BLADAM 2.0[?]: Life, Liberty, Love and Stuff
DISCLAIMER: This is my personal blog. The blatherings here aren't (necessarily) the views of the current company I work for, companies I've previously blessed with my presence, my loving parents, the Illuminati, or anyone other than me, me, me!

“Eating Right” is Eating Wrong… and other nutritional tidbits


Not sure how many of you have the Safeway supermarket chain where you live, but for those who do, here's a major warning: Stear clear of their store brand "Eating Right" frozen dinners.
- They taste simply awful.
- They have a ton of crap in them nutritionally that make them anything but "Right" for your body.

And regardless of what supermarkets you have, let me offer you a short and pretty solid list of what you should look for when food shopping:
  • Partially-hydrogenated oils, as I've explained here, are evil.

  • If the product contains lots and lots of items you can't pronounce, that should tell you something.

  • Got a ton of salt (>700mg per serving)? That also shows a lack of creative seasoning.

  • Cottonseed oil? No health-conscious companies use that anymore. It's horrible for you!

  • Lots of saturated fat? Not good.

  • Tons of sugar? Your body isn't going to be happy for long.
  • Little or no fiber? You may enjoy the food while you eat it, but it's not going to keep you full for long!


These wisdom-bits above are admittedly likely old-hat for many of you, and in case you're curious, they're pretty non-controversial hints from reputable sources like Nutrition Action Newsletter and Harvard Medical School Letter and so on.

And let's face it -- most of us DO know when we're eating something good (whole wheat bread, broccoli, oranges, etc.) and when we're not (Ben & Jerry's, Triple-cheese pepperoni pizza, and so on). Our goal, IMHO, should not be to eliminate the 'evil' in our food per se, but to balance it out with a lot more of the good stuff.

Since I'm striving to lose 15 pounds and have more energy each day, I'll use this blog entry as a public reminder to myself :D. Hope it's helpful for you, too.

Oh, and hopefully some consumer watchdog group tweaks the hell out of the disingenuous jerks marketing the disgusting "Eating Right" brand. Yuck! Just don't ask me why I bought two of those dishes in the first place. :O
 

- Blathered by Adam on Sunday, January 30, 2005 at 14:30 [ Permalink | Trackback ]
- Filed under Happy bodyFood and nutrition
- Commented on by 86 folks so far. Scroll down and see for yourself (and join in the conversation!)


I think they taste good, but maybe cuz I’m high?? I don’t know, but I thought they tasted aight.

- Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 at 8:58 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I dunno...I just ate the roasted turkey one and thought it was the best of its kind I’ve eaten.  The comparable one in lean cuisine is inedible.  I’ll probably eat it again in fact just based on that.

Sodium IS high, but *sigh* most frozen meals are in the 600-800 range, so that’s not too surprising.

Thanks for the heads up on some of the other ingredients though.  Mine doesn’t list cottonseed oil—didn’t know that was bad though.  Why is it?

- Posted on Tuesday, May 1, 2007 at 10:08 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I actually LOVE the new “Eating Right” meals.  Especially the shrimp version.  Much better than any of the other (numerous) brands I’ve tried.

- Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 at 0:53 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I think the Eating Right frozen dinners are great!  They have lower sodium than all of the other brands I’ve compared them too.  It’s still high, but hey, that’s what you get when you eat prepackaged food.  And they taste MUCH better than their counterparts in lean cuisine.

- Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 at 9:29 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I gotta disagree. These are some of the healthiest, best tasting meals I’ve found.

- Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 13:20 [ Permalink to this comment ]

What the heck?  Did Safeway’s PR company suddenly discover my post or something?  All comments on an old entry posted within 2 weeks of each other, none of them with URLs, all from the U.S… forgive me for perhaps having B.S.-meter paranoia, but something smells fishy here wink

- Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 13:44 [ Permalink to this comment ]

no url because I don’t have a blog *L*

Adam, I think you may have google’s indexing to blame for all the comments, at least in my case.  Safeways are just starting to stock these meals en masse in a lot more locations and when I did a google search for “eating right” this was one of the first hits that came up.

- Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 13:58 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Heh, Zag-geek, yours actually sounded a bit less suspicious anyway.  But yep, funny you should mention it… I did just do a Google search for safeway eating right and noticed that my blog entry comes up first.  Wow, they’re gonna love me as much as Etrade does rasberry.

- Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 14:23 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Yeah, well after further experiments with these meals, I’ve pretty much decided the quality varies widely.

A lot of their saucier meals are truly not good either in my opinion, but some of the others (again, the roasted turkey comes to mind as my favorite) are not half bad.

As for bad things in them...*L* well, um, I have yet to see many frozen entrees that don’t have some crap in them, though I do like Kashi as fairly healthy.

I’m on a weight loss plan myself where I’m trying to eat foods with only exact calorie counts/nutrition info and then tracking it at http://www.calorie-count.com.  Sadly, frozen entrees are usually some of the easiest to keep track of, high sodium or not.

Anyway, that’s what you get for having a blog...some posts will just be belatedly popular and proceed to spam you with comments.  I highly doubt this one will be THAT controversial though.

- Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2007 at 15:37 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I found your post when looking “eating right” meals up via google as well so somehow they must have caught your blog in a recent crawl.

