Explore Asian Ready-to-Heat Meals

Good morning and happy Friday!

If, like me, you love to peruse health food stores any chance you get, than you likely have seen, if not tried Explore Asian's line of bean pastas.

I used to buy them frequently until suddenly they got super expensive. Like, WTF? They seriously seemed to double in price over night!

Anyways, they're awesome! They're vegan, organic and gluten-free and have a wonderful firm texture. I adore them.

Recently my health food store had a sale on their ready-to-heat line of noodle packs. I'd never seen them before, but having been a fan of Tasty Bite meals as a grad student, I am not above trying this kind of thing. In fact, I've been super busy lately and often in need of a meal I can prepare quickly or heat up at the office and these are perfect.

The noodles are precooked and mixed with a sauce, but junk-free. The ingredient list is pretty clean. I bought the soybean noodles with sundried tomato sauce, and though cane sugar is on the list, its the second last ingredient. Not so bad.

The package says its 2-250 calorie servings. Huh? For a hamster maybe! I knew I'd be eating the whole thing, and even then, I wasn't certain it would be enough food for me. To bulk it up and increase the nutrition, I added 2 spiralized zucchinis, some fresh basil, and chopped sundried tomatoes.

I am pleased to say it was really yummy and, perhaps because the whole package provides 27 grams of protein, I felt satisfied for quite a while afterwards. The package says you can microwave it right in the pouch, but I don't like doing that, so I transferred it to a Corningware dish first. It took just 2 minutes to heat!

These are definitely a much healthier choice than frozen dinners or take-out meals most folks get for lunch.

I would love to buy these again for a quick meal...but only if I find them on sale! Though if you buy your lunch every day, even the regular price on these is probably less than what you usually spend.

I hope you have a lovely weekend. We get our oldest child back (from my parents) today, and then its a pretty quiet weekend. I have to see clients tomorrow, but I'm hoping we can fit in some fun, family activities.

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