by Jeff Casto

Created on: August 24, 2009

My family has a hectic schedule, so in order to try to reduce the time it takes to prepare dinner and still provide a somewhat healthy meal, we sometimes prepare Contessa brand Chicken Stir-Fry.


Description:

From the picture on the bag, this meal looks incredibly delicious, with lots of vivid green, yellow, red, and orange vegetables and seasoned chicken contrasted by a dark serving plate. Just above the picture, a banner boasts that this meal is Restaurant Quality. On the left side, a small round label says Great Taste in 10 Minutes, and at the bottom, the information, Low FatComplete With All Ingredients appears. And just below that the major ingredients are listed, which include white-meat chicken, broccoli, carrots, baby corn, water chestnuts, Kikurage mushrooms, onions, petite green beans, and an oriental-style sauce.

Environmental Responsibility:

But something else on the label interested me almost as much. A green symbol on the right side of the bag proclaimed this Green Cuisine. See back for details. And on the back, there is a statement that says, Produced by an environmentally responsible food manufacturer. This was produced in the world's first LEED Certified frozen food manufacturing plant. Visit contessa.com for more information. On visiting the Contessa website, I found this:

In 2007, Contessa opened the first environmentally responsible, LEED-certified frozen-food manufacturing plant in the world. Located in Los Angeles, our new plant uses advanced design and technology to significantly reduce Contessa's environmental impact. It uses half the energy and reduces CO2 emissions by 50% compared to a conventional plant built today. The facility, its processes and the products manufactured there are known as 'Green Cuisine.'

I didn't know what LEED stood for. In small print on the back of the bag, was an explanation; The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

The website gives more information about Contessa's environmental responsibility. It is actually pretty convincing and rather encouraging that a manufacturer would be that socially conscious.


Preparation:

The package states that this meal serves three people, and that one serving is 1 cups. That won't cut it in our household. That's why I buy two bags at a time. Combining both provides just enough food for the four of us. I am able to prepare both of them together in the same large skillet, although it is pretty full and takes a little

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