The Marie Callender's giveaway winners have been contacted, congrats!
Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for you!
...and pie. :)
Marie Calender's Baked Meals Review and giveaway!
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I've been given the opportunity to try the new Marie Calender's Baked meals at no cost and pass on my thoughts and some coupons to you! Two readers will get coupons for a free meal! Read through to the end for more details.
Regular readers may be surprised to see me writing a review for frozen meals. While I recommend cooking everything from scratch whenever possible, I acknowledge that there are days that circumstances don't make that easy. The best case scenario is that your fridge and pantry are stocked full of fresh and easy to prepare ingredients. Second best is that you have prepared for rough and/or hurried days with some frozen meals you cooked ahead of time from scratch. I won't lie though, sometimes the convenience of a frozen pizza or even fast food proves rewarding enough in the dividends it pays to my sanity to make it worth it.
So, long justification over, I'm posting a review for a frozen meal because the reality is that most of us eat them. I cannot in good consciousness recommend eating these on a regular basis due to the large amount of sodium and the processed ingredients they contain, but for the occasional relief from cooking, here's what I think:
I tried 3 of the Baked Meals and one Pie. A review of each is below.
Southwestern Style Chipotle Chicken Bake
We microwaved this one as we were in a hurry. We were pleased that it really did come out cooked evenly and the rice had a good texture - not that gross grainy-ness that some instant rice has. I will warn you though that while the sauce had a good flavor, it was way too spicy for my husband and 2 year old. They weren't impressed at all. Also, we should have eaten it with tortilla chips or with a big salad b/c we were hungry an hour later. We don't do many carbs/grains and there wasn't much chicken in the meal. Still not bad for what it is.
Creamy Chicken Alfredo with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
This was delicious! I'll be tempted to buy it again for sure. The sauce was just right and the tomatoes added a kick. Everyone loved it! We microwaved this one as well. Even though all of these can be baked, the difference in prep time for this one was 10 minutes in the microwave, or 50 in the oven!! We knew we'd still be hungry this time, so we MAY have finshed dinner off with some pie...
Razzleberry Pie
I received a coupon for a percentage off of a pie and they were on sale, so I grabbed one. The fact that I chose Razzleberry is a testament to how much I love my husband. I would much rather have chosen Chocolate Cream, but he's a fruit guy. And as far as fruit pies go, I enjoyed this one. The biggest bummer for me was that I didn't read the baking instructions far enough ahead, and they suggest that you let the pit set for 3 hours after it's baked. We ended up eating it right before bed, which I wouldn't have chosen. Like most pies, I thought it was better cold for breakfast the next morning.
Three Meat and Four Cheese Lasagna
We finally got around to baking this one. The baking tray held up well and it baked very evenly! I made Cheesy Garlic Coconut Quick Bread to go with. It was definitely more substantial that the other two with 290 calories and 14g of protein per serving. Not bad at all for a frozen lasagna.
There are also three more varieties of baked meals that I didn't try: Chicken Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna, Scalloped Potatoes and Ham, and Vermont White Cheddar Mac 'n Cheese.
Would you like to try your own??
Marie Callender's has graciously sent me coupons to give away to two of my readers! To win a coupon for a free Marie Callender's Multi-Serve Baked Meal, visit their site and then tell me in the comments which meal you think you'll try. That's it! Easy-peasy!
Comments will close on Wednesday, November 24th at 11:59pm. Two comments will be randomly chosen on Thanksgiving Day. Please leave me a way to contact you in your comment or I'll have to choose someone else.
***Disclosure: I was given coupons for two free baked meals as well as for cents off of a few more. I was also compensated for writing up my review and hosting the giveaway. However, I was in no way obligated to write anything favorable about the products or company. All ideas expressed in this post are mine.
Groupon - Deal of the Day
This isn't exactly food related, but I've wanted to pass this information along for a while and today is a great day for it.
Most of you have probably heard of Groupon or other deal-of-the-day sites, or at least seen all of the promotional advertisements around the web. We've been using Groupon since April and have gotten some spectacular deals! So far we've redeemed groupons for half of at a salon, a big discount on a membership to thelocal botanical garden, cheap oil changes, 1/2 off at Gap (new jeans - yay!!), donuts for my husband's employees, and a great price on a box of organic produce from Fresh Connect.
Every day Groupon offers a new deal at 50-90% off the regular price. They can offer these deals because large numbers of purchases are made by the "group" of groupon members. The companies offering the deals get massive exposure and a great return on other products/services purchased.
I can't recommend Groupon enough and I'm excited to let you know about today's deal. Usually Groupons are very local. I love that and try to support small, local business whenever possible. Still, it's awesome when there is a groupon for a larger company, like the one I redeemed for Gap, because you know it will be a great deal and that you'll be able to find something you want/need.
Today's Groupon is $25 for $50 worth of merchandise from American Apparel.
