappointed as I figured Smart Ones could do better by poultry. The turkey bacon is chewey, which is totally wrong for carbonara. Usually you pan fry the bacon and onions together, if not to completely crisp it then to give it a little browning. The pasta is definitely past 'al dente' and bordering on too soft but I can get through it. The mushrooms are pretty much nasty and mushy, so I try to space them out or hide them with larger bites of chicken/pasta combos. As far as the peas and onions are concerned, they might both be the best in this category. Onions are soft and tender and the peas aren't mushy at all, with just a hint of firmness.
General Thoughts: What a let down from Smart Ones! They have a pretty versatile line of lean frozen products from snacks, breakfasts, desserts and dinners. While I've probably sampled from their brand the least I expected more outta these guys. They are the official brand of healthy frozen foods for Weight Watchers, which I had figured would mean a better quality experience. It's interesting to note a few days ago I ate their Three Cheese Ziti Marinara and thought it was a solid choice, but since I was studying for Accounting and had little time before class I didn't get to do a review. I'm hoping it was just this one flavor that was a disappointment but I'll be more cautious in the future with this brand. I've been contemplating making something else to eat just to get this over-smoked flavor outta my mouth!
I would NOT buy this again!
Rating: 1.5 stars
Calories: 260
Fat: 5 grams
Smart Ones Website with Complete Nutrition Info
First Impressions: The fake smokey smell of this meal is slightly unappetizing and since taste is largely a function of what we smell, I grimace thinking about having to eat this meal. It looks nice enough, with the peas, mushrooms, chicken, pasta, and turkey bacon all evident. I even see some tender onions, which means they took the recipe to heart -- most forget the smaller details such as this but I appreciate it being 25% Italian. I dive into the first bite tentatively.
Taste: The sauce is pretty tasty - it has a definite smokey flavor but it's not overboard, so I'm wondering if the turkey bacon or chicken is the cause of the heavy smoke scent this meal gave off. My first piece of chicken is reassuring - it's not overpowering in smokiness so I'm left suspecting the bacon, which I later find out leaves a bad smoke aftertaste in my mouth. As a whole, the flavors mesh well and work alright on their own. However since I'm trying to eat this with a big spoon, it's hard to get a decent sized bite. I'm cursing the people who stole most of my silverware earlier on in the Summer at this point.
Texture: So the chicken is fifty-fifty between being chewy and a little fatty in consistency and being kinda dry in the center for larger pieces. Not the best chicken I've had from this genre of frozen foods, and I'm a little disappointed as I figured Smart Ones could do better by poultry. The turkey bacon is chewey, which is totally wrong for carbonara. Usually you pan fry the bacon and onions together, if not to completely crisp it then to give it a little browning. The pasta is definitely past 'al dente' and bordering on too soft but I can get through it. The mushrooms are pretty much nasty and mushy, so I try to space them out or hide them with larger bites of chicken/pasta combos. As far as the peas and onions are concerned, they might both be the best in this category. Onions are soft and tender and the peas aren't mushy at all, with just a hint of firmness.
General Thoughts: What a let down from Smart Ones! They have a pretty versatile line of lean frozen products from snacks, breakfasts, desserts and dinners. While I've probably sampled from their brand the least I expected more outta these guys. They are the official brand of healthy frozen foods for Weight Watchers, which I had figured would mean a better quality experience. It's interesting to note a few days ago I ate their Three Cheese Ziti Marinara and thought it was a solid choice, but since I was studying for Accounting and had little time before class I didn't get to do a review. I'm hoping it was just this one flavor that was a disappointment but I'll be more cautious in the future with this brand. I've been contemplating making something else to eat just to get this over-smoked flavor outta my mouth!
I would NOT buy this again!
Rating: 1.5 stars
Calories: 260
Fat: 5 grams
Smart Ones Website with Complete Nutrition Info
Monday, August 9, 2010
Michelina's Lean Gourmet: Five Cheese Lasagna
I took a nap earlier this afternoon and have been feeling sluggish ever since, so I was pretty happy to just 'zap' up something quick and be done with it. Now that I've finished the lasagna, I'm still pretty hungry but I'm trying to be good and eat some veggies or fruit. I'm really craving some more pasta with red sauce, though, so let's see if I can hold out! On to the review...
As with my last review of a Michelina's product, I know that I can almost surely expect a smaller than average portion and slightly off textures. I'm hoping that this time around the meal will be both more satisfying and less fat, especially seeing as there's no sausage or meat to be seen in it, but as I just heard the microwave timer 'ding', it's time to dig in and write up.
First Impressions: I don't know if it's because I'm super hungry or not, but this meal (and the sauce in particular) smell AMAZING. To me, the smell was just like Campbell's Tomato Soup. Make of that what you want. Again the portion is kind of small, but for something like lasagna I feel it's a good size chunk.
Taste: The sauce is so yummy! It's got sweet, tangy, and an herby feel all at once that really makes my mouth water. It is the tiniest bit spicy, which I also appreciate. I also must concede that considering this is cheap, low fat/calorie frozen lasagna it's pretty damn good. There are 4 layers total of noodles with some ricotta and herb looking filling, but the layer of cheese mixture is pretty thin, which I'm ok with. The sparse sprinkling of mozzarella on top doesn't taste too bizarre, but you can tell it's not full fat.
Texture: The sauce is a good thickness, and not runny or watery as I've seen in other meals from this category. It has some small chunks of onion and stewed tomato in it and lots of herbs flecked through out. I tried splitting the thin layers of the lasagna apart to do a more thorough review, but as they were kinda too thin and meant to be eaten together, I'll say that the noodles are past 'al dente' and the ricotta mixture is pretty smooth and not very bound together, as you would find with some lasagnas that have more than one or two eggs that tend to hold more stiffly.
General Thoughts: For a low budget-fat-calorie take on the Italian classic, Michelina's did better than expected! I'm generally skeptical of anything Italian not made from a nice restaurant or home made and you lose a lot in translation when the frozen and low-cal/fat comes into play but if you can accept that this won't be like what your Momma makes then it's a nice pick from Michelina's. My other suggestion for this meal is to definitely have some bread and salad with it, as it is small but not ridiculously tiny when considering what sort of portion of lasagna you should be eating.
I would buy this again!
