Review: Healthy Choice - Grilled Chicken Marinara with Parmesan - Day 7 Dinner (Repeat)

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 4 Dinner] 

Healthy Choice | Cafe Steamers | Grilled Chicken Marinara with Parmesan

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	280	Calories	300 max
	5g	Total Fat	10g max
	550mg	Sodium	700mg max
	36g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	21g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

No. This was on the list of options I was given, but the carbohydrates violate the rules. 6g too many carbs.

Would I eat it again:

Hello, me again. I already reviewed this one. Link

Review: Lean Cuisine - Chicken in Sweet BBQ Sauce - Day 7 Lunch

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 3 Lunch] 

Lean Cuisine | Protein Kick | Chicken in Sweet BBQ Sauce

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	240	Calories	300 max
	7g	Total Fat	10g max
	630mg	Sodium	700mg max
	29g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	16g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

A bit high carb and sodium for barely above minimum protein. Meh.

Would I eat it again:

Eh, not with those numbers. It wasn't really bbq enough. Not bad, but I was expecting something else I think.

Protein	Starch	Vegetable	Sauce
Great	Great	Great	Great
Good	Good	Good	Good
Shrug	Shrug	Shrug	Shrug
Eww	Eww	Eww	Eww
Nope	Nope	Nope	Nope

Protein: White meat Chicken

Decent texture on the Chicken, its tender and juicy, but you totally can taste the artificial flavorings and or brine. Not a bad flavor, just noticibly fake.

Starch: Mashed Potatoes

The mashed potatoes are THICK. Sour Cream and chives flavored, but way too thick for the lack of other textures. If it had skins, it would have been ok being this thick, but it just feels like someone made too thick instant potatoes.

Vegetable: None.

All those carbs and fats, ain't no room for vegetables.

Sauce: BBQ Sauce

The BBQ Sauces tastes like they had spare BBQ and some red enchilada sauce and mixed them together. Not quite BBQ enough in general. And its really only for the chicken, couldn't bring myself to BBQ my mashed potatoes.

One Offs:

• That said, it wasn't bad. Just not what I was expecting, or wanted.

Review: Healthy Choice - Greek-Style Chicken - Day 6 Dinner

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 6 Dinner] 

Healthy Choice | Power Bowls | Greek-Style Chicken

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	170	Calories	300 max
	6g	Total Fat	10g max
	590mg	Sodium	700mg max
	10g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	20g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

I kind of arbitrarily set the concept for good for this diet as having at least 20g protein, low fat, and low carbs. So yea, I'd call this good.

Would I eat it again:

Yea. Infact as I'm writing some of these a bit in the future, I did, and have eaten it again.

Hello, me again. I already reviewed this one. Link

Review: Healthy Choice | Chicken & Vegetable Stir Fry - Day 6 Lunch (Repeat)

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 6 Lunch] 

Healthy Choice | Simply Steamers | Chicken & Vegetable Stir Fry

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	200	Calories	300 max
	5g	Total Fat	10g max
	580mg	Sodium	700mg max
	23g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	23g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

I'd say pretty good. More protein, not a lot of carbs or fat.

Would I eat it again:

Hello, me again. I already reviewed this one. Link

Review: Healthy Choice - Grilled Chicken Marsala - Day 5 Dinner

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 5 Dinner] 

Healthy Choice | Simply Steamers | Grilled Chicken Marsala

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	180	Calories	300 max
	3g	Total Fat	10g max
	460mg	Sodium	700mg max
	21g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	17g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

Good enough I would say. Low-ish protein.

Would I eat it again:

Not really, when it came time to buy the next batch I skipped this one. Flavor is something I'm looking for in a meal, if I wanted plain, I would have gone the plain chicken route.

Protein	Starch	Vegetable	Sauce
Great	Great	Great	Great
Good	Good	Good	Good
Shrug	Shrug	Shrug	Shrug
Eww	Eww	Eww	Eww
Nope	Nope	Nope	Nope

Protein: Chicken Breast

Chicken is an ok texture, but it had some big pieces. Better sizing than many others. Unfortunately the extra size I think lead to it being a little grainy in the center and maybe a little dry.

Starch: Russet Potatoes

The potatoes have a good potato flavor, its sad I have to say that since a lot of the frozen foods just don't have flavors other than their sauces. Ratio of potatos seems a bit high, but good enough texture.

