Generally speaking, I like to eat pretty healthy. That may not always be apparent from what you read here, but during the week, we cook most of our meals. I don’t subscribe to any particular diet – I just cook with the freshest meats and vegetables available, and I make most everything I can from scratch.
However, one area where my diet could certainly stand to be cleaned up is my lunch. While I used to be really good about cooking extra portions of the previous night’s dinner to bring with me to work, it seems like I’ve become increasingly reliant on the cafeteria downstairs, which is generally unappealing and overpriced, and my choices usually have to do less with eating healthy and more with getting whatever allows me to get in and out of there quickly.
In an effort to clean up my lunchtime diet, I picked up a small fridge for my office, and decided to stock it with healthy meals and better snacks. I’d read about Fit Life Foods before, they’re a local company, and I figured I’d give their meals a try for a week to kickstart this endeavor. So, I stopped over and picked up two breakfasts, four lunch meals, and two snacks for the office, along with four dinners and four snacks for us to try at home in the evenings, which would give us two nights off from cooking and dishes.
So, going meal by meal, here’s how I think they panned out, and I will give a grade to each of the meals:
BREAKFASTS:
The first breakfast I chose the Sunrise Scramble. The Sunrise Scramble was scrambled eggs with chicken sausage, roasted potatoes, cheddar cheese, poblano peppers, and a side of salsa. It was a nice sized breakfast for the office, and it was tasty, and overall, I was pretty satisfied with this choice. It was a far better choice than most breakfasts on the go. I’d give this one an A-.
The other breakfast option I chose was the Power Morning Steak & Cheese, which was eggs, chunks of sirloin steak, tortillas, peppers, cheddar cheese and a side of salsa. It was also good, but… the addition of tortilla chips to a dish you’re going to microwave seemed an odd choice. The chips ended up soggy and weird. It was tasty, but I preferred the Sunrise Scramble of the two. I’d give this a B.
LUNCHES (Medium-Sized Meals):
The first lunch I went with was the Tuscan Chicken, and of the options I chose, this one seemed to be the least exciting. Chicken’s usually something I can get bored with quickly, and I really wasn’t expecting much, but this was surprisingly tasty. This was a grilled chicken with herbs, along with broccolini and a tomato pesto sauce, and the chicken was flavorful and the tomato pesto added a nice zip to it. It may not have been mind blowing, but a simple dish done well. I’d give this a B+.
Next, I went with the Chicken Pad Thai, and sadly, I really didn’t like this one at all. It was the one dish of the bunch that really tasted like diet food. The dominant flavor here was scallions, and mostly because everything else was colossally bland. I really wanted to like this, but I really didn’t enjoy this one. I’d give this a D.
After that, I had the Rico’s Chicken Alfredo. It was fine, but it was generally just pretty unexciting. It was really kind of on par with a microwave meal. It’ll do in a bind, but I have a hard time imagining anyone getting excited by this dish. I’d give this a C.
Next up was the Greek Meatballs, which were made from beef and were cooked with feta cheese, which helped to keep them nice and moist and give them some flavor. Along with the meatballs, there was a serving of quinoa with diced tomatoes and some asparagus. I was a little worried about the asparagus getting mushy after the microwave, and it wasn’t a problem at all here (and one thing I generally have to give them credit for with the vegetable sides – they were all firm and crisp). The quinoa could have used some seasoning, but I’ll know for next time. I’d give this one a B+.
SNACKS:
The Snack Pack is pretty much what you’d expect, but it was a good find all the same. It was apples, grapes, an orange wedge, almonds, and some cheese snacks, but the big surprise here was the gluten-free multigrain crackers. They were surprisingly enjoyable. I don’t really eat much in the way of gluten-free stuff, and I suppose I imagined that they’d be really tasteless, but I’d get these on their own. Outside of the crackers, I don’t think there are any surprises to anyone here, but it would be a nice pack to take with you if you were on the go or heading out on a road trip. I’d give this a B.