Rating: 3.5 stars
Calories: 290
Fat: 5 grams
Michelina's Website with Complete Nutrition Info
As with my last review of a Michelina's product, I know that I can almost surely expect a smaller than average portion and slightly off textures. I'm hoping that this time around the meal will be both more satisfying and less fat, especially seeing as there's no sausage or meat to be seen in it, but as I just heard the microwave timer 'ding', it's time to dig in and write up.
First Impressions: I don't know if it's because I'm super hungry or not, but this meal (and the sauce in particular) smell AMAZING. To me, the smell was just like Campbell's Tomato Soup. Make of that what you want. Again the portion is kind of small, but for something like lasagna I feel it's a good size chunk.
Taste: The sauce is so yummy! It's got sweet, tangy, and an herby feel all at once that really makes my mouth water. It is the tiniest bit spicy, which I also appreciate. I also must concede that considering this is cheap, low fat/calorie frozen lasagna it's pretty damn good. There are 4 layers total of noodles with some ricotta and herb looking filling, but the layer of cheese mixture is pretty thin, which I'm ok with. The sparse sprinkling of mozzarella on top doesn't taste too bizarre, but you can tell it's not full fat.
Texture: The sauce is a good thickness, and not runny or watery as I've seen in other meals from this category. It has some small chunks of onion and stewed tomato in it and lots of herbs flecked through out. I tried splitting the thin layers of the lasagna apart to do a more thorough review, but as they were kinda too thin and meant to be eaten together, I'll say that the noodles are past 'al dente' and the ricotta mixture is pretty smooth and not very bound together, as you would find with some lasagnas that have more than one or two eggs that tend to hold more stiffly.
General Thoughts: For a low budget-fat-calorie take on the Italian classic, Michelina's did better than expected! I'm generally skeptical of anything Italian not made from a nice restaurant or home made and you lose a lot in translation when the frozen and low-cal/fat comes into play but if you can accept that this won't be like what your Momma makes then it's a nice pick from Michelina's. My other suggestion for this meal is to definitely have some bread and salad with it, as it is small but not ridiculously tiny when considering what sort of portion of lasagna you should be eating.
I would buy this again!
Rating: 3.5 stars
Calories: 290
Fat: 5 grams
Michelina's Website with Complete Nutrition Info
How's This for Some Hidden Truth?
This past weekend I went down to visit my boyfriend, Matt, for his birthday. I tried to eat healthy(er) but in the end I wasn't uber successful, which is a major bummer since this coming weekend won't exactly be a super healthy foods time either since we'll be on vacation at the Cape. I was hoping to go easy this weekend in anticipation of the vacation, but when it's birthday time and everyone wants to go out to dinner, have cake, etc I find it pretty impossible.
I started off well enough (or so I thought) Friday. I came in around 1:30 PM and we both opted for a bite at Bruegger's which is a bagel chain that also serves Panera-esque stuff like salads, soups, and sandwiches. I opted for their Turkey Chipotle Club, which is super delicious, but as I found out afterwards laden with 800 calories and 51 (yeah, 50-freaking-1) grams of fat. I honestly thought it was a typo looking at their website. Not that I count sodium much, but it had a killer 1,840 milligrams of that as well. Add on the side Caesar Salad I split with Matt, and I clocked in at about 1,100 calories and 61 or so grams of fat for that one meal. Honestly, I almost would have been better off going to McDonald's and getting my old standby meal of a 4-piece McNugget meal and Double Cheeseburger which clocks in at about 960 calories and 46 grams of fat in total. Heck, I would have saved around 200 calories, 15 grams of fat and $5!
I think most people that go to these sorts of chain bakery/deli combos expecting that whatever they could order will be vastly more healthy than anything from a fast food place. While it stands to reason that chipotle mayo and a little bacon aren't exactly healthy, there's no reason that Bruegger's needs to make a sandwich THAT bad. It was delicious, yes, but I've had lower fat mayo that doesn't taste horrible. People always slam 'the fast food industry' for making America fat. I think it's the restaurant industry as a whole, to be honest.
Later than night, Matt chose Applebee's for his birthday dinner. We got Boneless Buffalo wings and their Potato Twisters for apps which I limited myself on as I ordered the Asiago Steak in an effort to be healthy and didn't want this to go to waste. For those of you unfamiliar, Applebee's has about 6 or 8 entrees that are 'under 550 calories' for the health conscious. Since I didn't want a salad and don't love seafood, that left me with the steak or a chicken choice. My entree was quoted at 390 calories with 14 grams of fat, including the sides of steamed veggies and potatoes. The steak itself was a little rough, texture wise, because I felt that it was kind of fatty and chewy but I applaud Applebee's for at least making the effort.
Saturday was a wash from the start, as Matt's buddy Louie was having a BBQ that consisted of home smoked ribs and pork tenderloin, coleslaw, potato salad, dips, and this delicious cheesy potato casserole. Topping it off there were brownies and homemade ice cream for dessert. Since we spent all afternoon and night there and I got my drink on, I didn't care much what I ate. There wasn't much in the way of better choices there save for some apple sauce and crushed pineapple to go with the pork.
By Sunday, I was pretty much ready to go back to salads and lighter choices, as I was tired of eating heavy foods and I was still prepping myself for the weekend ahead. It was just my luck that Matt's mom brought home all kinds of pastry and cupcakes for his birthday, but also that we went to hibachi later that night to yet again celebrate with friends. I managed to share half of a reasonably sized chocolate cup cake and avoided the other delicious confections, but I confess I did have filet mignon at hibachi and loved every friggin' bite!
So it's now Monday and though this weekend wasn't the best 'turn over a new leaf' experience, I've been trying to repent by ordering the lowest fat/calorie breakfast sandwich from Au Bon Pain with a water.
In my last post, I touched upon how frequently my boyfriend and I ate out and that I wanted to start cutting down on that bad habit. Looking up the nutrition information from what I ate this weekend just reaffirms this. I am honestly having trouble wrapping my mind around how many calories and fat are in typical restaurant foods. I definitely feel that the Food Industry as a whole needs to start making big changes. I hated the 'no trans fat' oil push (the oil they use at Dunkin' Donuts now to make their donuts with leaves a funky taste in my opinion), but beyond just making skin-deep changes like that what have they really done?
