Pillsbury Crusty French Loaf

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Pillsbury French Loaf (Whole)

Pillsbury French Loaf (Sliced)

Looks: As you can see, my loaf was lopsided. Maybe that’s intended, to make it seem more authentically homemade, but I found it offputting. Who wants to eat a lumpy loaf? Nobody. Besides that, the bread didn’t brown to the same tone of brown as the bread on the packaging did, but that could have been due to cooking time. 4 out of 5

Taste: Good for coming out of a can. The crust was flaky, and the bread was chewy and not too dry or too moist. However: there’s something off about Pillsbury bread products thought that I always taste – maybe it’s a preservative or whatever they use to keep it from sticking to the can, but every time, there’s a slightly-off aftertaste. It’s not enough to spoil the taste itself though, so I give it 4 out of 5

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It’s the Food In Real Life Taste Hall of Shame: A collection of all meals reviewed on Food In Real Life that have scored lower than 1 out of 5 in the taste department. It even doubles as a dieting aid, since you certainly won’t be hungry after reading it.

Lean Cuisine Sesame Chicken

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Lean Cuisine Sesame Chicken

Looks: The chicken is soggy, not crispy, and there aren’t any sesame seeds on it. Additionally (or subtractionally), there aren’t as many vegetables in the noodles as the box pictures. Everything else is pretty close, except that I couldn’t find the chopsticks in the box and had to go buy my own. 3.5 out of 5

Taste: The main detriment to this meal is the soggy chicken breading. It would be close to perfect if not for that, although I don’t think I’ve ever had crispy chicken come out of a microwave. The noodles are substantial, but they don’t have much of a flavor, and I would have liked to see (and taste) more vegetables. (The plum sauce beneath the chicken and noodles was surprisingly good though.) 3.5 out of 5