Weight Watchers (Smart Ones) Chicken Carbonara

I had no idea that Weight Watchers had their own brand of diet convenience meals until the hubby brought this home the other day. It's pretty good. It's got a 5 point value, 250 calories and 4.5 grams of fat but holy smokes- it's high in sodium, 660 mg (28% of RDV).

It's description: "all white meat, smoky turkey bacon, tender mushrooms and peas, and a basil garlic sauce over ribbons of linguini". I don't think that Lean Cuisine's (LC) version has turkey bacon, nor does it have peas (but it does have some red pepper). There aren't a ton of peas. In comparison LC's got 20 more calories, but a little less sodium (620 mg). Of the two, I'd recommend LC's version- however, if the WW version were cheaper one week, I'd buy it in its place.

Lean Cuisine's Lemongrass Chicken, Lemon Chicken

I'm reviewing these together, even though they're a little different (ok a lot different). The Lemongrass Chicken gets a partial "ick" from me- the lemon is good, chicken, rice and veggie mix- all good. But the "grass" part of the lemon? Lemongrass is exactly what it sounds like- lemony and grassy. It's got a strange aftertaste that I didn't enjoy, so probably wouldn't eat again. If you like lemongrass, however, you'll like this dish. I didn't have any other complaints but that.

Now the Lemon Chicken I actually like quite a bit. The chicken is breaded and it comes with brown rice and veggies- all good. The lemon gives it a nice, clean taste and works well with the entire dish (and you'll want to make sure to leave some of the sauce for the rice too). It's definitely yummy!

Kashi's Chicken Florentine

I haven't tried a lot of Kashi products other than cereal a few years back, but this caught my eye the other day at the store. I love Chicken Florentine, and thought I'd give this a try. It's a good size meal for 290 calories- bigger than most Lean Cuisines at that calorie count.

From the Kashi website:
"Grilled chicken with spinach, sweet red peppers, and baby Portobello mushrooms is all served over our Kashi Seven Whole Grains and Sesame® with orzo pilaf. Topped with a garlic white wine sauce and shredded parmesan cheese."

The whole grains add an interesting crunchiness to the dish and it has a lot of flavor- which doesn't rely heavily on spiciness (as some other convenience foods do). I definitely recommend this dish!

Lean Cuisine's Chicken and Peanut Sauce

While not my favorite Lean Cuisine offering, this dish had a decent flavor. My complaint, I think, stems partly from my microwave, but also using whole wheat noodles. It's strange, because that's all I use in cooking for the most part, but I've found that they don't reheat well. Something about the texture changes, and it doesn't appeal to me, and that's what I am running into with this convenience dinner. It also contains snow peas and water chestnuts (which amazingly always stay crisp), and the chicken was really good. I'd definitely recommend it on flavor, but if you are like me and don't like reheated whole wheat pasta you may want to pass.

Ginger Garlic Stirfry With Chicken from Lean Cuisine

Lean Cuisine's Ginger Garlic Stirfry is a new offering. It's loaded with vegetables like sugar snap peas and carrots and features nice pieces of white chicken in a ginger garlic sauce. The actual meal is not as pretty as the picture on the front of the box (though they rarely are) and it cooked up nicely in the microwave I used. My only warning is that this dish is SPICY. I don't mind spicy, but I wasn't expecting it and it took me a bit by surprise. So be sure to have something to drink on hand. It clocks in at 290 calories and 4 grams of fat. Pair with a salad or piece of fruit and it's a perfect lunch.

Healthy Choice Paninis

It was just a matter of time before Healthy Choice came out with their own paninis. One is a Smoked Chicken, and the other a Chicken and Basil. I really enjoyed the first (just be sure not to overcook it or you won't be able to eat the bread). Despite overcooking it, the chicken and cheese on the sandwich had a really good flavor. The second I didn't enjoy quite as much- it had more tomato taste than I would have liked, but it was still good. Both I believe were under 300 calories- but I forgot to take notes to be sure. But as I will at least be getting the Smoked Chicken panini again, I will update this post then.

Lean Cuisine's Chicken Pecan

I'm always a little leery when it comes to chicken dishes prepared by someone else- I HATE grizzle. But I'm pleased to say that my Chicken Pecan contained great pieces of chicken as well as what I would call a "restaurant quality sauce". The initial smell of the sauce is a little strange (almost burnt) but I think this is because of the pecans. The pecans are not overwhelming, and in fact are chopped up quite small so they blend in pretty well with the brown rice the chicken comes with. If you don't like nuts, you'll want to pass on this dish- there's no way to pick them out. Normally I don't like them, but like I mentioned, they blend in well with the thicker texture of the brown rice, so it's almost most like eating a wild rice dish.

I would definitely recommend this dish.

Lean Cuisine Panini's

I was never much for melted cheese sandwiches, but I *heart* panini's. Panera makes a fabulous Turkey and *ahem* bacon that's probably not so figure friendly. But Lean Cuisine recently came out with a line of Panini's that cook up pretty well in your microwave and will even get toasted a little (be careful not to overcook, or the bread will be inedible where it burns). Favorite flavors: Chicken Club panini (yeah bacon) and the Southwest Style Chicken Panini which has got just enough spice. It's satisfying and yummy to boot. They are 320 and 280 calories respectively.

I haven't tried the Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom (the husband ate it before I could, but said it was good), or the Steak, Cheddar and Mushroom, but I'm sure they won't disappoint.

Lean Cuisine's Chicken Fried Rice

I've gotten this convenience meal a few times now and always forget that I have a problem with it. It's not in the flavor (a lite soy sauce type flavor), or the vegetables (peas and carrots), it's with the chicken. Nearly every single piece has some sort of grizzle in it, which makes me want to puke. I'd rather have processed rib meat that's free of any hidden fat.

Could just be my bad luck. I've had this happen with other frozen dinners, but not usually every time. It's too bad, because it does taste good, but all but one piece of chicken had some sort of nasty fat in it.

Final Verdict: Taste is good, but proceed with caution. If you've had a similar experience with this product, leave a comment!