Weight Watchers Smart Ones – Fruit Inspirations
Posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010
I love anything fruity, so when I learned Weight Watchers Smart Ones created the Fruit Inspirations collection of frozen meals, I jumped at the chance to sample a dinner (or lunch) that not only encourages eating smaller portions, but also saving time. The meals are perfect for an at-home worker crunched for time like myself. Weight Watcher’s uses a unique fruity approach (and marketing) to tap into something rather appetizing. Out of four current selections, I have sampled the following three:
1) Pineapple Beef Teriyaki – 4 ½ stars
Have you ever tasted a shrimp microwave meal that only had two to three pieces of shrimp? This isn’t the case with Pineapple Beef Teriyaki Fruit Inspirations. The meal offers tender beef strips, pineapple, sweet teriyaki sauce, and rice. There are a number of beef pieces and pineapple that work together to create a rather satisfying dish. A decent amount of spiciness and appealing pineapple taste leave a pleasant, lasting impression.
Calories: 260 * Fat Calories: 40 * Fiber: 0 grams * Carbs: 38 grams * Protein 18 grams
2) Cranberry Turkey Medallions – 5 stars
Once prepared, the Cranberry Turkey Medallions meal hardly resembles the attractive image decorating its box. However, the taste is surprisingly reminiscent of a Thanksgiving meal about two days after the fact. The stuffing delivers a burst of savory herbs – not too overbearing. The generous portions of turkey tastes ‘real’ and not overly processed. The cranberry sauce was refreshing. It also smells nice coming out of the microwave.
My only gripe – I probably could have done without the carrots, as they felt a little out of place in the overall presentation and taste. The potatoes were also a bit ‘soggy.’ Overall, this is one of the best frozen entrée meals I’ve ever tasted!
Calories: 350 * Fat Calories: 40 * Fiber: 4 grams * Carbs: 59 grams * Protein 18 grams
3) Orange Sesame Chicken – 3 ¾ stars
My first impression…there is A LOT of rice and not enough sauce in this meal. Despite the colorful bits and pieces of vegetables in the rice, it was pretty bland (at least to me). After alternating the chicken (which tastes fresh and flavorful) with the rice, the meal starts to gel together into something quite pleasing. At times, an ingredient (perhaps ginger) overpowers your taste buds.
Calories: 320 * Fat Calories: 70 * Fiber: 2 grams * Carbs: 48 grams * Protein 14 grams
In the Fruit Inspirations collection, Weight Watchers also offers Honey Mango Barbeque Chicken, but I’m not much of a BBQ fan, so I passed on sampling this selection.
My Name is Yona Williams and I Write » Blog Archive » Smart Ones: Picante Chicken and Pasta says: February 27th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
[...] get two thumbs up include: Fiesta Quesadillas, Chicken and Cheese Quesadillas, and a couple of the Fruit Inspirations. Tagged as 5 Weight Watcher points, ancho chili sauce, chicken and pasta, Picante Chicken and [...]