Vegetable: Whole Green Beans, Mushrooms and Onions

Green Beans have a good texture, but the flavor is a little weak. The mushrooms were small and shruggish.

Sauce: Marsala Wine Sauce

The sauce is a bit thin, it has a flavor, but it is underwealming not bad, but not like any marsala I've had before. Maybe because of how mild it was, I was actually able to taste the vegetables this time.

One Offs:

• Granted, when you go to a restaurant that makes a good Marsala,
• they're making it with wine and a metric ton of butter.

Review: Healthy Choice - Spicy Black Bean & Chicken - Day 5 Lunch

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 5 Lunch] 

Healthy Choice | Power Bowls | Spicy Black Bean & Chicken

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	210	Calories	300 max
	6g	Total Fat	10g max
	600mg	Sodium	700mg max
	19g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	20g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

Good enough I would say. Not too many of these meals get much above 20g protein or under 20g carbs.

Would I eat it again:

Yes. And I look forward to eating it again. It is spicy tho, a bit too strong for what I wanted at the time.

Protein	Starch	Vegetable	Sauce
Great	Great	Great	Great
Good	Good	Good	Good
Shrug	Shrug	Shrug	Shrug
Eww	Eww	Eww	Eww
Nope	Nope	Nope	Nope

Protein: Pulled All Natural* Chicken Breast

Good chicken texture. Its mostly small crumbles, a flaw most of these freeze meals have. But there were a couple of larger pieces. When I found a larger piece that I missed stirring in with the sauce, It had a good chicken flavor. Only about 3 or 4 of these pieces per bowl.

Starch:Riced Cauliflower

I know, Riced Cauliflower shouldn't count as a Starch. Deal with it, its pretending to be rice for this ricebowl. Very little flavor (which we want for cauliflower frankly) and a good ... not quite crunchy, but firm texture.

Vegetable: Black Beans and Vegetables

Good bell pepper texture, good crunch or snap, whatever you want to call it to the greens in there too. Good bean texture with a mild flavor, but a flavor. Hard to get much flavors past the chili sauce.

Sauce:Spicy Chili Sauce topped with Cotija Cheese

The mild flavors of everything else is drown out by the strong and spicy chili sauce. If you like spice, then this is probably a welcome change, to otherwise mild and boring frozen food flavors. This spicy hits a point and just doesn't get worse. Doesn't last too long either.

One Offs:

• Would make a brilliant burrito if I was allowed a wrap
• I'd probably say this could have come from some sort of restaurant

Review: Healthy Choice - Grilled Chicken Marinara with Parmesan - Day 4 Dinner

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 4 Dinner] 

Healthy Choice | Cafe Steamers | Grilled Chicken Marinara with Parmesan

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	280	Calories	300 max
	5g	Total Fat	10g max
	550mg	Sodium	700mg max
	36g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	21g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

No. This was on the list of options I was given, but the carbohydrates violate the rules. 6g too many carbs.

Would I eat it again:

I actually did, I didn't notice the level of carbs until writing this review after the second time. Again because I was hungry and forgot to review it at the time.

Protein	Starch	Vegetable	Sauce
Great	Great	Great	Great
Good	Good	Good	Good
Shrug	Shrug	Shrug	Shrug
Eww	Eww	Eww	Eww
Nope	Nope	Nope	Nope

Protein: Grilled Chicken Breast

Not a great flavor, not chicken-y at all. Almost taste chicken-nugget-y instead. Not the best texture either when compared to some of its competitors.

Starch:Penne Pasta

PASTA! Maybe just past Al dente, but also chewy for longer than you'd expect. So there's something off about that. Pasta ... is a flavor, but hard to identify under the marinara.

Vegetable: Broccoli

The broccoli is just barely above 'near mush' and it is very small florets.

Sauce:Zesty Marinara Sauce

It's a very sweet pasta sauce, not zesty to me. And there's some sort of cheesing agent that sticks to my fork. Sort of invisible cheesing agent. Maybe it is all of these specs in the sauce the same size as the broccoli ... leaves? Dots? Wait, broccoli are flowers? Mind blown.

One Offs:

• If you're desperate for pasta ...
• Technically shouldn't have had this if I paid attention to all of the Nutrition Facts when I bought them.

