Smart Ones® Meatloaf – Does it remind you of home?
Written: Apr 01 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It's inexpensive and you do get a decent sized hamburger patty.
Cons: Everything from the flavor to the potatoes to the gravy. Avoid it!
The Bottom Line: This doesn't remind you of a home cooked meal in any fashion!
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| Magick1's Full Review: Weight Watcher's Smart Ones Meat Loaf & Potato Fro... |
Well, Weight Watchers® does try to hit some all time favorites. Is this one, served with gravy and garlic-herb mashed potatoes a score? Or, should it be dunked into the trash? Well, let me share with you my experience, and then you can make your decision as to whether you try it out or not!
The meal is separated for the gravy, meatloaf in one side of the dish and the mashed potatoes are in the other side. For those that like having their gravy over their potatoes, you will have to spoon it over the potatoes or dip your potatoes in the gravy.
This is a microwavable meal, and it will be ready in about 3 ½ - 4 ½ minutes, depending on how powerful your microwave is. They do have conventional oven preparation listed on the box and it will take 20 minutes on 350 degree oven.
The Product
This meal has a point level of 5 for those using the Weight Watchers point value system. The meatloaf was roughly the size of a quarter pound hamburger that you could get at McDonald’s but it was formed into the shape of a meatloaf or bread pan. It was just about the same thickness as the quarter pound burger too. It had a decent size and appearance. But, you can tell this is a mass produced item, as you could see the tenderizing or conveyor belt marks in the patty. That steals some of the homemade feel to this dish.
The mashed potatoes had a few sprinkles of chives to “brighten” up the mashed potatoes. Personally, I think these potatoes stink worse than anything I have ever tried! The consistency reminds me of very watered down potatoes that have some air whipped in them. The potatoes were flat in their side of the container and had, literally, little holes throughout where the air pockets popped out of the potato mush. The chive highlighting looked more like someone inadvertently lost a few pieces when they were trying to put them elsewhere. The flavor, give me buttery flavor any time over garlic mashed potatoes. I love seasoning, don’t get me wrong, but potatoes and the level of seasoning they have, stink.
There was not a tremendous amount of gravy. All of it was on the bottom of the tray, not coating the meatloaf. In a way, this is ok because I am not a huge gravy fan. But, I think they should redo this to coat the meatloaf to try to keep the moisture in the meatloaf. It was not terribly dry meatloaf, but it did leave a bit to be desired. The flavor was not outstanding or remarkable, really. Even looking at the ingredients and seeing peppers and onions in this product, I wonder where the flavor went, as there really wasn’t anything jumping out when I tried this meal.
This really, did not hit the spot. I know there are a million recipes for meatloaf, but this was bland and uneventful. I thought it was just a hamburger patty with ketchup sauce around it.
The Ingredients
Water, cooked meatloaf (beef, water, onions, diced red and green bell peppers, soy protein concentrate, catsup [tomato concentrate (water, tomato paste), high fructose corn syrup, vinegar, salt, onion powder, spice, natural flavors], seasoning [salt, onion powder, autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed soy protein, modified food starch, flavor (contains decolorized soy sauce [water, wheat, soybeans, salt], dextrose, modified cornstarch, celery extract), garlic powder, sugar, spices, turmeric, dextrose, caramel color, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate]), potatoes, contains 2% or less of: margarine (soybean oil, water, salt, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, mono-and diglycerides, soy lecithin, sodium benzoate, natural flavors, artificial flavor, beta carotene [color], vitamin A palmitate), diced tomatoes (tomatoes, tomato juice, salt, calcium chloride, citric acid), tomato paste, corn maltodextrin, modified cornstarch, cream powder( cream, soy lecithin), beef au jus concentrate (beef stock, flavor, soy sauce [water, wheat, soybeans, salt, sodium benzoate], beef fat, caramel color, cultured whey [milk], cornstarch, onion powder, sugar, garlic powder, salt, modified cornstarch, potato starch, beet powder, lactic acid, corn syrup solids), nonfat milk, beef type flavor (hydrolyzed corn gluten, soy protein and wheat gluten, autolyzed yeast extract, dextrose, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils), yeast extract, roasted garlic puree (garlic, high maltose corn syrup solids), onions, salt, sugar, corn oil, red bell peppers, roasted red pepper paste (roasted red bell peppers, dextrose, water, salt, yeast extract, potato starch, natural flavoring, soy sauce [water, soybeans, wheat, salt]), Worcestershire sauce (distilled vinegar, molasses, corn syrup, water, salt, caramel color, garlic powder, sugar, spices, anchovies, tamrind, natural flavor, sulfites added as preservatives), xanthan gum, parsley, pepper (white, black) emulsifier (mono- and diglycerides, nonfat milk, wheat starch), chives, spice, granulated garlic, spice extractives, concentrated onion juice (onion juice, sunflower oil).
Contains Fish (anchovies), milk, soybeans, wheat
This product also contains sulfites from the Worcestershire Sauce.
Nutritional Information
As with the ingredients, this information is taken directly from the box. This information is based upon a single serving, which is one box of the meatloaf meal. The facts are based upon a standard 2,000 calorie diet.
Calories 250 Calories from Fat 70
Total Fat 8g or 13%
Saturated Fat 3g or 15%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.5g
Monounsaturated Fat 2g
Cholesterol 45mg or 16%
Sodium 880mg or 37%
Total Carbohydrate 23g or 8%
Dietary Fiber 3g or 10%
Sugars 2g
Protein 22g
Vitamin A 2%
Vitamin C 8%
Calcium 6%
Iron 15%
Overall Impressions
Well, as you might have already gathered, there is not a lot that really tempts me in purchasing this meal again. Meatloaf, I understand, has about a million different recipes and there is no right or wrong way to make it. It’s whatever your family enjoys. But, being an open minded person, I have found quite a few recipes that I enjoy for meatloaf. Some meatloaf recipes have peppers in them, some only have onions, some have carrots and zucchini, others have tomato ketchup. But, I really haven’t had a disappointing meatloaf before today.
This was a bland attempt at meatloaf. You basically have a hamburger patty sitting a bit of tomato ketchup. There is a bit of seasoning, but not much. You cannot see any onions in the meatloaf and it barely had any gravy. There was a loan tiny piece of tomato on top to garnish the meatloaf. I would have to say it was like ¼ of a cherry sized tomato.
The potatoes stunk. They looked overly whipped, had air holes in them and were thin, and garlic flavored. They are not even on my possible list. Every time that I see mashed potatoes in one of these meals, I think I will avoid it like the plague because the mashed potatoes were hideous! This dish will not be purchased by me again!
~Thank you for spending time with me today!~
Recommended:
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