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Food Review: Lean Cuisine Szechuan Shrimp Stir Fry

FitSugar — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Though I sometimes eat Lean Cuisine products in a pinch, I'm not usually a fan of processed frozen food. But when these Lean Cuisine meals arrived at the office the other day, I recognized the Spa Cuisine Classics box from the 100 healthiest supermarket foods list. (The Chicken With Peanut Sauce was named best frozen dinner.) Better yet, the box proclaimed that the meal was preservative free, so I decided to try it.

I had the Szechuan Style Stir Fry With Shrimp, featuring whole-wheat noodles, baby corn, sugar snap peas, carrots, and bell peppers. After I zapped the meal in the Sugar HQ kitchen, several passersby said it looked delicious. To find out if it actually tasted good, read more.

I'm not sure how a frozen meal can be preservative-free, but it's true: there was nothing troubling on this ingredient list, aside from "caramel color." Mostly, it was shrimp and veggies, plus soy sauce, garlic, and seasonings. Though the box promises a "spicy Asian-style sauce," this dish wasn't at all spicy but actually rather sweet and mild. I was sad to find very few snap peas in my box, but the entree redeemed itself with flavorful shrimp and tender pasta that tasted fresh.

Flavor and texture-wise, the Spa Cuisine Classic impressed. Although some co-workers said the portion looked small, it filled me up quite nicely, and with just 240 calories and 2.5 grams of fat, it was a very healthy lunch. Unfortunately, like many frozen meals, this one is very high in sodium: It contains 760 mg, or 32 percent of your daily recommended intake. But if you're looking for a healthy, fast frozen lunch or dinner, this one is better than the average microwave meal, and I appreciate the lack of strange-sounding chemicals in the ingredients.

Have you tried these? If so, what flavor do you like?

Lean Cuisine Recalls Chicken Dinners

partysugar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:00:27 -0800

Yesterday Lean Cuisine's parent company, Nestlé Prepared Foods, recalled approximately 879,565 pounds of frozen chicken meals.

According to the US Department of Agriculture and Food Safety, the meals may contain foreign materials like small pieces of plastic.

To find out what exactly is being recalled, read more.

9.5-ounce packages of “Lean Cuisine Pesto Chicken with Bow Tie Pasta" brand frozen meals.
Printed on each side of each package is a production code of “8280595912,” as well as a use-by date of “Best Before MAY 2010.”
10.5-ounce packages of “Lean Cuisine Chicken Mediterranean” brand frozen meals.
Printed on the side of each package is a production code of “8231595912” or “8241595912,” as well as a use-by date of “Best before SEP 2010”; a production code of “8263595912,” “8269595911” or “8274595912,” as well as a use-by date of “Best before OCT 2010”; or, a production code of “8291595912” or “8301595912,” as well as a use-by date of “Best before NOV 2010.”
12.5-ounce packages of “Lean Cuisine Chicken Tuscan” brand frozen meals.
Printed on the side of each package is a production code of “8234595911” and a use-by date of “Best before SEP 2009”; a production code of “8253595911” or “8269595912” as well as a use-by date of “Best before OCT 2009”; or, a production code of “8292595911” or “8296595911” as well as a use-by date of “Best before NOV 2009.”

Last Summer, Pizza Pockets, another brand under Nestlé, recalled a large number of frozen pepperoni Hot Pockets. I can't help but think plastic in frozen foods is an alarming trend. Let's hope the manufacturers get this problem sorted out soon. Until then, be sure to check the Lean Cuisines in your freezer.

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Food Recall: Lean Cuisine Chicken Meals

FitSugar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:00:00 -0800

Oops! Nestlé did it again. In July, Nestlé recalled some Lean Pockets for having plastic bits in them, and now the company has announced it is recalling 879,565 pounds of Lean Cuisine frozen chicken meals for the same reason. The presence of small pieces of hard plastic led some customers to complain and caused one injury. All of the affected products are chicken-based meals.