Review: Healthy Choice - Chicken & Vegetable Stir Fry - Day 4 Lunch

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 4 Lunch] 

Healthy Choice | Simply Steamers | Chicken & Vegetable Stir Fry

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	200	Calories	300 max
	5g	Total Fat	10g max
	580mg	Sodium	700mg max
	23g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	23g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

I'd say pretty good. More protein, not a lot of carbs or fat.

Would I eat it again:

I actually did, but only because the first time I ate it I was so hungry from forgetting to eat, I didn't review it. So I had to get it again and review it properly. Wouldn't actually choose it on my own again in the future.

Protein	Starch	Vegetable	Sauce
Great	Great	Great	Great
Good	Good	Good	Good
Shrug	Shrug	Shrug	Shrug
Eww	Eww	Eww	Eww
Nope	Nope	Nope	Nope

Protein: Chicken Breast

Its a good texture on the chicken, with a nice mild chicken flavor.

Starch:None

No Starch for you.

Vegetable: Broccoli, Edamame, Carrots, Red Bell Peppers & Onions

There is a good crunch to the broccoli, a BIG crunch to the edamame but not much flavor, the other vegetables are not that memorable. The carrot flavor is there, but almost canned instead of cooked. The red pepper flavor is really there, but mushier than I would have wanted. Onion is super soft and no flavor, I can't tell if there are celery pieces in here or if its just onion. Plenty of broccoli stems in here. However that could be the crunch I typically want out of a fresh stir fry

Sauce: Sesame Soy Sauce

I can't say i've ever had a Japanese or Chinese sauce like this. And that's saying something with my love of asian foods. It's really hard to describe. It's like a salad dressing with an apricot preserve glaze? There's a recipe for baked chicken that is some kind of salad dressing and a jar of apricate jelly that my brother-in-law's family has made before that I THINK would be closed to this than anything authentically asian I've eaten.

One Offs:

• Though weird, it might be average for frozen stir fry.
• Edible but awkward sweetness that is hard to describe.

Review: Healthy Choice - Beef Chimichurri - Day 3 Dinner

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 3 Dinner] 

Healthy Choice | Simply Steamers | Beef Chimichurri

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	220	Calories	300 max
	6g	Total Fat	10g max
	550mg	Sodium	700mg max
	24g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	16g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

Carbs are a little elevated with still low protein.

Would I eat it again:

Nah. The chimichurri flavor is a bit too overwhelming to want to eat this again anytime soon. If you told me someone dumped their leftovers and the rest of a bowl of chimichurri into a To-go box, brought it home from a restaurant yesterday, and put it in the fridge overnight. By taste id probably believe you, It looks a bit too uniform to believe that on sight.

Protein	Starch	Vegetable	Sauce
Great	Great	Great	Great
Good	Good	Good	Good
Shrug	Shrug	Shrug	Shrug
Eww	Eww	Eww	Eww
Nope	Nope	Nope	Nope

Protein: Tender Beef Strips

These steak strips don't have any jerky flavor on it. An odd note, but see day 0. This isn't a bad texture, I would say it is similar to well done steak slivers. Or day-old fajita meat texture maybe.

Starch:Potatoes

Al dente? If potatoes had such a word. But they're not mush. But not bad. Good Texture.

Vegetable: Green Beans & Red Bell Peppers

The green beans have a good texture almost like fresh green beans, the red peppers aren't much, but not much else is noteworthy.

Sauce: Chimichurri Sauce

The Chimichurri sauce is on everything, and a tiny bit of warmth on the back of the throat. I haven't had a lot of exposure to chimichurri before, it's similar to a green salsa, or salsa verde adjacent. But it is covering up any of the other flavors that might be here, and the spice builds up on the lips over time. It's not bad, but I'm loweing it to Shrug because it's too strong and overwhelming.

One Offs:

• I've had REALLY good chimichurri at a Brazilian Steakhouse a couple of times.
• I felt comparing a freezer meal to that might not be too fair.

Review: Lean Cuisine - Baked Chicken - Day 3 Lunch

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 3 Lunch] 

Lean Cuisine | Protein Kick | Baked Chicken

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	260	Calories	300 max
	9g	Total Fat	10g max
	670mg	Sodium	700mg max
	29g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	15g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

Talk about min/maxing. Kind of the wrong direction though. I dunno if I would recommend maxing out the fat and carbs like this.

Would I eat it again:

Eh, not with those numbers. While I am partial to this kind of meal, it wasn't good enough to really inspire me to get it again.

