Orange You Gonna Say You Love Me? (Contessa Orange Chicken)

Ian’s Natural Foods, based in Lawrence, Massachusetts, has launched a line of frozen meals designed strictly for kids. Free of artificial colors and flavors, preservatives and trans fats, Ian’s is promoting a program called “I’m a Superfit Kid,” which is supported by games on their website (iansnaturalfoods.com) and materials located on the product boxes themselves. Ian’s “snack” or entree line includes Mini Hamburgers, Mini Cheeseburgers, Mini Chicken Patty Sandwiches, Chicken Nuggets and Fish Sticks. The meals line matches the entrees with a potato dish called “Alphatots,” (allergen-free) a vegetable and a dessert, and features the Hamburger Meal, the Chicken Nugget Meal, Fish Stick Meal, and Pizza Meal. Specialty entrees and meals – all wheat and gluten-free – include the Chicken Nuggets, Fish Sticks and Popcorn Turkey Corn Dog entrees/snacks, and the Chicken Finger Meal and Popcorn Turkey Corn Dog Meals. For busy moms with kids who are sensitive or allergy-prone, check out Ian’s at your local supermarket.

Now, on to Contessa's Orange Chicken...

As you may recall, I tried out Contessa’s Kung Pao Shrimp some time back with mixed results. I loved the spiciness, the shrimp was surprisingly good, firm and sweet-fleshed, but I was a very unhappy about the inclusion of nearly a cup of onions to add cheap volume with few calories to the meal. Despite the purported 3 servings per bag, there wasn’t really enough to feed both me and my husband, and since we’re not big eaters, that’s saying something.

I viewed my next experiment with Contessa – the Orange Chicken - with some trepidation. In fairness to Contessa, they are hardly the first food company to tackle frozen “Chinese” cuisine with at-best lukewarm success, but I’m a New Yorker by birth if not by current residence, and I’m pretty spoiled when it comes to excellent “Chinese” food. So, hang on to your knickers when I tell you – this meal is really, really good.

Yep, outstanding. Not just “okay,” not just acceptable…tasty beyond all measure of what I had expected.

Having experienced some watery results with previous Contessa meals when microwaved, I prepared this meal in the skillet, and I was very glad I did. The meal comes with separate bags of white rice, battered/breaded chicken, vegetables, and the orange sauce. Note: do NOT follow Contessa’s stove-top instructions for the white rice, save yourself some brain damage and just follow the microwave instructions for that part of the meal. I followed their stovetop rice instructions and nearly burned the rice because I was busy preparing the chicken portion – so use the microwave, it works perfectly for the rice portion and you don’t have to watch it while you’re stirring the chicken and vegetables.

I followed the skillet instructions, using a cooking spray (Pam) for my trusty frying pan. I sautéed (fried) the battered chicken pieces for 5 minutes, then added the vegetables (consisting of broccoli, red peppers, baby corn, water chestnuts and shredded carrots) and sautéed for another 5 minutes. You then simply add the thawed bag of sauce, stir for 30 seconds or until heated through, and the meal is ready.

I expected the meal to be sweet- what I didn’t expect was that the chicken would be tender but the batter coating would be crispy, the vegetables would still have snap, and the sauce would not only be orange-y but also have some spicy bite, which is just about perfect for Orange Chicken (which can go so wrong at so many bad restaurants). The orange sauce had even caramelized on some of the chicken, which added to the impression of professionally-prepared Chinese food.

The bag claims to contain three servings, but I think that’s stretching it a mite. The two of us did not finish off the contents, but it’s more like 2½ servings than three. If you need to stretch it, I would suggest adding some rice or a complementary side dish, perhaps something savory (salty). Only 2 grams of fat per 8-ounce serving, (about 1¾ cups), 230 calories, 11 grams of protein and 41 grams of carbohydrate…this is a dish you should really try.

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Find Frozen Food, Prepared Meals and TV Dinner reviews along with complete nutritional product information at The Icebox Diner.

Where's the Beef? (Or, how much DO those frozen meals, cost, anyway?)