Check your freezer for the following products subject to recall, and call Nestlé Consumer Services Center at (800) 227-6188 with any questions.

Lean Cuisine Pesto Chicken With Bow Tie Pasta: Production code "8280595912" with a "Best Before" date of "May 2010."
Lean Cuisine Chicken Mediterranean: Production code "8231595912" or "8241595912" with "Best Before" date of "Sept 2010"; production code "8263595912" "8269595911" or "8274595912" with a "Best Before" date of "Oct 2010"; or, production code “8291595912” or “8301595912,” with a “Best Before" date of "Nov 2010.”
Lean Cuisine Chicken Tuscan: Production code “8234595911” and “Best Before" date of "Sept 2009”; production code “8253595911” or “8269595912” with a “Best Before" date of "Oct 2009”; or, production code of “8292595911” or “8296595911” with a “Best Before" date of "Nov 2009.”

My pal Yum isn't pleased with this news either. If you're now inspired to cook your own food, she's has recipes galore for you to browse for inspiration.

Food Review: Five-Cheese Rigatoni by Lean Cuisine

FitSugar — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:00:00 -0700

Though I sometimes eat Lean Cuisine products in a pinch, I'm not usually a fan of processed frozen food. A few Lean Cuisine meals arrived at the office the other day, and since I was hungry and strapped for time I thought I would try one with the words "no preservatives" stamped prominently on the box. I chose Five-Cheese Rigatoni, although I don't regularly eat pasta at lunch. The photo on the box looked appealing, like comfort food.

To see if the rigatoni met my expectations, just read more.

The five-cheese rigatoni was actually filling, but two and a half hours a later I was suddenly hungry. The taste was fine, if a little on the sweet side, and the meal was very comforting. While I am still incredulous that a frozen meal could be preservative free, when I read over the ingredients the only one that seemed suspicious was thiamin mononitrate - a B vitamin added to the pasta. There were a couple of different types of "enzyme-modified" cheeses, where enzymes are used to enhance the flavor. Other than that all the ingredients were fairly familiar. Here's the nutritional information.

Serving Size	11.5 ounces
Calories	330
Total Fat	9 g
Saturated Fat	4 g
Cholesterol	20 mg
Sodium	690 mg
Carbs	50 g
Fiber	4 g
Sugar	10 g
Protein	12 g

While this meal was by no means stellar, it did work. Paired with fruit or a salad, the dish might be more satisfying. I so think pasta and cheese for lunch is ultimately a bad idea, and I will be looking of more protein out of my next frozen meal. Any recommendations?

Lean Cuisine Flat Bread Melts

FitSugar — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:00:00 -0800

I am not one for processed food, let me state that up front. In a recent pinch for lunch the other day I tried a Lean Cuisine Flat Bread. I tried the chicken pesto melt because even in a pinch I have a weakness for pesto. The flat bread cooks in less than three minutes, but needs to rest, much like a steak, for 60 seconds. It tasted good though not great, but only kept me full for about two hours. There was a generous portion of chicken and I had a sweet sun dried tomato in almost every bite. The problem with many of these quick food solutions is you need other food to make them a sustaining meal, but when you are on the go chances are high you don't just happen to have a salad or some steamed broccoli stashed in your back pocket.

To see nutritional information and what the flat bread truly looks like, just read more

The flat bread looks very much like the image on the box, you can see there are a lot of red peppers and sun dried tomatoes.

Calories	Fat (g)	Protein (g)	Cholesterol (mg)	Sodium (mg)	Fiber (g)	Sugar (g)
330	8	22	20	630	5	6

My main problem with this meal is the amount of sodium, since it contains 25% of the recommended daily intake of sodium (2,300mg is the upper limit of healthy per day). Plus why not use whole wheat in the crust and make the bread part healthy and more than just a vehicle for toppings? I do think it is great that Lean Cuisine gets credit for not using trans fat in this one.