Protein	Starch	Vegetable	Sauce
Great	Great	Great	Great
Good	Good	Good	Good
Shrug	Shrug	Shrug	Shrug
Eww	Eww	Eww	Eww
Nope	Nope	Nope	Nope

Protein: White meat Chicken

Good textures and a good flavor, not a lot of it though. With low protein on this one, would have like to have seen more protein and chicken included. Granted, it is 15g of protein; And there are a LOT of other frozen meals that are far less. I just mean low in regard to my Liver Shrink Diet guidelines.

Starch: Mashed Potatoes & Stuffing

The mashed potatoes are a bit grainy. The flavor is a bit tame, kinda like the next day potatoes that sat uncovered in the fridge and lost flavor. A little thick after a minute or so, and adding salt didn't help much. The stuffing doesn't have alot going for it, aside from the texture which you might miss. Flavor wise I can't separate it from the overall gravy.

Vegetable: None.

All those carbs and fats, ain't no room for vegetables.

Sauce: Gravy

The stuffing and gravy are inseperable, essentially becoming a mushy bready gravy spread. But the overall gravy flavor is pretty tame. Adding a little bit of salt helps, but we're already at 30% of the daily salt intact without it. The gravy / stuffing mush is probably the best part, and needs to be eaten with everything.

One Offs:

• I tend to be partial to mashed potato and stuffing meals

Review: Healthy Choice - Greek-Style Chicken - Day 2 Dinner (Repeat)

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 2 Dinner] 

Healthy Choice | Power Bowls | Greek-Style Chicken

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	170	Calories	300 max
	6g	Total Fat	10g max
	590mg	Sodium	700mg max
	10g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	20g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

I kind of arbitrarily set the concept for good for this diet as having at least 20g protein, low fat, and low carbs. So yea, I'd call this good.

Would I eat it again:

Yea. Infact as I'm writing some of these a bit in the future, I did, and have eaten it again.

Protein	Starch	Vegetable	Sauce
Great	Great	Great	Great
Good	Good	Good	Good
Shrug	Shrug	Shrug	Shrug
Eww	Eww	Eww	Eww
Nope	Nope	Nope	Nope

Protein: All Natural* Chicken Breast

Fairly small crumbles of Chicken instead of larger chunks as seens on the cover art. Good texture though. Ultimately getting a lower rating because I would have liked to have more and larger chunks of chicken.

Starch: Riced Cauliflower

Ok, yes, Riced Cauliflower is not a starch. But bare with me, I had to establish categories and this stuff is meant to occupy the slot normally occupied by a starch in most people's minds. Its got a good crunch without being too much of a crunch. The texture makes the eating experience better.

Vegetable: Tomatos, Zucchini, Greens Blend, Red Onions, and Artichokes

The Zucchini and Artichokes have a good texture, although there were only 2 pieces of artichoke in the entire serving. The Skins are on the tomatoes and aren't too chewy. The dark leafy greens don't have much flavor, but a single pieces of spinach I found did have a little. The onions and leafy greens are practically mush texture wise, but I guess that's to be expected with a freezer meal.

Sauce: Oregano Feta Vinaigrette

The Oregano Feta vinaigrette really ties everything together, pleasant textures, mild flavors, with this sauce was pretty enjoyable.

One Offs:

• The top part of the bowl came off with the plastic covering. Its a plant-based fiber bowl, so I can forgive that.

Review: Smart Ones - Ham & Cheese Scramble - Day 2 Lunch

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 2 Lunch] 

Smart Ones | Ham & Cheese Scramble

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	200	Calories	300 max
	7g	Total Fat	10g max
	660mg	Sodium	700mg max
	13g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	18g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

A bit high on the Sodium, which may cause some water retention is everything is high that day. Less disappointing than it's Ham-less cousin. Still slightly unfulfilling at 3 oz under weight of its competition.

Would I eat it again:

I was expecting this to be just as bad as its ham-less cousin, and just wanted it out of the rotation early. However if you desperately need breakfast, then this will have to suffice. If I didn't pre-buy so many meals to get through reviews for, I might have gotten it again.

