WHAT a Crock! (Marie Callender's Crock Pot Meals)

Marie Callender's Crock Pot Meal Chunky Chicken and Noodles
vs.
Banquet Crock Pot Classics Creamy Chicken with Pasta

While at the grocery the other day, I noticed that Marie Callender’s has put out a new line of Crock-Pot™ meals to compete with Banquet and the other meal-in-a-bag competitors like Bertolli and Contessa (although neither Bertolli nor Contessa has slow-cooker meals).


Now, I’ve had some pretty terrific Marie Callender’s frozen meals; their Fettucini with Broccoli & Chicken is fantastic, if not exactly diet food. And who doesn’t love their Pot Pies, which are incredibly nummy? So, naturally, I thought that the idea of a Marie Callender’s slow-cooker meal made up of chicken, sauce, peas, carrots and noodles - pot pie without the crust, basically - sounded enticing. The Banquet version had been absolutely to die for (see Diner reviews), so I thought I’d try it and compare the two.

What a disappointment! The cooking is simple enough; open the bag, take out the sauce pouch, stick it under hot running water to defrost it, put the sauce (along with 3 cups of water) in the cooker and stir; add chicken and vegetables, cook for 8-11 hours (or 4 hours on high). A separate bag of noodles is included, which you stick back in the freezer until 30 minutes before mealtime – then you add the noodles to the mixture, cook on High for 30 minutes, and the cooking is finished. As I said, it couldn’t be simpler, and unlike the Banquet version, you don’t need milk.

But any comparison ends there. The Marie Callender’s sauce was insipid and flavorless. It wasn’t quite papier-mâché, but it was close. Unlike Banquet’s delightful, pot-pie type sauce, this didn’t even rise to the level of your basic Campbell’s Cream of Chicken soup-type base. The chicken chunks were all thigh meat, some with “icky” parts still visible, while Banquet uses large cuts of breast meat. The two meals are like night and day; Banquet wins, flavor-wise, by a mile.


To add insult to injury, Callender’s charges $7.99 USD for their version, which contains 44 ounces, while Banquet regularly charges $5.99 USD (and you can usually find it for $5.00 or less on sale) for their 42-ounce product. In other words, Callender’s costs more than half again as much. Banquet is dramatically the much better buy, ounce-for-ounce.

Lastly, I really get heated about food companies playing games with serving sizes in order to fool their customers. Callender’s claims that its Chunky Chicken and Noodles will serve 8, each serving being “2/3rd of a cup.” This serving size is nonsense. I’m far from a big eater, and this is about half of a serving for me. Realistically, Callender’s product would serve the same number of people as Banquet’s – 4 or 5, depending upon whether you’re feeding kids, or folks with large appetites.

Here’s what Callender shows as its nutritional information for Chunky Chicken and Noodles, but please remember that this is for their serving size, which is about half of what someone would actually eat: 220 calories, 10 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams Trans Fat, 40 mg of cholesterol, 590 mg of sodium, 18 grams of carbs, 6 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar and 12 grams of protein. Taking into account Banquet’s far more honest serving sizes, the two products are roughly comparable in calories, fat, carbs and protein.

I give this product a BIG thumbs-down. Don’t waste your money. This product doesn’t compare with Banquet’s version, and you’ll save about a third of your food budge by purchasing Banquet's Creamy Chicken with Pasta.

Next week: Superpretzel! Hot or Hype?

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Don't Stew Over It! (Chicken Alfredo Chowder and White Winter Stew)

Around this time of year, I start to yearn for soups and stews...those hearty meals in a bowl that remind me of cold days in my childhood, along with the crusty breads Mom used to make in order to mop up all the stock and sauce. In early October in Phoenix, it's still too hot to spend all day simmering stocks on the stove, so I went out searching for quicker, easier methods to satisfy that comfort-food craving (without going to a restaurant). I found these two, both of which are terrific, and couldn't be easier to prepare. Don't forget to buy a loaf of french bread from the grocery, or a can of Pillsbury's bread sticks to have with these dishes.


