Old El Paso Meal for 2 Shredded Beef Burritos

Distributed By:  General Mills Sales
Required to Prepare:  Microwave
490 calories per burrito


I apologize for not having taken my own photos for this one; I wasn't intending to review this one until after I experienced the quality of this product.

The first bit of wrongness comes from the preparation instructions:  Despite being billed as a "Meal for 2", the only instructions provided are for microwave cooking, which specifically state not to cook both burritos at the same time--so, do they plan for my wife to start eating while mine is heating up, or do they think one of us just gets a cold one?

At any rate, we cook them one at a time, for five minutes each, in their silly little individual steamer bags.  (The cooking instructions say 4-6 minutes depending on microwave wattage; mine isn't low or high, so 5 it is.)  They also stand for two minutes to "complete cooking", which is apparently slang for "turn into concrete".  You know, I expected a soggy tortilla, and I wouldn't have complained about that.  Dried out, leathery, impenetrable tortilla?  Not as acceptable.  Forget cutting with a fork; they couldn't even be cut with a table knife.

For the record, the flour tortilla seemed to have been of the whole-wheat variety; unlike the package picture, they were moderately dark in color and the little bits that were edible had a whole-wheat flavor.  After using kitchen shears to finally get at it, the filling inside seemed overly spicy and really didn't seem worth the effort needed to free it from its protective shell.

To summarize, these were utterly abysmal.  Not only have they warned me away from ever trying any more of Old El Paso's frozen offerings, they've actually made me wary of their traditional products as well.  I don't know who decided these were ready to market, but they deserve to have to eat this. :b

Newman's Own Complete Skillet Meal for Two--Chicken Parmigiana & Penne

Made By:  Newman's Own, Inc. [USA]
Required to Prepare:  Skillet and Range (or 2qt casserole and microwave)
490 calories per 1/2 package

For dinner tonight, we are looking to the freezer for one of the convenience meals I try to keep available, and we ended up choosing this Chicken Parmigiana penne pasta dish from Newman's Own to try.  I'm not sure I have the usual anecdote about how we arrived at this decision today, but I will say that, as is usual for me, I purchased this while it was on sale with a coupon, so instead of the shelf price of (I think) $8.99, I gave $4.99 for it.

Anyway, we are hungry, so let's get on to the review.  Inside the bag we find par-boiled penne pasta, frozen sauce chips, some things that look like little cubes of white cheese, and six chicken nuggets.  To prepare, we simply empty the contents of the bag into a large non-stick skillet, cover, and heat on high for 4 minutes, then on medium-high for 6 minutes while stirring occasionally.  After the ten-minute cook time advertised, everything is bubbly and hot, and the sauce has thickened nicely, which is frankly more than I was expecting based on my experiences with these bag meals.  Since it doesn't seem to need extra cook time, it looks like dinner is ready to serve!

On first taste, my partner said to me (and I agreed) that it seems to be "missing something."  The sauce seems to be a bit on the sweeter side, which is something I am not used to with a chicken parmigiana.  Another thing I am used to with chicken parmigiana is for it to actually be made with parmesan cheese, which this isn't--the little bits of cheese I saw were mozzarella, according to the ingredients list.  I try adding some shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano of my own to try to rectify this situation, which helped but didn't completely solve the issue with the sweet sauce.  The three chicken pieces we each got were very soft and the breading was quite soggy, naturally; I didn't mind them and sort of enjoyed the salt-and-pepper seasoning of the breading, but my sweetie was a bit put off by the texture.

Overall, it wasn't bad, but it didn't seem especially good either, and really didn't seem to be quite as quality a product as we were expecting from Newman's.  I still have respect for the brand and will be trying some of their other offerings, but I doubt we'll get this one again. :|

Birds Eye Voila! Three Cheese Chicken

Made By:  Pinnacle Foods Group LLC  [USA]
Required to Prepare:  Covered Skillet & Range (or Microwave), 1/2c water
420 calories per 1/2 package


We worked hard today, and so I'm making a convenience meal for our dinner tonight!  In the freezer I had this Voila! Three Cheese Chicken skillet meal, which sounded pretty good, so that's what I settled on.  These Birds Eye meals are actually very economical compared to some of the other brands--I think I gave around $4 for this, so if it's good, then I expect to be trying some of the other varieties!