I don't fully blame these places for 'making me fat' -- it's mostly the choices I've made that have landed me here, but I do think that they could do a major overhaul of their recipes and methods and reduce a good portion of calories and fats without sending out bland or funny tasting foods. Especially in the example I gave with Bruegger's, there is absolutely no reason that that sandwich needed to have that amount of fat and calories in it. For Christ's sake there isn't even any cheese on it, so imagine what that would have added! I now support and appreciate places that have nutritional information easily available on their menus because I think that we need a wake-up call. Understanding exactly how many calories is in this or that dish can put it all into perspective, but I do recognize that sometimes, you just wanna splurge at the Cheesecake Factory. To me, it now makes way more sense to go all out and enjoy their tasty food instead of wasting a thousand or more calories on substandard burgers and unimaginative pasta bowls from TGIFriday's or Bugaboo Creek.
In closing, I'll definitely be looking for some exercise opportunities in the next few days to reduce the impact that last and next weekend are having on me. Curse me and my fat genes!
I started off well enough (or so I thought) Friday. I came in around 1:30 PM and we both opted for a bite at Bruegger's which is a bagel chain that also serves Panera-esque stuff like salads, soups, and sandwiches. I opted for their Turkey Chipotle Club, which is super delicious, but as I found out afterwards laden with 800 calories and 51 (yeah, 50-freaking-1) grams of fat. I honestly thought it was a typo looking at their website. Not that I count sodium much, but it had a killer 1,840 milligrams of that as well. Add on the side Caesar Salad I split with Matt, and I clocked in at about 1,100 calories and 61 or so grams of fat for that one meal. Honestly, I almost would have been better off going to McDonald's and getting my old standby meal of a 4-piece McNugget meal and Double Cheeseburger which clocks in at about 960 calories and 46 grams of fat in total. Heck, I would have saved around 200 calories, 15 grams of fat and $5!
I think most people that go to these sorts of chain bakery/deli combos expecting that whatever they could order will be vastly more healthy than anything from a fast food place. While it stands to reason that chipotle mayo and a little bacon aren't exactly healthy, there's no reason that Bruegger's needs to make a sandwich THAT bad. It was delicious, yes, but I've had lower fat mayo that doesn't taste horrible. People always slam 'the fast food industry' for making America fat. I think it's the restaurant industry as a whole, to be honest.
Later than night, Matt chose Applebee's for his birthday dinner. We got Boneless Buffalo wings and their Potato Twisters for apps which I limited myself on as I ordered the Asiago Steak in an effort to be healthy and didn't want this to go to waste. For those of you unfamiliar, Applebee's has about 6 or 8 entrees that are 'under 550 calories' for the health conscious. Since I didn't want a salad and don't love seafood, that left me with the steak or a chicken choice. My entree was quoted at 390 calories with 14 grams of fat, including the sides of steamed veggies and potatoes. The steak itself was a little rough, texture wise, because I felt that it was kind of fatty and chewy but I applaud Applebee's for at least making the effort.
Saturday was a wash from the start, as Matt's buddy Louie was having a BBQ that consisted of home smoked ribs and pork tenderloin, coleslaw, potato salad, dips, and this delicious cheesy potato casserole. Topping it off there were brownies and homemade ice cream for dessert. Since we spent all afternoon and night there and I got my drink on, I didn't care much what I ate. There wasn't much in the way of better choices there save for some apple sauce and crushed pineapple to go with the pork.
By Sunday, I was pretty much ready to go back to salads and lighter choices, as I was tired of eating heavy foods and I was still prepping myself for the weekend ahead. It was just my luck that Matt's mom brought home all kinds of pastry and cupcakes for his birthday, but also that we went to hibachi later that night to yet again celebrate with friends. I managed to share half of a reasonably sized chocolate cup cake and avoided the other delicious confections, but I confess I did have filet mignon at hibachi and loved every friggin' bite!
So it's now Monday and though this weekend wasn't the best 'turn over a new leaf' experience, I've been trying to repent by ordering the lowest fat/calorie breakfast sandwich from Au Bon Pain with a water.
In my last post, I touched upon how frequently my boyfriend and I ate out and that I wanted to start cutting down on that bad habit. Looking up the nutrition information from what I ate this weekend just reaffirms this. I am honestly having trouble wrapping my mind around how many calories and fat are in typical restaurant foods. I definitely feel that the Food Industry as a whole needs to start making big changes. I hated the 'no trans fat' oil push (the oil they use at Dunkin' Donuts now to make their donuts with leaves a funky taste in my opinion), but beyond just making skin-deep changes like that what have they really done?
I don't fully blame these places for 'making me fat' -- it's mostly the choices I've made that have landed me here, but I do think that they could do a major overhaul of their recipes and methods and reduce a good portion of calories and fats without sending out bland or funny tasting foods. Especially in the example I gave with Bruegger's, there is absolutely no reason that that sandwich needed to have that amount of fat and calories in it. For Christ's sake there isn't even any cheese on it, so imagine what that would have added! I now support and appreciate places that have nutritional information easily available on their menus because I think that we need a wake-up call. Understanding exactly how many calories is in this or that dish can put it all into perspective, but I do recognize that sometimes, you just wanna splurge at the Cheesecake Factory. To me, it now makes way more sense to go all out and enjoy their tasty food instead of wasting a thousand or more calories on substandard burgers and unimaginative pasta bowls from TGIFriday's or Bugaboo Creek.
In closing, I'll definitely be looking for some exercise opportunities in the next few days to reduce the impact that last and next weekend are having on me. Curse me and my fat genes!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Restaurant Diet
Yesterday I started having computer issues which I thought were somewhat resolved until today, when I can hardly post a regular entry let alone links or pictures. Hopefully by Monday I can fix these and get the photos for my first two reviews in place, as well as some links cross-referencing other posts and pages, etc.
I have an Accounting exam tonight that I've hardly studied for, so I'm about to crack the book open now. In other news, yesterday I went to Davis Square to visit a friend, and ended up walking a solid 3 miles (in actuality a little more because I got lost at Haymarket looking for the bus stop and when I got off at Salem, I was two stops too early) throughout the evening. The best estimates I could find said I burned 400 calories by doing so, which is pretty sweet. The downside? I was wearing flip flops and have incredibly sensitive blisters now, and we ended up eating at a burger place. Small victories though, it's like I had one less bite or two of that burger!
