Saturday, January 21, 2012

5 Cheese Lasagna - Deal of the Day

Michelina's Lean Gourmet 5 Cheese Lasagna is a winning entree for a light lunch or dinner. The slabs of noddles swim in a herb infused tomato sauce, and the 5 melted cheeses are quite flavorful.

And it's priced right -- for one dollar, if you have a Ralphs card. I'm not sure how long this Deal of the Day is going on at my local grocery chain store, but I would stock up on a few of these for cheap workday lunches. If you make a salad to go with it, like my 2 Minute Salad (click here,) you'll have a satisfying dinner, too.


This entree microwaves perfectly. The cheese melts over the lasagna, while the noddles steam fork-tender in the rich tomato sauce. The sauce is flavored with earthy herbs and sweeten with red wine (according to the ingredient list.)  There's just is enough sauce to dredge all the pasta though -- and, you will mop up every last drop!

As you work your way through 4 wavy sheets of pasta, you are first hit with the tart and sharp Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano cheese, which then gives way to sweeter and creamier Ricotta and Mozzarella. It's so good you'll wish there was as much cheese as your grandmother would normally add. But, to keep it calorie conscious, I guess they decided to cut back on the amount of 5 cheeses.


 So, on a 1-9 scale, 9 being best, I give Michelina's 5 Cheese Lasagna a perfect 9 ! I could take off a point because I wanted more cheese; but I can't really complain about a delicious entree that only costs a buck!

There are a slew of Michelina selections in the frozen grocery case, including a Chicken Alfredo Florentine and a Cheese Manicotti  for 99 cents. I tried both of these and would recommend them as well. The Manicotti was loaded with cheese (my favorite of all that rates a perfect 9!) -- while the Alfredo Florentine's chicken cubes were cut from a chicken baloney-like mystery loaf (typical of most frozen poultry entrees.) But, the creamy Alfredo sauce with spinach lifted the pasta entree over the top in taste (rated about a 7?)

7 comments:

  1. Sounds like a good deal. I was curious about the protein content..It is 13 grams, equivalent to about 2 ounces of meat. A person could add some cheese to the top easily if they wanted. Beats making it from scratch and eliminates the option to overeat it making it an even better deal.

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  2. I'm on my way to Ralphs right now. They look pretty good for work lunches! Thanks Billy.

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  3. Wow your photo of the lasagna on the fork makes that look really good, now I kind of want to go buy some!

    Jenny @ savourthesenses.com

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  4. hi twinkletoe, I hope your local Ralphs had some...and Jennifer, go for it, spurge on a couple!

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  5. hi Dinahasoar, yeah extra cheese is the ticket! I also need to find some lasagna noodles for 99c, then I'll try a chintz version from scratch ;-p

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  6. Those normally sell for around $.85-99 at my grocery store. I think that's a case of a "sale," rather than an actual sale.

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  7. All right, so I'm reading this about 2 years after the fact. The Michelina's line is one of my favorites, both the regular and lean products, for lunch at work or a light supper. My favorite is the fettucine alfredo with chicken and broccoli. I also like the manicotti, even though there's a LOT of sauce left after consuming the pasta--but that's what bread was invented for, right?

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