Chicken Alfredo Chowder


Yield:4 servings, total time, prep to finish: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 package CONTESSA CHICKEN ALFREDO Convenience Meal
• 1 15 ounce can CORN
• 1 cup SOUR CREAM
• 2 cups MILK
• 2 cups MONTEREY JACK CHEESE, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon CAYENNE PEPPER
• SALT to taste
• BASIL for garnish (optional)
• BREAD STICKS (optional)

Steps:

In a large soup pot combine the Contessa Chicken Alfredo, corn, sour cream, milk, cheese, and cayenne pepper together.

Simmer the mixture (DO NOT boil) on low heat for 25-30 minutes or until the mixture is completely cooked through.

Garnish with basil and serve with Pillsbury bread sticks, or fresh crusty bread, like French or Italian bread. If you really want to blow their skirts up, serve this in a fresh bread bowl!

We thank Joni Hilton for creating this fantastically easy soup – she won $1,000 from Contessa Premium Foods for this chowder, and it’s worth every penny.

Winter White Stew (Chili)

Yield: 6 servings, 30 minutes total time, prep to finish.





Ingredients:

• 1 package Tyson® Fresh Reduced Fat GROUND PORK, 1 lb.
• 1 medium ONION, diced
• 1 can CHICKEN BROTH, 14 oz.
• 1 tablespoon ground CUMIN
• 2 teaspoons CHILI POWDER
• 1 can WHITE BEANS, 16 oz., drained
• 1 can CORN, 14 oz., drained, and,
• 1 can GREEN CHILES, 4 oz., diced

Steps:

Crumble up and brown pork with onion in large saucepan. Add cumin and chili powder; stir well.

Stir in all remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through and flavors are blended.

Serving Suggestion: If you're from the southwest, serve with hot cornbread (if you haven't tried Marie Callendar's Cornbread mix, you're missing out) instead of french bread and fresh fruit; I like to top the stew/chili with a dollop of sour cream for a piquant contrast.


Auntie Tip: You can make this White Winter Stew with any leftover pork from a roast; simply brown the onions, adding the leftover meat when the onions begin to become transparent; when the meat and the onions have both browned slightly, add the rest of the ingredients and cook the 15 or 20 minutes until the stew is ready. You could also substitute 1/2-lb. of chicken for 1/2 of the pork to create a variation and to make use of leftovers.

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Chicken Fixin' Vixen (Chicken, Broccoli & Rice and Chicken Paprikash Recipes)

This week I recevied a request from a Reader for recipes for "comfort food" for folks who just don't have the time to cook like Mom used to (or some Moms, anyway). So, here are a couple of quick and easy recipes using Tyson “IFF” (means, “individually fresh frozen”) Boneless, Skinless chicken breasts, to make the preparation time short and the enjoyment time long.

Both of these easy, family-friendly recipes use the breasts straight out of the freezer – fully frozen – so you don’t even have to defrost them!


Chicken, Broccoli & Rice Casserole:

4 Tyson® IFF Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts with Rib Meat
1 box Uncle Ben's® Country Inn® Broccoli Rice Au Gratin
2 cups water, boiling
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups frozen broccoli florets
1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine rice and contents of seasoning packet in 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Add boiling water; mix well. Lay frozen chicken breasts on top of rice, sprinkle with garlic powder, cover and bake 30 minutes. (You can cover your baking dish with foil as a cover).

2. Add broccoli, cover and bake 4 to 6 minutes or until chicken is done (internal temp 170°F).

3. Remove foil, sprinkle with cheese and bake, uncovered, 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and begins to brown.

Total Prep time, 5 minutes; total cooking time, 40 minutes. Serves 4, with 572 calories per serving (remember, this is a complete meal), 17 grams of fat, 71 grams of protein and 35 grams of carbohydrate. Serve with fresh hot rolls, to maximize your enjoyment.

Auntie’s Note: I suspect this dish could be easily adapted for your slow-cooker, but I’ve not tried it yet. I would put the rice and water on the bottom, followed by the frozen chicken breasts, followed by the frozen broccoli florets, covered with the cheddar, and put on LOW. If you try this in a slow-cooker, please let me know how it comes out!


