I like to think of myself as a TV dinner connoisseur. As a kid, I used to devour those things. I have fond memories of Swanson’s fried chicken, mashed potatoes, turkey and gravy, and of course that little cherry cobbler pie. Let’s not discuss the 9000 calories, 400 grams of fat, and 1.6 million grams of sodium that was in each one.
It’s been years since I’ve had a true TV dinner, though I have eaten a number of “light” or “healthier” frozen meals from Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers. To be honest, they’re pretty bad. You get small portions, they taste mediocre, and they’re loaded with salt.
Recently, however, I had the opportunity to give Bistro MD a try. They’re frozen meals carefully prepared by chefs with real ingredients that are delivered straight to your door. The overall meal plans are even designed by physicians, so they should actually be quite healthy for you.
As someone who still enjoys a good Hot Pocket now and then, how could I not give Bistro MD a try? Needless to say, I was quite skeptical.
The day my meals arrived was a real hot one. So hot, in fact, that the power in my neighborhood was knocked out for a few solid hours. I was just a tad bit nervous that it’d affect the frozen meals. But once our power returned, I opened the box and was happy to see everything was still super cold and frozen.
Each meal comes in a real similar package. There’s no glossy pictures on the front. No huge marketing “must buy” type deal either. Just a plain tan cardboard cover with tons of information on it including ingredients, nutritional information, cooking instructions and a few other tips. It’s clear Bistro MD is concentrating on the meals themselves, rather than any flashy type of packaging.
My first Bistro MD meal: Mixed Berry Crepes with a side of Turkey Sausage.
For starters, I dove into the Mixed Berry Crepes with side of Turkey Sausage. I just slid off the cardboard cover and placed it in the microwave for a few minutes. No need to even poke holes in the plastic. Super duper easy.
As per Bistro MD’s suggestion, I transferred the food to a regular plate after it was done. It just looks so much more presentable and you feel like you’re actually eating a “real” breakfast rather than a frozen meal. I really liked that suggestion and carried it through on all of them.
The crepes looked good. They smelled great. My wife even remarked how amazing they looked and smelled. But how’d they taste? To be completely honest… they were pretty darn good. They weren’t the best crepes I’ve ever had in the world, but that’s because they’re not loaded with full fat cheeses and butter, etc. The berry sauce was amazing and really added flavor to the cheesy crepes. I loved the turkey sausage patty and could’ve eaten about 10 more probably.
Breakfast time! Stuffed french toast with turkey sausage and grilled sweet potatoes.
Other breakfasts include things like Stuffed French Toast, Sweet Potato Pancakes, and Chicken and Mushroom Crepe with Waldorf Apples. None of them were bad by any means and most were actually really good. At times it seemed like an odd combination, though. Like the roasted sweet potatoes as a vegetable side dish to the Stuffed French Toast. Side vegetables for breakfast just seemed kind of strange to me. But they were really tasty and blended in perfectly.
As for lunches and dinners, those include a great variety of items such as Turkey with Cranberry Quinoa, Pot Roast with Mushroom Peppercorn Gravy Mashed Potatoes & Roasted Vegetables, Skinny Turkey Meatloaf, Grilled Chicken with Spinach Orzo and Roasted Garlic Lemon Veloute, Blackened Tilapia, Cheese Ravioli, Pork Tenderloin with Olive Tapenade, Salmon with Pepper Coulis, and more.
Bistro MD’s meals aren’t just healthy and delicious, they’re pretty colorful too. Grilled chicken (left) and pot roast with mushroom gravy.
I liked it all, some better than others. I’m a big meat and potato guys, but I have to admit, the pot roast was probably my least favorite. Don’t get me wrong. It was still really good (and far better than the Salisbury Steak TV dinners I grew up on), but not as good as the others.
When I sat down to eat the Turkey Meatloaf, I was totally not into it. I’ve had bad turkey meatloaf before, and I also hate cauliflower. (Unless it’s drowning in cheese sauce that is.) My wife, on the other hand, thought it looked fantastic. So I dove in and could not believe my taste buds. It was seriously awesome. And I don’t just mean the turkey meat loaf. The vegetables were great. Even the cauliflower! I finished it all and felt real satisfied.
I completely cleaned this plate, including the cauliflower which I normally despise. Best turkey meatloaf I’ve ever had!
I can’t recommend Bistro MD enough. As far as “diet food” or even “frozen meals” go, their food is out of the stratosphere. In terms of just regular food, they’re extremely tasty, some more than others. If a friend served any of these to me at their house without my knowledge, I’d think they were cooked right there on the spot.
Two things make Bistro MD’s meals stand out to me. First is taste. It’s clear they choose quality ingredients. The chicken breasts are plump and juicy. Not thin, dried out or rubbery like most frozen meals. The vegetables are also real choice.You don’t just get a better selection than the standard peas and carrots, but you get vegetables that are prepared in interesting and delicious ways. The second thing is the portion size. I was genuinely surprised at how much food was in each meal. Much more than you’d expect from a frozen dinner. I was never so full I was going to burst from eating any of these, but I was definitely satisfied after eating every single one.
If you’re looking to eat healthy or get yourself on some sort of diet meal plan, you should definitely look for Bistro MD coupons and give these guys a try. Would I try them again? You better believe it. I’d actually love to steal a few of their chefs and have them move in to my house so they could just prepare all my meals for me regularly.
Interested in Bistro MD’s healthy and delicious meal plans? Visit BistroMD.com to sign up today.
Also keep your eyes peeled on our blog to enter our upcoming Bistro MD Giveaway for a chance at winning 1 Free Week of Meals!
DISCLOSURE: We received a free week’s supply of meals from BistroMD.com in exchange for our honest opinion. The thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the JoeShopping staff and in no way were influenced by the company providing the prizes.
They really did look good and was surprised to see that they included butternut squash in a lot of their meals–I try to do that as well (since it is considered free at Weight Watchers).
Yep. And they were always soooo sweet and delicious!
These meals look so much better than any frozen meal I’ve ever tried!! The crepes look amazing!!
Megan recently posted..Sometimes and Always #33
Megan, they really are! The food itself is top-notch quality.
The food definitely looks delicious! What is the calorie count on the average meal like?
It depends on the meal, but generally they’re about 400-500 calories each. Fat is about 10 g or so. But they have a ton of protein, like 35-40 grams. So you are definitely full.