Carrots – Page 4 – Food In Real Life

Healthy Choice Beef Tips Portabello

Looks: The beef looks much dryer (drier?) than pictured, and the mushrooms in the sauce are practically non-existent. The vegetables looks like shrunken versions of themselves, but the potatoes and caramel apple dessert aren’t too far off. I’m feeling generous today, so I’ll give it… 3 out of 5

Taste: The beef turned out to be just as dry as it looked – stringy and tasteless. The potatoes were gummy, and the broccoli was watery. (The carrots were surprisingly ok, with just a little hardness left in them.) The gold-medal winner of this meal was the caramel apple dessert – quite possibly the best tv-dinner-corner-pocket dessert I’ve ever had. It almost redeemed the stringy beef and bland potatoes. 2 out of 5

SmartOnes Lemon Herb Chicken Piccata

Looks: A little soupier than pictured, and without the fresh grillmarks on the chicken. Besides that, most of the colors were right on (especially the vegetables, which is usually a crapshoot), and the ratio of food amounts is as pictured. 3.5 out of 5

Taste: I did not expect to like this dish, given my experience with the last chicken and rice dish I tried, but much to my surprise, I loved it! The chicken wasn’t dry, and the vegetables still had some crispiness to them. The sauce was especially good, with a strong chicken flavor but with light lemony aftertones. I’ll definitely be buying this again. (As with its looks, the soupiness was the main drawback.) 4 out of 5

Healthy Choice Traditional Turkey Breast

Looks: I’ll say this: the vegetable mix looks *exactly* like it does on the box. The cherry crisp isn’t far off either (some of the oats migrated to the corner during the freezing process), and while it’s a little jumbled (and hard to see in the picture), the turkey + stuffing + gravy looks very much like the box. Not bad, Healthy Choice! 4.5 out of 5

Taste: Hands down, the best frozen turkey I’ve ever had. The first bite was moist and flavorful, the second bite (and third and fourth…) was downright juicy. The gravy had a meaty, peppery taste, and the stuffing wasn’t soggy. It even had raisins in it, which I love. The cherry crisp could have used some more crisp – it was mostly cherries, but the taste was fine – and in accordance with the FDA’s new “Respect the Veg” program, I am obligated to mention that the vegetable mix was “delicious” and “mouth-watering” and not at all “bland” or “lame.” 4 out of 5