[mommy22fishys]

I'm just starting out and have tried a few of the Lean Cuisine's that are out there. Let's see, I tried the Chicken Club Panini and the BBQ Chicken pizza. I really liked the Panini but the pizza, in my opinion, was not good. It had too many red onions on it. So many that even when I scraped them off, the onion taste was still there. And I usually can eat red onions. I'm curious what everyone has tried and what they like or would recommend. Thanks in advance to everyone!

[nelie]

Have you tried making your own frozen meals? Pack up a healthy dinner into a freezer/microwave safe container and take it to work? I've done that before but mostly I just pack up leftover dinners and take them to work. If I end up making way too much of a dish, I'll pack them into individual freezer containers to take to work later on.

[LLV]

Nelie has the right idea. For one thing you at least know what's in the food you're eating. And it's cheaper.

However, I eat the Lean Cuisines as well. Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice, mostly. Sometimes Smart Ones. I don't eat them all the time, most of the time I make my own lunches, but I keep them around for when I'm too lazy to fix anything. But they're great for keeping track of calories.

Many people aren't fond of the frozen meal idea because of the sodium. But I've never really had a problem with sodium, as long as I drink plenty of water. People with high blood pressure, however, have to keep a closer eye on it.

I don't eat much of the Panini and pizza. I stick mostly with the stir-fry types of Lean Cuisines or the meats and vegetables. The Paninis are just too much bread for my taste and the pizza, well, it leaves much to be desired. Especially those new brick oven pizzas or whatever they are. Yick! If I'm in the mood for pizza, I go ahead and buy the regular Stouffer's Grilled Vegetable french bread pizza. Can't beat it for 340 calories, which isn't much more than the Lean Cuisine. And they taste a heck of a lot better.

Healthy Choice makes some pretty good entrees. And, again, I'll sometimes pick up Smart Ones, although there are only a few of those that I like. The Tuna Noodle Gratin is my favorite.

I also grab some of the Michelina's Lean Gourmet. Usually only about 99 cents a piece and they're pretty good. Sometimes I eat them as is or I'll pair them up with a salad or an extra vegetable.

[daniellenm]

I live on my own now and cook all the time, but when I go to my parents house almost all they eat is frozen dinners (my mom doesn't cook at all)
My favorite is the Lean Quisine Chicken in Peanut sauce.
Almost any of those are good.

[AquaWarlock]

While not strictly health-oriented, my favorite packaged frozen food is Amy's Kitchen, even though I'm not a vegetarian! Her enchiladas & mac 'n cheese are yummy.

Of the Lean Cuisines, i really like the make your own paninis & the Spa Cuisine line. Healthy Choices is a hit'n miss for me and Smart Ones are mostly miss.

And, whenever I have the calories to spare and coupons handy, I like Stouffer's Corner Bistro line - which is somewhat sensible calorie wise (~500) for the amount of food you get.

[SlimLindy]

I absolutely love the Boca brand (think Boca burgers) lasagna. It's expensive and they don't have them everywhere, but it makes a really great treat. I'm not vegetarian either, but still find this amazing. 290 calories, 5 g fiber, decent protein (I forget the exact amount).

[RememberHowToSmile]

Speaking of Boca I'm not a vegetarian either but the Boca chili is really good. I added a little bit of lf cheese to it. But without the cheese it is 150 calories, 20 g protein, and 12 g fiber.

[lizziness]

I love the morningstar "chicken" patties and Kashi's sweet and sour chicken is really good.
For pizza, hubby and I did a lot of label reading and decided that a thin crust regular frozen pizza is better tasting and just as good for us... for something that is "bad" we like the thin crust California Kitchen brand pizzas, especially if you like bbq chicken pizza. yum.

[BlueToBlue]

I like the Ethnic Gourmet meals (http://www.ethnicgourmet.com/) and also the Amy's Kitchen entres (the few that my grocery store stocks that fit in my calorie plan--for some reason my store seems to stock a lot of the high-calorie ones and not so many of the low cal entres). I also really like the Lean Cuisine Paninis.

I tried one of the Kashi frozen entres (lime cilantro shrimp) the other day but I wasn't really that impressed with it.

Like Nelie, I also make my own frozen meals. Anything I make for dinner has to feed us for at least two nights and I have some recipes that make enough for three or four nights. If we have enough for more than two nights, I usually freeze the rest in single servings for an easy meal later. I've been sick the past two weeks and haven't been able to grocery shopping so right about now I'm really thankful I've got a freezer full of stuff to eat.

[AquaWarlock]

Oh yea - I recall some ethnic gourmets that I liked (particularly the lemongrass chicken & the pad thais), the price is a bit steep though and I don't find them discounted all that often.

Boca/Morningstar/Quorn stuff are a hit and miss for me -- some are "OMG I can't believe this is so low-calorie and meatless" -- others are just well.... "OMG" haha -- I'm more inclined to get Gardenburgers, where I know from the get-go is not supposed to taste like meat (most varieties, anyways).

Another frozen thing I like are Ling Ling or Ajinomoto's frozen gyozas and wontons, I love dropping them (3-6, depending on calorie per dumpling) into the brothy soups that I'm heating up to give it a little variety.

[Libby1972]

I like the kashi meals. Very yummy.

[willmakeit]

Spicy Black bean burger.
Amy's.
Ethnic gourmet.
Frozen raw veggies.
Frozen fruits.

They have started a so many veggie and vegan options these days that taste so good. I also like all Indian frozen meals in whole foods...

[ChadsMate]

See if you can find Amy's frozen entrees or the Kashi frozen meals. Both of them are very good and in my opinion, seem to be healthier than a lot of other frozen foods.

[LLV]

Has anyone tried the South Beach lunch wraps? They're not frozen (usually somewhere over with the lunchmeats and Lunchables) but they're pretty good. A little high in fat for my taste (especially the turkey bacon club) but the sesame chicken is good on fat and calories. And so yummy! That's usually the one I get, I avoid the others. Again, too much fat. But the fat comes mostly from the cheese and the mayo, you could always use your own or eliminate it altogether.

[Obsidianbbw]

I love the ethinic gourmets. They are pricey, but seem to have less processed junk in them. I mix them up with lean cuisines.