Microwave – Page 16 – Food In Real Life

Marie Callender’s Cheesy Chicken & Rice

Looks: Like someone had already chewed it and spit it back into the bowl. Where are the nice big strips of chicken? Where are the fresh broccoli florets? Where is the creamy cheese sauce? Nowhere to be found. The biggest piece of chicken was perhaps a third the size of the pieces pictured on the box, and even before cooking, the cheese sauce was mixed into the rice. I almost didn’t eat it because of how it looked. 1 out of 5

Taste: Even worse than it looks. I was able to stomach four bites before I threw the rest out; because of the way that the cheese sauce gums up the rice and traps the chicken and vegetables in a web of disgusting cheeserice, the entire dish tastes and feels the same – like crap. 0 out of 5

SmartOnes Ravioli Florentine

Looks: You see how on the box, there’s one ravioli that’s cut open to show off the filling? You see how the one that I cut open fluffs up too to show the substantial filling? No? Yeah, that’s because there’s not nearly enough filling to get it to stay open like that. Other failings: the herbs look nothing like the fresh sprigs on the box, and the sauce is… lacking in texture, to say the least. 1.5 out of 5

Taste: Better than it looks. (SmartOnes meals are usually decent, so this isn’t surprising.) The filling is a dry ricotta mix, and the ravioli noodles have a decent bite to them. 3.5 out of 5

Banquet Swedish Meatballs

Looks: This meal is very well-represented on the box. The only nit I can find to pick is that the gravy/sauce comes out kind of lumpy, not smooth like on the packaging. Other than that, everything is fine – the meatballs are the right size, the colors are correct, and the portioning is accurate. 4.5 out of 5

Taste: What’s a word between that falls between “edible” and “delicious”? Oh right, it’s “banquetswedishmeatballs.” This meal is pretty good. The meatballs are substantial and actually taste like meat! (Really, they taste like salisbury steak balls.) The noodles are a little soft, but not as soft as say, Chef Boyardi Ravioli noodles, and the sauce has a nice peppery flavor. This is one of the few Banquet meals that I’ve bought after already having tried it in the past. 4 out of 5

LightLife Smart Bacon

Another reader submission today, this one from Liz King:

“Smarter to just buy the real thing…

This ‘smart bacon’ tastes about as good as it looks – like cardboard. It’s dry, and as you can see in the picture, I could only stand to take 2 small bites before throwing the entire thing in the garbage. EW! I’m a meat eater who LOVES bacon, and I was looking for a healthier, easy-to-cook alternative. Never again!”

Looks: This product has the honorable distinction of being the lowest-scoring entry in Food IRL’s history. “Bacon” that looks like cardboard (and not even attractive cardboard)? 0 out of 5