I may be very choosy, but I love food. And until recently, I never really paid much attention to nutrition facts or what was in fact going into my body. My diet is totally made up of fast food, processed junk, and much and much of sweets. Now I’m a little more aware of what I eat. I find myself counting calories and truly reading the nutrition facts on the back of things when deciding what to buy at the grocery store. When you start to notice how many unpalatable ingredients and crazy portion sizes are getting into your body, I can virtually promise you you will want to start eating healthier. I’m still far from being the healthiest person in the world, but I have tried (and mainly succeeded) to limit my intake of unhealthy foods.
So today, I’m going to tell you how frozen dinners have helped me start a healthier diet. I’m not talking about the Kid Cuisine food we all ate when we were kids (dinosaur chicken nuggets for the win), nor am I talking about the endless mountains of pizza rolls we all love to make. I’m talking about the healthier choices made by companies like Healthy Choice, Weight Watchers, and Lean Cuisine—which in fact advertise that they’re the smarter choice.
Frozen dinners may not be a permanent option for you, but if you are having trouble understanding the essence of healthy eating in general, this is an incredible way to start.
I know what you are thinking. Eating packaged frozen lasagna is not pretty much as good as fresh lasagna produced from your own kitchen. And you are right. You must be right. However, when you make homemade lasagna, how much do you truly eat? What is the correct portion size? That’s the hard part about cooking. Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook. But when I do, I tend to overdo it. There are ALWAYS leftovers. I’m not good at dispensing proper portion sizes for myself, which is why I’ve turned to frozen dinners. With frozen dinners, your entire meal is right in front of you. The box tells you all the nutritional information, without you having to add up your calories one by one. Without you having to decide, “okay a serving size of milk is an ounce, but how much is an ounce?” Frozen dinners are fully prepared and proportioned for you, leaving no work out for you. Because let’s be honest, you possibly will not take the time to measure and weigh each of your ingredients to create the ideal serving size. I know I will not.
If I’m still “hungry” after a frozen dinner, it is generally not because I’m really hungry. Usually it is because I’m used to overeating rather than managing my portions properly. It’s like, when I’m making spaghetti, I’m going to eat everything I make (or at least until I’m too full to move, AKA overeat) because I do not want to waste any of it. But frozen dinners do not let you overeat. With frozen dinners, you can know precisely how much is going into your body.
Not only that, frozen dinners contain healthier ingredients compared to what I cook myself. Many of the healthier frozen dinners come with an appetizer and two sides — generally such as potatoes and green beans. So they essentially force you to eat your vegetables, whereas at home, if I do not want to eat my vegetables, I haven’t got to, and perhaps I do not. I can just do a burger with fries and call it a day.
Plus, frozen dinners are super quick to make. So if you are dealing with school, work, family, and maintaining a social life, you may not have time to cook something from scratch. When I’m busy, I generally grab fast food on the way home because it is the quickest option. But the reality is, frozen dinners are literally a lot quicker than fast food. After school or work, I just pop a frozen dinner in the microwave for about four minutes and it is done. Easy as that. In short, frozen dinners are really like Panda Express, but healthy.
Plus, if you are on your lunch break at work or simply hanging out in your dorm room, you know what’s perfect to eat? FROZEN DINNER. If you haven’t got many healthy options in your dorm (or near your workplace during your lunch break), heat up a frozen dinner. This will solve all of your problems.
I do not know about your local supermarket, but my grocery store is all the time having offers on frozen foods. I mean, 10 frozen dinners for $10 or something like $1.50 each? Repeat that to yourself again. DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS FOR A WHOLE FOOD. Let’s add that to our pro list. Frozen meals are healthier, help with portion control, fast, and are very CHEAP.
And you know what else? FROZEN DINNER TASTE SUFFICIENT AND DELICIOUS. I know I know. No where comes near delicious homemade lasagna. But for frozen dinners, they’ve some really good options. You in the mood for chicken alfredo? There’s a frozen dinner for that. Turkey with gravy? There’s a frozen dinner for that. Sweet and spicy orange chicken? Yep, there is a frozen dinner for that. Cajun Shrimp? Yep, it is in frozen dinners. BBQ Steaks? Yes. chicken enchiladas? Yes. Now you might be thinking, “okay cool. There are lots of choices and they sound really good, but do they taste pretty much as good as the pictures look? My answer is YES. For the most part anyway. I’ve absolutely tried lots of frozen dinners that I did not like, but they’re so cheap and quick to make that you can generally throw them away with no problem. There are so many choices and so many brands to try, so decide what you like or do not like. I guarantee you will find a dinner for at least a week you will love.
Here are some of my favourites. Healthy Choices has a line of frozen dinners called Café Steamers. It’s SO GOOD, hands down my go to frozen dinner. I also enjoy approximately every pasta dish from most, if not all, frozen food establishments. Lean Cuisine also sells some really delicious paninis. But seriously, if you see an item and think, “I’ll definitely try that at a restaurant,” THEN GET IT. You never understand how good it will taste.
My point here is this: Frozen food is certainly growing. There are so many new and different flavors, and so many various health benefits from each pack. You’re no longer limited to a chunky, chewy piece of chicken in a frozen dinner. And when you weigh the pros and cons of frozen meals, the pros absolutely outweigh the cons in my book. But again, this is 100% my own advice, and bear in mind, I’m absolutely not a dietitian.
I know I’d be so sick of eating frozen food every day, but when you are in a rush and virtually starving, skip the fast food and reheat your frozen meals instead. They are a great way to start a balanced diet. I’m new to “healthy eating” and frozen dinners absolutely help as a gateway to good health, so maybe they will help you too.