If you aren't yet a member of Groupon, please consider using my affiliate link to sign up. I will receive a $10 credit for each new member. If you are already a member but are learning about today's deal through this blog, I'd love for you to purchase it by clicking through either of the Groupon graphics above. I will earn a commission that way, too. Thanks so much!
Most of you have probably heard of Groupon or other deal-of-the-day sites, or at least seen all of the promotional advertisements around the web. We've been using Groupon since April and have gotten some spectacular deals! So far we've redeemed groupons for half of at a salon, a big discount on a membership to thelocal botanical garden, cheap oil changes, 1/2 off at Gap (new jeans - yay!!), donuts for my husband's employees, and a great price on a box of organic produce from Fresh Connect.
Every day Groupon offers a new deal at 50-90% off the regular price. They can offer these deals because large numbers of purchases are made by the "group" of groupon members. The companies offering the deals get massive exposure and a great return on other products/services purchased.
I can't recommend Groupon enough and I'm excited to let you know about today's deal. Usually Groupons are very local. I love that and try to support small, local business whenever possible. Still, it's awesome when there is a groupon for a larger company, like the one I redeemed for Gap, because you know it will be a great deal and that you'll be able to find something you want/need.
Today's Groupon is $25 for $50 worth of merchandise from American Apparel.
If you aren't yet a member of Groupon, please consider using my affiliate link to sign up. I will receive a $10 credit for each new member. If you are already a member but are learning about today's deal through this blog, I'd love for you to purchase it by clicking through either of the Groupon graphics above. I will earn a commission that way, too. Thanks so much!
Denise's Gnocchi
Living with friends for the month of September was great for my cooking! It not only gave me a break from the routine of having to get something on the table every night, it exposed me to many new dishes that I would never have thought to make. Gnocchi was one of them.
I've only had gnocchi a couple of times at restaurants. I guess I assumed you'd have to find some kind of specialty potato flour and exotic spices to make it taste authentic and that there was a lot of skill involved, probably passed down generation after generation.
I'm pretty fearless in the kitchen, but I don't think it ever would have occurred to me to try this dish had I not seen my lovely friend Denise make it. That would have been a shame because it turned out to be simple and delicious! She's given me permission to share it here with you. Thanks, D!
Ingredients:
6 baking potatoes
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup flour
Directions:
Bake or microwave potatoes w/skins on until soft. Halve and mash the insides while still warm. Discard skins.
Make a mound on a clean surface with the mashed potatoes and make an indentation in the center (think volcano).
Place the next 5 ingredients into the indentation of your potato mound as shown in the photo below - she's making a double batch, fyi.
Use your hands to squish everything together, working the eggs and spices thoroughly through the potatoes.
Add the flour and continue to work until you have a workable dough. Add more flour if it sticks too your hands too badly.
On a floured surface, roll the dough into 1/2 inch thick "ropes" a little at a time, and cut each rope into 1 inch sections. Take each dumpling and roll it along the backside of a fork as shown in the photo below if you want it to have that signature ridged shell shape, then put it in a bowl to "rest" while you cut more.
Boil dumplings in a saucepot of water a small batch at a time until they rise to the surface and have been floating for about a minute. Drain well.
Serve plain, with cheese, tomato sauce, etc. The dish above is topped with mushrooms and pine nuts sauteed in butter. It was amazing!!
I've only had gnocchi a couple of times at restaurants. I guess I assumed you'd have to find some kind of specialty potato flour and exotic spices to make it taste authentic and that there was a lot of skill involved, probably passed down generation after generation.
I'm pretty fearless in the kitchen, but I don't think it ever would have occurred to me to try this dish had I not seen my lovely friend Denise make it. That would have been a shame because it turned out to be simple and delicious! She's given me permission to share it here with you. Thanks, D!
Ingredients:
6 baking potatoes
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup flour
Directions:
Bake or microwave potatoes w/skins on until soft. Halve and mash the insides while still warm. Discard skins.
Make a mound on a clean surface with the mashed potatoes and make an indentation in the center (think volcano).
Place the next 5 ingredients into the indentation of your potato mound as shown in the photo below - she's making a double batch, fyi.
Use your hands to squish everything together, working the eggs and spices thoroughly through the potatoes.
Add the flour and continue to work until you have a workable dough. Add more flour if it sticks too your hands too badly.
On a floured surface, roll the dough into 1/2 inch thick "ropes" a little at a time, and cut each rope into 1 inch sections. Take each dumpling and roll it along the backside of a fork as shown in the photo below if you want it to have that signature ridged shell shape, then put it in a bowl to "rest" while you cut more.
Boil dumplings in a saucepot of water a small batch at a time until they rise to the surface and have been floating for about a minute. Drain well.
Serve plain, with cheese, tomato sauce, etc. The dish above is topped with mushrooms and pine nuts sauteed in butter. It was amazing!!
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