Protein	Starch	Vegetable	Sauce
Great	Great	Great	Great
Good	Good	Good	Good
Shrug(+)	Shrug	Shrug	Shrug
Eww	Eww	Eww	Eww
Nope	Nope	Nope	Nope

Protein: Scrambled Eggs & Ham

Pre-cooked scrambled egg crumbles. Texturally accurate, and they still have that “leftover day old scrambled eggs” vibe. If there was an "off" flavor, it was hidden by the inclusion of the Ham. Which I would have to call "salad chunks". Small quarter centimeter diced chunks that you used to find on buffet salad bars in the 90s. Honestly if I could figure out what kind of ham Pizza Hut used in the 90s for this, I would make my own. The presence of the ham changes everything about this dish. But that might just be flavor hiding and nostalgia. Upgraded to Shrug(+)

Starch: Potatoes

These potatoes actually seemed to have potato flavor and some consistency.' Upgraded to Shrug.

Vegetable: None

No Vegetables for you.

Sauce: Cheeses

Like its cousin from Day 1, some unholy concoction of cheese sauce, only the salt and smoke flavor from the Ham seems to improve it. Upgraded to Shrug

One Offs:

• While better taste overall, Other than the Ham, I don't think anything else really changed here.
• Writing this much later in the future, there are much more filling options out there, and the 6.49 ounces is only 2/3 of what those offer.

Review: Healthy Choice - Grilled Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo - Day 1 Dinner

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 1 Dinner] 

Healthy Choice | Simply Steamers | Grilled Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	190	Calories	300 max
	5g	Total Fat	10g max
	60mg	Sodium	700mg max
	8g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	28g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

Lots o' protein huzzah! Light on Carbs.

Would I eat it again:

Yea I got this again later and ate it again, and only half because I forgot to write a review for it.

Protein	Starch	Vegetable	Sauce
Great	Great	Great	Great
Good	Good	Good	Good
Shrug	Shrug	Shrug	Shrug
Eww	Eww(+)	Eww(-)	Eww(-)
Nope	Nope	Nope	Nope

Protein: Grilled Chicken Breast

Good chicken texture, a mild chicken flavor, some sort of processed chicken flavor in there. Hard to pick up on much past the Alfredo though, which makes everything better.

Starch: None

No Starch for you.

Vegetable: Broccoli

Broccoli pieces of various sized, including a couple big pieces. Good textures and not too mushy. Some subtle broccoli flavor, but its really there to soak up the Alfredo sauce.

Sauce: Creamy Alfredo Sauce

Its a good, creamy, all-be-it thin Alfredo sauce. It sticks to the chicken and broccoli well, and the broccoli sort of soaks it up, The more of it you eat I think the better it tastes. Maybe an slight off flavor when you start, but goes away when your tongue gets used to the Alfredo. Might just be a flavor chemical from the chicken or alfredo I didn't stir enough.

One Offs:

• I will say the second time I ate this, there was an off flavor to the chicken or the alfredo.
• But that could also have been due to having a funky protein shake earlier that day.

Review: Smart Ones - Cheesy Scramble with Hash Browns - Day 1 Lunch

Disclaimers:

1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. 
3. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Liver Shrink Frozen Food Review: [Day 1 Lunch] 

Smart Ones | Cheesy Scramble with Hash Browns

	Nutrition Facts		Liver Shrink Diet
	190	Calories	300 max
	7g	Total Fat	10g max
	530mg	Sodium	700mg max
	16g	Carbohydrate	30g max
	15g	Protein	15g min

Liver Shrink Perspective:

Officially on my liver shrink diet. Protein is at the minimum. Disappointing and unfulfilling.

Would I eat it again:

By choice? No. As one of only TWO breakfast meals on an approved list of meals for Liver Shrink I am disheartened. Breakfast may have to wait until Phase 4, many weeks after surgery.

Protein	Starch	Vegetable	Sauce
Great	Great	Great	Great
Good	Good	Good	Good
Shrug	Shrug	Shrug	Shrug
Eww	Eww(+)	Eww(-)	Eww(-)
Nope	Nope	Nope	Nope

Protein: Scrambled Eggs

Pre-cooked scrambled egg crumbles. Texturally accurate, but they also have that “they used the leftover day old scrambled eggs to make this” vibe. Flavor was equally slightly off, which seems to me to be the reason to add the cheese sauce. To cover up the many many shortcomings.

