Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers: Tasty and Healthy Meal Alternatives

In the years that I have been working to lose and maintain a healthy weight, I have always relied on frozen and pre-packaged meals. They are convenient and they help me to keep my portions to an appropriate size. I could easily eat an entire box of pasta on my own without much effort and have yet to learn the art of portion control. Eating the pre-packaged and frozen meals keep my appetite in check.

Until recently, my pre-packaged meal of choice were the Lean Cuisine meals. They always seemed to have the best flavor and largest portions. However, they are also typically the more expensive of the meals, in comparison to Weight Watchers and Healthy Choice. Not to mention there is an astronomical amount of sodium in them. Still, they were the ones that gave me the best variety and flavor, so I ate them regardless of the negatives.

Now, with a new line of meals by Healthy Choice, I have begun to shift gears away from the Lean Cuisine line. Healthy Choice Café Steamers are a line of frozen meals by the Healthy Choice brand that combines pasta or rice with different vegetables and sauces in a plastic reusable bowl. This may seem like any other frozen meal, but the uniqueness of this line, is that the veggies and pasta are steamed separately from the sauce, right in the microwave, and then combined with the sauce to give an authentic steamed flavor.

The way the meals are prepared is simple. Each Café Steamer comes in a plastic bowl with a strainer attachment on top of it. The bulk of the meal; vegetables, meat, pasta or rice, are on the top of the strainer. The sauce is underneath the strainer. To cook, all you do is stick the entire bowl in the microwave without removing the plastic. Cook on high for approximately 4-6 minutes, again without removing the plastic. Having the meal covered while cooking allows it to steam properly. Once the meal is done cooking, carefully remove the plastic and dump the food in to the sauce and stir. It's that simple.

This new line by Healthy Choice has several different selections to choose from that will satisfy most anyone's tastes. There are fish, chicken, and beef entrees both with rice and pasta as the side. My favorites are the Chicken Margarita and the Dill Salmon and Penne pasta.

In addition to the variety of choices the Café Steamers line provides, the nutritional value is better than most other frozen entrees. Each meal includes no more than the daily recommended sodium, fat, and calorie in take allowance for a meal. Yet, this is managed without sacrificing flavor. Both Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers brand frozen entrees have low fat and calorie choices but none take in to consideration the sodium intake of the meals. Healthy Choice realizes that flavor does not have to be sacrificed by leaving out this unhealthy component.

The Café Steamers line is not the least expensive of the frozen entrée choices, but for the amount of food, the cost is reasonable. I typically pay between $2.50 and $3.30 for each, depending on where I shop. But, each meal provides a coupon for 50 cents off three, and since I usually buy about 6 at a time, I always save at least a dollar. This may not seem like much, but every bit of savings counts.

I will always eat frozen lunch and dinner entrees mainly out of ease and convenience. With the lifestyle I lead, it's difficult and daunting to imagine coming home each night and cooking a full meal, especially when I know my poor habit of not being able to control portions. With the Healthy Choice Café Steamers line of frozen entrees, I get variety, taste, convenience, portion control, and a healthy meal at an affordable price.