You might call this the Pantry Project Version 2. Blogging about food has its ups and downs – it focuses your attention on your own eating habits and then highlights what you’re doing wrong as well as what you’re doing right. My previous posts about getting rid of the stuff in my pantry (AKA the Rice Months) centered mainly on how much crap I bought that hadn’t yet been consumed. My shopping habits have definitely changed because of that experience; I don’t buy a ton of stuff and then let it sit around for ages now. Part of that has to do with having less space to store everything – we moved into a smaller residence, so I’m forced to get through foodstuffs more quickly before buying more (and FYI, I’m STILL working on the rice – I’ve made great progress over the past several months, but there’s still some left). This is a good thing, and I’ll now be using this blog to give you my opinions on a lot of different foods. Lately the focus has shifted to more financial concerns: what’s a decent meal cost? I decided to try to answer this with one particular meal: lunch.
I’ve been bringing my lunch in to work pretty regularly for the past month, and these less-expensive-than-eating-out meals fall into one of two categories: homemade or frozen. The homemade stuff has consisted of my own simple versions of chili or beef stew. The frozen meals usually have pasta in them but they include other standard (read: kinda boring) fare such as cheesy beef macaroni, meatloaf or chicken nuggets. Clearly the homemade lunches are cheaper, but having a different version of soup everyday doesn’t really appeal to me, so I switch between the two. The prices on the frozen foods can fluctuate wildly, however, so I’ve been squirreling away notes on the ones I’ve tried. (prices quoted are regular price amounts from Giant Food Stores, not the sale price) First up, one of my all-time favorites: Swedish Meatballs.
Stouffer’s - $3.89
This is by far the best frozen version of Swedish meatballs that I’ve tried. It has a generous portion of thick noodles, the meatballs are large enough cut in half and the sauce is excellent; there’s just enough to cover everything and have a little left over. It’s also the most expensive item on this list, but rightfully so.
Lean Cuisine - $2.79
From the “diet entrée” section, this is actually very good. Plenty of noodles and big meatballs, and there’s not too much sauce. Nice flavor and texture; a pleasant surprise from a “diet” meal. I always stock up on Lean Cuisine entrees when they’re on sale; they’re yummy and better for you than Stouffer’s – always a good combination. :)
Smart Ones - $2.49
Smart Ones is essentially the same type of frozen meal as Lean Cuisine (ie, less calories, fat, sodium, etc.) but just a little bit cheaper. This isn’t too bad, but it’s not nearly as good as the previous two. I particularly didn’t like the taste of the sauce; it’s made from sour cream so a bit of sourness is actually expected, but – and I don’t know how they did this – it’s actually too sour with not enough cream. Bleah.
Banquet - $1.00
Yech. The only good thing I can say about this is I liked the meatballs. They were decent-sized and tasty, and the noodles were fine, but the sauce was just gross; it was like tan-colored sour water. Stirring everything together actually made it worse (the noodles would have been fine by themselves), and no amount of salt and pepper could revive it enough for me to finish. I ate the meatballs and threw the rest out. Other items by Banquet are much better (they’ll be discussed in the next installment), but this one didn’t even justify the one dollar price tag. :p
Boston Market - $3.29
Stouffer’s has some serious competition here! This is equally good but has slightly more sauce in it, and the meatballs are ginormous. An extra plus is the size of the entire package – it’s easily twice the size of every other meal on this list, and costs less than Stouffer’s to boot! The downside is that with twice the portion size, you also get twice the calories, etc. For the price/portion ratio it’s a great value, but I can get three completely separate meals for the same price that won’t have to be heated all at once and then divvied up. If you’re looking for one really good, very filling meal for less than $5, this is definitely at the top of the list.
Hormel Compleats (boxed, not frozen) - $2.65
One word: sauce. This is pretty much the same thing as a canned meal, but without the can. As such, it’s got a TON of sauce in it, literally drowning out the noodles and meatballs. The noodles are small, overcooked and kind of mushy, plus the meatballs are also small and kind of bland. It’s not bad flavor-wise, but for the price it has way too much liquid that would go to waste unless you had a hunk of bread to mop it up.
I’ve been bringing my lunch in to work pretty regularly for the past month, and these less-expensive-than-eating-out meals fall into one of two categories: homemade or frozen. The homemade stuff has consisted of my own simple versions of chili or beef stew. The frozen meals usually have pasta in them but they include other standard (read: kinda boring) fare such as cheesy beef macaroni, meatloaf or chicken nuggets. Clearly the homemade lunches are cheaper, but having a different version of soup everyday doesn’t really appeal to me, so I switch between the two. The prices on the frozen foods can fluctuate wildly, however, so I’ve been squirreling away notes on the ones I’ve tried. (prices quoted are regular price amounts from Giant Food Stores, not the sale price) First up, one of my all-time favorites: Swedish Meatballs.
Stouffer’s - $3.89
This is by far the best frozen version of Swedish meatballs that I’ve tried. It has a generous portion of thick noodles, the meatballs are large enough cut in half and the sauce is excellent; there’s just enough to cover everything and have a little left over. It’s also the most expensive item on this list, but rightfully so.
Lean Cuisine - $2.79
From the “diet entrée” section, this is actually very good. Plenty of noodles and big meatballs, and there’s not too much sauce. Nice flavor and texture; a pleasant surprise from a “diet” meal. I always stock up on Lean Cuisine entrees when they’re on sale; they’re yummy and better for you than Stouffer’s – always a good combination. :)
Smart Ones - $2.49
Smart Ones is essentially the same type of frozen meal as Lean Cuisine (ie, less calories, fat, sodium, etc.) but just a little bit cheaper. This isn’t too bad, but it’s not nearly as good as the previous two. I particularly didn’t like the taste of the sauce; it’s made from sour cream so a bit of sourness is actually expected, but – and I don’t know how they did this – it’s actually too sour with not enough cream. Bleah.
Banquet - $1.00
Yech. The only good thing I can say about this is I liked the meatballs. They were decent-sized and tasty, and the noodles were fine, but the sauce was just gross; it was like tan-colored sour water. Stirring everything together actually made it worse (the noodles would have been fine by themselves), and no amount of salt and pepper could revive it enough for me to finish. I ate the meatballs and threw the rest out. Other items by Banquet are much better (they’ll be discussed in the next installment), but this one didn’t even justify the one dollar price tag. :p
Boston Market - $3.29
Stouffer’s has some serious competition here! This is equally good but has slightly more sauce in it, and the meatballs are ginormous. An extra plus is the size of the entire package – it’s easily twice the size of every other meal on this list, and costs less than Stouffer’s to boot! The downside is that with twice the portion size, you also get twice the calories, etc. For the price/portion ratio it’s a great value, but I can get three completely separate meals for the same price that won’t have to be heated all at once and then divvied up. If you’re looking for one really good, very filling meal for less than $5, this is definitely at the top of the list.
Hormel Compleats (boxed, not frozen) - $2.65
One word: sauce. This is pretty much the same thing as a canned meal, but without the can. As such, it’s got a TON of sauce in it, literally drowning out the noodles and meatballs. The noodles are small, overcooked and kind of mushy, plus the meatballs are also small and kind of bland. It’s not bad flavor-wise, but for the price it has way too much liquid that would go to waste unless you had a hunk of bread to mop it up.