Frozen lunch food reviews

It has been a busy few weeks, thus the lack of recent posts. I thought I would share my opinions on a few great frozen lunches I've tried recently. While I prefer fresh food or leftovers for lunch, I keep a stock of a few entrees in the freezer in case there is nothing else on hand. Often times I will incorporate a previous night's dinner into a lunch- roasted veggies mixed with goat cheese or brie and put in a wrap, cheese, cucumber and sun dried tomato sandwich, etc. Other times I pair a pack of frozen vegetables (Green Giant Simply Steam boxes are amazing!) with an Amy's frozen burrito (the best brand I've tried) or a small wrap.

As a die-hard Kashi fan I picked up a few entrees to try. My absolute favorite is the Mayan Harvest Bake. It is an incredibly sweet and spicy mix of unusual ingredients, and a nice diversion from the usual burrito/pizza lunch fare. This dish is made up of plantains and roasted sweet potato, black beans and kale, and its covered with a spicy ancho sauce and pumpkin seed garnish, all served over seven whole grain polenta and amaranth. Some seriously fancy stuff for a frozen lunch that I can buy for less than $4 (oftentimes these are on sale at the King Soopers here). This amazing concoction clocks in at 340 calories, 9 g fat, 8 g fiber and 9 g protein. Also low in sodium for frozen food at 380 mg (16% DV).

I also tried the Ranchero beans, Black Bean Mango and Tuscan Vegetable Bake. The bean dishes are decent, especially the Mango. The Tuscan bake is a little bland. I added some spice to all of these but they still are far superior and healthier than most other meals on the market.

Lean cuisine meals are slightly cheaper than Kashi and often on sale, so I tried a few of these as well. My old standby is the macaroni and cheese. I mix in frozen veggies (peas or broccoli usually) and it is fairly filling and healthy, though high in sodium. (290 calories, 7 g fat, 15 g protein).
The butternut squash ravioli is tasty but a pretty skimpy portion for an entire lunch, though higher in fiber and lower in sodium than the mac and cheese.
Lean cuisine pizzas are surprisingly good for cooking in about 4 minutes. They come with a crisping tray, an ingenious way to get a microwave pizza fairly crispy. I've tried the roasted vegetable and spinach and mushroom "deep dish" varieties. The roasted veggie was pretty tasty and had a decent amount of veggies on it. The spinach was a little soggy and there weren't man mushrooms on the other kind. I put crushed red pepper and garlic powder on these to spice them up a bit, but they were pretty filling and healthy for pizzas, with less than 400 calories and 10 grams of fat.