Frozen Meals?
 

Does anyone know of any P2 appropriate frozen meals? I checked the food finds thread, but all the things mentioned in there are out of date, I think. I checked the Kraft website and didn't see any south beach frozen meals. I remember from a few years ago that there also used to be south beach lunchable things, but I didn't see those at my Kroger yesterday either.

I know I could make my own, but I kinda want an emergency, all the food in the house has been cleaned out, no one's cooked in a decade fall back dinner. Sometimes my job takes a turn for the crazy and I used to go from cooking every meal to eating every meal out. I'd like to always keep one or two frozen meals that I didn't have to cook in the freezer for that, but everything I saw at the store had pasta or white rice.

Some of the Kashi entrees and Amy's stuff works. There's also a New England company, LightLife but I don't know where those are available.

Thanks, I'll check those out! I'll admit, I didn't even think to look at Amy's or Kashi, as my store keeps them way separate from the other frozen dinners. They have a mini health area in the middle that has those, the soy milk, and things like cliff bars. It always confuses me b/c I forget about that section...

I keep several cans of Amy's Low Fat Black Bean Chili on hand. I do 12 hour shifts as a nurse and can't always take time for an evening meal. I usually make enough supper portions to always have leftovers, but in a pinch a can of the chili or just some beans with salsa and cheese have saved me.

I also keep the canned Amy's chili on hand. I also will just keep regular beans on hand. I love beans and salsa. Another, thing I have done is whenever I make soup I freeze a portion. I have not looked very closely at frozen entrees since starting SB.

For the "I have no time & need something quick" I've been keeping on hand the steam-in-bag frozen veggies and throw some of the ready made chicken strips on top (from the refrigerator case in the store). I have had it at work and it takes the same amount of time as a frozen entree but without all the preservatives and high sodium. Can be topped with salsa or a little shredded mozzaella. I keep the snack size Chichis salsa in my desk drawer!

I always keep WW salisbury steak w asparagus and LC beef tips & broc. Really yummy.

Anyone have any additions to this list?

I don't eat frozen meals all that often but they are convenient to have occasionally. Frankly, they don't have to be totally SBD compliant for me to find them acceptable. That is, I'm OK with full fat (no trans fat and I watch overall intake of sat fat) and it doesn't bother me if it has a small (emphasize small) amount of sugar in it (that is, sugar is far down the list and is only a minor contribution to calories).

I do want to avoid potatoes and non-whole grains.

I don't eat beef though so some things that are beef and vegetables don't work for me.

I have eaten a number of the Lean Cuisine Spa collection line as they have whole grains. Also the rosemary chicken sweet potato meal that Healthy Choice has is one I will eat (I am way past Phase I).

Anyway, does anyone know of any others?

Funny you should post this, yesterday was a very busy and tiring day for me, I happent to have a Lean Cuisine Pizza in my freezer, so thought I would have that for dinner with a salad. I was bery disappointed, the crust was actually white bread with three pieces of pepperoni and a few tiny pieces of saug meat and some sauce.

After I ate it, I thought to myself, what a waste of fat, carbs and protein. I don't think I will be buying them again, I would have been better off making my own with pita bread as some other SB'ers do.

I will keep an eye on this thread, because it would be nice to have something in the freezer when in a crunch. (something different)

I keep a couple of Kashi meals for emergencies, but prefer to freeze a serving or two when I make a chili or soup or something like the taco bake. We eat a lot of frozen salmon burgers that we get at Costco. I also like black bean burgers but they do have some fillers so watch for that. Canned tuna is another good staple to have on hand.

I confess that I am not much of a cook. It isn't that I don't know how to do it -- I used to cook a lot. It is more that my interests have changed over the years and I just don't enjoy spending time cooking. I also find that -- for me -- if I spend a lot of time cooking something I am much more inclined to overeat. It is almost like how much I eat is tied to how much effort I put into cooking it.

That isn't to say that I eat mostly frozen food. I don't. But I'm more inclined to eat a chicken breast sandwich or do simple grilling of veggies on the George Foreman grill. Or have some hummus with 2 whole wheat tortillas. There are just times though when I don't want those things or am in a situation where I need something quick and easy. I am semi-retired and work only a couple of days a week and like to take a frozen lunch to work, for example. (I don't take leftovers because (1) I rarely have any since I only make what I will eat and (2) often when I go to work I find out after I get there that I need to go to a working lunch at a restaurant so if I brought leftovers I would either have to throw them out or haul them back home since usually I won't be back for a week).

When I did phase I and for about 3 months after that I ate no frozen food but want to have the option a couple of times a week. It actually irritates me that more manufacturers don't at least use whole grains which solve a lot of the problems with some foods.

I forget the brand now but I did buy a pizza recently that was whole grain. It wasn't totally bad but was so thin crusted that it was almost impossible to pick up the pizza and actually eat it. Very disappointing.

I like the Kashi thin crust frozen pizzas, and normally have a couple in the freezer. They are great in a pinch, especially when I pile fresh baby spinach on them.
I like to make my own frozen meals, though, with my leftovers. I never know what time I'll be getting home at the end of the day, and it's a relief to know I can just grab a homecooked, on-plan, meal out of the freezer and pop it in the microwave.

I'll have to look for the Kashi pizzas. That wasn't the brand I tried before so maybe these would be better.

this is a great thread. tomorrow is day 14 of phase 1 for me. excited to move to phase 2 ... i love all of your ideas for quick meals in a pinch. unfortunately i am just getting started in this SBD and don't really have any tips to share. haven't even considered frozen foods yet, but will deft'ly be looking more closely at the frozen food aisle for an idea or two when i shop this week. ;)

Long live the Amy's burrito! WW tortilla, brown rice, beans and cheese. I'll have one of those with some frozen veggies, salad, or an apple.