Right before I left to go back to the T station, I got into a discussion with said friend's roomie, who is a pretty awesome dude. Seriously, he's wicked fit and looks great in an Under Armor shirt if I do say so myself ;) In any case, we were talking about being healthy and staying in shape, when the subject of significant others came into play. Now my boyfriend, as wonderful as he is, never seems to get on board with eating healthy. On the flip side, he's suggested a few times that we go for a walk or something like that and I've grumbled. I'm trying to get towards enjoying physical activity and have done a great deal more now that I have the Hello Kitty cruiser, but the roomie brought up the point that 'Significant others are either a bane or boon to weight loss'.
I feel like in many ways, my boyfriend Matt and I are banes to one another. He's not into veggies & fruits (aside from a few stray berries or corn and baby spinach) and is very used to eating out for every meal. He balks at choices like sandwiches or salads (even at Panera, he opts for the mac n cheese or unhealthy paninis) whereas I've found that I prefer sandwiches, salads, and the like for weight loss control. It's nice to go out to a decent dinner or lunch every so often, but the two of us really need to eighty-six the pattern of constantly going to Boston Market, McDonald's, and even our favorite sit down joints like MacGovern's or Red Robin (Yum!).
I'm just as guilty as he is though, because I love to be out and about which fosters getting a quick and fat laden bite to eat, or opting to get pizza at Little Caesar's because it's cheap. The fact that his apartment has no real stove/oven is partially at fault too, as you can only get so creative with an old hot plate, microwave, and toaster oven.
Last year I had my first on-campus apartment and will have one again very soon. I ended up cooking there a lot less than I would have liked for various reasons, but this year I am really going to make the effort to make a good dinner a few times a week and kick the Restaurant Diet. While I know well and good that most places offer great lower fat alternatives and that there's always a 'high road' (like picking a chicken sandwich over a double cheeseburger and fries at Micky D's) I can never manage to take it while at these places. Some restaurants do have great salads (I'm looking at you, Longhorn Steakhouse) which is what I usually would order, but at most of our favorite haunts I can't resist the Italian Platter (courtesy of MacGovern's, a trio of stuffed shells, meatballs, and chicken parm with garlic bread), the Boston Market Macaroni and Cheese, or the Royal Red Robin Burger (though I haven't tried their turkey burger yet, and ordering a non-meat veg pattie anywhere sounds nasty).
As I've mentioned before, I did once lose some weight through a complete diet overhaul, but going back down to school and constantly spending time with Matt was what reverted me back to the fat. You try enjoying your garden salad with no-fat balsamic dressing while watching the guy you love dig into some meatloaf or a fried veal cutlet.
Going from unhealthy to healthy was a long and hard process, from reducing the portions and frequency I snacked down to using less sauce/butter/etc while trying to savor the actual vegetable flavor. Once I had achieved this sort of nirvana, I found I craved salads and sandwiches or roasted skewers of vegetables with only the smallest amounts of meat and starches for sides. Cereals, wheat toast, and oatmeal had become the norm for breakfast and I managed to stave off hunger with a well placed apple or granola bar until the next meal.
Getting off the diet was like pulling off a band aid; sure once I ate my first steak or had some ice cream I felt a little bloated and sickly, but after less than a week I had undone what it took me a month and a half to build on. I began to crave double cheeseburgers and McNuggets again instead of a nice salad and half sandwich. The few pairs of size 20 jeans I was just being able to fit into again were getting unbearable tight, and I was back into pairs I had hoped I would be able to donate once I got comfortably past size 18 or 16.
All in all, this only reaffirmed that like any addiction, it's easy to fall off the wagon. Just thinking back to it all now, I pine for the days when my mouth watered for apples and craisins and not cake batter ice cream and Smartfood popcorn. I'm trying to remain optimistic that I can do it since I have done it before, and crossing my fingers that Matt will join me for (some) of the ride.
It's been helping me to blog about my feelings and everything so far, as a catharsis to let the fat out and the fit in.
I have an Accounting exam tonight that I've hardly studied for, so I'm about to crack the book open now. In other news, yesterday I went to Davis Square to visit a friend, and ended up walking a solid 3 miles (in actuality a little more because I got lost at Haymarket looking for the bus stop and when I got off at Salem, I was two stops too early) throughout the evening. The best estimates I could find said I burned 400 calories by doing so, which is pretty sweet. The downside? I was wearing flip flops and have incredibly sensitive blisters now, and we ended up eating at a burger place. Small victories though, it's like I had one less bite or two of that burger!
Right before I left to go back to the T station, I got into a discussion with said friend's roomie, who is a pretty awesome dude. Seriously, he's wicked fit and looks great in an Under Armor shirt if I do say so myself ;) In any case, we were talking about being healthy and staying in shape, when the subject of significant others came into play. Now my boyfriend, as wonderful as he is, never seems to get on board with eating healthy. On the flip side, he's suggested a few times that we go for a walk or something like that and I've grumbled. I'm trying to get towards enjoying physical activity and have done a great deal more now that I have the Hello Kitty cruiser, but the roomie brought up the point that 'Significant others are either a bane or boon to weight loss'.
I feel like in many ways, my boyfriend Matt and I are banes to one another. He's not into veggies & fruits (aside from a few stray berries or corn and baby spinach) and is very used to eating out for every meal. He balks at choices like sandwiches or salads (even at Panera, he opts for the mac n cheese or unhealthy paninis) whereas I've found that I prefer sandwiches, salads, and the like for weight loss control. It's nice to go out to a decent dinner or lunch every so often, but the two of us really need to eighty-six the pattern of constantly going to Boston Market, McDonald's, and even our favorite sit down joints like MacGovern's or Red Robin (Yum!).
I'm just as guilty as he is though, because I love to be out and about which fosters getting a quick and fat laden bite to eat, or opting to get pizza at Little Caesar's because it's cheap. The fact that his apartment has no real stove/oven is partially at fault too, as you can only get so creative with an old hot plate, microwave, and toaster oven.
Last year I had my first on-campus apartment and will have one again very soon. I ended up cooking there a lot less than I would have liked for various reasons, but this year I am really going to make the effort to make a good dinner a few times a week and kick the Restaurant Diet. While I know well and good that most places offer great lower fat alternatives and that there's always a 'high road' (like picking a chicken sandwich over a double cheeseburger and fries at Micky D's) I can never manage to take it while at these places. Some restaurants do have great salads (I'm looking at you, Longhorn Steakhouse) which is what I usually would order, but at most of our favorite haunts I can't resist the Italian Platter (courtesy of MacGovern's, a trio of stuffed shells, meatballs, and chicken parm with garlic bread), the Boston Market Macaroni and Cheese, or the Royal Red Robin Burger (though I haven't tried their turkey burger yet, and ordering a non-meat veg pattie anywhere sounds nasty).