According to Refrigerated and Frozen Foods, Monogram Food Solutions has entered into a licensing agreement with NASCAR™ to produce and market NASCAR™-brand deli meats, smoked sausage and hot dogs. At the rate America’s fastest-growing sport is going, soon you’ll be able to wash your Mark Martin Dog or Jeff Gordon Smoked Sausage down with NASCAR™ beer, right before you pop your nightly NASCAR™ Viagra™ or Ricky Rudd Zoloft™. (Mark Martin photo courtesy of TheAutoChannel.com).

And Back to Work in the Frozen Foods Biz...

Over at the Diner, a young working mom posted a thread asking for quick and easy recipes, and affordable meals, saying she was trying to save on her grocery bills. Naturally, everyone’s first response is to tell her to stop buying frozen prepared foods and TV dinners, and to prepare meals from scratch, in order to save money. Even I – the official Doyenne of the Deep Freeze – was guilty of immediately thinking that cutting out convenience foods was the first order of business. But then I started to wonder – in this day and age, is that still true?

I’d posted a recipe for the young woman – my never-fails Enchildada Casserole recipe – along with some pricing for the ingredients. To my surprise, the ingredients added up to a whopping $15.00, give or take. This is for a (admittedly hefty) 9x12 casserole that feeds between 6-8 adults, including a side dish of refried beans and some chips. Assume 6 larger appetites, and this dish costs $2.50 per person. How does this compare to convenience foods in the cost arena?

Taking a quick look, like most things, it matters how carefully you shop. For example, Banquet’s 31-oz. “Crispy Chicken” has 8 servings, each just under 4 ounces, averaging $.67 (Sixty-Seven Cents) per serving. If you buy their Jumbo Pack, however, at 47 ounces, the serving size is slightly bigger, costing $.41 (Forty-One Cents) each, saving you over 20 cents per serving. Banquet’s Crock Pot Classics meals, another handy multi-serve dinner for busy moms, will run you, on average, between $.80 and $1.00 per serving, each serving ranging from 8 to nearly 10 ounces of finished Stew, Stroganoff, Chicken & Dumplings or other Crock Pot Classic meal.

Let’s check out Chicken Patties – I know a lot of working moms like to keep these on hand, both for quick hot sandwiches and for entrees. Banquet’s 35-ounce Original Chicken Patties come in a merely $.27 per patty. Tyson’s 10.5-ounce Breaded Chicken Breast Patties, on the other hand, are approximately the same size serving, but will set you back nearly $1.25 per patty – a whopping difference. The huge winner in the Chicken Breast patty contest, though, is Schwan’s, delivering up Breaded Chicken Breast Patties for merely $.17 a patty. Quick math? For a family of four, serving Schwan’s patties would cost Sixty-Eight Cents; to serve Tyson’s patties would cost $5.00. Obviously, smart shopping can save you a lot of dough.

Stouffer’s Large Family Size Chicken Alfredo will set you back $5.98 to serve 7 people (or $.85 per person), while Schwan’s Blackened Chicken Alfredo with Fettucini Noodles will save you almost $.20 per serving, coming in at $.63 each. Birds Eye’s Voila Classic line of the same dish – Alfredo Chicken – will set you back $1.33 for each 7-ounce serving.

Gorton’s products vary widely, so shop smart. Gorton’s Crunchy Golden Fish Fillets will cost you $1.81 per person for a 3.75-ounce serving, but their 18-ounce Crispy Battered Fish Fillets, on the other hand, will serve 5 people for $3.98 – about $.80 per head.

For those of you on the East Coast and in the South, keep an eye out for On-Cor’s line of classic family-size entrees. Ranging from Chicken Parmigiana at a high of $.69 a serving, to Salisbury Steaks in Gravy, Sliced Turkey & Gravy, Lasagna with Meat Sauce, Macaroni & Beef with Tomatoes and Sonora-Style Enchiladas with Meat and Sauce, all costing between $.50 and $.60 per serving, On-Cor is clearly a good candidate for families trying to keep their grocery bills in line.


Do you have a product you want reviewed? A comment? A story to suggest? Email Auntie! We welcome any and all suggestions, comments and ideas.

Find Frozen Food, Prepared Meals and TV Dinner reviews along with nutritional product information for all of them at The Icebox Diner.

