5 Frozen Food Myths Busted!
This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Are you always on the look out for a delicious and easy meal your family can eat at home? You might be surprised to know that one of the best places to find them is in the freezer aisle!
Many people view the food behind those glass doors as convenience food, but few people know that it can be some of the best food at your supermarket!
I’ve been working closely with ConAgra Foods learning about how frozen meals give families access to real ingredients like crunchy, freshly cut vegetables, homemade pasta and ripe fruit year-round! From the time it’s prepared to the time it’s eaten, the chef inspired recipes lock-in the great, fresh taste. Just like families keep leftovers fresh by freezing them, freezing helps preserve the freshly packed meals and great taste.
5 myths surrounding frozen food
Frozen Food Myth #1
- Frozen foods are ultra-processed and not made with fresh ingredients
ConAgra Foods Delivers the Truth!
- ConAgra Foods’ Culinary Advisory Board, an esteemed group of chefs, are always looking for ways to elevate the menu with the best ingredients you recognize!
- For example, Healthy Choice meals use apples instead of sugar for tart sweetness, olive oil instead of butter, and a splash of red wine for a punch of flavor instead of added salt. The result: deliciously simple meals with unbelievably fresh taste
Frozen Food Myth #2
- Frozen meals are not good for someone watching their weight or health conscience.
ConAgra Foods Delivers the Truth!
- Not the case! You DO have more options than just bars and shakes. Healthy Choice single serve frozen meals are portioned out for you, providing effective meal replacements. And portion control is a strong evidence based strategy for weight management as recommended by DGA.
Frozen Food Myth #3
- Frozen meals aren’t prepared at all like I cook food at home.
ConAgra Foods Delivers the Truth!
- Not the case! Single serving frozen meals are made of real food, by real people, and are not so different than what we make at home.
- For example, just like most people would do, the veggies in frozen meals like Marie Callender’s are blanched before freezing them – to help preserve color, texture and keep them fresh.
Frozen Food Myth #4
- Frozen foods taste like cardboard and are uninspired
ConAgra Foods Delivers the Truth!
- Not the case! There are so many options with frozen meals – no matter what you are in the mood for or have been interested to try.
- For example, curious to try a culinary creation from P.F. Chang’s? Pick up one of the P.F. Chang’s Home Menu Meals like this Shanghai Style Beef with crisp vegetables. Or, try a Healthy Choice Café Steamer – these are culinary-inspired meals that are steamed to be perfectly crisp and tender and fresh – delicious!
Frozen Food Myth #5
- Frozen meals are the lazy way to feed my family when I don’t have time to cook a full meal
ConAgra Foods Delivers the Truth!
- Who has time to create a full meal every day with our hectic schedules? ConAgra Foods frozen meals give families access to real ingredients like crunchy, freshly cut vegetables, homemade pasta and ripe fruit year-round.
For example, look at this Healthy Choice Roasted Chicken Marsala with Mushrooms I had the other day. Chicken breast tenderloins with whole-grain penne, asparagus, and sautéed onions in a Marsala wine sauce. A Top Chef inspired dish that delivers nutrition and flavor, but no preservatives. Few have the time to create meal like this, but it’s all done for you!
I fixed a salad and glass of wine and enjoyed a nice delicious meal, without the work.
HEALTHY CHOICE www.healthychoice.com
Healthy Choice, one of the pioneers of delicious, health-minded food has been in the freezer aisle since 1988. Real, simple food made from only the best ingredients that you can recognize – like crunchy apples, crisp vegetables, tender meats and perfectly al dente pasta. An esteemed group of chefs, are always looking for ways to elevate The Healthy Choice menu, like using steaming to bring out the best of each ingredient and adding the natural goodness of apples instead of sugar for a tart sweetness in the pumpkin squash ravioli. The result: deliciously simple meals with unbelievably fresh taste.
Why I love Healthy Choice:
- Contains healthy alternatives that taste delicious: like olive oil instead of butter; slow simmered sauces instead of heavy cream; splash of red wine for a punch of flavor instead of added salt.
- Greek Frozen yogurt is deliciously thick and creamy and made with real fruit, nonfat milk and yogurt cultures.
MARIE CALLENDER’S www.mariecallendersmeals.com
Marie Callender was a real woman who had a reputation for bringing people together around delicious, quality food. During WWII, while in her 40s, her need to financially support her family led her to establish a pie shop, which quickly grew into a warm and bustling restaurant.
Today, Marie Callender’s spirit and attention to homemade taste is alive and well, in the form of many wholesome meals, including hearty pot pies filled with tender meat, freshly cut vegetables and Marie’s authentic gold, flaky crust, as well as one-dish entrees that satisfy your appetite for comfort, convenience and taste.
Why I love Marie Callender’s
- comforting home-cooked meals made from real ingredients
- apple pies are made with fresh Fuji apples from California are picked at the peak of harvest, then peeled and sliced to order and baked to perfection
- pies are baked using real eggs and sugar, real fruits picked in the United States and many are finished by hand to make sure each pie looks and tastes just like homemade
I love that frozen food has become a delicious alternative to fast food for our busy life styles.
