Lean Cuisine Sweet Sriracha Braised Beef

 

I'm not one who is big on frozen dinners, but when I spotted the new Lean Cuisine Marketplace Sweet Sriracha Braised Beef dinner at my local grocery store I decided to pick it up. What sold me off the bat was the use of sriracha and the fact that the meal was lower in points/calories.

One afternoon I was absolutely starving ... so I decided to pop the frozen dinner into the microwave. When it was done, I was quite honestly surprised with how skimpy the meal was. There was maybe half a container of vegetables and a few pieces of beef here and there. Certainly nothing that would be satisfying and filling for a quick little lunch break in the office.

Flavor wise, it wasn't terrible. It had a little bit of spice to it, but not anything that'd burn your taste buds. The sweetness to it diminished some of the chili flavoring that sriracha tends to give off. It reminded me more of a teriyaki flavoring than anything else (for comparison purposes). The beef wasn't terrible - no pieces were chewy or hard. The vegetables were a tad on the overcooked side, but weren't completely mushy. Overall it was okay ... but rather lackluster. It wasn't satisfying enough for me to run out to the grocery store and pick up a few more to have on hand. But like with all items ... you win some, you lose some.

A serving, 1 package, is 170 calories or 6 smart points - or for those following PP: 4 points plus values.

 

Lean Cuisine Wrap Additions Buffalo-Style Chicken

I’m not a huge frozen food fan, but I do enjoy them from time to time for convenience foods or I even give them a whirl when one may look particularly tasty. While shopping one day I noticed a line of new Lean Cuisine’s and decided to pick on up.  Our of the 3 varieties available at my shopping center, I opted to go with the Lean Cuisine Wrap Additions Buffalo-Style Chicken.  It seemed to be the “safest” of the varieties even though it was to be the spiciest.

When I first spotted the meal I assumed that perhaps the wraps were inside of the box to make a complete meal. After looking over the box I realized that the components to make a wrap were included and I’d have to choose my own wrap to assemble a sandwich. The idea is good in one way but I can see how it might be confusing for others who are just grabbing to go without realizing they need tortillas on the side.  The meal itself includes a spicy buffalo-style seasoned white meat chicken, carrots, celery, tomatoes and onions alongside a spicy buffalo-style sauce, which has a slight cooling effect to it, perhaps due to a slight presence of ranch dressing?  At first I was thinking “celery and carrots steamed alongside chicken?” but it all works well together.

The inner sandwich components are rather plain jane on their own. The chicken is mildly spiced – but the flavor category without a doubt comes from the sauce. The sauce is spicy, flavorful, while it also has a bit of a creamy cooling effect – which is similar to something you’d get with a ranch dressing. Overall, it’s quite delicious and a great meal idea.

I opted to pair my wrap addition to ½ of a lavish which is 1 points plus for the half – making my whole meal only 5 points plus. Not bad!

Each package of 160 calories or 4 points plus values. Of course depending on the type of tortilla that is used that will increase the calories and points plus respectively.

Lean Cuisine Salad Additions – Southwest-style Chicken

After trying out the Lean Cuisine Salad Addition in the Asian-style Chicken flavor I decided to expand my horizon.  While grocery shopping at Target I found a few new flavor options that I had not seen at my first trip to Wal-Mart so I picked up the Southwest-style Chicken flavor.

This flavor was quite delicious!  I would say it is spicy (as Southwestern dishes tend to be) but not overwhelmingly spicy.  The product comes with 3 individual plastic bags inside of the box.  You microwave the pouch containing the chicken and vegetables for the set amount of time.  Soak the dressing packet in warm water (to defrost it) and simply open the crunchy topping when your food is ready to assemble.  The only “work” that goes into this salad is the minimal preparation; which consists of making your own salad (or dumping bagged salad into a bowl as I did), microwaving, opening pouches and consuming.

The Southwest-style chicken comes with grilled chicken, black beans, corn, roasted red peppers and poblano peppers.  For a crunchy topping there are crispy tortilla strips and it comes with a chipolte ranch dressing.   Overall I highly recommend these – they’re a great, quick and easy lunch/dinner.

Weight Watchers Points Plus wise this will cost you 6 Points Plus, which I feel is justifiable.

QUESTION:

Have you tried any of the Lean Cuisine Salad Additions?

Lean Cuisine Salad Additions – Asian-style Chicken

When I saw Lean Cuisine came out with these new Salad Additions, I instantly picked up this Asian-style Chicken because out of the line that was available at my local Wal-Mart (at the time) was very limited (2 flavors).  I wasn’t sure if it was going to be good – the good ole skeptic that I can be when it comes to frozen foods.  I will admit, I’m not the biggest fan of Lean Cuisine frozen dinners but I felt I would give this one a shot.  I mean, it’s salad, right?

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by this!  The product comes with 3 individual plastic bags inside of the box.  You microwave the pouch containing the chicken and vegetables for the set amount of time.  Soak the dressing packet in warm water (to defrost it) and simply open the crunchy topping when your food is ready to assemble.  The only “work” that goes into this salad is the minimal preparation; which consists of making your own salad (or dumping bagged salad into a bowl as I did), microwaving, opening pouches and consuming.

The Asian-style chicken came with grilled chicken, edamame, pineapple, broccoli and carrots.  For a crunchy topping there are chow mein noodles and it comes with a really delicious sesame ginger salad vinaigrette.   Overall I highly recommend these – they’re a great, quick and easy lunch/dinner.

Weight Watchers Points Plus wise this will cost you 7 Points Plus, which I feel is truly justifiable.

QUESTION:

Have you tried any of the Lean Cuisine Salad Additions?