Healthy Choice Gourmet Steamers Review and Giveaway (Canada)

One of the challenges I always struggle with is choosing the best way to cook food and being conscious of portion control. For those reasons, I was interested in trying out Healthy Choice Gourmet Steamers because I thought it would help me by providing an appropriate portion and would allow me a quick and easy meal option (it also helped to make my meal planning a lot easier!).

Healthy Choice has developed Gourmet Steamers, which use a steaming process that allows you to microwave your meals without losing all of the benefits of steaming (like crisp vegetables, which I love!). There are 14 different varieties, including: General Tao’s Spicy Chicken; Pineapple Chicken; Lemon Garlic Chicken & Shrimp and Beef Teriyaki.

I was able to try a variety of different products. In case you haven’t figured it out – I love trying new things!

The first Gourmet Steamer I tried was the Grilled Balsamic Chicken. Described as Angelhair pasta [which] is the tempting base for grilled chicken tenderloins, roasted garlic, and tomatoes in a balsamic vinaigrette sauce. A 283-gram entrée offers 21 grams of protein, 15% of your recommended daily value of iron and 16% of your daily fibre intake. I really enjoyed this Gourmet Steamer! I found the pasta to be firm but not limp and the chicken also retained its moistness – a huge plus for me because I’ve often found that chicken in frozen meals ends up dry and tasteless and it was NOT the case with the chicken in this meal! I also enjoyed the sauce – it had a slight sweetness combined with a tangy flavour that brought the whole meal together for me. I paired my meal with a salad and felt satisfied all evening!

I also tried the Thai Chicken Curry. This Thai-inspired dish is said to feature savoury chicken tenderloins atop a bed of whole-grain pasta and a medley of vegetables. The sweet and mild curry sauce brings indulgent flavour that’s easy on your waistline. Again, I was impressed with the flavour and moistness of the chicken and I enjoyed the crispness of the vegetables. I found, however, that I didn’t enjoy the Thai curry sauce. I found the heat to be too much for me and I wished there had been a sweetness to balance with the tartness of the sauce. While it wasn’t the right flavour combination for me, I appreciated that those who enjoy Thai Chicken Curry would love the chance to enjoy a lighter version of this rich meal.

I was interested in trying the Beef Merlot because it contains pieces of beef, red potatoes and vegetables in a merlot wine gravy. Because it is so different than many of the other Gourmet Steamer products, I wasn’t sure how it would stack up. I was pleasantly surprised and found that it was one of my favourites! The beef was tender, the potatoes retained a great consistency (they weren’t too hard or too soft) and the gravy was decadent!

Finally, I tried both the Sweet Sesame Chicken and the Pineapple Chicken Gourmet Steamers. In both, I found two other options that I really enjoyed. Because of my love of all things sweet, I really liked the balance of flavours in the Sweet Sesame sauce and I adored the Pineapple Chicken as well (I have a soft spot for pineapple as it is one of my favourite fruits!).

I think these meals are ideal for me when I am running from one place to another and I need a healthy meal that is quick and easy to prepare!

Giveaway: One reader from Canada (excluding Quebec) will win a Healthy Choices prize pack from ConAgra that includes: a selection of Orville Redenbacher’s Smart Pop! products, Healthy Choices free product coupons and other healthy living items including a LuLuLemon headband and a workout dvd! This prize has an estimated value of $50!

Remember, you must complete the mandatory entry in order for your extra entries to count (entries without the mandatory first entry will be discarded)!

Mandatory entry:
To enter the giveaway, check out the 14 different varieties of Healthy Choice Gourmet Steamers and tell me which type you’d like to try! (1 entry)

Daily Entries:

• tweet the following (please include the link to your tweet): CANADIANS! #Win a Healthy Choice Gourmet Steamers prize pack ($50 value!) @ReviewCorner http://su.pr/AaGarN  ends June 17 #giveaway
• Visit ConAgra Foods and give me the name of another specific ConAgra product that you enjoy. (1 entry) (please include the date you have entered in your post)

Additional Entries:

• ”like” Healthy Choices Canada Facebook fan page – include your Facebook name (3 entries – enter each one separately)
• follow me on StumbleUpon -include your user name (1 entry)
• subscribe to My Little Review Corner’s RSS feeds (or tell me you already receive them)– include the email address you used (3 entries – enter each one separately)
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• Follow My Little Review Corner on Twitter @ReviewCorner – (2 entries – enter each one separately)
• ”like” my Facebook fan page – include your Facebook name (3 entries – enter each one separately)
• put my button from my sidebar on your blog –include your website address (5 entries – enter each one separately)
• blog about the giveaway – leave a link to your post (5 entries – enter each one separately)

*Contest closes at 10:00 pm EST on Friday, June 17, 2011. Open to residents of Canada (excluding Quebec), 18+ years of age.*

Winner will be contacted with the email left in the post and will have 2 days to respond. The winner be posted on this site.

*I received no monetary compensation for this post. I received a sample of this product to review and evaluate. This post is based on my opinions and was not influenced in any way. The prize is being provided directly by the sponsor.*