I actually really like the eating right meals.  I am vegetarian and finding decent frozen veggie meals is a nightmare unless you want to pay $5 and higher for Amy’s or one of the organic brands.  I know there are obvious downsides to frozen meals, but for what they are, the Eating Right brand is better than a lot of the other options.

- Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 9:51 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Hi Adam, I found this blog via a Google search for “eating right” dinners. My local Dominick’s store just started carrying them, and I purchased five separate ones to give them a try. I carefully compared the mainstays such as Fat, Sodium, Carbs, Sugars, etc. and found them lower in fat and sodium than most other comparable “healthy” dinners. They are much cheaper as well - and the one dinner I have tried so far was excellent!! I tried the “Five Grain Beef & Vegetables”—290 Calories (45 cal. from fat), Total Fat 5g; Chol 20mg; Sodium 390mg; Carb 45g (only 15% of total daily); sugar 6g; protein 15g.  I don’t think I recall ever seeing a frozen dinner with as low sodium as this one.  The taste was awesome, and I will definitely be purchasing more of these.  The other 4 I will be trying this week are Glazed Chicken, Chicken w/Basil Cream Sauce, Lasagna w/Meat Sauce, and Chicken w/Peanut Sauce.  If I think of it, I’ll give you another update at the end of the week trial. wink

Dayna

- Posted on Monday, June 4, 2007 at 9:54 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Good to know about their frozen meals.
While I was visitng the US, I bought the Eating Right instant Soups. They were by far the best and healthiest I’ve tried compared to the other instant brands.  I tried the Potato and Roasted Garlic (I think that was the name) Potage.  It was rich and creamy, and had very few calories from fat.  The Tomato Basil Pasta Soup was hearty and filling.  Since I bought them, I have lost 3 pounds in a few days. I am planning on driving across the border again just so I can buy some more for my work meals!

- Posted on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 11:31 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I have only tried Eating Right Turkey with dressing. It was the best frozen turkey entree I have ever tasted. I plan to try some of the other ones to see if they are as good.

It seems to me that, while you didn’t like the brand, you are way outnumbered by those who did. grin

- Posted on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 18:34 [ Permalink to this comment ]

However...after examining the package I have second thoughts. It is clearly labeled “No Trans Fats” - yet in the ingredients list it states “partially hydrogenated soybean or cottonseed oil” which is clearly trans fats. Perhaps the amount is insignificant but it is very misleading. I bought the product based on the NTF labeling and I didn’t search the ingredients.

I guess you can’t trust anyone.  rolleyes

- Posted on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 18:58 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I found your blog when doing a google search of Eating Right brand...so far I like the meals.  I have had some really tasty ones, and believe me I know from frozen meals...I track all calories/ nutritional stats etc on Fit Day, and eat alot of frozen meals to get through lunch hour.

- Posted on Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 8:28 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I think the reason for all the recent comments is that they’ve added a whole bunch of new products recently--I don’t if anyone has mentioned this to you yet.  So far, I like them.  I usually don’t eat a lot of frozen meals but it’s finals week and I’ve found their vegetarian masala to be pretty tasty.

And no, I don’t work for Safeway! Like everyone else, I found this on a google search to try and find some calorie info.

- Posted on Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 18:35 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I too have tried the Eating Right entrees as well as the cereal.  They have been VERY tasty in my opinion.  I was following Jenny Craig, but the food was way too expensive.  I compared their ingredients, calories, fat, etc. to the Eating Right entrees and they were very much on the same page.  I bought a week’s worth of food for $35 compared to $120 a week on JC.  For me, the frozen food route works best when trying to lose weight because the portions are controlled and it is so much easier to cook.  I have tried Lean Cuisines, Health Choice, and the JC food.  Eating Right is actually better!  No, I don’t work for Safeway, your blog comes up first in a Google search.

- Posted on Friday, June 8, 2007 at 16:59 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Hey everyone,
I bought 30 Eating Right frozen entrees yesterday from Safeway and I was surprised to find that they tasted so delicious!  I’ve tried Healthy Choice and Smart Ones in the past and I was never as satisfied and full as I am with Eating Right.  So far I’ve tried the Pineapple Black Bean Chicken, Santa Fe Style Rice and Beans, and the Linguine Shrimp.  They all tasted great.  The food is very flavorful too. I recommend this product to everyone. Sorry you didn’t enjoy this brand as much as I did, Adam =)

- Posted on Friday, June 8, 2007 at 17:53 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I have been keeping an eye, and am glad to see more good responses to this line of product!  I made a special trip to Safeway just to get a load of these things, and my first entree was NOT dissappointing!  I just had the roasted turkey with carrots.  The dressing was really good, and I found a nice touch with tiny raisins in there!  Very tasty. Two things that could have been better:  the could have gotten more carrots in there, and I wish they were separated like the healthy-choice does.  But, that’s OK.  lots of protien, lean on the fat, and my tummy’s full. I feel like I had a treat for lunch. I bought some of the other varieties, and just cannot wait for lunches to try them all out!  So far, I have lost 3 pounds just going with the frozen entree for lunch instead of the cafeteria.