As I've mentioned before, I did once lose some weight through a complete diet overhaul, but going back down to school and constantly spending time with Matt was what reverted me back to the fat. You try enjoying your garden salad with no-fat balsamic dressing while watching the guy you love dig into some meatloaf or a fried veal cutlet.
Going from unhealthy to healthy was a long and hard process, from reducing the portions and frequency I snacked down to using less sauce/butter/etc while trying to savor the actual vegetable flavor. Once I had achieved this sort of nirvana, I found I craved salads and sandwiches or roasted skewers of vegetables with only the smallest amounts of meat and starches for sides. Cereals, wheat toast, and oatmeal had become the norm for breakfast and I managed to stave off hunger with a well placed apple or granola bar until the next meal.
Getting off the diet was like pulling off a band aid; sure once I ate my first steak or had some ice cream I felt a little bloated and sickly, but after less than a week I had undone what it took me a month and a half to build on. I began to crave double cheeseburgers and McNuggets again instead of a nice salad and half sandwich. The few pairs of size 20 jeans I was just being able to fit into again were getting unbearable tight, and I was back into pairs I had hoped I would be able to donate once I got comfortably past size 18 or 16.
All in all, this only reaffirmed that like any addiction, it's easy to fall off the wagon. Just thinking back to it all now, I pine for the days when my mouth watered for apples and craisins and not cake batter ice cream and Smartfood popcorn. I'm trying to remain optimistic that I can do it since I have done it before, and crossing my fingers that Matt will join me for (some) of the ride.
It's been helping me to blog about my feelings and everything so far, as a catharsis to let the fat out and the fit in.
Michelina's Lean Gourment: Creamy Rigatoni with Broccoli & Chicken
As a kid, I loved frozen meals and Michelina's brand was a classic - it was cheap, which my Mom loved, and their frozen Mac 'n Cheese or Wheels 'n Cheese were my two faves (after the Blue Box Kraft :). Now as I'm older, I re-visit the Lean versions to see how they stack up!
First Impressions: Alright, so there's no way around saying it, but Michelina's meals are SMALL. They are a great option if you're having 4 or 5 small meals during the day, but don't count on this alone if you're extremely hungry or looking for something that will tide you over from noon until a 6 or 7 pm dinner. The tray it comes in is usually a bit sad looking, and I noticed that this little meal in itself has 8 grams of fat. Upon seeing that, I think two things - 'They could have tried a little harder to reduce the calories & fat' and 'Damn, this is gonna taste pretty good!' The sauce is creamy and thick enough, but the tiny, sparse pieces of chicken and broccoli do leave something to be desired.
Taste: The sauce on its own has an ok flavor, you get a little of that peppery alfredo taste and you can tell this is where the 8 grams of fat is coming (mostly) into play. Although this little meal has 660g of sodium in it (yikes!), it's not overly salty unless you're used to a strictly low sodium diet.
Texture: The sauce has a nice consistency as mentioned above, not watery or thin as one might expect from a 'lean' version of an Italian fave. The pasta is very American in doneness - probably 2 minutes or so past 'al dente' but not yet into the unhappy 'mush' zone. The broccoli 'chunks' (as they are too small to be real florets or anything else) like the pasta are softer than they were in my previous review of the Lean Cuisine meal. They are still enjoyable and as I usually cook my broccoli until it's soft enough to cut through with a fork, I like it. The chicken crumbs (they really don't manage to get to the size of a full slice) are kind of rough for me, so I'm glad there aren't many. They have a few faint grill marks but they are definitely of the variety of chicken that is re-formed into breast patties, so the texture is a bit off, even a little bit chewy.
General Thoughts: So it's not the worst low-fat/lean thing I've ever ate, but it's woefully mediocre. Italian food is super popular in the US, so it makes sense that it captures a large segment of the frozen food market. However, I'm just part of the 'Italian food as healthy? Pfft, yeah right!' camp. Certain recipes are viable as healthy alterntives, like oil based sauces, or even a pomodoro sauce. All bets are off when it comes to cheese and cream sauces, and Michelina's proves that while you can make Italian favorites healthier, it's often with the loss of flavor. This dish would have been improved by nixing the chicken and adding some more and larger broccoli chunks. It might work better with some small side such as a salad or veggie medeley, or even as a 2-serving side dish with grilled chicken.
Ultimately, I might buy this again, but it's not a staple for me.
Rating: 2.5 stars
Calories: 280
Fat: 8 grams
Michelina's Website with Complete Nutrition Info
First Impressions: Alright, so there's no way around saying it, but Michelina's meals are SMALL. They are a great option if you're having 4 or 5 small meals during the day, but don't count on this alone if you're extremely hungry or looking for something that will tide you over from noon until a 6 or 7 pm dinner. The tray it comes in is usually a bit sad looking, and I noticed that this little meal in itself has 8 grams of fat. Upon seeing that, I think two things - 'They could have tried a little harder to reduce the calories & fat' and 'Damn, this is gonna taste pretty good!' The sauce is creamy and thick enough, but the tiny, sparse pieces of chicken and broccoli do leave something to be desired.
Taste: The sauce on its own has an ok flavor, you get a little of that peppery alfredo taste and you can tell this is where the 8 grams of fat is coming (mostly) into play. Although this little meal has 660g of sodium in it (yikes!), it's not overly salty unless you're used to a strictly low sodium diet.
Texture: The sauce has a nice consistency as mentioned above, not watery or thin as one might expect from a 'lean' version of an Italian fave. The pasta is very American in doneness - probably 2 minutes or so past 'al dente' but not yet into the unhappy 'mush' zone. The broccoli 'chunks' (as they are too small to be real florets or anything else) like the pasta are softer than they were in my previous review of the Lean Cuisine meal. They are still enjoyable and as I usually cook my broccoli until it's soft enough to cut through with a fork, I like it. The chicken crumbs (they really don't manage to get to the size of a full slice) are kind of rough for me, so I'm glad there aren't many. They have a few faint grill marks but they are definitely of the variety of chicken that is re-formed into breast patties, so the texture is a bit off, even a little bit chewy.
