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.