Whatcha Makin' Now?: My Thoughts on Lean Cuisine #HonestlyGood Meals

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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

My Thoughts on Lean Cuisine #HonestlyGood Meals

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Lean Cuisine, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #HonestlyGood #ad http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.


As much as I wish I could, I can't eat sweets all the time. I totally justify baking up sweets and treats when I know I'm eating good, healthy meals the rest of the time. Someone once told me: Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper. I love this approach to eating and try to do that every day. It totally makes sense - start the day with your biggest meal to fuel your day and smaller meals towards the end when you need less fuel.


Some might think working full-time, like myself, would make lunch easy since we tend to have a lunch break. Well, that is not always the case. I work in a real estate office so I'm often in and out of meetings, on conference calls, or training our agents. To make sure I stay on track and don't reach for take-out, I always pack my lunch or have a back-up option at work ready to go. This keeps me from ordering in, hitting a drive thru, or skipping meals completely. If you're prepared, you'll stay on track!

I definitely prefer a hot lunch so when I was given the chance to try the new Lean Cuisine Honestly Good meals, I couldn't pass it up. I've always been a fan of Lean Cuisine; they are the only frozen meals I buy anyway. The new Honestly Good collection features 6 different varieties full of 100% all natural, wholesome ingredients. And, a sauce you can add yourself!

The varieties include:
  • Honey Citrus Chicken
  • Lemongrass Salmon
  • Pineapple Black Pepper Beef
  • Plum Ginger Grain-Crusted Fish
  • Pomegranate Chicken
  • Roasted Red Pepper Chicken

I did try all varieties except the salmon; I'm not much of a salmon person. Oh, and I was able to buy all varieties at Super Target. Love me some Target.


Let's take a look at each...


Honey Citrus Chicken - This was my favorite. Umm, there are grill marks on the chicken! I love that the picture on the box actual looks like the meal. I'm a big fan of citrus anything so I was excited to try this one. The chicken was super moist and that pasta was so flavorful. Yes, I ate this at my desk at work so that explains the high class plastic tableware. ;) 


Pineapple Black Pepper Beef -  Hey, look - my keyboard...another lunch at my desk. I don't usually opt for beef in frozen dinners, put again with the citrus, I was intrigued. I liked how the steak was already in strips so it was really easy to eat. There were chunks of pineapple mixed in with the veggies; the sweet went really well with steak and rice.  


Plum Ginger Grain-Crusted Fish - I actually made this one for dinner so I could take a little better picture for you. The coating on the fish was so good. The plum ginger sauce made the dish a winner for me. 


Pomegranate Chicken - This was the other one I made for dinner. It was kinda fun; Jacob and I shared both meals so we could try both. Again, nice grill lines on the chicken and sweet and tangy sauce. I really liked the sweetness of the rice.


Roasted Red Pepper Chicken - This was another work lunch  and more of an Italian flair with the red pepper sauce and pasta. The sauce had chunks of red peppers and honestly tasted like it was just made. Underneath all that yummy sauce is the moist chicken with grill marks. 

So, now the verdict. I 'honestly'...pun intended...enjoyed all of the meals. I plan on buying the citrus chicken and pineapple beef again, those were my favorites. I like that the meals are free of all those preservative and sodium so you could tell you were eating quality ingredients. While I couldn't eat these every day, I would definitely keep a few of these on hand and eat a few times a month. I'd stock up whenever they go on sale, too. 

For those that aren't huge sauce fans, having the sauce separate makes it super easy to eliminate or only use half. 

The meals range from 300 to 400 calories and have 20-30 grams of protein. Good fuel to push you through the rest of your work day! Here is additional nutritional information for each meal too.

Thanks for reading my review! Again, while I was compensated for this post, the opinions are my own.