- Posted on Saturday, June 9, 2007 at 13:58 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I just bought the Eating Smart brand for the first time as well.  I’ve had the Chicken w/Basil cream sauce and must say that it was very good.  I eat frozen meals for lunch for the convenience and cost and these were definitely worth the money.  wink

- Posted on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 12:00 [ Permalink to this comment ]

While some of the Eating Right meals were good, some required additional salting!  And the mac and cheese made my tummy bubble for a few hours (not good!) The sodium is not surprise, but the partially hydrogenated oil was disappointing to discover.  That isn’t “eating right” to me.

Also, no one should believe the Nutrtion Facts at face value.  It has been widely advised to always read the list of ingredients to find “hidden” trans fats.  If you eat a few things a day that contain less than 1/2 gram trans fat, it adds up.

I think all brands have been hit-or-miss with particular meals.  Here are my personal favorites:

Healthy Choice: Chicken margherita (YUM), Beef tips portobello, Chicken fettucini, Meatloaf, and Baja Chicken.
Lean Cuisine: BBQ Chicken pizza, Cali-chicken panini, some spa-cuisines aren’t bad.
Smart Ones: Chocolate chip cookie sundae, strawberry shortcake, Santa Fe Rice and Beans.

- Posted on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 11:15 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Anyone else think it’s retarded that less than 1/2 gram trans fat doesn’t have to be acknowledged?  I think the rule should be ANY amount, even if it is 0.000001 grams, should be labeled on the front of the package so we don’t have to look for anything.

- Posted on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 11:22 [ Permalink to this comment ]

hey Adam, i think you may have made a judgment of the eating right entrees after just trying out one or two. they have about 18 different ones.  though i am yet to find even one store with more than ten on sale. their veggie masala is the best.  so is the meatloaf. i do agree that some of the entrees are awful.  the dry soups are good even if you have them cold.

- Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 at 10:42 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Found this site searching more information on the Eating Right brand. Just goes to show that anyone can blog about anything they want to - whether they know about the subject or not. As a former Lean Cuisine eater - I am thrilled with the new Safeway Eating Right entrees. For the record, I don’t have 15 pounds to lose - just want to be healthy. Regarding the entrees, I would agree with most of the posters of their good taste and nutritional value - and I have to say that if you want to eat right, macaroni & cheese isn’t a good choice, no matter how healthy you think it is - so that posting is hardly credible.

- Posted on Monday, June 18, 2007 at 14:28 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I was just telling one of my co-workers that these are the best frozen meals I have ever tasted.  The turkey one is awesome and the spaghetti wasn’t bad at all.  I expected bland but not at all. They are good.

- Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 11:35 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I like the entrees. I’ve tried more than 5 different onces, and I’m pretty happy.  HOWEVER, today I’m eating The Lemongrass Chicken.  It contains 13% Cholesterol!! I immediately went to the company freezer and flipped over other frozen dinners from Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice.  Sadly, Eating Right was the highest. Is anyone else worried about the amount of Cholesterol the meals contain??

- Posted on Thursday, June 21, 2007 at 9:01 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I have tried several of the “eating right” meals and have totally enjoyed them.  Being vegetarian it is very hard to find something with a reasonable price tag that meets the requirements.  Yes they are a little high in sodium but so are most frozen meals. I have also used several of the dressings those are also really good.  Maybe you should try a few more to get an overall opinion?  You may have tried the “not so tasty” ones first and got a really bad first impression.

- Posted on Monday, June 25, 2007 at 16:39 [ Permalink to this comment ]

surprised

- Posted on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at 20:16 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Did anyone notice that each food has a special “dot” on the front that indicates what is “healthy” about it.

It will say something like “High in fiber” or “Low fat” or whatever.

I like being able to glance at the box and see what matters most to me.

I have tried several of these and I like them very much. I will continue to try the new flavors as much as I can. I usually have them for lunch. With the help of these I have lost 4lbs in the last 3 weeks!

Sorry to disagree with the blog host but there you have my 2cents worth.

LisaAnn

- Posted on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at 20:20 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Hi,

I found this blog by google searching “eating right frozen dinners.” I’m somewhat suspicious of them being a Safeway brand, as most of safeway brand items are not nutritious.  However, I had a coupon and they offer some interesting food choices, so I decided to give them a try. 

I’m having the Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce for lunch today and I think it’s delicious. But it’s actually too much pasta for one serving in my opinion.  But very flavorful. 

I have also had the Chicken Enchilada and Sweet and sour chicken and both were pretty good. So far they spaghetti is my favorite as far as taste.

I will keep checking this blog for further nutritional info though because I am doing the Alli low-fat diet and want to make sure these meals comply with it. When I looked at the box some of the meals were very low in fat grams, while others weren’t.

Thanks to everyone for your posts and to Adam for creating this blog page smile

- Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2007 at 11:09 [ Permalink to this comment ]

My goodness!  Of all the crazy things I’ve written on this blog… of attending a camp for swingers… joining Google… a date with a supermodel… detailed and passionate thoughts about the music industry…

...who woulda thunk that it’d be my entree, er, entry on Safeway Frozen Dinners that’d be so wildly popular rasberry

- Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2007 at 11:11 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I’ve always disliked the Safeway brand of frozen meals.  I didn’t know Eating Right was affiliated w/ Safeway; I bought them there when they were having a sale.  I was surprised by the taste.  I was googling to send the company kudos when I came across your opinion.  Eating Right is the best tasting I’ve had in the ‘healthier option’ frozen entree arena.

