First Meal Ordered - Exceeded Expectations!
Look, "diet" anything is not going to taste like the real thing or the thing that it is inspired by. Now, some diet things taste better than others, but they are still a far cry from what the OG (original) tastes like. Also, the OG is what helped me get into the shape that I was in, which was fat, so something had to change. I have been on a medical weight management program since December and have lost 30lbs and counting. The first 3 months were 100% meal replacements, similar to the products here on the site. However, my program did not offer a wide variety of options, so when this site was brought to my attention, I was pretty excited to incorporate some of the products into my continued journey. The first product that caught my eye was this one, the Cheesesteak Pasta. I mean really, you are going to combine two of my favorite things, cheesesteak and pasta, and offer them in a box of 7 servings at 140 calories a pop!? You best believe your Jersey inspired butt I am going to try it! I placed an order and tonight was the first night I gave this pasta a try. For me, I was combining 2 servings (280 Calories) a meal with the products I was using during my program. I had to get through 8 products a day, so I just split it up into 4 groups of 2, so for breakfast I had 2 products, lunch 2 products, dinner 2 products and then 2 products after dinner as I am a late nighter and that is when I would graze in the kitchen, so keeping 2 products till later in the evening worked for me. So in keeping with my 2 products per meal plan, I decided to do the same with these. I opted to go the stove top route, which took a little longer than the microwave option, but I found that mentally for me, cooking on the stove top (which consisted of just boiling water and the product in a pot, so not REALLY cooking) made it FEEL like I was prepping a dinner, which has been important and part of the success I have had on this journey. Followed the stove top instructions and then let it sit in my bowl for 2 minutes to thicken up, then grabbed my spoon and took it for a taste test. I ate 3 spoon full bites of the pasta and then sat back and let it do its thing. My taste buds were not upset by my choice. The meat to past ratio favored the meat a little bit, but I am not mad about that. I actually prefer a bit more meat to my pasta and this worked well. By letting it sit for a couple minutes, it allowed the dish to thicken up a bit so it was not soupy at all. The flavor exceeded my expectations, as it did not have a "powdery" flavor or leave any icky after taste like some of the soups from my program had. Visually it was appealing and looked like a nice bowl of cheesesteak pasta. A few minutes after eating it, I was feeling full and not grossly full like I used to feel when I would dominate an entire REAL cheesesteak. So why 4 stars you may be asking? I have yet to find a meal replacement product that has just blown my compression socks off...which would be really hard to do as those socks are snug! However, I also ask myself the question, "Would you reorder this again," and if the answer is yes, it immediately gets 3 stars. If it exceeds my expectations with flavor, look and how it sits after I eat, that bumps it up to a solid 4. Will I reorder this product...absolutely. Did it exceed my expectations with flavor, look and how it has sat after I ate it...yes it did. I would happily eat this as a dinner or lunch, 1-3 times a week, as part of my product rotation!