Inside the bag is a mélange of broccoli, corn, carrots, radiatori pasta, and chicken cubes.  I don't actually see any sauce chips; I think the sauce might be frozen onto the pasta pieces.  Anyway, this one is very simple to prepare; we dump the contents of the bag into our skillet, cover, and cook over medium-high heat for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.  After I lifted the lid, the meal was hot, but still looked watery, so I gave it a couple of extra minutes uncovered to cook down a bit, which helped things quite a bit.  I ladle it out into two dinner-size bowls, and my sweetie and I are ready to eat!

For something billed as a Three-Cheese Chicken, I do have to say that the cheese and chicken, while present, are not all that prominent.  The veggies actually seem to be the star of the show; the broccoli and carrots are very nicely firm-tender, and the carrots and corn are naturally quite sweet, to the point of making the overall dish seem a bit sweet.  The chicken pieces do have a nice texture and flavor, as does the sauce, though I wish there were a bit more of both.

On the plus side, it was a reasonably good dinner for a very reasonable price, and it has the side benefit of making you feel like you just had a really healthy meal--we definitely ate our vegetables tonight!  That said, I'm not sure it's the kind of thing I would really get excited about.  :|

Truth in Advertising Special: Wanchai Ferry Orange Chicken vs. PF Chang's Home Menu Orange Chicken

In recent weeks, I've noticed a particular TV commercial for Wanchai Ferry frozen dinner kits which claims that their Wanchai Ferry Orange Chicken is preferred in taste tests over the competing P.F. Chang's Home Menu Orange Chicken.  As I said to my sweetie upon viewing this commercial, "I'll just see about that!"

I picked up one of each at the store, so let the taste-testing begin!

Wanchai Ferry Orange Chicken

Made By:  General Mills Inc.

Tools Required:  Skillet & Range, Microwave

Additional Ingredients Needed:  2 tbsp. Vegetable Oil, 1/4 cup water

610 calories per 1/2 package

Okay, first up is the challenger, Wanchai Ferry!  I have used their dry box-dinner kits before, but this will be my first time trying one of their frozen offerings.  They seem pretty confident in their commercial, let's see if their product can back it up!

Unlike the P.F. Chang product (and indeed, unlike most frozen skillet dinners I've used), inside the outer package we find several packages containing the components of our dinner:  There is a bag of breaded chicken nuggets, a packet of sauce, a steamer bag of frozen rice, and finally there are veggies (broccoli, carrots, and baby corn) loose in the outer bag.  Preparation is also fairly complex for a skillet meal; first we are supposed to fry the chicken nuggets over medium-high heat in 2 tbsp. of oil for a few minutes until it is browned, then we take the chicken back out of the skillet, turn down the heat to medium, and put in the veggies, sauce, and 1/4 cup of water.  Once it boils, we cover it and cook for three minutes, stirring frequently.  After that, we put the chicken back in the skillet, take the lid off, and cook for a few minutes more until everything is "thoroughly cooked."  Finally, we microwave the rice pouch for three minutes and let it stand for one, at which point dinner is ready to be served.  Whew!  Honestly, that really wasn't that much more convenient than preparing the box dinner.  Hopefully the food is worth it!

After getting the dinner separated into two bowls, the main thing I notice is that it looks like a really small portion.  There is probably around 1/2 cup of rice per portion, and around one cup or less of food.  The sauce actually has a really nice robust flavor; it is sweet yet not syrupy, and it became nicely thick and coated the pieces well.  I am not sure what all that nonsense about frying the chicken separately and taking it out and putting it in was all about, because it sure didn't keep the breading from getting soggy in the sauce.  The veggies are nicely crisp and flavorful.  The rice, on the other hand, is totally unacceptable--not only is the included portion very small, but the grains don't stick together like they should in an Asian dish, and the flavor is dull and mealy.  Overall, even though the sauce has a nice flavor, the unsatisfying portion size and the poor quality of the rice portion ends up sinking this one.  I found it disappointing. :\

P.F. Chang's Home Menu Orange Chicken

Distributed by:  Unilever

Tools Required:  Skillet & Range

Added Ingredients Needed:  cooked rice (if desired)

450 calories per 1/2 package (665 calories w/ 1 cup cooked rice added)

And in the other corner, the defending meal, P.F. Chang's Orange Chicken!  I was very satisfied with the other P.F. Chang's Home Menu product I've tried, so it looks like this battle is P.F. Chang's to lose.