General Thoughts: So it's not the worst low-fat/lean thing I've ever ate, but it's woefully mediocre. Italian food is super popular in the US, so it makes sense that it captures a large segment of the frozen food market. However, I'm just part of the 'Italian food as healthy? Pfft, yeah right!' camp. Certain recipes are viable as healthy alterntives, like oil based sauces, or even a pomodoro sauce. All bets are off when it comes to cheese and cream sauces, and Michelina's proves that while you can make Italian favorites healthier, it's often with the loss of flavor. This dish would have been improved by nixing the chicken and adding some more and larger broccoli chunks. It might work better with some small side such as a salad or veggie medeley, or even as a 2-serving side dish with grilled chicken.Ultimately, I might buy this again, but it's not a staple for me.
Rating: 2.5 stars
Calories: 280
Fat: 8 grams
Michelina's Website with Complete Nutrition Info
Lean Cuisine Market Creations: Sweet & Spicy Ginger Chicken - First Review
.::EDIT::. So this post is from ~2 days ago, but Blogger was being a pain and had an issue with me copy & pasting from Word 2007 to here. But here it is anyways :)
I’m not really into Asian foods these days, but I used to love them. Being a fan of Asian culture I’ve had everything from instant cup ramen to hibachi and sushi (though I actually never liked it, I have tried it a few times begrudgingly), so I know my way around the flavor profiles, textures, ingredients, and so on. As this was one of two flavors left in the frozen aisle of the Market Basket last time I went shopping, I decided to take a chance on it. Now for the actual review:
First Impressions (before taking a bite – how does it look, smell, etc?): The smell from the microwave is distinctly Asian; you can identify the sweet and ginger but nothing spicy or garlicky, which I was expecting a little. Once I put it onto the plate, my first thought was “The sauce looks a bit watery”. The color was appealing, as you get the green broccoli, the strong red ‘pop’ of red pepper, and the orange from the carrots. Upon seeing the water chestnuts I was a little disappointed as I’m not a big fan, but I expected them to make a showing.
Taste & Texture: The sauce definitely tastes a little on the watery side too, and you immediately get the sweetness with a hint of ginger. I tried the water chestnuts first, and to my surprise they weren’t bad. Much softer than I’ve ever had in Asian dishes, and I daresay I enjoyed them a little! I was worried that would indicate the other veggies would be too soft but the carrots and broccoli were perfect for my liking – not mushy at all, but past the ‘al dente’ stage. Next would be the chicken, which was moist and not gummy or super soft and chewy as is the tendency with low fat frozen food choices. By this point I’m 3 or 4 bites in and I can feel the spicy part of the dish. It’s enough to warm my mouth and lips but not the point where I have to take a break and drink some water. I have a pretty low spice tolerance (even a few bites of medium salsa are too much for me), so for those folks who like it hot you’ll be disappointed. Finally came the ‘udon’ noodles. I know a thing or two about Asian cuisine, and these are not udon. They are linguini noodles disguised as udon (which have a tendency to be gummy, anyways), but they are still good and like the vegetables, just part the al dente stage. There’s not much to be said for the red peppers – they’re just like any others, soft and kind of slimy but I wasn’t expecting anything different.
General Thoughts: From someone who isn’t a big fan of most Asian cuisine, it’s hard to always get solid healthy frozen food picks because it’s both a popular cuisine choice and one that’s easy to scale back on calories and fat while still retaining as much of the original flavor as possible. I’m glad I decided to pick this entrée up, because it was satisfying and even a little surprising given what my expectations were.
I would definitely buy this again!
Rating (1-5 stars): 4 stars
Calories: 280
Fat: 2 grams
Lean Cuisine Website With Complete Nutrition Info
*Note on the ratings & star system – I’m a harsh judge and never give anything the max rating unless I’m truly blown away, so even a rating of 4 from me on an Asian dish means something! Each category (first impression, taste, texture) roughly breaks down to a max of 1 star for appearance/first impression, and 2 each for taste and texture.
Since I’m having some light ice cream for a small dessert, I’m tempted to write another review but that's for another time.
I’m not really into Asian foods these days, but I used to love them. Being a fan of Asian culture I’ve had everything from instant cup ramen to hibachi and sushi (though I actually never liked it, I have tried it a few times begrudgingly), so I know my way around the flavor profiles, textures, ingredients, and so on. As this was one of two flavors left in the frozen aisle of the Market Basket last time I went shopping, I decided to take a chance on it. Now for the actual review:
First Impressions (before taking a bite – how does it look, smell, etc?): The smell from the microwave is distinctly Asian; you can identify the sweet and ginger but nothing spicy or garlicky, which I was expecting a little. Once I put it onto the plate, my first thought was “The sauce looks a bit watery”. The color was appealing, as you get the green broccoli, the strong red ‘pop’ of red pepper, and the orange from the carrots. Upon seeing the water chestnuts I was a little disappointed as I’m not a big fan, but I expected them to make a showing.
Taste & Texture: The sauce definitely tastes a little on the watery side too, and you immediately get the sweetness with a hint of ginger. I tried the water chestnuts first, and to my surprise they weren’t bad. Much softer than I’ve ever had in Asian dishes, and I daresay I enjoyed them a little! I was worried that would indicate the other veggies would be too soft but the carrots and broccoli were perfect for my liking – not mushy at all, but past the ‘al dente’ stage. Next would be the chicken, which was moist and not gummy or super soft and chewy as is the tendency with low fat frozen food choices. By this point I’m 3 or 4 bites in and I can feel the spicy part of the dish. It’s enough to warm my mouth and lips but not the point where I have to take a break and drink some water. I have a pretty low spice tolerance (even a few bites of medium salsa are too much for me), so for those folks who like it hot you’ll be disappointed. Finally came the ‘udon’ noodles. I know a thing or two about Asian cuisine, and these are not udon. They are linguini noodles disguised as udon (which have a tendency to be gummy, anyways), but they are still good and like the vegetables, just part the al dente stage. There’s not much to be said for the red peppers – they’re just like any others, soft and kind of slimy but I wasn’t expecting anything different.
General Thoughts: From someone who isn’t a big fan of most Asian cuisine, it’s hard to always get solid healthy frozen food picks because it’s both a popular cuisine choice and one that’s easy to scale back on calories and fat while still retaining as much of the original flavor as possible. I’m glad I decided to pick this entrée up, because it was satisfying and even a little surprising given what my expectations were.
I would definitely buy this again!