- Posted on Friday, July 6, 2007 at 8:42 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I bought 5 eating right meals today and had the shrimp one. For the first time, I actually enjoyed a frozen meal.

A lot of things are horrible for you, but sometimes you just have to see whats least horrible for you. I don’t plan to eat these everyday, just one days where I am too tired to make something and the alternative would be something unhealthier.

- Posted on Saturday, July 7, 2007 at 16:05 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Yep, I googled my way here, looking for someone to tell how freaking good the Pineapple Black Bean Chicken one is… and only 6 points… (I’m on Weight Watchers)

Portion control is handy… and who has time during the day… its easy, its good… yay!

- Posted on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 at 11:31 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I am a huge fan of the lasagna and ravioli’s. I havent tried any of the other frozen meals, but I find these two to be quite fabulous and more filling/have larger portions then lean cuisine/smart ones/other lower calorie frozen meals.

- Posted on Friday, July 13, 2007 at 13:58 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Hello,i’ve tried several of the “eating right” entrees and the soduim is about 1/2 amount in other frozen entrees.  They TASTE WONDERFUL.
One thing though, they buse alot of garlic powder and it made me fart just awful.  /it was the lonf wet sounding farts and my husband kicked me out of bed.  The others made me happy to eat them.  No eattie the chicken mushroom fettichini anymore or i will end up sleeping in the garage.

- Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 11:28 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I just tried my first one of these as well and loved it.  I picked up 5 last night at Safeway for $10 and don’t regret it.  Not to mention I don’t really see how unhealthy the Five-Grain Chicken with Plum Sauce one is.

190mg of sodium is not bad.  Not great, but its far from horrid. 

In addition, I also was looking for the company via Yahoo search and found your blog first.  smile

- Posted on Thursday, July 19, 2007 at 12:24 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I wanted to warn your bloggers about Eat Right TV dinners.  I got very sick on one--the mushroom was very bad and I ended in E.R.  The Store manager was irrate when I brought it back.  Threaten to send police after me--tried to walk me to my car and I just left the lot and called my husband.  It was one of the beef ones.

- Posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 19:22 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I had never heard of this brand until yesterday when I came across a sale and purchased one just to try it out. It was also a mushroom dish, and the reason I am commenting is because of the other illness. I actually got pretty ill after eating that TV dinner and, while it tasted quite wonderful, I wasn’t able to eat until 24 hours later!!!

- Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 at 18:06 [ Permalink to this comment ]

These are the best meals.  Maybe you have bad taste buds....the spaghetti is amazing and the meatloaf is awesome.

- Posted on Saturday, August 4, 2007 at 21:34 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I too am here because of Google.

I bought the basil cream sauce chicken meal at Safeway, and was looking to see what brand it was. I didn’t know it was a Safeway brand (thanks for blogging about it, hehe). This flavor is the only one I’ve eaten, and I am suprised by how tasty it is.

I’m really picky.. not a good thing when you’re trying to eat healthy. I bounce back and forth between Smart Ones and Healthy Choice meals. Why does everyone have to put mushrooms in everything?

- Posted on Monday, August 6, 2007 at 20:44 [ Permalink to this comment ]

They aren’t too bad if you need to grab something on the run. It may not be the best thing in the world for you, that’s a given. But still, they don’t taste awful.

I like the Vegetarian Masala

- Posted on Wednesday, August 8, 2007 at 6:13 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Have to agree with the other posters.  Compared to other frozen meals, these are at the top in terms of flavor, value and nutrition.  They are on sale frequently.  The meatloaf and chicken enchiladas are actually filling and have less than 500 calories for the box.  I also recommend the chicken chow mein, although it has 750 calories for a bag (just use 1/2 sauce and noodles to lower).

- Posted on Friday, August 10, 2007 at 13:24 [ Permalink to this comment ]

The Chicken Poblano is awesome!  What is wrong with you?

- Posted on Sunday, August 12, 2007 at 19:28 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I didn’t quit eatting the Eat Right meals, but I did want to warn folks that if the mushroom tastes bad, stop there.  Overland foods called me and had me record what happened.  I was eatting the beef and five grain meal and believe me they wanted to know if i was going to sue.  I said no,but wanted my returned meal checked to make sure no child was hurt by a similar meal. Social Conscious is sometimes needed even if it makes a person unpopular for the minute., Overland foods handles Safeway Eat Right TV dinners.  I bought other TV dinners and they tasted okay.  I am not a picky eatter

- Posted on Sunday, August 12, 2007 at 21:15 [ Permalink to this comment ]

You went to a camp for swingers?

Where was it?

What did you do?

How long did you stay?

- Posted on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 21:13 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Er, Cheryl, I think you’re looking for this entry:
My experience at a camp for swingersgrin

- Posted on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 21:25 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Hey, thanks for the commentary, but I gotta say, I LOVE the “Eating Right” brand.

I eat a frozen one for lunch virtually every work-day and with only rare exception, I find they are delicious and fit well with my doctor advised diet.  Yes, the sodium tends to run a bit high, but compare the quality (taste) of food, variety of choices and portion size to, say, Lean Cuisine, and you will invariably get more and better tasting food with much better over-all nutrition.  Granted, this ‘extra’ amount of food may be more rice or veggies, but I -welcome- that, and have never felt stinted in the amount of meat or fish included.

