This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and Stouffer's.
When I was first contacted by Blogher and Stouffer's to review some food items for their Make Every Night Amazing program, I was all OH YES, I AM THE PERFECT CANDIDATE. As readers of my personal blog will know, having time together during the week for my husband and myself is HARD. We are both attorneys, and he works very late nights several times each week. Finding time, or the energy, to cook a meal together during the week is just not something that happens. Which is why its exciting to come across a product like Stouffer's Sautes for Two.
Well, let's backtrack a little.
I've found meals like this several times in the past...and they were disappointing. I tend to shy away from buying such products because I haven't had the best experiences with meals that were not inexpensive.
With great trepidation, okay not really, since these were sent to me for free....with great uncertainty, Mr. A and I cooked both of the offerings that arrived on my doorstep- Chicken Asiago and Steak Gorgonzola.
When it comes to these types of meals, I have several reservations:
1) Meat- it's often rubbery, fatty, or uh, doesn't look like meat. At all.
2) Bland Sauce
3) Veggies are...questionable at best. And are often unidentifiable.
4) Not Enough Sauce
As I opened the package, the contents look familiar. Which I didn't really take as a good sign, but I suppose having high expectations for frozen meat is setting standards a little high. The directions were easy enough- thaw the sauce under warm water and put everything else in the pan! The meal honestly took about 4 minutes to cook. And I use the term cook loosely. I did a few quick stirs and the meal was done.
And how did it turn out? Darn good, I must say. To address the concerns listed above:
1) Meat- it tasted like…MEAT! The chicken actually looked like chicken, the beef was less appetizing in appearance, but Mr. A and myself both agreed that it was shockingly tasty even if it did look a bit…jerky-like. It was not dried out, which was not what I was expecting.
2) Bland Sauce- not here! Both sauces were really, really tasty. I, however, felt that the steak could have used some salt, especially on the meat. But I’m a big salt lover, so take my recommendation with….a grain of salt. OH I CRACK MYSELF UP.
3) Veggies- This was the best surprise of all. The vegetables looked like what they purported to be. I’m always VERY hesitant about frozen vegetables, especially those that come in a sauce based meal, but these had good texture and color. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that the sauce comes in a separate packet- the vegetables do not have time to sit and get mushy because they are frozen without sauce. This, to me, is a key component in making these meals tasty.
4) Not Enough Sauce- On the contrary, there was actually too much sauce. When making these next time, I will not add all of the sauce. Better too much than not enough!
Additionally, the pasta cooked up shockingly well, al dente even. And both pastas had a great texture. The filling on the pasta for Chicken Asisgo was plentiful- the tortellini noodles were quite large and the filling had a lot of taste. Overall, both meals were really quite good, and we both agreed we would buy them again in the future.
Not only because of the delicious flavors, but because the meal allowed us to have a Real Adult Dinner in a very short period of time on a night of the week when we are both generally too worn out to make the effort. Because of our schedules, we don’t get to enjoy week night couple time like a lot of people. Knowing that there is a simple, gourmet meal that can be prepared so quickly will hopefully motivate us to do things like this more often.
Additionally, for families with children, I can see these sautees as a great meal to make after you have fed the kids. Because they can be ready so quickly, it won’t be like having to cook two dinners. Mr. A made some garlic toast to serve on the side, and these meals would both be great with a simple green salad. There is also a lot of semi-homemade potential for these meals- adding some freshly grated cheese, stirring in some green peas, adding some extra leftover chicken. There are a ton of ways to enjoy together making this meal even more special. Visit the Stouffer’s Official site to learn more about these great meals!
How do you make ordinary evenings at home extraordinary? Do you have trouble finding the time to have a real sit down meal with your spouse during the week? The folks at Stouffer’s want to know. And they also want to make you the winner of a $100 Visa gift card, sponsored by BlogHer. That will buy a lot of Stouffer’s dinners!
So how do you make it happen? Answer the question above and follow these simple rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
You have 72 hours to respond, or a new winner will be selected.
Giveaway Dates: 3/17-4/11
The Official Rules are available here. Check out the BlogHer round up page for more chances to win this fabulous prize!
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