OK..it's Fess Up Time- TV Dinners!

Admit it, there are times...when you are too tired to cook...too tired AND broke to go out.or dont want McDernald's..which means its time to crank that oven and throw something frozen in ! Which are are your favorites and NON-favorites?? Having been the son of a single mom who had a social life, I will readily admit I STILl have a taste for some of them! Still keep more than a couple in the freezer for *ahem* 'emergencies' . And you know...some of them are darn good!

Faves: Any Stouffers,but especially the 'Homestyle Dinner' line: the meatloaf has real taste and texture, the 'country fried' steak has a nice breading to it, the veggies on all of them are nice and firm, plus on all of them, REAL mashed spuds!

These two Swanson classics are good also: the Turkey Breast,and the regular Fried Chicken-yes, the potatoes are instant, but the turkey is good,with nice stuffing, and the fried chicken is a big step above KFC slime...


Lou..who remembers when some Swanson dinners had a small center section with SOUP...

Walmart has some real bargains with pot pies. For $0.65 each, you can get your option of beef, chicken or turkey. Believe it or not, they are tasty.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

i'm a sucker for the stouffers mac and beef...it is so suprisingly good!

While I was on another diet, I did the Lean Cuisine. They are always coming out with new flavors and taste. I find them very good.

Now that I do the Atkins thing, they are not on my list.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

My emergency freezer meal is supermarket pizza or chicken pot pie from[url='http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=108']Phillips Diner[/url]. Jane keeps a supply of Stouffer's Welsh Rarebit.

We have a couple Lean Cuisines and a Swanson Turkey TV dinner in the freezer right now. We also have a container of Jane's mother's brisket. We try to keep an assortment like this on hand.

I like the Stouffer's escalloped chicken and noodles and also their mac & beef. Pure comfort food.

After spending the morning fending off water by chopping a waterway through the ice around my house. (rain, rain go away) I fixed myself an Uncle Ben's Thai Chicken noodle bowl. I added a spoonful of peanut butter to it at the end of the cooking time & it was right tasty. It could be I was just hungry, cold & tired & it was easy, hot & filling.

Guilty little frozen Secrets:

Stouffers: Spinach Souffle, Corn Souffle, Creamed Dried Beef, Welsh Rarebit

Various Stir Fry mixes

Marie Callendars' Chicken Pot Pies
Various Frozen Pizzas
Pierogies
Boston Market Turkey Medallions

Oddly enough, the only frozen food I can stand to eat is chicken pot pies...the lowliest of them all. So I usually keep stocked up on Contadina pastas and delivery flyers.

I've had two TV dinners in my life - a fried chicken and instant mashed potato thing back in the early 70s and a Lean Cuisine Alfredo entree the summer before last. I thought the latter was an appetizer, but they said it was dinner.

Not allowed in my House! Well, Frozen Pizza's Are Ok. LOL

Oh wait...frozen ravioli and blintzes! I guess they count too.

Stouffers Corn Souffle and Mac and Cheese! Janie has a few Stoufers meals and a few Lean Cuisine's that she keeps for work lucnhes. And then i have to have my Pot Pies every now and then!

About the closest I get at this stage of my life is Amy's frozen pizzas and some entrees - the veggie meatloaf isn't bad at all with a little ketchup and hot sauce.

I don't keep any in the freezer compartment at home. Our substitution on the don't-feel-like-cooking nights is a big ever-changing container of soup that's always available.

But I do keep them in the freezer at work for bad weather days when I don't feel like packing lunch or running out to get something. I like Stouffer's chicken a la king, Celeste frozen vegetable pizza and Tabachnick mushroom barley soup.

Every once in awhile I try some of the new frozen dinners and I have high hope only to be dissapointed....I keep hoping they will be able to come out with fried chicken that taste ok......

I like most of the ones I've tried from Stouffer's, especially the creamed chipped beef, the mac and cheese, and the welsh rarebit (made even better with crumbled bacon on top). I also still get a taste for some of the classics from swanson's. The turkey and drssing was always a favorite. I also lie the swanson pot pies the best as the crust goes all the way around. I hate the ones that just have the crust on top.

Excited to finally be a hamburger!!

Marie Callender's chicken or turkey pot pies are REALLY tasty. The beef ones, not so much. They come in two sizes now, the smaller one is good for lunch, the larger one is more than sufficient for dinner.

Lately, whenever I've had to bring lunch to work, I've been getting Healthy Choice Mixed Grills. They're a diet dinner that actually contains enough food to eat! They've got either rice or potatoes, vegetables, some kind of meat, and a sauce for dipping. The texture of the veggies is a little softer than I'd normally do, but in a frozen dinner you get what they give you, and it's not awful.

