Frozen – Page 16 – Food In Real Life

Michelina’s Spaghetti & Meatballs

Looks: Once again, the box fails to account for the directions instructing the preparer to stir the meal together. When will these companies learn? Also, the noodles look more like extruded Play-Doh than the spaghetti on the packaging. 3 out of 5

Taste: Absolutely disgusting. The noodles fell apart as if I had cooked them for twice their instructed cooking time, causing the whole meal to feel like pig slop. Half of the meatballs were spongy; the other half were hard. All of them were tasteless, making me wonder just what ratio of breadcrumbs to meat Michelina’s is using in their recipe. The sauce had no redeeming qualities. There are not many meals that I can’t bear to finish, but this was definitely one of them. 0 out of 5

Smart Stuffers Turk’y with Cranberry Stuffing

Today’s Food In Real Life is LightLife’s Smart Stuffers, comes courtesy of my brother Aaron. (You might remember the LightLife brand from their previous appearance on FoodIRL via SmartBacon. You probably don’t remember my brother Aaron, since you’ve never met him.)

Looks: The colors are pretty much spot-on, but there are not nearly enough cranberries in the cranberry stuffing. The ratio of turk’y to stuffing is as advertised. 4 out of 5

Taste: I was pleasantly surprised by how much the stuffing actually tasted like real stuffing. I mean, that sort of thing can’t be easy to fake. I expected it to be really dry, but it wasn’t. It also had the right texture and an appropriate amount of spices. I bet you could give it to someone who eats stuffing every day, and they wouldn’t know the difference. Oh, and the turk’y tasted more like chik’n, which was fine with me. 5 out of 5

Healthy Choice Country Breaded Chicken

Looks: Once you account for plating the meal the way they have it on the box, the food looks pretty close to the packaging. The cherry dessert isn’t as thick as its representation, and the carrots are underrepresented in the vegetable triangle, but the rest stacks up pretty well. 4 out of 5

Taste: Disappointing. The potatoes were gluey, and the chicken tasteless (and soggy where it touched the potatoes). The cherry dessert was sickly sweet, and I certainly didn’t find any “vanilla crisp.” The vegetables sure did taste like vegetables though! (Note that scores of 1 out of 5 or lower are mainly reserved for meals I couldn’t finish or wouldn’t finish. I finished this, but wasn’t very happy about wasting an eating opportunity on it.) 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