Balducci's Stores: Rotisserie Chicken

The good thing about buying a whole rotisserie chicken at the food store is that it is hot and ready to eat. I generally like them, and Balducci's version is a notch above other stores. They put herbs and spices under the skin of the chicken before cooking it. This imparts a wonderful flavor to the chicken. The chicken itself was moist and very tender. The skin was browned perfectly. I have gotten them at other stores and sometimes the wings are dried out and inedible, but not this chicken, the wings were good too. Balducci's has locations on the east coast. I went to the one in Bethesda, MD.

Odwalla Bar: Strawberry Pomegranate

Odwalla bars are similar to Cliff bars or large chewy granola bars. They are a dense, somewhat chewy, meal in a bar. the Strawberry Pomegranate flavor gets it's bulk from rolled oats and oat bran, its sweet, somewhat soft chewiness comes from from date paste. You can't see the strawberry or pomegranate pieces, but you can taste them, it adds a light, fruity flavor, but the main flavor is still the oats and dates. Although I could tell it wasn't just strawberries, I wouldn't have guessed there were pomagranates in it without looking at the label. I generally like Odwalla bars, and this is a particularily good flavor, I have already bought several and will get more. They are great for a quick breakfast, or a big snack if I didn't eat enough lunch. (220 calories; 3g fat; 44g carbs; 4g protein; 4% sodium; per 2.2 ounce bar)

Han's Chicken Sausage

All natural chicken sausage with garden vegetables and asiago cheese. These sausages have the veggies mixed right in. They have no nitrates, nitrites, or msg added. You just have to heat them up since they come fully cooked. They are also quite good, the vegetables and cheese add an interesting flavor. They are a good main dish when you want a quick dinner.

MorningStar farms Buffalo Wings

Just the fact taht it is from Morning Star should let you know these are veggie buffalo wings, no chicken here, its soy protein. They do a pretty good job at it, someone could probably convince you that it was chicken nuggets. The breading has a crumbly baked texture to it. It does have downsides though. First, it isn't very spicy, bring an extra dose of hot sauce to pep it up a little. Second, even though it sounds good for you, there is still a lot of fat in it. 9 grams of fat to 12 grams of protein. A box has 3.5 servings of 200 calories, but a serving is only 5 wings, so you will probably eat more than one serving.

Uncle Ben's Ready Rice

I tried the "roasted chicken" flavor. This is a pre-cooked rice in a plastic pouch that you microwave for 90 seconds. You can't beat the convinience, however, this is just an OK rice. It doesn't stand out in any way, plus, they added a lot of fat, and it is much more expensive then regular rice. It is nice if you are in a hurry, otherwise, don't bother.