Disclaimer: I have a working relationship with ConAgra Foods, though opinions expressed in this post are, as always, purely my own.
Hi there, I'm Cheryl!
As a wife, mom, and caffeine enthusiast, my journey has taken me from bustling mornings with my family to sharing delicious recipes, home care tips, and heartfelt decorating insights with wonderful readers like you. My love for baking, photography, and tidiness shines through every post I craft. Dive into my world and discover the art of homemaking, one tidy moment at a time. Read more...
Tidymom is a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Please respect my work, recipes and photographs. If you do use a recipe in your own writing, please give proper credit and link back to the original post.
Cheryl,
These is great info! It is so nice to have a healthy and tasty option for dinner when on the run!
This is really great information. I think lots of people still think of the frozen food aisle as just being full of “TV dinners.” And that is so not the case! I have kept Healthy Choice meals on hand for years. The variety is amazing. They’re my go-to on really busy days when I have no time to prepare lunch.
Thanks for sharing!
I love the idea of frozen meals, and they are very tasty. However, one are of ‘health’ we watch in our foods is sodium. I would love to hear about some frozen meals that are low in sodium or reduced sodium. Generally when I read the labels, the sodium contents are shocking.
I love Marie Callender’s meals:-) I’m all about frozen food when things are crazy and busy at home. They are perfect for this busy mom.
Excellent info Cheryl! Thanks for sharing!
I think this is a great post. I love Healthy Choice, and I often each their frozen meals for lunch. They have real veggies, and taste good. We can’t all creat 5 star from scratch meals all day every day, and especially in the blog world we tend to get picked on for using prepackaged items. This proves it is ok!
I’m so glad you posted this. My family loves Healthy Choice, PF Chang’s and Voila’s frozen dinners. They are great for lunches (especially since I homeschool) or dinner when we are on the run and I don’t have time to cook a big meal. When my husband travels, my daughter and I always find ones that my husband doesn’t like and we get to try them while he’s gone. It is like our little treat and I don’t have to cook a big meal for the two of us. The best thing of all is they are portion sized and healthy. Love it!!
So nice to hear! Bring on the frozen meals 😉
I agree- I love having my freezer stocked with veggies so there is never an excuse to not have them with our meals. LOVE your image too- came out beautiful. Stunning colors.
I love Healthy Choice! I buy it quite a lot. They are perfect for lunch or dinner when things are crazy around here.
xoxo
I agree that frozen food meals are convenient and can be delicious, but their sodium content is still far from ideal (and occasionally, horrendous). 420 mg is almost half the amount of adequate daily sodium intake for a child (1000 mg) and a third for an adult (1500 mg). Until that changes, this should remain an occasional meal replacement. As a general rule, anything under 360 mg of sodium per portion is ideal.
You know, this is really great info b/c I use to be a frozen food snob. I will tell you though, this brand is actually very good and I do buy them! 🙂 Frozen food snob no more 🙂 ha
Thanks for debunking those myths! It’s such a nice option to heat up a frozen meal when life is busy!!
It all depends on what kind of frozen foods you’re buying, I suppose. There’s a lot of junk out there and a lot of healthy choices. I love getting frozen fruit, it’s a great option when things are out of season.
I have found what you say here to be mostly true, though maybe if you are in touch with ConAgra you could tell them (please!) that every single frozen food dish does not need cut-up bell peppers in it for color and to make up nutrient balances (please!). That is the main thing that turns me off of these foods; they seem to be a portion of meat, some starch and some bell pepper bits in a disproportionately large number of instances. Also a little truth in advertising in re what the portions actually look like vs how they are depicted on the box might help too. I buy frozen stuff sometimes and my husband kind of perversely likes them. Teen stepson likes to feel in control of things himself so he likes to zap his own meal and will docilely eat such things as cooked carrots in that context (who knew!)
It’s so true – there are some much healthier options these days than the old TV dinners I remember. Thanks for sharing how Healthy Choices tries to use healthier ingredients – such as using apples instead of sugar – I found that interesting.
i don’t know what i would do without frozen foods! especially on a crazy day! i love healthy choice & just your basic frozen veggies! you can’t beat them!!!
Great info–Thanks for sharing Cheryl!
My dad eats these all of the time at work. He says “Take this out and put it on a pretty plate and add a salad. You’d never know it came from a box” . This looks better than a lot of other brands I’ve seen! 🙂
I’m picky about the frozen foods I buy, but definitely believe there’s a place for them in our weekly meal routine…especially the fruits and veggies. Thanks, Cheryl.
I found your blog and was excited. However, this post is what will be taking me elsewhere. You should look at what ConAgra’s business practices and what they are doing to food. You should really do some research before you jump into bed with a company. I’m disappointed. Good luck in the future and I hope that you’ll spend some time educating yourself about the real ConAgra.