Rating (1-5 stars): 4 stars
Calories: 280
Fat: 2 grams
Lean Cuisine Website With Complete Nutrition Info
*Note on the ratings & star system – I’m a harsh judge and never give anything the max rating unless I’m truly blown away, so even a rating of 4 from me on an Asian dish means something! Each category (first impression, taste, texture) roughly breaks down to a max of 1 star for appearance/first impression, and 2 each for taste and texture.
Since I’m having some light ice cream for a small dessert, I’m tempted to write another review but that's for another time.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Splenda: Sleeping With the Enemy
For a long time I was convinced that I could and would have the resolve of a Buddhist monk and almost completely cut out certain foods from my life. A big problem I have with losing weight is that I have a very sensitive sense of taste (and am picky as hell about a variety of other things like texture, spice, etc). I can easily distinguish 'full flavor' foods from 'lite' and low fat/calorie foods. Something that I especially hate(d) is that when you try to lose weight, you inevitably run into The Fake Sugars. Sucralose (Splenda), aspartame (Equal), saccharin (Sweet N Low), Stevia plant sugar (Truvia) and all their friends are most unwelcome in my mouth. I can immediately taste the difference and find it hard to stomach the taste. Even their smell is distinct, as blindfolded I have identified on several occasions Diet Coke from Coke on scent alone.
As I write this, the taste of aspartame sweetened Iced Tea hangs in my mouth from a glass I had over a half hour ago. Damn do these artificial sweeteners have staying power!
I finally realized that drinking water, skim milk, and 100% juice won't even satisfy me as I love the tastes of iced tea, coffee, soda, and everything else that will add about 1,000 extra calories a day. Even pure, 100% juice has a lot of calories in it and it's supposed to be 'good' for you! So I've resigned myself to start the incorporation of fake sugars in my every day life, very much to the chagrin of my taste buds. I can only stand so much water, to the point that disliking the taste of Splenda and Aspartame isn't enough to keep me from trying to enjoy iced teas and sodas sweetened with these two abominations.
While I don't think I'll be fully abandoning sugar ever, I must say that my hierarchy of fake sweeteners from most tolerable to least is as follows:
-Sucralose/Splenda
-Aspartame/Equal: actually, it's kind of tied with Splenda, but the pure texture of Aspartame is less pleasant to me
-Saccharin/Sweet N Low
-Anything ending in 'tol' (Sorbitol, Maltitol, etc): These are technically sugar alcohols used widely in diabetic friendly foods & candies, but they cause 'gastrointestinal distress' which just weirds me out. I've never eaten enough of these to have a real issue, but I don't really want to find out how much I would have to eat for the effects to become apparent...
-Stevia (Truvia, or any other plant based sweeteners): Just nasty. I hate these so much that after a few sips of the Vitamin Waters with stevia I had to pour the rest out. Usually with the rest I can stand a full bottle or cup well enough
In keeping with this theme, I highly warn anyone with acute taste such as I've described against drinking the Turkey Hill Farm Decaf Diet Orange Iced Tea. The aspartame taste hits you first, followed by a pathetic attempt at a fake orangey flavor to conceal the awfulness of it. The end result is a short wave of tolerable fake sugar followed by a wave of nasty that has a real staying power on the taste buds.
I have to run to Accounting class soon, but I'm working on making more review posts of the foods I've been using to control my calorie in take. Just FYI, Smart Ones Swedish Meatballs aren't that horrible, and that's coming from a real fan of traditional Swedish Meatballs!
As I write this, the taste of aspartame sweetened Iced Tea hangs in my mouth from a glass I had over a half hour ago. Damn do these artificial sweeteners have staying power!
I finally realized that drinking water, skim milk, and 100% juice won't even satisfy me as I love the tastes of iced tea, coffee, soda, and everything else that will add about 1,000 extra calories a day. Even pure, 100% juice has a lot of calories in it and it's supposed to be 'good' for you! So I've resigned myself to start the incorporation of fake sugars in my every day life, very much to the chagrin of my taste buds. I can only stand so much water, to the point that disliking the taste of Splenda and Aspartame isn't enough to keep me from trying to enjoy iced teas and sodas sweetened with these two abominations.
While I don't think I'll be fully abandoning sugar ever, I must say that my hierarchy of fake sweeteners from most tolerable to least is as follows:
-Sucralose/Splenda
-Aspartame/Equal: actually, it's kind of tied with Splenda, but the pure texture of Aspartame is less pleasant to me
-Saccharin/Sweet N Low
-Anything ending in 'tol' (Sorbitol, Maltitol, etc): These are technically sugar alcohols used widely in diabetic friendly foods & candies, but they cause 'gastrointestinal distress' which just weirds me out. I've never eaten enough of these to have a real issue, but I don't really want to find out how much I would have to eat for the effects to become apparent...
-Stevia (Truvia, or any other plant based sweeteners): Just nasty. I hate these so much that after a few sips of the Vitamin Waters with stevia I had to pour the rest out. Usually with the rest I can stand a full bottle or cup well enough
In keeping with this theme, I highly warn anyone with acute taste such as I've described against drinking the Turkey Hill Farm Decaf Diet Orange Iced Tea. The aspartame taste hits you first, followed by a pathetic attempt at a fake orangey flavor to conceal the awfulness of it. The end result is a short wave of tolerable fake sugar followed by a wave of nasty that has a real staying power on the taste buds.
I have to run to Accounting class soon, but I'm working on making more review posts of the foods I've been using to control my calorie in take. Just FYI, Smart Ones Swedish Meatballs aren't that horrible, and that's coming from a real fan of traditional Swedish Meatballs!
As Good A Time As Any
Starting this past Spring, I began really thinking about losing weight again. As a kid, my Mom tried off and on to get me to eat better and I even went to the gym with my Dad for a few weeks here and there in Middle School. I'm not going to make my life out to sound like I constantly yo-yo dieted or 'struggled' and yada yada. To be honest, up until the past year or two I just quietly accepted that I would be forever fat, doomed to be banished to the old lady floral patterns of JC Penney's or ill fitting stretchy pants from Walmart.
This all changed last Spring. I was a Sophomore living in a dorm which meant I was forced to have a meal plan and eat whatever food the school served up in the cafeteria. Most of the choices were pretty unhealthy, and almost everything tasted pretty bad. I decided that since I wasn't truly enjoying their dry burgers, half-warm pizza, and mushy pasta that I would cut back and focus on healthier alternatives. Like lots of other fatties, healthy to me means little, no, or funky flavored food. I never grew up appreciating salads or having well balanced meals so it's pretty difficult to try and savor these things after 21 years.
