Boy, I got a big response with lots of questions about what to look for in boxed frozen dinners. As you know from your grocery shopping trips, the frozen dinner section is as long as the pizza section and the ice cream section. We all know what kind of pizza we like and our favorite flavor of ice cream, but those different brands and different types of boxed food are a far cry from the old days of the Swanson TV dinner. I would like to suggest just a couple of tips and some insight into selection of products from a health point of view and also from a nutrition standpoint.

First, not all boxed dinners are healthy and they do not pretend to be. Marie Callandar, Stauffer, and Michelangelo for example do not even attempt to join the “healthy” food packages. They have up to 30 grams of fat per serving and tons of not only lovely cheese, but hidden carbs and sodium. Yes, they taste really good!
      
On the other hand, products like the “Amy’s” line need to be watched. They are with the healthy selections and often have a high ratio of fat grams to protein-yes, they are generally high in protein. Many times they have carbs that are often derived from garbanzo beans or other types of healthy carbs. Nonetheless, do watch it especially if you are no or low carb.

Finally, the “advertised” brands-Weight Watchers, Lean cuisine, etc-All I can tell you is to read the labels just like you do for everything else. Look for fat grams and especially sodium. Sometimes these dinners will have 12 to 15 grams of fat and more than half of your daily sodium requirement. If you have more questions, please use my email jlresource@aol.com or come on to the blog.