What's A Hungry Man to do? (Swanson's Hungry-Man Dinners)

Tonight’s article is admittedly going to be a bit short; I had a catastrophe this week that included the self-destruction of my side-by-side refrigerator/freezer (yes, thank you – the irony is not lost upon me) and the ensuing loss of hundreds of dollars worth of groceries, which has left me a little…irked. It’s also left me more than a titch discombobulated. You genuinely don’t realize the changes refrigeration has made in human living until you attempt to live without it, even for 24 hours. We grumble about having to shop weekly or bi-monthly being onerous…daily shopping for sustenance is a near-forgotten task lost in the mists of human time. The ease of storing staples, condiments...replacing them was a startling lesson in taking things for granted.

Anyway, enough self-pity for tonight. Onwards to the much-maligned Swanson Hungry-Man Dinners!!

Poor Swanson Hungry-Man. As a frozen meal, this line is the Rodney Dangerfield of TV Dinners; it “don’t get no respect.” Nobody will ever confess to actually eating one; it is frequently the butt of jokes. Yet, as I reported in January, Hungry-Man actually outsells a number of other TV Dinner brands, and nearly matches Marie Callendar’s, going head-to-head in number of dinners sold per quarter (10 million for Hungry-Man; 12 million for Marie Callendar’s in the same third quarter of 2005). Above and beyond that, Hungry-Man’s sales are increasing, kicking up about 20% over the same period in the previous year. (No, I don't know where that picture came from...now ask me if I care. He looks like a hungry man, doesn't he?).

Does Hungry-Man really deserve such perceived disrespect? According to Regulars at the Icebox Diner, Hungry-Man dinners are pretty darn tasty, and in general, their dinners seem to earn a 4-to-4.5-star rating. One thing that Hungry-Man certainly delivers is volume and a feeling of satiety, which is something frequently lacking in other frozen meals. Are Hungry-Man dinners really worse, ounce-for-ounce, than other dinners?

Let’s do a quick comparison between a few selected Hungry-Man meals and some from other brands. Hungry-Man’s Chicken Pot Pie has (per 8.5-ounce serving, of which there are two in this pot pie) 520 calories, 50.8 grams of carbs, 14.0 grams of protein and 29 grams of fat. Marie Callendar’s White Meat Chicken Pot Pie? This pie also contains two servings, of 8 ounces each, each “serving” containing 510 calories, 43.0 grams of carbs, 14.0 grams of protein and 31 grams of fat. So far, between the two brands, virtually no difference.

How about Hungry-Man’s Boneless Fried Chicken Meal? Weighing in at 16 ounces, and served with corn and mashed potatoes, it packs 700 calories, 73.5 grams of carbohydrate, 34.0 grams of protein and 30.0 grams of fat. Let’s compare this to Banquet’s Select Boneless White Fried Chicken Meal, which comes with corn bread and French fries. This Banquet meal weighs 8.25 ounces, and delivers 540 calories, 41 grams of carbs, 16 grams of protein and 34 grams of fat. Banquet’s meal is half the size of the Hungry-Man meal; ounce-for-ounce, the Hungry-Man meal has significantly fewer calories.

In the Roasted Chicken frozen dinner category, Hungry-Man outperforms Marie Callendar’s, with the Hungry-Man version (both are served with Mashed Potatoes) weighing in at a little over one pound and 440 calories, while the Callendar’s meal weighs in at only 14 ounces but contains 580 calories. Again, both ounce-for-ounce and overall, Hungry-Man is the better choice, calorie-wise.

So, don’t be mislead by misperception. Four of the Hungry-Man meals are under 500 calories in total, which is less than many Stouffer’s Classics or “Hearty Favorites” entrees, just as examples. Read the labels, and if the spirit moves you, indulge. And, really….who could resist a meal called “Sports Grill Chicken with Cheese Fries Dinner?” I know the next time I see it, I’m going to try it. Mmmmm…cheese fries. What’s not to love?

Asian Sensations, Indeed! (Frozen Asian Foods)

This week's prologue is dedicated to my sister, who shall remain nameless, to protect the innocent (me). The following is intended to be sung to Crosby, Stills & Nash's immemorial "Marrakesh Express," with my humble apologies to the group for my parody.

"Menopause Express"

Looking at the world through hotflash misted eyes,
Feeling beads of sweat run down across your thi-i-i-ghs,
Mood swings coming end-to-end,
You think you’re going ‘round the bend,
Don’t laugh too hard, so you don’t need Depends!!!

