Frozen diet dinners: Healthy Choice Power Bowls
Yeah, yeah, I know—“frozen diet dinners” don’t sound all that exciting. But I’m always looking for a way to have a quick, convenient, and tasty meal that’s pretty healthful and not incredibly salty, and these are the best I’ve found yet. I had no idea till I went to that site I just linked that the brand had so many varieties, because my local market only stocks three of them. Quite a few of them are ethnic-food-inspired, and for frozen food (and diet food as well) they actually taste pretty good.
I cook them longer than they say to; about 5 minutes seems to do the trick. Then let stand a minute, and mix it up. The one I’ve liked the best so far is this:
And this one is really good too, but it’s extremely spicy. So if that’s a problem for you, beware. Usually, prepared food that says it’s spicy isn’t very. Or, if it actually is spicy, the heat is all you can taste, and it’s harsh. This one was extremely spicy but still tasty. A little goes a long way—which is fortunate, because this being a diet meal, the portions are hardly huge:
When I was really trying to lose weight I would have Lean Cuisine or these Health Choice dinners often. But I also found that for me anyway some of the Trader Joe’s frozen dinners were just as effective. Not much different calorie was and often very good tasting. Still mix them in now that I’m just maintaining weight because they are quick and simple when I don’t have time to cook something more.
Griffin:
I’ve had many of Trader Joe’s but I’ve given up because I’ve never found one I liked enough to buy it again. Which ones did you like?
Power Bowls aren’t exactly a diet meal– Healthy Choice has over choices for that.
Yes, the Korean Beef bowl is spicy– but they warned you with the ‘four pepper’ rating!
I live on frozen dinners now. There are lots of choices and you can choose between, for the most part, whether or not the meal is high in sodium or sugar– those being the go to elements of making the food tasty. All of them are between 240-500 calories– which certainly beats a Whopper meal.
Safeway’s private label meals offer a ton of choices– I think made by Lean Cuisine.
I like Stoeffer’s “Fit Kitchen” meals– similar to the Power Bowl meals.
Also Devour brand– they have a pulled chicken and pulled pork bowl that’s pretty good.
I probably have 20-30 different meals in the freezer right now.
And you’re right the portions are smaller– but at my age, that’s a good thing.
Brian E:
They are absolutely diet meals, even though they’re not labeled as such. The calorie count is in the low-300s, they are balanced in protein, grains, and greens, and they are not high-salt for frozen foods. They are better (and tastier) diet meals than most diet meals. The breakfast varieties are different (lower calorie and smaller, I believe). But the main course ones are very appropriate as lunch or dinner diet meals.
Neo,
A few I like are the Chana Masala, the Chicken Tikka Masala and the Butter Chicken with Basmali Rice. A few others also but not quite so low cal like Mac and Cheese and Beef and bean burrito.
Extremely spicy? For twenty years I regulated my interanl clock by the essential elements of caffeine and tobasco. Just to remind me I was alive. You would think with all that flight deck I could get outside every once in a while but no. Not with 24 hour flight ops.
I’ve moderated since I retired in 2008. Now I just drown everything in Sriracha sauce.
Sorry Neo
But I’m not eating anything “-inspired” 😉
What marketing “genius” thought that was a selling point?
I get it…cooking for 1 is a pain…but…I can have more fun almost as fast & the only “inspiration” is in my spice cupboard & my recipe file.
Will give these a try, turns out they are everywhere here, but Walmart has the best prices. I like to keep a couple of easy meals around for those times I don’t want to cook but haven’t found any really worth the price. Usually I settle for an omelet with cheese when I’m feeling lazy, it doesn’t take much more time than microwaving a frozen meal.
I have tried the Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers and I kind of like those. I mean, for frozen, microwavable food, anyway.
The Beef Merlot is decent as is the Pineapple Chicken ( a little spicy).
I wish the portions were just a tad bigger. But I guess that would defeat the purpose.
If you don’t mind the fact that they are pricey I would recommend any frozen dinner by Amy’s. They are all vegetarian, but they are also so good you don’t miss the meat. I’ve never had one I didn’t love.