This product is a much more traditional skillet meal, both in presentation and preparation:  Inside the package we find a loose assortment of breaded chicken nuggets, sauce chips, and vegetables, which appear to be carrots, edamame {green soybeans}, and water chestnut slices.  Preparation is very simple in comparison to the Wanchai Ferry meal; we simply put the contents of the bag in a covered skillet, and cook over medium-high heat for 12 minutes (or until the sauce gets thick), stirring occasionally.  At the end of the 12 minutes, the sauce still hasn't thickened much, so I uncover and let it simmer a bit more to thicken, reasoning that it will thicken much faster uncovered.  There is no rice included with this product, which might be a point in its favor after tasting what came with the other one, so I also cook some rice in my handy-dandy rice cooker, and dinner is ready to serve!

This portion seems to be a much more respectable size, though part of that is the one cup of rice that I added.  However, even with the added rice, the calorie count is comparable to the prepared Wanchai Ferry meal, and adding 200 calories' worth of rice seems better than adding 200 calories' worth of oil to me.  Again, the sauce has a nice flavor; this one is more spicy-sweet rather than tangy-sweet, though.  I like the veggie mix, especially the edamame, although if there were the baby corn in this along with the other stuff, that would just be perfect.  The chicken might be a little less firm in this one, but it is still appetizing.  Most importantly, once I am finished with the dish, I feel like I have had enough to eat!  I think I preferred the General Chang's Chicken to the Orange Chicken, but I wouldn't mind having this one again either, and now that I've had two good experiences with P.F. Chang's Home Menu, I am even more interested to try the rest of the offerings. :)

The Verdict:

The victory goes to P.F. Chang!  Wanchai Ferry could have been a contender with the flavor of their sauce, but the small portion size and the abysmal rice cost them the title.  Honestly, if they could change the preparation to avoid adding so many calories in oil, leave out that nasty rice, and replace it with more of the other stuff, they would have a lot better product.  Also, I can't ignore the fact that the P.F. Chang meal is significantly easier and more convenient to prepare.

I can't testify as to whether they have taste-test results that show their product is better or not, but--especially considering that the P.F. Chang meal makes me more interested to try the rest of their line, and the Wanchai Ferry meal makes me less interested to try theirs--the Ramen Butterfly Testing Institute hereby finds the advertisement in question to be Completely False.

Bertolli Premium Meal Soup Tomato Florentine & Tortellini with Chicken

Made By:  Bertolli USA
Required for Preparation:  1c Water, Saucepan & Range (or Microwave)
410 calories per 1/2 package

Tonight's dinner is one of these brand-new Meal Soups from Bertolli!  I've noticed them being advertised heavily, both on TV and through coupon promotions.  So when I saw them on sale in the store, with coupon in hand, I couldn't resist grabbing one to give them a try!

Inside the package we find an attractive assortment of cheese tortellini, some nice-sized tomato chunks, lots of spinach, some chicken pieces, and frozen planks of sauce.  We add a cup of water (which freezes everything together into one giant block for a while), bring the soup to boiling, and then cover and simmer for five minutes.  Easy as that, dinner is ready!

