Skip the frozen mystery ingredients!

True statement: Healthy choice pizzas got me through college! They were around $1.50 a pop and I probably ate at least one a day. Same with my roommates. Our freezer looked like the frozen dinner section at Walmart. I won't argue with people when they say these meals are convenient. They are portion controlled, easy to transport, and quick to fix. But, what are you sacrificing for a quick meal? A lot!

With the following comparison, I want to show you that A. you're possibly eating crap B. you are overpaying for that crap and C. it might be easier to just make the dish yourself!

Here goes - for the purposes of this post, we are going to stick with spaghetti meals....more specifically versions of spaghetti and marinara sauce. Here is what I found........(pricing is based off of one grocery's prices)

Product                                   Price ($)          Calories           First Ingredient Listed (main ingredient)

Smart Ones                              2.75                  290                 Enriched Macaroni Product
Spaghetti with meat sauce    

Lean Cuisine                             2.18                 270                 Blanched Spaghetti
Spaghetti with meat balls

Stouffer's                                     2.16                 350                 Blanched Spaghetti
Spaghetti with meat sauce       

Healthy Choice                           1.96                270                 9 Grain Pasta
Roasted Red Pepper Marinara 

Lean Gourmet                            1.05                 320                Cooked Enriched Macaroni Product
Spaghetti and meat sauce

Michelina's                                 1.00                 350                 Cooked Enriched Macaroni Product
Spaghetti Marinara
            
First of all, COOKED ENRICHED MACARONI PRODUCT?!!!! I almost barfed on the floor - which would have thoroughly pissed off the guy stocking products next to me. Anyway..........compare that to making your own pasta.

1 serving of Generic                     0.41                   300                Drum whole wheat flour and                 
Whole Wheat Pasta                                                                               tomato puree
with Meat sauce
(2oz pasta with
1/2 cup sauce)

Get one of these to help measure your pasta!

So, lets say that a meal takes 5 minutes to warm up. Compare that to making your own........ cook 2 oz. pasta (boil water and cook pasta = 10 min.), place pasta with 1/2 tsp of olive oil in a small Tupperware container. Place 1/2 cup sauce in extra small Tupperware container. Once at work, combine and heat for 30 sec. Rinse and take Tupperware home.
You are going to be using approx. 8 more minutes on the meal. NOT that big of a difference when you think about it - considering you won't be eating macaroni product anymore!!

Note: The Health Choice Roasted Red Pepper Marinara was definitely the best option. It had a good price and the first ingredient was 9 grain pasta! Yay Whole Grains!!!!!!!!