Lean Cuisine / SmartOnes Reviews

I'm no culinary critic.  That's for sure.  With all of the pre-packaged lunches I eat over the course of my work-week, I decided to start tracking each meal and give it a rating.  Here's what I've tracked so far over the last few months:

Lean Cuisine

• Asian-Style Pot Stickers  Grade: B-.  It's a bit high maintenance to cook - 50% power for 8 minutes - but in the end, it is pretty good.  The pot stickers aren't like what you get at a Chinese restaurant, but they aren't bad either.  The rice could use a little extra spice.  And there's not a whole lot of sauce to go around either.
• Chicken Enchilada Suiza  Grade: A+.  LOVE this one.  I mix the rice in with the delicious cream sauce and eat it altogether.  Nomnomnom.
• Chicken Makhani  Grade: A+.  I love Indian food, and was skeptical when I bought this because I wasn't sure what to expect with a pre-packaged microwave meal.  Delicious beyond words.  Two thumbs up.
• Mushroom Mezzaluna Ravioli   Grade: A-.  A recent add by Lean Cuisine.  DELICIOUS.  Gets a small minus mark for portion.  Wish, wish, WISH there were even just 2 more ravioli.
• Orange Chicken   Grade: A-.  I believe this was a recent addition to the line.  If not, Target just started to carry it, I guess.  I liked it - good spice, adequate serving.
• Sesame Chicken  Grade: B+  This is always a go-to for me.  I love the spice.  The chicken is delicious.  The only reason that I wouldn't give it an A is because there really should be a couple more pieces of chicken.  Just seems so...lacking.
• Tortilla-Crusted Fish   Grade: B-.  Was better than I thought it would be.  I actually enjoyed it.  However, once you heat up the dinner, your workplace smells like fish.  Luckily, I work in a very spread-out type of workspace.  I was even annoyed by the fish smell, though.  That's what she said.  (Sorry...I had to.)
• Thai-Style Noodles with Chicken   Grade: C.  Lacking spice.  The box eludes to chili spice, but it's completely bland to my taste.  The whole wheat noodles were delicious - but the veggies got drowned and lost in the sauce.

Smart Ones

• Chicken Enchiladas Suiza  Grade: A-.  Yes, Lean Cuisine has a competitor to this.  Taste was very similar - I'd say that the cheese sauce had a bit more spiciness to it.  However, the amount of rice that the box shows vs. what's actually in the meal is ridiculously different.
• Chicken in Spicy Peanut Sauce  Grade: A-.  Was delicious.  I wish it had a little more spice.  Yes, I know, it's a frozen meal - what should I expect when it says "Spicy".  I'll get it again, though.
• Pasta with Ricotta and Spinach  Grade: A.  This is a go-to for me.  I love me some pasta.  And can you really go wrong with white sauce?  No sir.
• Santa Fe Style Rice & Beans  Grade: A.  Absolutely delicious.  Holy cheesy goodness, Batman.  Great spice, a little heat.  The only downfall is that there wasn't more of it.
• Slow Roasted Turkey Breast  Grade: B+.  Can you really go wrong with comfort food?  Turkey and mashed potatoes?  I say no.  The gravy's a little bland for my taste.
• Teriyaki Chicken & Vegetables   Grade: D.  Not good.  Meat is dry, sauce is really bland.  I ate about 5 bites of it before throwing it away.
• Traditional Lasagna  Grade: C.  I love lasagna.  However, this meal doesn't compare to what I could make.  And the serving size is tiny - probably because they're trying to squeeze it in at 7 WW+ points with all of the pasta contained.