Because of the great success I’ve enjoyed with the frozen lunches, I have recently expanded my pantry to include more “Eating Right” products.  So far, the cereal bars, rice, oatmeal and frozen waffles all taste great and are not out of line for nutrition for for those items.  Again, perhaps a little more sodium, here and there, than I’d prefer, but not ‘diet-busting’.

I applaud the move in to other foods because it helps ensure that the ingredients and portions listed are comparable and fairly static, and so far, quality seems to be fairly universal; if one product tastes good, the others probably do too.  My husband and I are going to sample our first ‘Eating Right for Two’ (slightly larger than double portion meal) for dinner this week.

Eating Right meals also tend to run a bit less expensive than non-sale prices for “brand name” foods like Lean Cuisine.  smile

- Posted on Monday, September 10, 2007 at 13:05 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I just googled “eating right safeway” and came up with your blog..i was actually looking for an “eating right” website so that i could complain to the source! 

I can’t beLIEVE how much sugar they add to their things.  the “fruit bars” may be low in fat, because they’re made mainly of sugar!  and the frozen yogurt is almost good, but it could be great if they reduced the sweetness by half!  just because we want low fat choices doesn’t mean that they have to be killer sweet!  I agree that “eating right” is in fact “eating wrong” - another misleading marketing scheme to rake in the cash...it’s actually really sad to me that some of these things are on the shelves under the guise of being healthy.  oh oh

- Posted on Friday, September 14, 2007 at 9:25 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I’ve been eating these entrees as well, and so far have loved them all.  I don’t eat them daily, only when my time is limited.  I agree with other posters, the spaghetti is really yummy, and the portion is more than enough to satisfy.  And the pineapple black bean chicken is SO good!

My husband and I just had the waffles this morning, and they’re just as good as buying a name brand frozen waffle, though they were quite high in fat and low in fiber for a multigrain waffle.

- Posted on Sunday, September 16, 2007 at 10:26 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Overland foods in California has something to do with the “eat right” Safeway brand.  If you want more real food and less sugar I will hunt up address.  They did write me back when i contacted them. I plan to write again as i want to know if the contents of the packages are USA foods.  I am trying to buy USA foods and foods grown in the USA and up here in Olympia, Wa this is getting to be a hard thing to do.  Our Tomatoes are coming from Canada unless we go to Farmers Market in Olympia.  The Super markets don’t carry tomatoes from Yakima or local Tomatoes.

- Posted on Sunday, September 16, 2007 at 14:04 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I have been eating these for lunch for awhile. They all taste great, especially better than other frozen meals, and this is coming from someone who cooks tons of meditteranean and asian foods from scratch, which require lots of different spices and seasonings. I had the Vegetarian Masala yesterday and it tasted great, also was high in fiber.

- Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 8:25 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Crazy—doesn’t anyone consider steamed veg’s with salt and rice a full meal? After a lifetime of crap I find it very satisfying to be unsatisfied --- well, anyways:
I bought their bread “Ancient Grains” - I liked the name, but it was a bit too sweet for me. I liked the other kind of bread I bought, but forgot the name. The only thing—they have these dots, I can’t figure them out. They’re color-coded, but what if their package printer does a poor job on the color quality? I can’t figure out if I’m “Soy Protein” or “Low Cholesterol”. And it’s got a big red one for “Omega-3”. But hey, I was looking for the cholesterol info.
I think they’re doing a great job, and I hope they have started a trend that continues. But I just can’t figure out the colors!!! Hopefully a savvy company crawler is monitoring your blog—it’s still one of the first on google.

- Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 20:22 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I Havent yet tried the Eating right meals yet, but i’ve been eating Healthy Choice for lunch and dinner for the past 3 weeks, personally i need to lose 100 pounds but i have already lost 10 pounds in the last 3 weeks so i guess its down to 90 now , I just have cereal and 1% milk for breakfast a frozen meal for lunch with green beans and tomatoes a larger calorie meal for dinner with the beans and tomatoes and a piece of moderately natural sugar fruit i.e no bananas
and the weight is just melting off p.s i also started exercising for a good 30-45 minutes daily at a slow/powerwalking speed . It works for me because i am 100% committed to losing all the weight no matter how hard it gets.But i’m definitely going to check the eating right meals soon since they are pretty affordable right now.

- Posted on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at 13:26 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Hi Adam, nice post...If some people could give some shit to eat to other people, just to win more money, they would....I guess, some do it !

obagi blender skin care

- Posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 4:19 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I like Eating Right too! It taste so much better than the leading brand (like lean lean cuisine). I had the vegetarian masala today for lunch and I thought it was great! I was so happy to get something different than chicken or pasta - it had an indian flare, all I needed was some naan and it would have been perfect!

- Posted on Friday, October 19, 2007 at 14:59 [ Permalink to this comment ]

To the last person - personally I say ew when comparing Eating Right to Lean Cuisine...LC is so much tastier!  And generally lower calorie too.  But that’s a matter of taste I understand and the rice/pasta comment is true…

But if you want to try something else try Amy’s Vegetarian meals or Kashi Nine Grains.

