Girlfriend Review – New Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers
What do you recommend to your girlfriends?
Generally I recommend things I think they’d like, things they’d like to buy/do/know and, selfishly (because I want my girlfriends to live a long, healthy life!) I’ll try to sneak in some girlfriend advice that will benefit them.
Such is the case with this rare but fun review of a healthy food line. Right up front, I’ve worked with Healthy Choice in the past. I was their ‘Brand Ambassador‘ at BlogWorld Expo and I met with them there and at Blissdom recently. What I love about them is that they are knowledgeable and passionate about what they do. I had the opportunity to meet some of their food scientists and hear how they go through recipe variation after variation to find what natural foods and flavors they can add to make a convenient, healthy frozen meals (or some new ones can be in your desk drawer ready for a hot lunch!).
First, they’re the only major brand in their category that can call 100% of their products ‘healthy’ as defined by the FDA. this means that each meal must have low fat, low saturated fat, controlled sodium and cholesterol, and 10% of the daily value for three beneficial nutrients (calcium, protein, fiber, iron, vitamin A or vitamin C). That’s way more healthy than the fish sticks and tatertots we had for dinner the other night!
So, on to the new Cafe Steamers. What’s a little different about these (and something I think is so cool about ConAgra Foods) is they are being innovative in a category (frozen meals) that has been around for 30+ years. The Steamers do just that – STEAM! They are packaged somewhat of a bowl-inside-a-bowl where you microwave the two still sealed together. Once they are microwaved, you remove the cover and pour the pasta, veggies, meat and other ingredients into the outside bowl that has been steaming them with the sauce.
Healthy Choice was kind enough to provide two of their Mediterranean Cafe Steamers – Balsamic Garlic Chicken and Lemon Garlic Chicken and Shrimp (shown here). Both were tasty with lots of veggies, whole-grain pasta and flavorful sauces. The chicken chunks were a good size and moist. (I like to taste what I’m eating, ya know?!) The serving size is about 10 ounces so I’d recommend (being often a ‘quantity’ eater!) adding an apple or maybe a yogurt to fill you/me all the way up.
To be honest, I’m more of an Asian or American cuisine fan (than Mediterranean, but that’s just a personal preference) and would love to try the Chicken Pad Thai, Chicken Margarita or Grilled Chicken Marinara. I’ve had their Grilled Whiskey Steak and Roasted Beef Merlot which were very good too. Those are all more Cafe Steamers. Cafe Steamers have a suggested retail price range of $2.88 – 3.29.
Previously when I’ve reviewed healthy food, I’ve had a comment or two on the nutritional value so I thought I’d preempt that a bit by including this link to their nutritional information. Again, after meeting some of their food scientists, I know they work very hard to include natural ingredients like 100% extra-virgin olive oil, garden-ripe vegetables and whole-grain pasta. I also know they have several vegetarian ‘all natural entrees’ like Creamy Basil Pesto (that sounds yummy!), Asian Potstickers and Pumpkin Squash Ravioli (which is one of my favorites) and for non-vegetarians (like me) Lobster Cheese Ravioli sounds like something unhealthy I’d order at a nice restaurant.
As much as I want to eat healthy, I know my first priority often is to eat fast and easy so convenience is a BIG thing for me. That’s why I love Healthy Choice. I don’t have to make bad choices just because I’m a bad cook (!) and I don’t want to spend that much time making lunch or dinner. (My husband is the chef in our house and when he’s gone I work LOTS and eat Healthy Choice for lots of meals.)
Of course, I am sharing my honest girlfriend opinion as I always do on Girlfriendology. (That’s what girlfriends do!) I am receiving a $20 gift certificate and did receive these two free Cafe Steamers in return for me taking time to review these products. My integrity is worth way more than $20 and some free food so these thoughts are mine and I would tell you if I didn’t like the product I am reviewing. Again, it depends on your personal preference – are you an Asian food fan, American food fanatic or a Soup lover? Healthy Choice has lots of options that meet their healthy food requirements mentioned above.
So, share your thoughts on eating healthy. What do you grab when you’re in a hurry to eat? What do you recommend to your girlfriends when it comes to eating healthy?
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More about Healthy Choice:
I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Healthy Choice and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.
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Tags: cafe steamers, girlfriend advice, healthy choice, review
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7 Comments
Thanks. I appreciate the information. My mom lost 30-40 lbs with Lean Cuisine. I like them, but haven’t been totally satisfied. I will give them a try.
Leslie
Dayton, OH
These are way better than your average healthy frozen meal. I have tried several of them and they satisfy your hunger and you feel like you are eating “real” food. I highly recommend!
I have tried Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers and they were very good and very filling. I have tried 2-3 varieties, one being the thai meal.. delicious. However, I have not bought any in a long time because or the packaging of the product. There are 2 plastic bowls, one being the steamer. You use it once, then throw it away! It is really a waste and bad for the environment. The company should consider making something permanent to steam, that you can place the meal into, instead of wasting so much plastic. I am not a huge environmentalist by any means, but if you see how this product is packaged, you will know what I mean.
I bought one of these because I had a coupon and I thought it might be nice to try something different. I was horrified when I opened it and realized how it was packaged. I expected some cardboard and maybe a little plastic wrap – not great, but no worse than many things you buy. But this thing comes complete with its own plastic bowl and plastic steaming tray. So incredibly wasteful. That big hunk of plastic will be around longer than my great-grandchildren, all so that my lunch could be pleasantly steamed??? It’s nuts! I feel awful that I bought it and will certainly never again.
Dear lb,
I wanted to address your comments. I asked the Healthy Choice people about that – the amount of packaging in these Cafe Steamers. They shared that they were working on that and that we’d see their ‘new and improved’ Cafe Steamers soon. I appreciate your girlfriend advice and thoughts! Debba / Girlfriendology
I will try on this and would share the result to my colleagues! Thanks for sharing it!
http://www.marimethod.com
I just tried their Sweet Sesame Chicken. It was tasty and looked and tasted like something I would make. But, I did not like the 19g of sugar so I poured off all of the sauce, transferred the food from the steamer to the bowl and mixed it around so it was “coated” in the sauce that was stuck to the bowl. That way I tasted some of the sauce without all the sugar. Other than the sugar content, I was pleasantly surprised to see the meal was low in sodium and fat. I was stunned to see a plastic bowl and steam tray that looks like it could’ve been purchased separately from tubberware; I ended up saving it because it seemed wastful to throw it away.
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[...] New Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers – Girlfriend Review | Girlfriendology 10 Mar 2010. and I don't want to spend that much time making lunch or dinner.. These are way better than your average healthy frozen meal. New Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers – Girlfriend Review | Girlfriendology [...]