Lean Cuisines

[Caffeine]

Good or Bad for general dieting..From the calorie and fat standpoint they seem ok and I eat them alot but maybe im not looking close enough.

[RipStone]

I am betting if there is pasta in them that it is not whole wheat. And the sauces have to be highly processed. Also, I know for a fact that the sodium content on frozen dinners is through the roof. Other then that...not that bad.

[Happy]

i totally recommend the new SPA cuisine: lean cuisines. All of the pastas and rice are whole wheat or brown rice.

check them out here

I recently also found them being offered at Costco in a four pack.

Albertsons has a buy one get one free as does Vons in So Cali.

here's a breakdown on the Salmon(WILD!!!) with Basil sauce

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 Package (9.625 ounces)
Servings Per Package: 1

Amount Per Serving

Calories 260
Calories From Fat 70

%Daily Value* %Daily Value*

Total Fat (g) 8 11% Cholesterol (mg) 3 10%
Saturated Fat (g) 2.5 13% Sodium (mg) 68 28%
Trans Fat 0 Potassium (mg) 51 15%
Polyunsaturated Fat (g) 2 Total Carbohydrates (g) 31 10%
Monounsaturated Fat (g) 2 Dietary Fiber (g) 5 20%
Protein (g) 17 Sugars (g) 4


Vitamin A 90% Vitamin C 8%
Calcium 15% Iron 10%


Diet Exchanges 1 1/2 Lean Meat,1 1/2 Starch,1 1/2 Vegetable,1/2 Fat

I usually give these to my mom as a postworkout meal. I usually take in a lot more calories, so it wouldn't be cost effective nor advantageous to my goals to be eating one or more of these.

[RipStone]

Happy, I have not seen those before. It's good to see a company such as Stouffer's making their prodcuts with whole grains. However, I checked the website and even though the nutritonal breakdown looks pretty decent, they do not list the ingredients and I am still questioning what goes into some of those sauces like the "peanut" or "cherry" sauce.

[Happy]

hmm, i have one on hand. here's the one for the "chicken in peanut sauce"

INGREDIENTS: BLANCHED WHOLE WHEAT SPAGHETTI (WATER,WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR), SKIN MILK, COOKED CHICKEN TENDERLOINS (CHICKEN TENDERLOINS,WATER,SEASONING[CONTAINS YEAST EXTRACT,SUGAR,FLAVORS,SALT,DEH YDRATED GARLIC,MALTODEXTRIN,CITRIC ACID], ISOLATED SOY PROTEIN, MODIFIED RICE STARCH, CANOLA OIL, SODIUM PHOSPHATES) SNAP PEAS, PEANUT BUTTER(PEANUTS, SUGAR, SALT, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (RAPESEED, COTTONSEED AND SOYBEAN OILS), MOLASSES, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES), CARROTS, WATER CHESTNUTS, SOY SAUCE (WATER, WHEAT, SOYBEANS, SALT, LACTIC ACID), SOYBEAN OIL, MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, WATER, SUGAR, CANOLA OIL, SALT, APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, CHICKEN FLAVOR (MALTODEXTRIN, SALT, CHICKEN FAT, CHICKEN STOCK, YEAST EXTRACT, SESAME OIL[CONTAINS SOY]), LIME JUICE CONCENTRATE, ROASTED GARLIC CONCENTRATE (GARLIC, SALT, NATURAL FLAVORING, SESAME OIL, CANOLA OIL AND CITRIC ACID), CARAMEL COLOR, SPICES.

My personal fav is chicken fat.

I know that these things are heinously saturated with salt (690 mg in fact - 29% of RDA for 2k calorie diet) But I consider these OK for my mom to consume daily (once) after workout with lots of agua, considering they're a great source of complex carbs, good amount of protein (21g) and the fat content is sans trans!

This thing wins Happy's Hype endorsement, as do more of Amy's frozen foods. But obviously, eating these things everyday for every meal will most likely lead to hypertension :/ So I don't advocate that:|

[The Smaniac]

I wish my peanut butter had "rapeseed" in it. All I got was peanuts . I don't really like processed food but these seem like a good alternative to eating garbage, or about 90% of the average american diet. I'm wondering how you manage to control what your mom eats, though? Mine'd whup me if I told her to get her hand out of the Pringles can and eat some broccoli instead. Maybe I should try suggesting these instead. Any other good suggestions for improving your parents diet (with stuff they'd eat)?

[RipStone]

Yes some of those ingredients are not that great like I suspected,(maltodextrin,hydrog enated oil) but once in a while it would be alright to eat one...everything in moderation right.

[mcl]

Rapeseed oil is just Canola oil

[The Smaniac]

Think they'd sell more if they called it that instead on the bottles? Apologies, it's a boring Wedensday. But I agree with Rip. Moderation in all things is key.

[Happy]

My mom is a type II diabetic, however, it is undetectable after I modified her diet. I taught her 'good' v. 'bad' carbs and so on, and she's lost a good amount of weight (50+) so she doesn't complain. I make her come to the gym at night, and she knows how to squat and do any compound exercise perfectly. I think it's all a reality check and making sure that your healthy lifestyle isn't selfish but instead shared with the one's close to you and enjoyed with you, rather than battling others and bitching that 'their' diet is 'shitty' and so on. Commenting on people's diets should be articulate and sensitive, however, straight forward and understandable. Anyhow, my major is Nutritional Science (I'm 20) and I was considering attending Culinary Arts prior to deciding to forego that decision. Since my parents pay for my education, healthy eating is my payback I suppose - I have to practice now eh?

Rip: Agreed. All processed food is horrible, but I think that eating this vs. restraunt food is most likely healthier considering the control of portion size, and knowledge of - sketchy -ingredients. At least I'm not recommending Marie Callender's frozen meals:/ I used to eat the Fettucini Alfredo one when I was 12.