From March or April until August 2009 I began scaling back what I ate, avoiding my faves like Macaroni & Cheese, McDonald's Double Cheeseburgers & Nuggets, and focusing instead on eating smaller meals with more fruits, veggies, whole grains to stay full, and chugging waters like no tomorrow. By August 2009 I was down to a pants size 20 from a 22~24 range. Since I didn't want to obsess about the actual scale number, I really didn't do a starting and ending weight regiment but I estimate that I went from around 250 lbs down to 220 or a little less. Because I was eating so many veggies & salads at least once or twice a day and avoiding processed foods, I felt so much better - more awake during the day, less bloated after meals, and starting to 'see the light at the end of the fat tunnel' so to speak. However, when it was about time to move back to school to start my Junior year, I relapsed in a HUGE way and am now back to a size 24. Damn.
By now you may be wondering what's behind my newest kick into slimming down. It started again this Spring, when I was out clothes shopping for shorts. There was a time in high school after I had just discovered Torrid where I was happy enough with my limited choices and styles offered for plus size gals, but this year I must say I was tired of all this size discrimination crap. As much as I hate that I should have to change myself to get what I want at a decent price instead of getting something I sort of like at sky high prices, I don't hold out much hope that the fashion world will soon embrace us plus size gals. And even if they did, I feel like making fat really fashionable is kind of fucked up and just enables me to not lose weight and be intermittently unhappy about my size. I hate that I can't just go to the mall with my friends (who are all 'straight sizes') and shop for a cute dress or pass by a window display with an awesome Hello Kitty shirt that I'll never fit into and walk away depressed.
Beyond that, I got this really sweet Hello Kitty cruiser bicycle for my 21st birthday from my boyfriend, so I've been enjoying the rides with it thus far. I hate exercising and the gym is tantamount to torture, right behind the weigh-in at my doctor's office with the inevitable 'You should lose weight' talk. Like maybe if you tell me one more time it's gonna shame me into a less round shape. I also feel like, I've sort of done this before so why couldn't I do it again and make it stick?
In any case, that's the skinny on big ol' me and how I got from there to here. Writing is very therapeutic and in the past has helped me change character flaws so I'm hoping that it will be something to support me in the tough times. Physical evidence that I've done something to change and that I've gotten through the rough patches, as well as a way to remind me of what's worked food wise and etc. Personally, I don't believe in diets per se but in changing your lifestyle and eating habits so that in the long run I do lose weight but also feel better and learn to appreciate my body. Some people feel that you shouldn't have to lose weight to love yourself, but I feel like I'm not truly loving myself by packing on the pounds which can lead to all sorts of nasty mental & physical health issues. I don't want to ever be 'skinny', but I feel that if I can hold at around a size 14/16, I can have the freedom to shop almost everywhere I want to shop while reducing or eliminating the risks of getting diabetes, cancer, heart problems, and all that nastiness.
Here goes nothing, world :)
This all changed last Spring. I was a Sophomore living in a dorm which meant I was forced to have a meal plan and eat whatever food the school served up in the cafeteria. Most of the choices were pretty unhealthy, and almost everything tasted pretty bad. I decided that since I wasn't truly enjoying their dry burgers, half-warm pizza, and mushy pasta that I would cut back and focus on healthier alternatives. Like lots of other fatties, healthy to me means little, no, or funky flavored food. I never grew up appreciating salads or having well balanced meals so it's pretty difficult to try and savor these things after 21 years.
From March or April until August 2009 I began scaling back what I ate, avoiding my faves like Macaroni & Cheese, McDonald's Double Cheeseburgers & Nuggets, and focusing instead on eating smaller meals with more fruits, veggies, whole grains to stay full, and chugging waters like no tomorrow. By August 2009 I was down to a pants size 20 from a 22~24 range. Since I didn't want to obsess about the actual scale number, I really didn't do a starting and ending weight regiment but I estimate that I went from around 250 lbs down to 220 or a little less. Because I was eating so many veggies & salads at least once or twice a day and avoiding processed foods, I felt so much better - more awake during the day, less bloated after meals, and starting to 'see the light at the end of the fat tunnel' so to speak. However, when it was about time to move back to school to start my Junior year, I relapsed in a HUGE way and am now back to a size 24. Damn.
By now you may be wondering what's behind my newest kick into slimming down. It started again this Spring, when I was out clothes shopping for shorts. There was a time in high school after I had just discovered Torrid where I was happy enough with my limited choices and styles offered for plus size gals, but this year I must say I was tired of all this size discrimination crap. As much as I hate that I should have to change myself to get what I want at a decent price instead of getting something I sort of like at sky high prices, I don't hold out much hope that the fashion world will soon embrace us plus size gals. And even if they did, I feel like making fat really fashionable is kind of fucked up and just enables me to not lose weight and be intermittently unhappy about my size. I hate that I can't just go to the mall with my friends (who are all 'straight sizes') and shop for a cute dress or pass by a window display with an awesome Hello Kitty shirt that I'll never fit into and walk away depressed.
Beyond that, I got this really sweet Hello Kitty cruiser bicycle for my 21st birthday from my boyfriend, so I've been enjoying the rides with it thus far. I hate exercising and the gym is tantamount to torture, right behind the weigh-in at my doctor's office with the inevitable 'You should lose weight' talk. Like maybe if you tell me one more time it's gonna shame me into a less round shape. I also feel like, I've sort of done this before so why couldn't I do it again and make it stick?
In any case, that's the skinny on big ol' me and how I got from there to here. Writing is very therapeutic and in the past has helped me change character flaws so I'm hoping that it will be something to support me in the tough times. Physical evidence that I've done something to change and that I've gotten through the rough patches, as well as a way to remind me of what's worked food wise and etc. Personally, I don't believe in diets per se but in changing your lifestyle and eating habits so that in the long run I do lose weight but also feel better and learn to appreciate my body. Some people feel that you shouldn't have to lose weight to love yourself, but I feel like I'm not truly loving myself by packing on the pounds which can lead to all sorts of nasty mental & physical health issues. I don't want to ever be 'skinny', but I feel that if I can hold at around a size 14/16, I can have the freedom to shop almost everywhere I want to shop while reducing or eliminating the risks of getting diabetes, cancer, heart problems, and all that nastiness.
Here goes nothing, world :)
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