- Posted on Friday, October 19, 2007 at 15:29 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I just wanted to tell Samira21 that I support her in her diet and I have used her clues of green beans and tomatoes to lose 10 lbs also. You just can’t live totally on TV dinners.  For one thing the low calorie and salt ones don’t fill your up.  Be sure to get some calcium and vit D or your bones will fall apart eating a lot of commercially packaged food.  Let us know how you are doing.  sickolympian

- Posted on Friday, October 19, 2007 at 19:07 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Isn’t it amazing how ol’ Al’s “Super Information Highway” works at times??  wink

I Googled “Eating Right entrees” to try to find a list of the various entrees available so I could specify which flavors to buy on my shopping list (for my daughter to do the shopping). I’ve had 5 different “Eating Right” entrees and found them to be delicious and proportionally perfect for me. It appears that having an opinion (and taste buds)that defer from the norm, in this case, turned out to be a real attention-getting means of individuality!

- Posted on Sunday, December 9, 2007 at 21:08 [ Permalink to this comment ]

tongue rolleye I googled “eating right” to see the variety they had. Vons just recently started carrying them, in my area at least. I tried the chese quesadillas, And I think they are pretty good for frozen low cal food.

- Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 14:20 [ Permalink to this comment ]

OMG - I just tried their Vegetarian Breakfast Patties, in hopes of finding a cheaper alternative to MorningStar Farms. Terrible! Inedible! Don’t know how I choked down one bite. Even my cats won’t go near them. So, so, so bad! Guess I’ll shell out the extra $$$ for the real thing next time. Just sad that $4.00 and 10 patties are now going in the trash.

- Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 21:09 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Gotta add to the list…

I think they are great… and nearly all meals are only 6 points on the Weight Watchers scale…

- Posted on Wednesday, January 2, 2008 at 15:07 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Cottonseed oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the cotton plant after the cotton lint has been removed. It must be refined to remove gossypol, a naturally occurring toxin that protects the cotton plant from insect damage. Unrefined cottonseed oil is therefore sometimes used as a pesticide. In its natural unhydrogenated state cottonseed oil, like all vegetable oils, has no cholesterol. It also contains no trans fatty acids. However, it does contain over 50% Omega-6 fatty acids and only trace amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids, and the imbalance is considered unhealthy if not used in moderation or balanced elsewhere in the diet. Further, these polyunsaturated fats can potentially go rancid during the extraction process.

Some consumers are wary of cottonseed oil because cotton crops are one of the most chemically-intensive crops grown in the U.S. Many chemicals approved for use on cotton are not approved for use on food-based crops. Cotton field leftovers, or gin trash, is frequently fed to cattle.

Cottonseed oil is rich in palmitic acid (22-26%), oleic acid (15-20%), linoleic acid (49-58%) and 10% mixture of arachidic acid, behenic acid and lignoceric acid. It also contains about 1% sterculic acids and malvalic acids in the crude oil. The cyclopropene acids are undesirable components, but they are largely removed during refining, particularly deodorization, and also during hydrogenation. They are not considered to present any health hazard in cottonseed oil.

Cottonseed oil is commonly used in manufacturing potato chips and other snack foods. Along with soybean oil, it is very often partially or fully hydrogenated. The growing consensus is that in hydrogenated (trans fat) form these oils are very unhealthy. Cottonseed oil was the first oil to be hydrogenated in mass production, originally intended for candle production, and soon also as a food (as Crisco). In part because regulations apply differently to non-food crops, it has also been suggested that cottonseed oil may be highly contaminated with pesticide residues, but insufficient testing has been done.[citation needed]

Cotton (oil) is also one of the big four (soy, corn, rapeseed/Canola,[1] and cotton) genetically modified crops grown around the world.

- Posted on Sunday, January 6, 2008 at 14:25 [ Permalink to this comment ]

There are only a couple of these meals that dont have the cottonseed oil.  I don’t recommend anyone eating the ones that do.  A little trans fat is not going to hurt you with a litte bit of exercise and continual healthy eating, but if you have health problems relating to heart or cholestrol it is better to just stay away from them.
I did try the Salisbury Steak and Mac and it tasted fine.  It was very high in protein which is what I am looking for and low in fat.  I try to keep track of my calorie, fat and protein intake on http://www.fitday.com with whatever I eat.

- Posted on Sunday, January 6, 2008 at 14:33 [ Permalink to this comment ]

A couple of comments: the sesame chicken is very sweet, and it is not sugar, it is worse ingredient: high fructose corn syrup, which is nasty. The ingredients are printed on the side of the box with the tab that you rip off to get to the tray, which i threw into the trash and can’t review the rest of the ingredients. This must be another ploy: hide the ingredients on the part that you throw away first! Eating Wrong! Not buying this again.

- Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 13:47 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Just took a look at the ingredients in their cereals; High Fructose Corn Syrup is NOT eating right. Hydrogenated soy oil is NOT eating right. It does not matter what colors you put on the box and how many happy people you have on the box, HFCS is poison and poison is NOT eating right.

- Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 at 23:06 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Just noticed that there’s a safeway’s web site about eating wrong ... er right ... but there is no place to leave a comment about what makes their products “right”. I hope Safeways is reading this!

- Posted on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 14:02 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I bought a few of these the other day and I think they taste as good if not better than the rest of the lo-cal brands out there.

