Thumbs Down on Green Giant Pasta, Broccoli & Alfredo Sauce

I always look for new things to try at the grocery store as I wander up and down the aisles. So, when I spotted what looked like an interesting and tasty change-of-pace in the frozen veggie section the other day, I grabbed it.

"Green Giant Pasta, Broccoli & Alfredo Sauce" sounds good doesn't it? It's one of those open the bag, toss in a dish and nuke dishes that is great as a filler or when you're in a rush.

It looks good on the package photo, too. Big chunks of broccoli florets atop sauce covered noodles. Yum.

I glanced at the calories knowing anything with "Alfredo" in it is usually high in calories and fat. Not so with this one, only 220 calories per serving and 4 grams of fat. Not low-cal, but reasonable.

Tried it last night for the first time... and the last.

First, I missed the sodium content when looking at the "Nutrition Facts" but caught the high content immediately with my first bite. I like salt and like it more than I should, so for me to taste the salt it had to be high.

Took a look at the bag and yep, there's a whopping 710 mg in one serving. Wow.

However, that wasn't the worst. I counted three (3) broccoli florets in the entire dish. The rest of the pieces were stems. I know, picky, picky, but I don't like the stems. I don't mind a few, and I can live with 50-50, but there were way too many for my tastes.

I did like the fact that unlike many similar dishes, this one had a lot of broccoli. Usually they're pasta heavy.

The taste? Mediocre --- maybe because it was so low in calories compared to other Alfredos, maybe because of the high sodium content, or maybe it's just the recipe in general.

My husband and I both curled our lips when we tasted our first bite. It's not horrible, it's just not "good".

I was a bit surprised, and disappointed.