The package makes a very generous portion of soup--each serving is around two cups.  The tomato bisque stock is very hearty, with a sweetly creamy, pleasantly herbed flavor.  The spinach and tomato pieces are very soft, as would be expected, yet they don't seem mushy and retain a lot of flavor.  The chicken pieces are surprisingly firm, yet tender; the pasta is soft but has a nice cheese flavor.  I served it with just a slice of homemade bread with butter, and it made a very satisfying meal.  The other flavors don't sound quite as appetizing as this one, honestly, but this one is good enough that I might give them a try!  It's the best bowl of soup we've had in a long time. :D

P.F. Chang's Home Menu General Chang's Chicken

Distributed by:  Unilever
Tools Required:  10" covered skillet, Range
410 calories per serving (2 servings per package)

I picked this up on sale at the local Safeway; although I do like to cook, I can appreciate a nice convenience dinner as well.  I used to have this kind of thing much more often before I started learning to cook, and I remember the skillet meals being fairly good compared to the microwave entrees.  Besides, now that I am part of a couple, "Meals for 2" are the perfect size!  Anyway, we had it for dinner last night, so here is the review!

The entire contents of the bag go straight into our skillet, where we cook it over medium-high heat, covered, for 11 minutes.  We have some breaded chicken bits, broccoli, sweet pepper, and some little square chips of frozen sauce.  We give it the occasional stir during cooking to make sure the sauce melts and coats evenly, and once the 11 minutes are up we cook for a few more minutes uncovered to thicken the sauce.  Then we transfer it to bowls and it is ready to serve!

The sauce is sweet and fairly spicy, although not overpowering; it's not a bad rendition of a General Tso's sauce.  The chicken sort of reminds me of the chopped-and-formed 'popcorn chicken' from the freezer aisle, but the flavor isn't bad and the breading doesn't end up too soggy even after being frozen and simmered in sauce.  The veggies are nicely crisp and enjoyable, especially the broccoli florets, which pick up the sauce well.  I added a bowl of rice and an egg roll as side dishes to fill out the meal, and it ended up being a satisfying dinner.  I don't think it really compares to 'real' chinese take-out, of course, but as a quick and fairly inexpensive convenience dinner I think it was pretty good.  I'd have it again. :)

Buitoni Riserva Shrimp & Lobster Ravioli w/ Garlic Butter Sauce

Made By:  Buitoni North America
Tools Required:  Large pan, Stovetop
500 calories per serving (2 servings per package)
Rating:  :D

Today I am doing something a bit more decadent--because it is my birthday!  My sweetie and I enjoy the Buitoni filled pastas and sauces from the deli section for an easy and delicious dinner, so I am hoping the frozen "dinner for 2" versions will be as good if not better.  There are flavors of both the pasta and sauce available here that aren't offered in the deli variety, such as this Shrimp & Lobster Ravioli, and this Garlic Butter Sauce.

Predictably, the box contains two packets, one with the ravioli, and the other filled with the sauce.  The preparation method actually seems sort of ingenious to me; rather than using separate pans for heating the sauce and cooking the pasta, we are supposed to just drop the packet of sauce into the pan of water while we bring it to a boil and cook the ravioli, using only one pan in the process.  How convenient!  I actually ran into an ambiguity in the prep directions, though:  We are supposed to bring the water (with sauce packet) to a rolling boil, then add the pasta and boil gently for five minutes.  It actually took a few minutes for the water to return to a boil after dropping a packet of frozen pasta in it, though, so I measured the five minute time from when the water started boiling again.  Everything seemed to turn out all right doing it that way, so I'm going to say I did it right.  There ends up being about a dozen large ravioli per serving, and around 3/4 cup of a very creamy looking butter sauce to top them with.

The pasta has a great texture; it is nicely firm and not sticky.  The filling is very flavorful, and has more texture than I expected, with fairly large chunks of shrimp and lobster.  (I even found a tiny piece of lobster shell in one of mine--that proves it is real!)  The sauce is plentiful enough to coat all the pasta, and it has a very rich garlic flavor.  I'm impressed that the flavor of the seafood is assertive enough not to be overpowered by the sauce, actually; the flavors seem to be very well balanced and go together well.  My partner and I both really enjoyed this!  And most importantly, the portion size was generous enough that with a side salad, we both felt like we had enough to eat for dinner.  My expectations have been exceeded, and I am definitely looking forward to trying the rest of these!  :D