Food In Real Life

DiGiorno 200 Calorie Portions

Looks: They didn’t add enough cheese for it to melt all the way to the edges, the tomato sauce more closely resembles a thin sheet of red paint, and the green peppers by far outnumber the chicken bits. (It’s called “Chicken with Peppers”, not “Peppers with Chicken.”) 3.5 out of 5

Taste: The crust is chewy right out of the microwave, but it becomes crackery if you let it cool. The chicken, cheese, and sauce were all passable (on the high end for microwave pizza), but I definitely would have appreciated more of them. (Although then I suppose they’d have trouble calling it a “200 calorie portion.”

One word of warning: don’t take the “recommended cooking instructions” at face value. There are two 200-calorie portions in each box, and for the first one, I cooked it exactly how long the box recommended I cook it based on my microwave’s wattage (2 minutes). For the second portion, I left it in the microwave for only 1:20. Can you guess which is which?

So if you cook it under close supervision and stop the microwave when the cheese melts, you’ll be ok. 3.5 out of 5

Posted in Cheese, Chicken, Digiorno, Frozen, Microwave, Peppers, Pizza, Tomato Sauce, White Onions | 4 Comments »

Marie Callender’s Rigatoni Marinara Classico

Looks: Instead of a thick juicy tomato sauce, I see a dry brown bowl of noodles and meat. 3 out of 5

Taste: Bland. The sausage coins were ok, but everything else was just bleh – gritty meatballs, lackluster sauce, overcooked noodles. 2 out of 5

Posted in Frozen, Marie Callender's, Meatballs, Microwave, Pasta, Sausage, Tomato Sauce | 6 Comments »

Lean Cuisine Cheese Lasagna & Chicken

Looks: When you take into account the fact that I didn’t properly plate this meal, it’s very well depicted on the packaging. (There’s a second chicken patty underneath the sauce.) 4 out of 5

Taste: Much better than I expected – I expected soggy chicken and tasteless lasagna, but the chicken was firm and juicy, and the lasagna’s ricotta filling was very apparent. The lasagna noodles weren’t overcooked on the edges either. This is one of the few microwave lasagna meals I’ve tried that I would buy again. 4 out of 5

Posted in Cheese, Chicken, Frozen, Lean Cuisine, Microwave, Pasta, Ricotta, Tomato Sauce | 4 Comments »

Trader Joe’s Mushroom Rice Noodle Bowl

There aren’t any Trader Joe’s in my area, so this edition of Food In Real Life comes to you courtesy of reader Emily Tanoury. Thanks Emily!

Looks: “Definitely no corn (although the written description on the back of the packaging never lists corn in the description) and you don’t really see those bits of rehydrated mushrooms. Also, there is not as much separation of the noodles and liquids as the picture depicts. These rice noodles suck up the broth, and the broth and the noodles are all the same color. In the picture the broth looks a little more of a rich brown.” 3 out of 5

Taste: “Wonderful-ness. Not overly salty, but definitely had a mushroom taste to it and the seasonings were quite good as well. The noodles absorbed most of the liquid, but it made it easy to eat with chop sticks. If you are looking for a soup, these noodle bowls definitely are not it, but if you are looking for sticky noodles, these are the best way to go. Missed the corn though.” 4.5 out of 5

Posted in Corn, Dry, Green Onions, Microwave, Mushrooms, Pasta, Reader Submission, Trader Joe's | 9 Comments »