The Tuna Power Pack was a bit less exciting – very little here seems like something you’d actually crave – but for what it is, I enjoyed it. The tuna salad was well seasoned, with a nice hit of lemon pepper. The gluten-free crackers were also here, and worked well with the tuna. It also had baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, a hard-boiled egg, and a cheese wedge. It’s not exciting, but if you’re looking for a healthy snack, it fits the bill. I’d give this a B-.
The Almond Apple Flat Wrap was a big surprise for me. It doesn’t look like much, but this was a whole wheat wrap, filled with apples and almonds and an almond spread inside. It also came with a side of almond butter for dipping. This was really tasty, and I could see myself trying to replicate this snack on my own. I’d give this an A.
Next up was the Chili Lime Time, which was a dip that came with sugar snap peas, gluten-free crackers, and baby carrots for dipping. It was okay, but the dip didn’t really taste like chilis or lime to me, and it really overpowered everything you dipped in it. It was passable, but probably not something I’d get again. I’d give this a C+.
The Peanut Butter Oat Crunch offered grapes and apples along with these little balls of peanut butter and oats. They were fine – not particularly “crunchy”- but it was a decent snack. But, this is another one like the snack pack that would be a good grab for something on the go. I’d also give this one a B.
Finally, the Red Pepper Hummus, which came with the sugar snap peas, baby carrots, and the gluten-free crackers. It was a decent enough portion for a snack, and the veggies and crackers were consistent with the others. As for the hummus itself, the red bell pepper flavor was nice and fresh, though texturally, it was thick but could have used a little more time in the food processor to become nice and creamy. This felt a smidge on the gritty side. Not bad by any means, but I know some people are particular about textures, and that could be an issue. Overall, I’d give this a B.
DINNERS (Large Sized Meals):
I tried the Hong Kong Street Tacos, which were essentially make your own lettuce wraps. You get several strips of lettuce, along with a mixture of chicken, jicama, and cashews. The flavor was good, but without a sauce, there wasn’t much to bind this together, so it ended up being a crumbly mess. This really needed some kind of sauce or vegetables to brighten it up and add some textural variety. I’d give this a B-.
While I ate that, Stephan had the Sriracha Cali Chicken Bowl, which had sriracha grilled chicken, cilantro rice, black beans, and a mix of Asian veggies like water chestnuts, and peas. It came with a packet of sriracha, and luckily, we have a full bottle in the fridge, as it needed some spicing up, especially since the veggie components added more of a textural component, but didn’t offer a great deal of flavor. It was decent, but he wasn’t particularly in love with it. Based on what I had, this was another B- meal.
The next night, Stephan had the Mama’s Turkey Meatloaf, which had a ground turkey and herbs with a tomato glaze, green beans, and a low-carb cauliflower mashed potato. The turkey meatloaf was actually quite good. I’m not generally a fan of turkey masquerading as better-tasting meats (I’m looking at you, turkey bacon), but this was something I’d eat again. I wasn’t wild about the cauliflower mashed potatoes, and the green beans were more of a no-frills presentation, but they were well cooked. This was a B+ meal.
The Campfire Chili looked rather appealing with fresh peppers and tomatoes, lentils, and a small amount of ground coffee, and it was good, but it just felt like it was lacking something. Some spice, some bold flavor… something. I can’t quite put my finger on what it lacked. I think some sauce would have helped a bit as well, as it was a bit on the dry side. It was a B- meal for me.
Overall, I could see myself going back for a few of these on a night where I knew in advance that I didn’t have much time to cook, or if I knew I was going to have a tight schedule and needed to grab a bite to take with me on the go. With a hectic lifestyle, sometimes that’s just a necessity, and it’s far better than hitting the drive-thru. I enjoyed some of the meals and snacks, and could foresee myself picking up a few of these in the future, but I think I’d be better served cooking up a few low-cost easy meals on Sunday afternoon and bringing in my meals for the week. I could see keeping a few of the breakfasts and snack packs around though, and I may try to replicate the almond apple wrap on my own.
Dining Around Tampa Bay 