Spinachy Goodness

I have been a little burnt out on writing my reviews but this micro-waved delight had to be reviewed. I have had a couple of really good suggestions for items to be reviewed so I am going to get those done this week…motivation permitting.

Today I am reviewing all of the spinachy goodness that is the Stouffer’s Lean Cuisine Chicken, Spinach, and Mushroom Panini. The sandwich has chicken, spinach (yum), mushrooms (hoooooray), Red peppers (woot!), and cheese sauce (wtf) on Italian Bread.

I have had this meal, and many meals like it, in the past. Stouffer’s is a name I have found that I can count on to make a good micro-waved meal, and pending any instruction following errors I am sure that you will find the same to be true. For the purposes of every review I follow the instructions to a “T”.

The meal at hand today was no exception from the rule that “all Stouffer’s products are decent”. I really enjoyed the aromas that emanated from the microwave while cooking, I could distinctly smell the spinach, mushrooms and peppers cooking.

The disappointing thing about the meal over all is that the sandwich seams greasy when it comes out of the microwave. I always suggest a minute or two stand time anyways but this doesn’t help in the case of this meal. Have plenty of napkins handy unfortunately, but don’t let that take away from your enjoyment of the meal. With every bite there is a blast of veggie flavor that leaves my mouth wanting more… I was salivating more than a group of women at a weightwatchers meeting when the girl scout cookies arrived. (Damnedable thin mints!)

This meal is really enjoyable if you like any of the listed ingredients, but nothing is greater than the sum of its parts. Stouffer’s has really done a great job with this sandwich and I am sure I will be getting it again in the future.

In a word, this meal was very delightful.

On a side note I think I made up the word spinachy…

Garlic and Caesar... who wants more?

Today for lunch I had Grilled Chicken Caeser by Lean Cuisine. It is described as "white meat chicken, broccoli& garlic flavored radiatore pasta in a parmesan caesar sauce" and it did not disappoint. The chicken picked up a lot of the garlic and caesar flavor making every bite delicious. There was plenty of radiatore, once of my personal favorite pasta shapes to cook with, that was perfectly cooked. The pasta didn't have a "dry" taste that I have run into in the last couple weeks. The broccoli seemed a little overcooked, but then again when is it any better in any other meal. I think someone should invest in broccoli microwave technology... or make some sort of broccoli hybrid that can withstand microwave radiation. My fear is if the powers that be did something like that there would be all of these failed experiments, one of them resulting in giant-man eating broccoli that levels cities. On that thought, I guess I will stick to soggy broccoli for now.

The cooking instructions where standard with one exception, the timing of the instructions were perfect. Since I follow the instructions every time to a T I sometimes find that when the instructions tell me to stir the food it is still mostly frozen, but not in this case. When I lifted the plastic to stir the pasta the room filled with the garlic caesar aroma and made my mouth water. Imagine my dismay when one of the radiatore pastas tried to escape onto the counter top... I ate him for his insolence. (I had to set an example for the others) Each bite that I had was better than the last, I just about licked the countainer that it was cooked in it was that good. I think I would have if I wasn't wearing such a nice shirt too. :) This was so good I just thought to myself "garlic... caesar... who wants more?" What a great flavor profile to combine and it made an amazing frozen meal.

I know this review is so silly and wonky but I was so excited after eating this it put me in a great mood. They really outdid themselves with this one, and it is "diet". I suggest any fan of garlic or caesar to try this food, it was so delicious.

In a word this meal was very delightful!

Cook time: 3 minutes, stir then 1 minute

Stand Time: 1-2 Minutes

Nutritional information found here.

Voodoo Magic!

Lunch today was so a.maz.ing! I decided that for the rest of this week I would eat "diet" frozen foods that appeal to a growing boy like myself. I really like doing these reviews but the nutrional information sometimes is a little bit scary so I took the initiative and went the diet route. So for today's lunch I had a chicken, spinach, and mushroom Panini that had red peppers and a (non descript) cheese sauce on Italian bread. I always have to point out when a cheese is non descript because they can get away with any flavor they want. I would rather thing I was eating a poorly made swiss than a cheese food (like Valveta… yuck). Other than a poorly worded description of cheese there was nothing at all wrong with this meal. I absolutely loved it!

I had no intentions of this being a good meal at all. When I looked at the packaging it showed that the Panini had grill marks on it and I laughed a little. So when I setup the Panini to grill my curiosity had me looking at the under side of the bread to make sure there was the pre-made grill marks on the package… none? "What is this, I got ripped… no premade grill marks?" I thought to myself. I know these grill marks are all fake and all but why did I get rooked out of my fake grill marks? A little disappointed, and with a heavy heart I put the meal in the microwave and let it cook for 3 minutes. After the suggested, and incredibly short stand time of 30 seconds I took the Panini out of the microwave. I flipped over one half of the sandwich onto the other to make my delicious smelling sandwich complete and what do I see… GRILL MARKS. What kind of voodoo magic is this?!?! Where did these grill marks come from? Where in the world did these grill marks come from… someone answer me! I looked around the break room and checked to see if someone secretly put a Panini grill in there, and switched out my meal. No such luck.

I had to take pictures of the completed meal and I just kept shaking my head, I was so impressed with the "revolutionary grilling tray". I wasn't even going to mention every stupid promise that these meals offer, but they really delivered on this one. I am so shocked! Imagine my surprise when I took my first bite into my very toasty Panini. You think I was excited just to see that it looked grilled. It was grilled and it was delicious! It was so tastey and warm! The spinach and mushrooms were incredible tasting and the chicken was spot on. I can't believe that this was that good! It was so good in fact it made me wonder why people couldn't stick to diets (like myself)! I know that is aweful, but now I want to eat one of these things for 4 meals a day… wait 3. L (maybe that is why I have a weight problem.) I don't think I can review anything else for lunch from now on these were that good.

I guess I could review these everyday: "Lean Cuisine Panini… STILL AWESOME!"

I highly recommend this product to anyone that has a taste for mushrooms and spinach, or if you just want to check out its cool "revolutionary grilling technology"

In a word, my meals was amazingly delightful!

Cook time: 2:45 minutes to 3:15 minutes

Stand time: 30 seconds!

Nutritional Information found here.