What's your opinion on frozen foods, such as Hot Pockets and Jimmy Dean?

I eat frozen food fairly frequently, when I don’t have time or am too tired to cook. Currently I have some frozen Paul Newman brand pizza, and vegetarian burritos. Also some frozen vegetables.

I try to go easy on it, though, because it can be full of crap ingredients, including far too much salt, and it’s expensive. You’re paying for convenience. Not to mention the fact that you are using a lot of packaging and energy, because the food has to be frozen through the whole transport chain.

I make a lot of my own frozen food. My freezer is stacked with containers of frozen soup, pasta sauce, lentils, refried beans, etc., that I have prepared so that I can heat them up quickly.

Lured by the packaging and ease of preparation, I try these from time to time but I’m _always” disappointed. The delta between the promise and the reality is enormous.

I think they’re gross. At least, those two examples.

Well, except the Lean Pockets spinach and artichoke pretzel bread things. Those are all sorts of awesome.

And I’m utterly in love with Lean Cuisine. I don’t know how it’s taken me so long to discover them.

And for lunch today, I’m swinging by @bookish1 ‘s pad.

@Seek_Kolinahr Totally agree about the spinach Lean Pocket. So good!

I actually like Hot Pockets. Then again, I have no aversion to that “artificial garbage.” I wish I did – it’d be much easier to lose weight. Hot Pockets tend to cause me a small bout of diarrhea, though. But sometimes it’s worth it.

On the other hand, I hate frozen dinners, like Lean Cuisine, Hungry Man, or similar brands. Not because it’s processed, but because it tastes bad and the portions are laughable. Who gets full on a Lean Cuisine? Not me.

But the frozen snacks like Hot Pockets, Tony’s individual pizzas, burritos/taquitos, TGI Friday’s spinach and artichoke dip, etc. – Me likey. :)

My opinion is it’s a necessary gastronomic “evil”.

Stouffer’s french bread pizza is a staple in my house, a frozen food we actually really like. Ham & cheese Hot Pockets aren’t terrible, but certainly aren’t delicious, either. They’ll do in a pinch.

Usually a lot of sodium and preservatives, not healthy on the daily, but on occasion they’re convenient. Honestly if I buy anything like that it’s usually a frozen pizza for the husband or pizza rolls.

MIcrowave the packaging and compost the food. Win/win.

In my opinion that is the worst thing there is that can still be legally called food.

Hot Pockets rock, dude, they make like a really good quick breakfast.
I have those early morning classes so I like pop a Hot Pocket in the microwave while I get ready so I atleast have something to eat you know?

and I don’t really care if they’re unhealthy or whatever so that doesn’t bother me.

Processed, factory foods tend to be nasty. I like the Kashi frozen meals for lunch, and the ‘evol’ brand is good, too. They taste like real food and don’t leave a nasty taste in your mouth. The supermarkets around here keep the ‘natural’ and ‘healthy’ brands in a separate area of the store.

Some frozen food is okay. Learn how to read the labels and especially the servings per container part. A lot of companies minimize the serving size to make it look healthier.

I like Kashi, too, when I can get it on sale.

$4.00 is a heck of a lot cheaper than fast food lunches. Even with a $1.00 Stonyfield Fat-Free yogurt for dessert.

I just can’t like yoghurt. I keep trying, and keep hating it.

MY go-to lunch is either a bowl of noodles or a miso soup with veggies from the Japanese restaurant upstairs. $3.00.

That, or a cup of Ramen. the $0.37 lunch. ^_^

Lean cuisine/Kashi is an upgrade.

It is not food. Don’t kid yourself that because you bought it at a food store that it is okay to eat.

Read last Sunday’s NYT magazine article on junk food .

Remember what Michael Pollan said:

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” And “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”

Lastly, “Don’t eat anything incapable of rotting.”

Hm. My great-grandmother fled Ireland because there was no food. I’m sure she’d have taken anything that would fill the mouth in her head, frozen or no.

The 2 examples that you gave were horrifying. That doesn’t mean that frozen food in general is bad. You just need to start reading labels (to figure out what is really in the food you are eating).

There are plenty of reasonably healthy frozen foods that actually taste good.

As you may know, I am a vegetarian, so Jimmy Dean products would never enter my house. Most hotpockets items are pretty bad too with regards to the ingredients in general, but I don’t think they have any vegetarian items.

Last night I had a Lightlife Veggie Burger which was quite delicous.

Frozen foods are for the most part something that should be avoided anyhow. We are meant to eat fresh from the earth foods, frozen is pretty much the opposite. That being said, I’d never buy Hot Pockets, but if one happened upon me while I was high, sure I’d eat it and I’d loooooooove it. Otherwise though, no point buying them in the first place.

@deni I’ve heard it said by a nutritionist: “Fresh is better than frozen is better than canned is better than boxed”.