Pouring nightsweats daily soak your queensize bed,
Being told the crazies are all inside your he-a-a-a-d,
Men get cars and trophy wives,
We just get our sweaty lives,
How come we don’t get the red ‘Vette too?

Don’t you know you’re riding on the Menopause Express
Don’t you know we’re riding on the Menopause Express
I’m just a damsel in distress.

Can you take the strain,
As it rots your brain…

I’ve been saving all my money just to buy some Spanx
To hide the extra pounds on my fla-a-a-a-nks,

Rub those swollen feet right back down to size,
Smile at the sweet young things that you now de-spi-i-i-i-se,
Hubby thinks it’s pretty funny,
Up until you boil the bunny,
Those homicidal rages will soon pass!!!
Well, girl you listen now,

Don’t you know you’re riding on the Menopause Express
Don’t you know we’re riding on the Menopause Express
You’re just a damsel in distress.

Don’t you know you’re riding on the Menopause Express
Don’t you know we’re riding on the Menopause Express
Just try not to obsess….

Can you take the strain,
As it rots your brain…

"Menopause Express," ©, Auntie's Food Life, derivative copyright, all rights reserved.

Back to the Frozen Food biz....

According to an article over at Cygnus’ Frozen Food Age, so-named “Asian foods” are becoming a forceful frozen-food market driver, creating double-digit sales growth for their respective companies.

Asian foods seem to be a category in search of a home. Grocers don’t know whether to place frozen asian-style foods in the meal, appetizer or snack category, resulting in foods being sprinkled throughout the frozen food aisle. Nonetheless, the North American market is gobbling up several brands with abandon.


Asian Sensations is Schwan’s Pagoda brand, which primarily features an assortment of egg rolls, spring rolls and appetizers, including Crab Rangoon and Thai Chicken Mini-Crisps. These products range from 140 to 260 calories and 6-14 grams of fat per serving. (For Asian Sensations product reviews, click here; for Asian Sensations nutritional information, click here). Schwan’s advises that new products will be available in the line commencing in mid-summer of this year. Supported by TV advertising that is conveying the message of “everyday Asian,” Pagoda is enjoying double-digit sales growth, and is focusing on mainstreaming Asian food snacking.

The “big dog” of sales growth in this market, however, has to be Kahiki Foods, reporting quarterly sales reports indicated increased dollars sales of about 47%. Launched in 1995, (from a Ohio plant next to its founding restaurant, which suspiciously resembled an old Trader Vic’s), and initially featuring “Polynesian” cuisine, Kahiki has exploded onto the foodservice scene, now providing dozens of frozen entrees, multi-serve meals, appetizers, rice bowls and tempura kits. According to press releases, Kahiki has just added what I would describe as “fusion” frozen foods. As examples: a chipotle-lime chicken egg roll with Monterey cheese, black beans and corn in a sesame ginger sauce, retailing for $3.49; a lemon grass chicken “stix,” also in a sesame ginger sauce, at $2.99, and a coconut curry chicken Samosa, in sweet and sour sauce, retailing for $2.99. For more information, Kahiki has its own website, which you can find by clicking here.

Regionally, Tiger Thai, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, serves up foods to grocers west of the Mississippi, primarily the west/southwest and upper Midwest regions, and is growing in sales to the tune of 10-15% per year. The company has specialized in tempura products, wowing consumers with its authentic tempura shrimp, cod, salmon, calamari rings and its January 2006 launch of coconut shrimp. Even more recently, Tiger Thai has branched out into spicier offerings, including a Thai Spicy (breaded) Shrimp, replete with a chili dipping sauce. (For those of you who participate in contests, you may wish to note the website contests 6-8 times a year in which consumers can win a case of tempura shrimp.)

I think it’s clear that Asian foods, being market-driven by Schwan’s Pagoda line, are emerging at a time when frozen food technology is rapidly adapting to allow ever-increasing varieties of foods, textures and flavors to be nutritiously served up to the North America market. Given the American propensity to constantly demand new tastes, it seems likely that we’ll be seeing many new brands jumping into the Asian foods market before year’s end.


Find frozen food and TV Dinner consumer reviews and nutritional information at the Icebox Diner.