When I saw these in an ad, I knew my wife would want to check at least one of these out. I had my eyes on the Southwestern Fresca; not surprisingly, she opted for the Sesame Lo Mein. Also not surprisingly, she was disappointed with her dish; it was with this mindset that I approached mine.
Prepwork is as easy as it can possibly be. I remember actually having to slice open the plastic film covering the food, if not removing it outright. But that was in the old days of television dinners…nowadays, you literally just pull it out of the plastic packaging, and toss it into the microwave as is, film and all. Around three minutes later, and you have yourself a tasty little meal (or in my case, snack), perfectly steamed and ready to eat.
Contrary to my wife’s opinion about hers, I actually really liked mine. There is a nice spicy kick, thanks to the southwestern sauce, while the combination of noodles, vegetables, and beans was surprisingly delicious, not to mention a little more filling than I was expecting. I let her try a bite, as well, and she was pleasantly surprised, mentioning that it was way better than her Sesame Lo Mein. The vegetables taste somewhat fresh, though there’s little doubt that they’ve been frozen, but they still manage to be very flavorful.
For $1.69 (in a 9 oz. package), I think this is some pretty good value, and I wouldn’t hesitate to pick this up again. There’s a lot of flavor, not to mention a decent amount of food, for the price, and the 3 minute microwave time makes it a meal suitable for an on-the-go lifestyle. If you’re looking for a quick bite to eat, this is a good option, though there is still quite a bit of sodium (26% of the recommended daily allowance per package), so I’m not sure that it’s entirely for “Fit & Active” folks, like the brand name implies. But to counter that, there is also quite a lot of dietary fiber (a whopping 44% worth), as well as a healthy dose of Vitamin A (50%). In other words, you could do a lot worse, especially around this price point.
Overall: 7/10. I’m honestly thinking about grabbing a couple this weekend, to make sure I get a couple more before they sell out. This 9 oz. package packs some serious flavor for what amounts to peanuts ($1.69). The sauce provides a nice blast of heat, while the beans and veggies combine to be a surprisingly tasty tandem. There’s quite a bit of sodium in this, but that’s also counterbalanced with about half of your daily dietary fiber and vitamin A recommendations, so those leading active lifestyles will no doubt work off a lot of the “bad“ calories. The quick convenience of preparation also makes this the perfect snack for those that are too busy to prepare a sit-down meal. Pretty good stuff for the price, and well-above average as far as frozen meals go.
