Weight Watchers® Smart Ones® Swedish Meatballs – Is it really worth trying?
Written: Feb 09 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Decent, but not very flavorful or a decent portion size.
Cons: Bland, small portions (5 small meatballs, very little noodles)
The Bottom Line: This is nothing to buy again, for me, others may enjoy it, but I think I will pass.
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| Magick1's Full Review: Weight Watcher's Smart Ones Swedish Meatballs in C... |
Swedish meatballs sound delicious, don’t they? Does the Weight Watchers® brand give you confidence to purchase this meal? Or, is it not that special? I can’t say whether this is like Swedish meatballs from the past. I really never had this meal when I was growing up. I do think the Weight Watchers® Smart Ones® Swedish Meatballs were pretty decent in flavor. But, I felt they were lacking.
The Product
I will say that I was sadly presented with 5 small meatballs, a very small portion of noodles and a lot of gravy. Upfront, I would have preferred more noodles. Having only 5 small meatballs wasn’t bad, but it could have used a few more, since they were so small.
The flavor was very mild, almost no spice and did not really leave an impression. The meatballs had some seasoning to them, but again, it was quite mild in flavor. You definitely can taste the onion, but the overall impression was nothing impressive.
The Ingredients
This information, as well as the nutritional information, is taken directly from the box.
Cooked enriched macaroni product (water, enriched semolina [semonlina, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid]), water, cooked Swedish meatball (beef, water, onion, modified cornstarch and dried whey concentrate, textured vegetable protein product (textured soy protein concentrate, caramel color], dextrose, seasoning [hydrolyzed soy and corn proteins, autolyzed yeast extract, corn maltodextrin, monosodium glutamate, corn syrup solids, natural flavors, dextrose, salt, beef extract, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, rendered beef fat], reconstituted skim milk, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce [distilled vinegar (vinegar, water), molasses, corn syrup, water, salt, caramel color, garlic powder, sugar, spices, anchovies, tamarind, natural flavor], garlic powder, spice), nonfat milk, onions, contains 2% or less of: modified cornstarch, beef base (roasted beef and concentrated beef stock, hydrolyzed [corn gluten, soy, corn and wheat proteins], corn oil, sugar, corn maltodextrin, roasted garlic, sour cream flavor (corn maltodextrin, nonfat milk, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, sugar, lactose, dried whey [milk], corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate [milk], flavoring, mono- and diglycerides, sodium citrate, salt, dipotassium phosphate, modified cornstarch, carrageenan), flavor enhancer (hydrolyzed corn gluten, soy protein and wheat gluten, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils), mushroom base (sautéed mushrooms, hydrolyzed soy and wheat protein, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, sugar, dextrose, spice extractives, mushroom concentrate, onion powder), sugar, unbleached enriched wheat flour (flour, niacin, iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), onion powder, xanthan gum, onion concentrate (sautéed onions, butter, salt, sugar, onion powder, natural flavor), corn oil, beef type flavor (autolyzed yeast extract, flavor, partially hydrogenated soybean oil), parsley, stabilizer (corn maltodextrin, monoglyceride, soy lecithin, xanthan gum, guar gum, methycellulose gum, citric acid, spice, garlic powder, lactic acid (contains calcium lactate), pepper (black, white), annatto (color).
Contains: fish (anchovies), milk, soybeans, wheat
Whew, what a list. There are mushrooms in the sauce, in case you don’t want to hassle with this whole ingredient listing above! That was a challenge to type out. The print on these boxes is not that large and my eyes are just not what they used to be!
Nutritional Content
This information is from the box and is based upon a standard 2,000 calorie diet!
Calories 270 Calories from Fat 45
Total Fat 5g or 8%
Saturated Fat 2g or 10%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.5g
Cholesterol 30mg or 10%
Sodium 730 mg or 30%
Total Carbohydrate 35g or 12%
Dietary Fiber 3g or 10%
Sugars 5g
Protein 20g
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 15%
Iron 15%
If you are watching calories, fats, or sodium, I hope the showing of this information will save you time when you are shopping in the store. If you know in advance what it is like, then making out a shopping list might be easier!
Overall Impressions
The flavor was decent, but it was a bit bland, unless you were eating a meatball. The meatballs had the most flavor of entire meal. The noodles were nothing special, just a “ribbon” noodle included and there were not many of them in here. The meatballs were small and there were only 5 in the meal. It really seemed that the gravy was the largest serving in this box!
This is like all other Weight Watchers® Smart Ones® lunches that I have purchased, in that they are very easy to fix. This one only takes 2 ½ minutes in the microwave. The portion size is quite small, in comparison to some of their other meals!
If you are doing the points system that Weight Watchers® has, the point value is 5. The flavor was decent, but nothing spectacular. If you are familiar with Swedish meatballs, I would be interested in knowing how it compares to what you remember. Without that previous experience, I can say this was an ok meal, but nothing that I would purchase regularly.
~Thank you for spending time with me today!~
Recommended:
No
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