I confess. I lied. It’s not summertime.

But sometimes you don’t feel like cooking, right? (warning the following is a sponsored post…)

We all know that eating “real foods” is the healthiest. But I’m a diet coke addict, and goodness knows that diet coke isn’t the healthiest. So occasionally I figure, it’s okay to cheat and use a prepared meal. Perhaps a frozen pizza, or a frozen dinner, or a meal in a bag.

I was given the opportunity to try a new line of frozen meals from Healthy Choice, a branch of ConAgra Frozen Foods.

I chose the Grilled Chicken Pesto with Vegetables.

I was asked to debunk a few myths about frozen dinners. I will give my opinions and thoughts on this—I am not an expert, but I also can’t do exactly what the company wants, because I don’t believe it.

Frozen Food Myth #1: Frozen foods are heavily processed and not made with fresh ingredients.

This was probably fine to eat and is an okay thing to feed yourself and your family on occasion. It’s still a pretty long ingredient list though. (Apologies for the fuzziness of the picture, evidently I was shaking with hunger!)  And it’s pretty high in salt, and in my opinion, low in calories for a meal.  Fresh ingredients? I am sure that part is true—but once they are frozen and heavily packaged I just don’t know how important it is.

Frozen Food Myth #2: Frozen foods taste like cardboard and are uninspired.

This tasted okay! I added some parmesan cheese though to give a bit more flavor. It was a fun concept for an entree for sure. I would have liked more chicken and more vegetables though.

Frozen Food Myth #3: Frozen meals are not good for someone watching their weight or trying to eat healthy.

I paired the meal with a side salad for added nutrition. I personally like a bigger dinner and a bit more protein, but that’s a personal thing.  If you are looking for portion control you’ve got it here—portion control can be important for someone watching their weight, and frozen meals have that down pat! If you are trying to eat healthy, sometimes you just don’t have time or energy to do more than heat something up. I wouldn’t recommend somebody eat frozen meals every day, but probably once or twice a week is just fine.

It doesn’t look too bad plated does it?

ConAgra Foods frozen meals give families access to real ingredients like crunchy, freshly cut vegetables, homemade pasta and ripe fruit year-round. Just like most people blanch veggies before freezing them – ConAgra Foods does too – to help preserve color, texture and keep them fresh!

Give it a try sometime! Marie Callender’s hearty pot pies are filled with tender meat, freshly cut vegetables and Marie’s authentic golden, flaky crust. And Healthy Choice recipes use chef-inspired ingredients like, apples instead of sugar for tart sweetness and a splash of red wine for a punch of flavor instead of added salt.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of ConAgra Foods.

I was recently sent some products to review for my hair.  The Nu naat Brazilian Keratin line of products, which includes shampoo, various conditioners, and a shine serum,was looking for people with damaged hair to try the products.  My hair is dyed and I blow dry it nearly daily, and I’m always desperate for it to shine and be smoother so I was happy to test it out!

Product description (from the company)

Everyday Moisture that Reduces Volume & Frizz

NAAT Brazilian Keratin collection restores and intensifies your hair’s nutritional balance, leaving it incredibly smooth, strong and flexible. Unlike typical animal-based keratins, our exclusive Green Keratin formula stays in your hair longer and is more resistant to rinsing. Promotes vibrancy and hydration, giving hair a natural, healthy shine. Products include: Shampoo, Conditioner, Hair Mask, Leave-In, and Serum.

I felt like the product didn’t do a whole lot for me, but maybe I didn’t need it that much.  It’s possible I’m overly critical of my hair to begin with.  Nonetheless, I loved the leave in hair mask and how soft my hair felt afterwards.  And I’ll keep using the products until they are gone!  (I’m never one to really rave, am I? But I did like this stuff.)

I think that my hair looks GOOD and that’s what matters, right?

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

I was recently asked to review some products by White Mountain Foods. White Mountain Foods is a company that strives to make the purest whole foods possible. Their mission is simply to provide their customers with completely additive and preservative free, minimally processed, organic when possible, tasty, vegetarian foods. I was sent the Bulgarian Yogurt, Tofu Onion dip, Tofu Salad, and Chipotle Mushroom Tamales.

I started with the Tamales.  I made them according to the package instructions and they were pretty tasty and quite spicy.  I ate these on more than one occasion (keeping them frozen in between) and enjoyed them both times. 

I tried the No-Egg Tofu Salad and was a little less pleased.  It was a little too mustardy tasting for me, but that’s simply a personal opinion.  I tried it plain, on crackers, and even on a sandwich.  Okay, well, obviously I liked it well enough to eat it a couple times!

The yogurt I only tried in a couple of smoothies, but it was great.  I don’t like eating plain yogurt too much, but I love it in my protein smoothies (yogurt, protein powder, fruit of choice).  I recommend it!

And here’s my confession…I didn’t try the onion dip.  I kept meaning to, and even got carrots to dip in it…and then you regular blog readers know I was traveling and then had a bit of a breakdown…and then it was expired.  I’m betting it’s worth trying though, especially if you are vegan—the No-Egg Tofu Salad is another great vegan option, I think. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free for review purposes from White Mountain Foods. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but this was kind of…um…seriously, this counts as giving somebody a gift?  Okay, I’m not a horoscope person, so maybe that’s the problem here, and I shouldn’t have requested this product, but I can’t find a real use for it.  But I need to review it in order to stay in good standing on a website I joined, so here it is–

Company:  Because I tried it:  Personalized gifts for anyone, anywhere.  I don’t know about you, but if I got a gift that was just a chart with dates I’d be pretty annoyed.  I’m not trying to be mean, I’m just being honest.  But if you have a friend who is really into horoscopes and fortune telling and that kind of thing, they might really like it.  I googled the product and found a lot of bloggers out there gushing about it…now maybe they are being fake or false, but one thing I’ve learned in life is that people like different things!  So…

There’s my chart!  You can follow the company on Twitter https://twitter.com/BecauseITriedIt Facebook http://www.facebook.com/BecauseITriedIt

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.