Chicken Paprika

4 Tyson® IFF Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts with Rib Meat
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chicken broth (I use Swanson, but broth made from a bouillon cube is fine)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons paprika
1 container sour cream, 8 oz.

1. Rinse frozen chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

2. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Cook chicken, covered and turning once, 6 minutes or until golden. Transfer to plate.

3. Cook onion in same pan over medium heat 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Sprinkle with paprika; cook, stirring onions and paprika together, 1 minute. Return chicken to skillet; add broth. Cover; cook over medium-low heat 10 minutes or until chicken is done (internal temp 170°F). Reduce heat to low; stir in sour cream. Cook 2 minutes or until heated through (do not let boil).

Serving Suggestion: Serve chicken and sauce over cooked egg noodles (I like to add dill to my cooked egg noodles for this dish) and steamed asparagus spears…don’t forget lovely crusty French bread to really set the stage for this meal!! Cook’s Note: after making this dish, you may decide you prefer more paprika; increase it as you will, but make sure you add it at the onion-saute stage, otherwise the paprika never really blends with the sauce.

Prep time 5 minutes, total cooking time 25-30 minutes; Serves 4, with (per serving) 225 calories, 11 grams of fat, 27 grams of protein and 5 grams of carbohydrate (without the noodles).

Both of these recipes will replicate that "comfort food taste" that you're seeking with a minimal amount of work. (Many thanks to the folks at Tyson for the images).

THAT'S using your noodle (Weight Watchers' and Bertolli Pasta Dinners)

One of the main stories in today’s daily newspaper has a headline that reads: “Make-a-meal Business is Cooking,” as if the rest of us didn’t already know this. The focus of the article, a woman who owns a “My Girlfriend’s Kitchen” franchise here in the Valley of the Sun, goes on to relate that she is so busy preparing ingredients for other people’s meals (500 of them a week) that she and her kids were walking around a Target at 9:00 at night eating hot dogs and popcorn. This woman creates menu plans, recipe hunts, grocery shops, prepares the ingredients and preps the meal for you to then take home and “cook” yourself – all for a “mere” $4.00 per serving.

Four bucks a head? Let me see if I have that right –a family of four would cost $16.00 a night for dinner? $112.00 a week? $140 a week for a family of 5? All things considered, that’s actually pretty cheap, but I think most folks would find that amount off-putting. It’s all well and good here in Scottsdale, but $448-560 a month in grocery bills, just for dinner (not including breakfast, lunch, snacks or beverages, remember) is probably more than normal people can afford. It might be worth a look for an occasional break from kitchen drudgery, though, or a once-a-week thing.

An Auntie Tip: Speaking of taking a break from kitchen drudgery, I don’t know if you hungry readers know that you can cook and then freeze pasta (spaghetti, macaroni) without any type of sauce and it keeps beautifully. Simply cook your spaghetti for dinner one night, making some extra servings; toss the extra pasta with a light coating of olive oil or margarine (whatever you usually use) and when cool, put it into a freezer bag and freeze. When you’re in the mood for pasta, take the bag out of the freezer and defrost…if you’re in a hurry, you can run the spaghetti under hot running water. It’s then ready to eat, covered with your favorite sauce. When you're tired, (or just lazy) this is a real time-saver.

More about pasta….our couponing affiliate is having a special on Bertolli’s frozen pasta dinners for two – a whopping $3.00 off coupon is yours for the asking. Just click here to download and print the coupon. That’s about 50% off the regular price, and the Bertolli dinners always get 4-5 fork ratings both here and at the Icebox Diner. Personally, I would avoid the Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Ravioli dinner, though; when I tried it I thought it was dreadful.

And making this a pasta trifecta: our latest review at the Diner from chemeg72380 is for Weight Watchers’ Smart Ones Three Cheese Ziti Marinara, rating it a walloping 5 forks. Chemeg72380 says: “Ziti is one of my favorite dishes and this ziti doesn't disappoint.” To read the rest of Chemeg’s review, click here.

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