Trader Joe's Riced Cauliflower Bowl

Today's lunch was something new I picked up at Trader Joe's - their Riced Cauliflower Bowl from the frozen section.  Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan!

I'm pretty torn on this review.  The description sounded right up my alley, and I love tahini (which was the first ingredient listed on the cover).

Unfortunately, it's REALLY spicy!  I wish they had disclosed that on the packaging - I have a headache from it now, sadly.

Otherwise, it was a good base to my lunch.  I added a diced up cooked chicken breast to bulk it up, and could've easily added a bunch more greens to it as well.  I don't think I'd buy this again, because of the headache I'm rocking right now, but I liked this concept a lot and wish it was more tahini-forward instead of mysteriously spicy.

Nutrition Facts per entire package

Calories 280

Total Fat 16 g

Saturated Fat 2 g

Trans Fat 0

Cholesterol 0 mg

Sodium 400 mg

Carb 27 g

Fiber 8 g

Sugars 5 g

Protein 13 g

DiGiorno Deep Dish Pepperoni pizza

I don't remember how I got it, but I had a coupon for a free DiGiorno Deep Dish pizza that was expiring, so we decided to pick it up for dinner. The coupon was max value of $3.30, but one store had it for $4.79 and the other store had it for $3.79, so we bought it at the second store. Crazy that the base price at our local groceries is always higher than the max value of coupons for a free product, but that's another rant for another day...

Anyway, yes, this is a healthy living blog, so why am I talking about pizza? Well, this pizza claims it is two servings, and one serving is a mere 300 calories so it would work into a healthy-ish diet for a rare occasion.

Side rant: this pizza's total weight is 7.5 ounces. I didn't measure the pizza before we ate it, but the box is only six inches along the side. This is not two servings.

Additional rant: the nutrition facts don't add up. One serving - 1/2 the pizza - is 300 calories, but the whole pizza is 590 calories. C'mon. We're not stupid.

OK, so - did it taste good? NO! I'm from Chicago, I know deep dish pizza. This never even met a deep dish pizza. It never saw a photo of a pizza. It was pathetic. I get more satisfaction from the pepperoni pizza Lean Pocket. What a ridiculous waste of money and fat. The crust was butterlicious, but I had to go find something else to eat and felt ripped off for those 300 calories.

Nutrition Facts for 1/2 pizza : whole pizza
Calories 300 : 590
Total Fat 17g : 33g
Saturated Fat 8g : 16 g
Trans Fat 0g : 1g
Cholesterol 25mg : 45mg
Sodium 470mg : 950mg
Total Carbohydrate 26g : 52g
Dietary Fiber 2g : 4g
Sugars 2g : 4g
Protein 12g : 24g

Kashi Lemon Rosemary Chicken

I wanted to try something more healthy for lunch than my usual SmartOnes or Lean Cuisine, so I picked up this Kashi item a few months ago - and forgot about it until this morning. ;)

It's... ok. There were only three pieces of snow peas, and the chicken was finely minced (not in strips like in the photo). A good amount of mushrooms. However, I got none of the lemon or rosemary flavor. A lot of garlic, yes, but sadly no lemon (and lemon with chicken is one of my most favorite combinations in the world!). It was also really watery, which of course is not appetizing. ;) The whole thing was kinda soggy and didn't look good at all. The taste was okay, but I definitely wasn't full after eating this for my lunch (along with some baby carrots). Fooey.

I wouldn't buy this again as it was pretty unappetizing, not at all lemony, and more expensive than my usual lunch.

Nutrition Facts
Calories: 330
Total Fat: 9 g
Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 15 mg
Sodium: 640 mg
Total Carbohydrates: 45 g
Dietary Fiber: 5 g
Sugars: 1 g
Protein: 17 g

Smart Ones Traditional Lasagna

Another Smart Ones entree, this one is great! It's a "traditional" lasagna with meat sauce and is really tasty. It's three layers with ricotta and seasonings between each, and tomato sauce with tiny meatballs on top. It's a good sized portion and a great solution to that pasta craving I get every now and then.


Nutrition Facts
Calories 300
Total Fat 6g
Saturated Fat 3g
Cholesterol 25mg
Sodium 780mg
Total Carbohydrates 43g
Dietary Fiber 5g
Sugars 8g
Protein 17g

Smart Ones Salisbury Steak with Mac & Cheese

This is one of my favorite Smart Ones so far. It's not the biggest portion of either food - but it's also only 260 calories. The mac & cheese is tasty. The salisbury steak is your typical ground beef patty thing, but the onion gravy works well with it. Two thumbs up here!

Nutrition Facts
Calories 260.0
Total Fat 7.0 g
Saturated Fat 3.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.0 g
Cholesterol 40.0 mg
Sodium 820.0 mg
Potassium 0.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 26.0 g
Dietary Fiber 3.0 g
Sugars 2.0 g
Protein 23.0 g