I work in a store for eight hours straight so I have to brown bag it.

As far as how nutritious they are, who knows.  I’m not completely paranoid about food, but I try to eat as healthy as possible.  In my opinion, there’s far worse out there than these dinners.

- Posted on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 15:33 [ Permalink to this comment ]

SUCRALOSE is eating wrong. READ LABELS.

my wife recently purchased CANNED PEACHES by EATING RIGHT. i was curious because i don’t trust food products with TITLES that claim they are “right,” proper or appropriate for eating.

Well i was right, i checked the ingredients and low and behold, the “no sugar added” peaches actually has SUCRALOSE (splenda, an artificial sweetener) in it. it has been approved by the FDA, but like other no-sugar-sweeteners it has been known to cause BRAIN TUMORS and can cause symptoms that mimic M.S. (Multiple Sclerosis). Paraesthesia, or partial numbness, of one side of the body is the common symptom from DIET POP/SODA drinkers which contain ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS.

MORAL: Read labels, research unknown ingredients, find reputable sources, and share reputable research from independent (unbiased) researchers (not from .com sites)

**you can do this by searching “peer reviewed” or “scholarly” journals and use the operator -com to eliminate .com sites from your search (as .com sites are funded by biased companies).

do you enjoy (splenda can cause): Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40% shrinkage), enlarged liver and kidneys, atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus, reduced growth rate, decreased red blood cell count, hyperplasia of the pelvis, extension of the pregnancy period , aborted pregnancy, decreased fetal body weights and placental weights and chronic diarrhea?

- Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 at 9:56 [ Permalink to this comment ]

So....also found on Google - I was wondering if Eating Right was just another branding of Lean Cuisine - Tried the Sesame Chicken - okay, but the cause was a little sweet.  Not great, but not bad enough that I won’t try another....well, at least the other I have in my freezer.  Not a frozen dinner person, but I think I’ll even try buy the turkey since so many people have raved about it. 

Now to find out if the one I just has is already in fitday’s catalog.

- Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 at 18:07 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Didn’t read the label when I bought it. My bad. While it was in the microwave, I read the ingredients. You know what Michael Pollan says: more than five ingredients, things you can’t pronounce...and what Dr. Oz says: no High Fructose Corn Syrup, no hydrogenated fats...well the Plum Chicken tasted OK but failed both these tests. Granted, the first five ingredients were chicken, brown rice, carrots, italian cut green beans, and some other actual food item, but then we had a long list of “not food” and “not pronounceable” and we even had HCFS and hydrogenated fats. And as Pollan says - if it makes health claims, it is probably lying. Now we all know that a little bit of anything won’t hurt us, but if we don’t have to have it, why should we? I can find frozen meals that don’t have anything but actual food and if they cost a bit more...well, heck...it is your HEALTH we are talking about. Eating truly right is not cheap. If you are worried about cost, just eat lots and lots of junk food. Very cheap. Or just skip the Starbucks..and buy actually healthy food with what you save.

- Posted on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 15:20 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I bought 5 of the Eating Right dinners because they were on sale.  I was really impressed with the chicken in the meals.  When I eat the Lean Cusine brands I constantly find myself throwing out the chicken because it has so many nasty fat chunks.

I really really liked the meals I have tried so far.  As far as all of the bad ingredients in them?  I figure it is much better than driving through Taco Bell or Jack in the Box and paying $7 bucks for a 1500 calorie meal.

- Posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 11:56 [ Permalink to this comment ]

OMG, adam.

I googled “safeway eating right” to see if i can get the nutritional information on all the frozen entrees and found you.  random.  smile but it seems that everyone else found you too.  i just happen to know you!

I’ve been eating these for lunch with a yogurt and a banana because how else can you eat hot lunch without having to prepare anything for about $2.50?  but I also have high blood pressure and a weak lower intestine so i watch my salt and this “five-grain chicken with plum sauce” that i just ate has 190mg of sodium and 5g of dietary fiber.

i usually get a stack of these for lunch for the week but i only got this on last time because all the others have way more sodium and i was getting tired standing at the freezer looking at sodium content.

anyway, i’m trying to cook more of my meals myself but it’s hard, you know.  there’s swing dancing to be done.  smile

i haven’t seen you out recently but i’ll sign off “see you on the floor” anyway…
ack

- Posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 12:39 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I just wanted to add my two cents. I love the Eating Right meals. Out of all the frozen dinners in the grocery freezers - these are the best and healthiest ones I’ve ever tasted.

- Posted on Monday, February 4, 2008 at 10:17 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Hey, I searched safeway eating right frozen meals, and came across this page. They may be bad, but dang if I dont love these meals, I have lost 15lbs eating them for lunch and dinner and taking the alli pill. I add a gigantic green salad at night and call it a day, go to bed full and feel like I ate something yummy. IM going to drop another 5 lbs on these meals. The best I have tasted, so much better than smart ones!

- Posted on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at 14:52 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I too found your site by googling “eating right dinners” after having the pineapple black bean chicken which was delicious.  I’ve been eating either WW Smart or Lean Cusine for lunch at work for some months and the last 2 days have had Eating Right and they are, by far, the best I have eaten.  I will buy more.  Would it be better if I cooked something fresh, sure, but I wouldn’t.  If I don’t buy the frozen entres, I go out and we know how bad that is.

