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
Category: Microwave
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
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
Healthy Choice Roasted Chicken Marsala Cafe Steamer
Looks: Mushrooms are MIA. Sauce is much too watery. Chicken-to-noodle ratio is far too low. 3 out of 5
Taste: Bland, but the chicken was nice and juicy. The vegetables were still quite crisp, which somewhat made up for the overcooked and mushy noodles. Not a keeper. 2 out of 5