It's a Two fer . . . or at Least It Was

Unprecedented.  Two ratings in ONE blog post.  What is the world coming to?  I'll tell you.  Was going to do two ratings together but I got so amped about this first one it ended up longer than I thought it would.  Instead of a Two-fer It's just two consecutive blog posts.  I hate scrolling too much so don't want to make other people do it either.   I meant to post this morning and then never got around to it before I had to start getting on back to back conference calls.  So now, I've eaten lunch and will just do both of them together.  Is one of the posts about the Panini?  Why, yes it is.  And let me just throw this out there:  I ate it for breakfast.  I know, a little wild.  But I was starving and as earlier noted, I am lazy.  Too lazy to take an elevator 26 floors to the deli for a breakfast taco.  Besides lazy I am also CHEAP and did not want to pay for said breakfast taco.  I eat waffles for dinner so why not panini for breakfast?  And there you go.

So, this morning Lean Cuisine Spinach Artichoke Chicken Panini it is.  And very tasty I might add.  I'd say this is more of a grilled sandwich rather than your traditional panini.  its not squished together and the bread tastes and looks like it was grilled on a griddle vs a panini maker.  End result is tasty though, so who cares?

I have to admit all previous times I have eaten this I have eaten it open faced the way it comes out of the box like so:

Not sure if it occurred to me before to put it together and eat it like a sandwich.  No idea why.  Maybe I just wasn't paying attention.  For whatever reason I did put it together this time after I got it out of the microwave.

Seriously, that looks pretty good right?  In no way does this resemble something that came out of a box and was previously frozen.  It has actual recognizable bits of artichoke and chicken and spinach.  Flavor is good, has a nice sort of creamy cheesy thing going on.  Don't laugh, but this is every bit as good as a panini from Panera if you ask me.  Not kidding.  Bread is crunchy, slices are thick and good texture, filling is adequate.  Best of all this sandwich is only 320 calories and not a gajillion like Panera.  Panera probably doesn't even have bread that is 320 calories.  I'm not knocking you Panera.  We had some good years together when I lived in the great state of Virginia, but let's be honest, you and your sandwich cafe brethren are not exactly known for having light food.

Back to the appearance, just look at those grill marks.  They are a thing of beauty coming from any diner/restaurant let alone from a box.  That chicken thing I had on my flight last week should be totally embarrassed, humiliated actually.  Lean Cuisine should get a Nobel Peace Prize for microwave technology.  Oh, they don't have that category?  Well, whatever.  This is why I am so confused as to why LC doesn't have breakfast food.  Can you imagine, this bread with egg and cheese? Or with ham and cheddar?  LC would be unstoppable.  UNSTOPPABLE.  Do you hear what I am saying people?

I guess unless you experience it it's not all that exciting.

You can probably guess where I'm going with this now; 

Spinach Artichoke Chicken Panini gets 5 microwaves and a RECOMMENDED from me today.

I agree, I could just be punch drunk from lack of sleep.  Had to spend most of the night last night juggling 3 kids and packing for epic 10-day road trip, but I am pretty confident I will agree with myself on another day that involves more coffee and more sleep.

Mmmm coffee . . .