- Posted on Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 13:16 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I have been eating the Safeway brand eating right and I think that it tastes sooooooo good!!!  They have so many different products and it is really reasonably priced...I have been using them for 2 weeks and I have already lost 10 pounds!! I have recommended their line to everyone.  I love Eating Right.

- Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 16:12 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I am acutally kind of in love with Eating Right. I have had a lot of the options and have been pleasently surprised by each of them. My top two favorites: Butternut Squash Ravioli and Pinapple Black Bean Chicken but I think the Masala comes in a close third. One last thing is that the beans and rice is a great thing to grab before your go out for a night of partying.

Has anyone tried their Flax seed crackers?? they are GOOD!

- Posted on Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 11:37 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I just tried the Veggie breakfast links, which are basically fake sausage.
This is the first time I’ve ever had vegetarian “links” and I gotta say - they were GOOD! Sodium 190, so about the same as real sausage, but less fat and calories. And no HFCS or transfats (I checked after reading all these posts!).
I’ll buy them again.

- Posted on Monday, March 3, 2008 at 20:56 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Picked up (thankfully only) two cans of the Eating Right soup, only to get home and discover they both contain HFCS.  Silly me!  I’m a stickler for that stuff.  Now I’m’ debating - throw away the two cans, or donate them to the food bank?  I will definitely be much more careful from now on.

- Posted on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 14:10 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Found ya on google. Eating Right/Wrong has become a staple for me for lunch. Better tasting than most LC/Fat Ones/Filthy Choice meals! Faves are Lasagna w Meat Sauce, Butternut Squash Ravioli, Lemongrass Chicken and the Mac n Cheese!
The Chicken with Plum is disgusting and the Pineapple Black Bean is totally gross. I haven’t read the ingredients cuz I KNOW they are full of crap, all frozen meals are. But for a cheap, easy lunch, it’s prolly better than McDonalds..

- Posted on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 11:22 [ Permalink to this comment ]

You might be the best ad for Eating Right ever.  You don’t like them but almost everyone else does, including me.  I have tried many frozen entrees and these are my favs.  I do cook “real food” for dinner and take these for lunch.  It is a small amount of food that is healthy enough and gets me through the day.
I don’t work for Safeway either but was just checking out the meals because I wondered if something so good had a secret life.  I’m ok with them.

- Posted on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 11:14 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I have been eating Safeway Eating Right entrees for lunch at work for quite some time now and they are the best tasting and cheapest frozen entrees that I have found. They are the only product that actually tastes consistently good across the product range (with one or two exceptions e.g. The Mediterranean Style Chicken).  I am however a little worried that the long term effects may not be as ‘right’ as the label suggests. There is a mix of quite a few marginal food additives in the ingredients. It would be nice if someone could come up with a really ‘natural’ product along these lines. Perhaps I should check out Trader Joes and Whole Foods to see if I can find a natural and organic substitute… anyone know of one off hand? I found here in California a company called Amy’s out of Petaluma do a small range that is probably better for us.

- Posted on Friday, April 4, 2008 at 14:47 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I love these things. The white garlic pizza is good, the veggie marsala is good, the chicken enchilada is reallllly good. I’ve liked most of the ones I’ve tried. I’m just afraid of getting CANCER cuz I don’t see how they could be that good and cheap without some weird ingredients..........

- Posted on Sunday, April 27, 2008 at 15:56 [ Permalink to this comment ]

As far as taste goes, I think “Eating Right” falls short.  Many of the varieties are pretty bland to me and I’ve tried a lot.  I just got finished eating the lemongrass chicken entree and compared to lean cuisine...it SUCKS!  The nutritional values aren’t too bad (IMO), but the taste wasn’t good.  I’ll honestly stick to Lean Cuisine and Smart Ones for my frozen lunch selections.

Adam, you’re right with regard to taste.  Maybe a lot of people’s tastebuds were ruined somewhere.  I know food, GOOD food and this line, isn’t good food.

- Posted on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 8:14 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I also just finished the lemongrass chicken for lunch, and I have to say it is one of my favorite frozen lunches ever.  Like others have said, the vegetarian masala, chicken enchilada, chicken pomodora (don’t know if anyone mentioned this one specifically yet) are awesome.

I will agree with someone’s post about the ingredients being printed on the side of the box that you open so that you can’t read them once you have torn it open...seems a little fishy. Now I want to check to see what ingredients were in mine, and I can’t. I think this post has been helpful and I will check ingredients from now on.

In general, I like the Eating Right brand, and I do think they revamped their line since the original post was written. I do think they taste better than Lean Cuisines or Smart Ones, and they are generally cheaper. It’s true that eating them everyday probably is ‘eating wrong,’ but I think, like many others here, that on the days I grab one for lunch, the things I’d be eating if I didn’t have one, would be far worse.

I would like to know how people think the organic/pricier alternatives, ie. kashi, amy’s, taste.

Also, does anyone else have a problem with the lemongrass flavor exploding all over the microwave?? This is the only flavor this happens to me on and it happens consistently every time. If someone from Safeway is reading, please adjust microwave instructions.

Thanks all.

- Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 10:26 [ Permalink to this comment ]

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