Allez Cuisine! Iron Chefs Sign up For Wii Game

GeekSugar — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:02:56 -0700

Nothing better than settling in late on Sunday night with a new episode of Iron Chef America (I know, I know, the original may be better, but I live for Bobby Flay and Mario Batali) and watching the venerable chefs and challengers dig in to some crazy secret ingredient. The excitement comes from the competition almost more than it does the exquisite-looking food - so it makes total sense that the show could be worked into a game for the Wii!

Additionally, Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine has added the voices and likenesses of Masaharu Morimoto and Batali (look at how adorable their little Miis are) to the Wii and Nintendo DS games. This takes my excitement level for this game from fair to major. If they add an Alton Brown avatar, it will hit excitement level: stupid.

Source

Summer Reading: The Cuisines Of Spain

partysugar — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 05:28:39 -0700

If you read this fabulous little website frequently, you probably know by now that I am a complete and total Spainophile (yes I know that's not a real word, but I couldn't find the Spanish equivalent to the French loving Francophile). After living in Andalucia for two years, what can I say? I love all things Spanish, including the food. I have quite the collection of Spanish cookbooks, however my favorite is The Cuisines Of Spain: Exploring Regional Home Cooking by Teresa Barrenechea. I received this book as a gift from my godfather and have made lots of successful, authentic tasting dishes that take me back to the balmy nights and long, lazy afternoons. The empanada dough is flaky and browns perfectly, the classic patatas bravas tapa is the best recipe I've tried, and the gambas al ajilio is succulent and garlicy.

I especially enjoy this book for its beautiful photography of the Spanish countryside, detailed descriptions of the origins of the recipes, and Barrenechea's personal stories that relate to each dish. If you are interested in learning the secrets of a genuine Spanish mother, I highly recommend this book.

What Cuisine Do You Most Frequently Make at Home?

YumSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:50:40 -0700

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Ashley and Mary-Kate Keep Their Cool With a Full House

PopSugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:00:32 -0800

It was a mini Full House reunion last night at the Cool Comedy Hot Cuisine benefit in NYC, which was held to honor the Scleroderma Research Foundation. Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen posed alongside their on-screen dad Bob Saget, who also brought his own daughters Lara and Aubrey. John Stamos was there as well, and he later entertained the crowd with Bob and SNL's Seth Meyers. The Olsens took a break from promoting Olsenboye long enough to support the cause close to Bob's heart, though their latest line is apparently already on clearance.

To see more from the event, just read more.

View 15 Photos ›

Images include: Seth Meyers, Caryn Zucker, Colin Quinn, John Stamos, Mary-Kate Olsen, Bob Saget, Ashley Olsen, Jeff Ross, Aubrey Saget, Lara Saget

Your Political Leanings May Determine What's on Your Plate

YumSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:20:37 -0800

Everyone says that you are what you eat. But could your political party affiliation be the driver of what goes on your plate, too? That's what food trend analyst Phil Lempert (of koodie fame) is arguing. Examining 2009 data from Hunch, he found conservatives opt for "mainstream, comfort food staples," while liberals are likely to gravitate toward "international and exotic cuisines."

According to Lempert, conservatives correlated with foods like pizza, macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly for lunch, plus fried chicken, meatloaf, and steak for dinner, with Italian food being the cuisine of choice.

Liberals, on the other hand, preferred Asian: Thai and Indian for lunch, and veggie burgers and green curry for supper. His findings indicate they also tend to make more nutritionally sound choices, such as eating vegetables more often and fast food less frequently, and making dishes from scratch.

Those looking to toe the bipartisan line should stick to mutually-loved foods such as hot dogs, bacon double cheeseburgers, ice cream sans sprinkles, romaine lettuce, and salt on a margarita glass. Do these findings line up correctly with your political leanings?

Source: Flickr User thebittenword.com