Sorry for all the threads today. Tonight is grocery shopping and I want to make some really awesome meals this week.

Anyway, how do you ladies feel about the South Beach Diet meals (frozen pizzas, cereals, snack bars, prepackaged lunches, etc.) made by Kraft? I have two kids under two in addition to a part-time job outside the home and often times I find myself skipping meals because I don't have time to make something. I was thinking perhaps some of the prepackaged foods like the wraps, etc. might be a good grab and go item for me.

Thoughts?

In a word, ick for the frozen items. Although I have only tried a couple and don't usually like frozen dinners anyway. I prefer to cook extra and freeze it myself.

Now the bars I tried were yummy. Too yummy. I don't buy them because my brain sees them like cookies and candy and I eat them all.

As always, Schmoodle is correct. Also interesting to note that the bars, at least some of them, list High Fructose Corn Syrup on the ingredient labels. WTH? The pizzas are okay tasting (if I'm really craving a pizza and going to give in and order a pizza at least it's SB). The frozen dinners were gross.

The ingredient panels are mind boggling. I don't understand how a diet that promotes whole, natural foods can endorse such highly processed food products.

The frozen dinner I had was ick. theres another one in the frezzer but neither one of us had gone near it. I would try the bars just to have on hand.

I haven't tried any of the pre-packaged stuff yet, but I want to know why the CoolWhip Fat Free (that contains high fructose corn syrup) is the one with the SB recommended sticker and not the CoolWhip Sugar Free. Anyone know?

I stay away from them because of what is in them and when I have tried to eat them I end up hungry. They don't have anywhere near enough vegetables in them.

I have a 10 year old and an incredibly busy life myself. What has been working for me is to plan crockpot meals several times a week. They normally make so much that I freeze the leftovers and usually get at least 2 dinners and several lunches out of them. Tonight is paella which is a wonderful phase 2 meal. Leaving off the rice would make it work for phase 1. I find that it is easier for me to spare a few minutes to throw stuff in the crockpot in the morning on my busiest days and then not have to worry when i get home and am tired.

I make the Wendy's chili in the crockpot (see the soup forum) and we both love that. Soup is also good in the crockpot. Check out the South Beach Quick and Easy cookbook too. There are lots of fast stuff in there.

I have tried a few of their products and haven't been impressed with the ingredient lists or the quality. The only Kraft SBD product I buy on a regular basis is the snack packets of whole wheat crackers.

Honestly, for quick, eat on-the-go food I prefer to plan ahead and have a cooking day once a week (or even once every two weeks) to make ahead a bunch of things that I can basically treat as prepackaged meals - warm up and eat - when I'm in a rush.

Way too high sodium. Wraps are good but you could make them with LaTortilla torillas, chicken and low fat cheese. The bars are yummy but the sugar is high and you could go ahead and eat a candy bar.

Ditto! The frozen meals are lacking in taste and the cereal bars are too tasty.

I LOVE using my crock pot. Before SBD, almost all of our meals were made in the crock, which is probably why i'm having a hard time planning things without using it. Do you have any other crock recipes you can recommend?

when I want a pizza, I toast a WW pita and pile up the green and red peppers artichoke hearts, turkey pepperoni, black olives, NSA sauce and mozzarella and pop it under the broiler. Very quick and it is soooooooo good!

By the way, dixie, I will tell DH that you said I am always right. I keep telling him this, but it's good to collect supporting evidence.

Hi Rhonda!

I am interested in the crockpot recipes too. I don't use mine much because I'm not very good at it. Seems like things always end up overcooked and tough for me. I could use some pointers, wish I could use it more.
I do use my pressure cooker a lot, which really speeds up cooking time for stews, beans, etc.

the only ones we ever buy are the breakfast wraps for dh when he has to travel to georgia and has to leave xtra early in the mornings - he likes them

Mellie - Are you in phase 1 or 2? I cook from some of the recipes on the forum and then I have three crockpot cookbooks I use where I modify the recipes. What types of food do you (and your family) like? I know I have some spicy ones with chicken and turkey sausage that are good. I like ones that can be served with rice or pasta. Then my son gets more rice/pasta than I do.

My daughter likes one of the wraps...I think it is asian chicken??? She said the others don't taste as good. She is a 23 year old who hardly ever cooks. She lost weight doing a modified SBD. She never did phase 1. Of course she didn't have too much to lose in the first place and she began exercising regularly to help with weight loss. She also likes the snack or cereal/breakfast bars. They have less calories than the meal replacement bars. I sometimes use the meal replacement bars for breakfast.
I really like the SB cereal with yogurt bites. Of course these are for phase 2.