Other than that, sometimes I go on a 79-cent frozen pizza buying spree (Totino's, Jeno's), and I've always got a bag of pizza rolls (Jeno's) in the freezer.

Pot Pies Rock.A few years ago,somebody sold one that was a "meat lovers pot pie",it dispensed with the darn carrots and peas.It was excellent but didnt stay around long.I think it must have been either Weaver or Tyson,though it could have been Swanson.
The Pepperidge farm pot pie that came out a few years back,"with Pastry Crust" is a big,heavy piece of work with lots of chicken or turkey and great crust.Thing weighs about a pound.Almost too much for one person.Not cheap but reasonable I think.
On that note,I tried the diGiorno deep dish pepperoni pizza the other day.Though it is not even close to the Chi-town original,its certainly edible and filling.I would buy it again,especially if its 3 dollars off like it was at the Super G (plus a 1 dollar web coupon,it ended up costing 2.99 I think).At that price its a winner.
TV dinners-I am always looking for a good one but not impressed by anything lately.I guess the science is still not there to make fried foods still taste good after freezing and reheating.Those Banquet chicken dinners seem to be made from smaller chickens than I ever saw down on the farm.
In New England we used to get what we called a "Boston Bonnie",which was a TV dinner with shrimp or clams or fish sticks,plus a handful of low-grade tater tots.I remember in the 70s they cost like 99 cents and made a passable snack,but once again the taste and crunch pretty much got lost in the freezing/reheating process.

quote:

Originally posted by Billfish

Pot Pies Rock.A few years ago,somebody sold one that was a "meat lovers pot pie",it dispensed with the darn carrots and peas.It was excellent but didnt stay around long.I think it must have been either Weaver or Tyson,though it could have been Swanson.

Mrs Budd still makes a pot pie that is only chicken & gravy. I like the one with fancy vegetables better (broccoli, baby onions & carrots along with the chicken) Mrs Budd isn't frozen though, you'll find it in with the Tyson's roasted chickens, etc.

I must admit, I am a tv dinner queen! I love Stouffer's mac n cheese and Linda MaCartney's organic macaroni and cheese! Yum Yum! I also enjoy Uncle Ben's shrimp and penne pasta! There was even a time several years ago when I was addicted to Bagle Bites! Sad, sad, sad I know! I always doctor my tv dinners up with extra cheese and red pepper!

At the risk of sounding like a Fine Dining Princess, I have NEVER eaten a frozen dinner. My mother at some point decided that Stouffer's frozen spinach souffle was palatable. My father thought otherwise and that was the end of frozen food in OUR house!!!

When we were growing up, it was a "treat" for us to be allowed to have a Swanson's dinner if our parents were going out. They were the kind that had the soup portion and had to be cooked in the oven. We always liked them and my sisters and I would eat them on TV trays. I suppose since we didn't have them very often, it was a big deal when we did.

My kids like to have Hot Pockets on hand for when there "is nothing to eat!" and the only one I like nowdays is the Stouffers creamed chipped beef. I always have that when hubby and kids are gone - nobody else likes it.

Like Lone Star, I considered TV dinners a great treat when I was growing up. Especially Stouffer's Lobster Newburg -- the pinnacle of luxury! I can still remember that pinky, sandy-textured crescent of claw meat in every package.

If its just me at home, and i am just to darn tired to cook,,or pick up the phone, i will pop a stouffers mac and cheese in,,but doctor it up...or maybe the lasagna.either one. I used to live on Marie Callander roasted chicken dinners.

I don't do frozen dinners unless they are ones that I froze as leftovers. Please look at the packaging of the meals you eat....they contain a huge amount of sodium.

I love swanson fried chicken (white meat portions). I don't know why, I just do. I also really like the chicken enchilada suiza by weight watchers, or is it lean cuisine?? But I will admit I don't but it unless it is on sale for $1.50 or less.

My mom was a good cook, but sure we occasionally had TV dinners that I still like but rarely indulge.
The Swanson Turkey was good and so was their chicken pot pie. I also like a semi local brand, the "Night Hawk steak and tater" that were a treat to have.
But now days the fat content and the sodium content make them a rare treat. I do most of my shopping at a Whole Foods store now (it's on the way home from work) so If I get TV dinners, they tend to be of that ilk.

The only frozen dinner that I ever really liked was Stouffer's Mac and Cheese. Great stuff.