Starch: Potatoes

What makes a piece of potato into a hash-brown? Cooking method? Spices and Flavor? Just appearing next to a breakfast item? There are pieces of potato in this frozen meal. And unless the mere presence of eggs is enough to qualify them as hash-browns, these potatoes had little flavor in addition to having little to no spice on them. Texturally they were inconsistent. Tongue scalding mush one bite, barely cooked stiff French fry the next.

Vegetable: Bell Peppers and Onions?

According to the package this includes red and green bell peppers and onion. There were not many of them, cooked to a tongue/gum-able tasteless mush.

Sauce: Cheeses

When you open the package you can see bits of shredded cheese within. When cooked the first time it’s a nice little mound of various shredded cheeses. I probably should have tried them in this half cooked, unmixed state because once they were mixed in with everything all you could taste was a weak cheese-like flavor. None of the flavors of the individual cheeses came through enough to verify if they were indeed a Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Mozzarella blend. Checked the ingredient lists for all three of these to be literally the last ingredients. With Cheese Sauce and Cheese Flavor being much higher in the list. Solves that mystery.

One Offs:

• The sum is less than the total of its parts. The cheese sauce was there to hold mixed bits together for the spoon, while attempting to hide everything textually and flavor(ly?) wrong.
• But Tangent, what does something have to do to get a ‘Nope’ rating?!
• Make me sick or I dislike it enough to go cook something else instead.
• Which, while unfulfilling and disappointing, it did not.

Disclaimers:
1. Links are not attached to any kickbacks or whatever. Just there to be helpful.
2. Liver Shrink Diets are only to be attempted under Medical Supervision. These posts are intended for informational and tracking purposes only.

Day: 0 - Liver Shrink Diet - Running Start

Getting a running start on the Liver Shrink Diet that I will be on for the next 3 weeks.

I am using the Baritastic App (https://www.baritastic.com/) and have configured my 'Meals' to be: Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Dinner, Dessert.

Breakfast, Snacks, and Dessert are for my Protein Shakes, Lunch and Dinner are for my Frozen Meals.

Side Thought: I really wish I could rename the 'Meals' in the app. As it is you can only rename ones you've added yourself. At least I could reorganize them and put them in the order I need. I think I get why they don't let you remove the meals or rename them, but still I'm a habitual customizer of software.

Meals:

• Breakfast: Dymatize - Cinnamon Cereal
• (https://dymatize.com/products/iso100-cinnamon-cereal)
• Lunch: Healthy Choice - Balsamic Garlic Steak
• (https://www.healthychoice.com/plated-meals/balsamic-garlic-steak)
• Snacks: Isopure Clear Low Carb Protein: Tropical Punch
• (https://www.theisopurecompany.com/en-us/Products/Powder/ISOPURE%C2%AE-CLEAR-LOW-CARB-PROTEIN/p/C101310)
• Dinner: Healthy Choice - Cafe Steamers - Chicken Fajita
• (https://www.healthychoice.com/cafe-steamers/chicken-fajita)
• Dessert: Homemade attempt at a Milk Tea Protein Shake.
• First attempt, I'd say ... 15% of the way to the flavor goal? Not worth sharing a recipe yet.

Thoughts:

Honestly, I was surprised when I saw how much I was allowed to have on Liver Shrink. I know people who had this procedure 6 years ago, who had to maintain a Clear Liquid Diet for more than a month as part of their pre-op. So I was fully waiting for the long haul of 2 protein shakes, a gallon of water,  and a can of pureed tuna or less. Not expecting 3 shakes and 2 freezer meals.

I have deeper thoughts, but I'll save those for a rainy day when I don't have anything else to share.

Transparency:

Yea, I ate more than this on Day 0. Being the last night of eating what I want my wife and I had a bunch of what I can only describe as a smorgasbord of flavors and textures that I won't have for a while. I know some people have food funerals, and over the last few weeks of dieting we've been able to go out to restaurants, and order what we wanted. Salads, Pastas, Sauces, etc. 

After the surgery its 6 weeks to get to Phase 4, which is Regular Texture Foods, give it another month or two before I've tested foods for their affect on my stomach and intestines, at that point I hope I'm in exercise and high protein diet world of shedding the excess weight I have. I reckon it will be a couple of months after that before I experiment with foods that aren't high in protein or strictly 'healthy' for me in order to see if they still taste the same or if I miss them.

I hope to review and record the food and protein options for pre-op / post-op /.and beyond on this blog. But I'm nothing if not consistent with my inconsistency. We'll see how long this lasts.