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.
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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?
Rebecca
Balenciaga
Sonia Rykiel
This is one of my favorite Lean Cuisines for dinner (I try and eat a bigger more filling lunch and smaller dinner) when I am at work late. It is about 7 WW points I think though, which on the higher side of the frozen meals.
Smart Ones makes a 3 cheese ziti which is amazingly similar to that Lean Cuisine, and it's 6 WW points instead. Every little bit helps!
1I'm eating the Lean Cuisine three meat pizza as I'm reading this
It's delicious, but
just like with the pasta dish, I know I will be hungry again shortly. I don't know of any frozen dinners that are actually filling.
2We took an informal poll with our friends and found rave reviews around only one single LC meal - the Butternut Squash with Walnuts spa meal. It tastes amazingly like a restaurant meal, and the vegetables in it are a great changeup from the usual blend Lean Cuisine uses. Hope you like it!!
3A little off the Lean Cuisine topic, but the Amy's frozen meals and soups with reduced sodium are my fave fast meal. Yum!
4I like all of the flatbread pizza varieties, I eat a lean cuisine for lunch almost everyday. I'll do that and then an apple or yogurt and then you have about a 400-500 calorie lunch.
5The tortilla-crusted fish with medley rice LC is pretty good! So is the santa-fe rice and beans (after you smother it in Taco Bell sauce, of course...) I haven't had a LC in forever
6LC makes a really yummy manacotti (sp?) meal that I absolutely love (it doesn't taste like its a diet food). I usually don't eat frozen meals but I like to keep one or two in my freezer for those days I forget to make lunch or and just too tired to make dinner for myself.
7I meant "Cannelloni". Tasty!
8i like the Lean Cuisine pizzas. They are really filling. My favorite is the chicken alfredo Lean cuisine.
9I love that you always include a picture of what these meals actually look like. It's very helpful for those who more visually inclined!
10LC Ravioli is one of my favorites. However, they're not filling at all...
11The Five-Cheese Rigatoni is for sure one of my favorite LC meals, I eat them almost every day for lunch. The butter nut squash ravioli is very very good as well. I agree with a previous poster that it tastes very similar to a restaraunt meal. Another LC favoire is the three cheese stuffed rigatoni with zuchini, carrots, and tomaotes. I usually pair the LC with 1/2 cup cottage cheese for a very nice filling lunch.
12690mg of SODIUM??
I'm sorry, but microwave dinners are unhealthy, no matter what they claim. It doesn't look very good either.
What's wrong with just cooking your own pasta and bringing it to work, preservative-free and salt-reduced?
13hithatsmybike - I agree that that's not a good amount of sodium, but I think for convenience you have to sacrifice. I think it's easier to eat a frozen lunch with too much salt than too spend the extra time to make pasta (which is what, about 12 minutes to cook not including prep and the sauce?) and deal with all that preplanning and tupperware containers and stuff. I'm not that into putting so much thought into my meals ahead of time sometimes. If I know I'm eating something salty, I drink more and have simple, very low sodium food the rest of the day. It's finding a balance and practicing moderation, right?
14Is there such thing as a good "moderate" intake of processed, packaged foods?
Pasta is 10-15 mins -- but that's not very long. What's more, is it practically cooks itself. Really, you only have to stir once in awhile, it's not exactly demanding! Sauces are easy to make out of soup or tomato paste. Add some asparagus or mushrooms and chicken or shrimp, and you have a great dinner.
This above doesn't even have vegetables in it. It has no nutritional value aside from a brief sugar boost. (seriously, you'd probably get more from eating the box it came in!)
NO ONE should be eating like that, even "in moderation".
I really feel the reason Americans struggle with obesity is because the food industry markets poison like this as a healthy alternative. Eating these meals is like having half of a big mac instead of a whole one, and not super-sizing your fries, then feeling like you've accomplished something for your diet.
People need to grow out of their laziness and make sincere efforts towards maintaining and nourishing their bodies. The fact that you even think "planning" pasta (!!!) and sticking it in the fridge overnight is too much work is really scary.
15People shouldn't feel like this, they should enjoy their food.
My favorite LC meal is the sweet and sour chicken. It tastes great and filling enough for a lunch... I do get hungry a few hours later but I have a snack mid afternoon which holds me over til Dinner.
16LC isn't really "diet food"...it works by being portion controlled
so normally they taste pretty okay (well the meat ones scare me but i like the pasta ones)....but it's not tons of food. you're better off getting your 6 ot 7 WW points out of sushi or salad with chicken etc. etc.
17I agree with skigurl. Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers are just low-calorie, and some more nutritious than others. White pasta isn't nutritious, so it should at least be balanced with something healthy. "In a pinch", people should at least choose frozen meals with vegetables, beans, or fish.
18the sodium isnt worth it. there is NOTHING healthy in frozen foods. no matter how many times they mention LEAN or HEALTHY.
19hithatsmybike - Confrontational, unnecessary, overdramatic. I know this is two days after the fact, I just checked back on this post and my jaw dropped. I don't think I ever said making pasta was too much work, I just said that the convenience factor is influential sometimes. I'm glad that occasionally I let life get in the way of my diet, because life is not my diet. Taking care of my body is important to me, definitely, but if I went on rants like you just did, I'd be so hung up on not only what I'm eating, but what America in general eats, I'd be miserable. Life's too short.
20Annebreal, that was hardly a rant (I just type really fast =p lol it's an asset for being able to say everything I want in 2mins and 200 words!)
I'm sorry if I misunderstood you but "I'm not that into putting so much thought into my meals ahead of time" REALLY made it sound like pasta was too much work for you to bother with, all 12 minutes of it.
So life IS too short -- so why make it shorter with heart disease and cancer?
My concern is not that people indulge once in awhile, I'm concerned that this product is being marketed on FitSugar of all places, a supposed resource for diet & fitness information, as an appropriate meal for someone whose goal is to improve their diet.
And rants don't lead to being hung up on eating, by the way (I'm also not hung up on what I'm eating -- I just downed three smores for christsakes -- but thanks for your concern)
21NO ONE should ever eat three smores in a row (!!!). No amount of smores in moderation is okay and this is why America has an obesity epidemic! That's really scary.
A little dramatic, right?
I was never really talking about myself personally, I eat mostly whole foods with maybe a once a month frozen entree when planning a meal ahead doesn't happen. Just saying moderation and compensating isn't a bad thing. Eat too much salt for lunch? Cut out the sodium the rest of the day and flush it out with fluids. Don't skip exercising that day for sure. That's a sustainable habit for the rest of your life, completely abstaining from packaged foods full of preservatives and sodium for the rest of your life is gonna be hard. And if you're like most of Americans and were raised on these kinds of foods, occasionally you're going to crave it, and probably eat around your cravings and be cranky if you completely deny yourself. Ultimately, it's just one meal out of your life, it's what you do next that matters.
22Surprising as it may be, my smores have a higher nutritional value than that Lean Cuisine! Less sodium also.
People would be better off packing smores for lunch instead of this meal -- maybe we can give Fit the heads up and she'll write about it.
Abstaining from packaged foods full of preservatives actually isn't that hard.. I wasn't raised on them, we're always done the home-cooked thing in my family. I wasn't aware families do actually use microwave dinners to feed their children..? that's kind of gross.
(I'm aware most foods in the supermarket have crap in them, this is only referring to ready-made meals themselves).
I can understand random cravings for something like McDonald's fries, but I find craving this dinner really hard to believe lol
Like I said, it isn't about Lean Cuisine being one meal of your life -- they're marketed to become a daily habit, and furthermore under the ridiculous notion that they're a healthy choice.
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