Frozen Meals: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

You'll never guess what I had for lunch today. Ok, maybe you will. After all, it's the title of this blog post.

I'll be the first to admit that meals not involving a lengthy thaw in the microwave are more appetizing than those that do. But a working girl has got to eat, and she often doesn't have the time to be amazing in both the office and the kitchen. Sometimes, frozen meals are my only recourse when it comes to fighting off hunger pangs.

But lest I lose my foodie credibility in your eyes, let me explain. I've found a few frozen entrees that don't make one's taste buds shrivel up and expire. Three words: Amy's Indian Meals. Amy's is the nation's leading all-natural frozen food brand, and my freezer is currently stocked with enough entrees to keep me fed in the event of a nuclear holocaust. Assuming I make it to the fall-out shelter in time, of course.

Now, I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a vegetarian. Nor am I a tree-hugging, macrobiotic eating, free-range preaching, organic nut to any degree. I eat veal, for God's sake. But when something tastes good, it tastes good. I'm not saying these dishes are substitute for any good Indian restaurant's rendition of chicken tikka masala, but in the '300-calorie-quick-work-lunch' category, Amy's is king. Or queen, I suppose.

On the other hand, I've had a couple pretty disgusting frozen entrees in my day. Some of them were even made by Amy's. I encourage you to avoid the following products at all costs:

• Amy's Shepherd's Pie. I had only taken three bites before I went digging through the trash to check the expiration date on the box I had just thrown out. Nope, not expired. Just nasty. The potatoes were grainy and the vegetables tasted like rubber.
  

• Kashi Chicken Florentine. I don't know what it is about Kashi products, but they always taste a little off to me. This dish was no exception. It tasted organic, and that's not a compliment. And...it made my pee smell funny. Just saying.
  

• Lean Cuisine Chicken with Almonds. When you bite down on something hard in the first piece of chicken you put in your mouth, you know the rest of the meal isn't going to go well.

I hope this post has been illuminating. Go forth and defrost.