November 5th, 2008
I love chicken fried steak, just as I love most foods that aren’t good for me. Every time I think about the fact I’ll never again be able to order it from Paul’s Restaurant in North Little Rock, I tear up a little bit, especially since the last time through I got a burger. Of course, like everything else Roger sent out from the kitchen, the burger was pretty darn good, but if only I could go back and warn myself that that would be my last chance for a taste of this dish done so well, I could be a happier man. Ah well, on to review #2, which explores a budget-friendly treatment of this personal favorite:
Banquet chicken fried beef steak meal (Country style gravy and chicken fried beef steak (chopped and formed) with mashed potatoes and corn)
The Price: ~$1 (Sorry, I tossed the receipt, but I’m pretty sure it was between 99 cents and $1.29)
The Prep: 5 minutes microwaved (oven cooking optional)
The Dish: For reasons of full disclosure, I must admit that this was not my first experience with this particular meal, which I knew beforehand was a banquet in brand name only. As I could regularly find it in the freezer section for as little as 89 cents back in college, it became something of a staple fallback, even a better deal than Wendy’s dollar menu (another staple fallback). Though I followed the heating directions, the recommended times ended up burning part of the gravy, which itself tasted a little greasy. The steak, though breaded and fried, wasn’t the least bit crunchy – in fact, it was rather mushy. The potatoes were pleasantly buttery and smooth for instant fare, but the corn got a little overcooked by the box directions, too. I’ll give this one credit for offering some variety, but it’s a little disappointing that it wasn’t filling. I was hungry again in 30 minutes.
The Consequences: Though less than 400 calories, almost half were from fat, which is not good. The 19g of fat were more than what is recommended for a “healthy” TV dinner, as was the very high sodium content (1040mg). Though also lacking in fiber (3g), the dish does get positive marks for very little sugar (5g) and lots of protein (14g), but that’s about it.
Rating: 1.5 TV Trays (out of 5), because the value is hard to beat and, despite some qualms, everything was edible.
October 22nd, 2008
This is the first in what I hope will be a series of helpful reviews of something that has become a regular part of my life: TV dinners. Though I’ve been told on more than one occasion I’m a pretty decent cook, I’ve found that, when you live alone, cooking can be more of a hassle than it’s worth. The last thing I want is to make a great dish and throw half of it out because I got tired of leftovers. Likewise, I can’t afford to eat out every night. These boxed, frozen dishes help fill the gaps in between, but rather than meander aimlessly down the frozen food isle as I’m apt to do on any given trip to the grocery store, I offer the following consideration of value, taste and nutrition (such as it is) in hopes that it’ll help you, Dear Reader, in making your dining decisions easier.
Stouffer’s “Restaurant Classics” rigatoni with roasted white meat chicken (roasted chicken breast tossed with rigatoni pasta in a basil pesto sauce).
The Price: $2.66
The Prep: 3 ½ minutes microwaved (oven cooking optional)
The Dish: I’m pleased to report that, once fully prepared, this one actually came out looking like the picture on the box. So often it seems there’s no way the Photoshop artists who package these things were actually working with pictures of what you get inside, but in this case, it was pretty spot on. The cook time did the noodles right, soft without being mushy and not so overcooked as to be hard. They were buttery but a little bland. The chicken also was a little bland, but sizable chunks and enough of them to get a little with every bite helped me overlook this.<br>The real star of this dish was the pesto sauce: plenty of basil to give it body, enough garlic to make you know it’s there, and occasional hints of cheese and pine nuts, but nothing overpowering. While I wouldn’t call it the best pesto ever, I will say it was a pleasant surprise out of a frozen package. My only complaint is that there wasn’t more of it to go around – I had a little trouble getting it to really coat everything and the bites without it were, in comparison, somewhat disappointing. It was filling enough to not be hungry 30 minutes later, but lacked variety.
The Consequences: Doing a little digging, I found some articles about nutrition in TV dinners and what you should look for. They cited nutrition experts suggesting between 300 and 400 calories, and this fit that bill at 390, but failed the “calories from fat” test at 140. Experts say this number shouldn’t be more than a quarter of the total calories. Additionally, it barely passed what’s loosely considered acceptable for TV dinners with 15 grams of fat (but zero trans fats, which is good). It had a little more sodium than was recommended (820 mg when 500 is considered ideal, 800 an upper limit) and not enough fiber (3 g), but happily had very little sugar (2 g). Also, lots of protein (19 g). All in all, I don’t know that it could be called healthy but still had some merit to speak of.
Rating: 3.5 TV Trays (out of 5).
