Day 12 Smart, Lean & Healthy

Tonight I met a couple of pals at El Rancho Cancun, a greasy spoon-type of Mexican restaurant in our neighborhaood. The allure of the fiesta was to drink strawberry margaritas in 55 gallon drums until we all got silly and laughed too loud. Gearing up for this dinner out, I ate a light breakfast consisting of coffee and a Pillsbury Toaster Strudel (260). Lunch was the usual PB&J, one ounce bag of pretzels, a large banana and two bites from the middle of a Twinkie (700).
I'm not much of a drinker so I was content with Diet Coke, which Rosita refilled so many times I think I had hyponatremia. I skipped over the basket of chips and ordered an enchilada platter, no guacamole, no sour cream and no refried beans. It was pathetic, a card board paper towel roll, cut in half and stuffed with an unidentifiable brown glup, having as much taste as wet poster board.
As my pals scooped tortilla chips into mahogany colored lard and shouted "Ole", I was trying to calculate the calories in the south-of -the- border mess, coagulating in front of me. The saving grace was I left one mystery cylinder on the plate, salvaging some calories from the wreck.
At that point, I wished I had eaten a Smart One Chicken Enchilada Monterrey (310) at home and met them after for a Cuervo Gold shot.
Chicken Alfredo, Chicken Carbonara, Ravioli Florentine, Brick Oven Pizzas. Sounds like I am reciting menu items from an Italian trattoria. These entrees are already prepared, packaged, counted and sitting right in my freezer.
The folks at Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice and Smart Ones take the "count" out of the count and make it simple for all of us on the Plan to eat right, say within calorie and financial budgets and not spend two hours over a hot stove slicing, stewing and sauteing while the house falls apart.
No, these convenient, "let me do the cooking and counting for you" time savers aren't masquerading as five star entrees prepared by a master chef. They aren't made to be, they're not marketed to be (honestly, what do you expect for 270 calories?) and, of course, they don't carry the exorbitant prices than accompany fine dining dishes.
Check them out. They're a great value and can be life preservers, life savers, and gentle nudges to push us through another day when we blew all our bucks early in the day at the meat counter. I like Lean Cuisines and their line of Spa Cuisines (Chicken Enchilada Suiza beats the paste I had at El Rancho) but find the ones you like. These are not the TV Dinners who enjoyed as a kid, hunched over your TY tray , eyes glued to Speed Racer or Petticoat Junction. Today's freezer sections offer up Salmon with Dill Sauce, Dragon Shrimp Lo Mein, Lemon Grass Chicken, Paninis, Pizzas and on and on.
In my former life, I had a bit of culinary experience (although you'd never guess that from my food diaries and I give two thumbs up to the R&D department at Lean Cuisine. They've done a bang up job creating comfort foods such as Beef Pot Roast alla Aunt Bee to classic style cuisine like Oven Roasted Beef Burgundy without preservatives, trans fat or artificial ingredients. I'd rather give myself a root canal than hit the GE oven a week night and attempt to prepare Chicken a L'Orange for under 330 calories. Talk about "Hell's Kitchen."
Day 12 total: Not really sure, around 1200.