Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, etc.:Which ones are most filling?
 

In your honest opinion, what's the most filling convenience dinner? When I don't have time to cook dinner, I often resort to unhealthy food choices. I was thinking about using these convenience dinners in those types of situations. However, I do remember some of the ones I chose weren't that filling. Which ones are the most filling? Best flavor? Etc.? TIA!

Of the choices you list, for me it is the Panini sandwiches from Lean Cuisine. A close second are the pizzas from Lean Cuisine. The rest of the frozen entres never seem filling (I'm convinced they get the calories down not by using healthy ingredients but by making the portions really small).

The Ethnic Gourmet (http://www.ethnicgourmet.com/) frozen entries have been reasonably satisfying, although I do usually need to eat a good-sized salad with them. They are low enough in calories that you can do this (but making the salad might make them a little less convenient).

I recently some vacuum-packed Indian entres (I got mine a Trader Joe's but I've seen them at regular grocery stores). Served over Trader Joe's frozen brown rice, these were a super easy, very filling meal. I just put both the rice and the entre in a bowl together and nuked them until they were hot. I used the whole package, even though it was two servings it was low enough in calories that I could eat both with the rice and not exceed my calorie limit.

I recommend adding something to them, myself.

Depending on your budget/time you can grab a pre-made greens salad at the grocery store, and add a light dressing to it. Or heck, just a head of lettuce. Or maybe some extra steamed veggies (fresh or frozen). And then maybe a piece of fruit for dessert.

Lean Cuisine has some 'hearty meals' variety that are slightly bigger portions, and mostly just seem to add more vegetables (usually broccoli). They end up being 350-400 calories, as opposed to 250-300 for the others. In theory this is the same as adding your own salad or steaming (even microwaving) your own veggies, but when I'm truly super lazy, there's something convenient about having it all in one tray.

(As an aside, my personal favorite? The sweet and sour chicken by Lean Cuisine. I swear I ate that like 3 or 4 dinners in a row, that can't be healthy...)

But I definitely sympathize on the "need to have something convenient to avoid unhealthy choices when too (tired, busy, etc.) to cook." I used to get McD's, and not the healthy stuff. So I now have a supply of frozen dinners in my freezer "in case of emergency". Mine are all Amy's Organic frozen meals because I've gotten to the point where they're just about the only brand I like now.

Oh, and one final tip. Maybe not the easiest if you're time-pressed, but for the past few weeks I've taken to eating at the dinner table, even though I live by myself and usually tend to eat wherever. And I put everything on real plates, and sit down with real silverware, and a real glass. It's actually not too much work because I have a dishwasher, but by sitting down and spending even just 15 minutes on eating, and not eating out of a tray on the sofa or wherever, I feel like it's more of a meal.

True story: when I had a 'junk food cravings' and broke down and got a burger combo at McD's last week? I put the burger and fries on a china plate, and ate at the dining room table. I even poured my diet coke from its paper cup into a real glass. Hee.

I like them both, but I agree to adding to them. I eat the meal and drink a full glass of water. If I am still hungry I add a small salad, but I usually have mine for lunch; I don't know how filling it would be for dinner. I usually cook 3-4 chicken breast at a time, that way I can just pull it out and heat it up for a quick dinner, I add 1 cup of broccoli and 1 cup of brown rice (minute rice has a whole grain brown rice, its probably not as good as the long grain rice, but it only takes 10 minutes.)

Healthy choice dinners are more filling than the typical lean cuisine...They have more larger portion choices. When I used to eat these I would go by the weight on the package. For dinner I usually tried to get something 10.5-12 ounces. For lunch, I often had the 9-10 ounce lean cusines, except for when I ate LC spaghetti, which I think was 11 oz, and more filling. Lean cuisine makes a special line that is specifically larger portion sizes. It's called "Dinnertime selects."

Checking the weight in ounces that's written on the box is an easy way to predict how filling something will be.

Note: One of my personal favorites based on taste was Amy's Organic black bean chili and cornbread meal.

I enjoy Lean Cousine more than healthy choice. I love the Panini sandwiches the best.

I also like the panini sandwiches a lot. My other favorite is the chicken caeser bowl from LC. In fact, now that I think about it, I don't buy healthy choice at all. I guess because they do have a lot more calories. I prefer to have an entree to a full meal, I guess.

Kashi has some new(er) frozen dinners. I like the rosemary chicken, although I haven't tried them all.

Since the weather is turning colder again, and I share your need for something fast and filling, I'm going to start making and freezing (in single servings) soup again.

This is my favorite:

TACO SOUP

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, undrained
2 cans pinto beans, undrained
1 can white hominy, undrained
1 can yellow hominy, undrained
1 small can chopped green chilies (optional)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 pkg. Taco seasoning mix
1 pkg. Ranch Dressing mix

1/2-1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed

In larger size pot, saute onion and garlic in Pam. Add beans, all undrained, tomatoes, taco seasoning, (I would start with 1/2 the package, and add to taste) and Ranch dressing mix.

Simmer for about 30 min to blend flavors. If you think it's too thick, add a little water. Good with a little FF sour cream on top, too

I also noticed that my Trader Joe's has started carrying pre-cooked chicken breasts in three different flavors (they are in the deli case). With a salad on the side or some veggies (which you could buy pre-cut and ready to be cooked from Trader Joe's) this could also make a very easy meal (and probably healthier) than a frozen entre.

Depends on what you get. Both Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice have small and large entrees. So I can't really say that one or the other is more filling, it depends on what meal you pick up. Generally, the Lean Cuisines have smaller portions than Healthy Choice. But LC has added "dinner selections" that give you more food. Plus if you get the Panini sandwiches or the LC pizzas, that's usually always enough. Unless you're like I used to be and would need 2 of those meals to satisfy my hunger. But I've since 'trained' myself to survive on much less food per meal. So normally one LC is enough food for me and, if it's one of the smaller LC's, like the others above have said, I add something to it. Like maybe a salad or an extra veggie on the side.

Like with the pizzas, make a small salad on the side or with the sandwiches have some low-cal soup :)

I buy Amy's frozen dinners. They aren't marketed as "diet" but they usually contain a very reasonable amount of calories and I think they are filling.

Thanks for all of the suggestions thus far! Keep em' coming! Oh, and your suggestions/opinions don't have to be limited to the ones I listed (Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice). Those are the only ones that I could think of at that time. What about Smart Ones?

I LOVE Smart Ones! I dont think theres one that Ive tried that I havent liked! My favorite is their Chicken Teryaki bowl. I also have a Smart Ones with a salad that includes EVERY veggie I can dig up!

I second Kateful's suggestion of the Kashi entrees. I think they are very filling, and they are one of the few frozen entrees I will eat because they fit into the whole foods plan.

I saw those the other day! And I almost grabbed one to try it, but honestly, none of them looked very good to me :(

South Beach has a new thing. Well, I don't know if it's new or not, but it's the first time I've ever seen them - in the refrigerated section where they keep the lunchmeats they have little 'lunch kits' that make 2 lunch wraps. I got the sesame chicken (which I haven't tried yet) and the turkey bacon club. The turkey bacon club, because of the cheese, bacon and mayo, is a little high in fat for my taste and I probably won't buy it again, but the sesame chicken's nutrition label looks a little better. There was one other flavor, too, but I don't remember what it was.