7 Days of M&S Healthy Dinners: Day 3

Count On Us Spicy Chicken Tostada

Please note: this post is going to be without photographs, as I forgot to take them in all the excitement of some guy blowing his car up outside our house..!  This is Friday's dinner.

First Impressions

When choosing this item, it was an even toss-up between this one, and the spicy beef variety.  In the end, I just flipped a coin and came out with the chicken variety.  I've had tostada before, at the Mexican restaurant Chimi Changa, but never outside of that environment, so I figured it would be interesting to see how they compare.
The packaging, while a complete pain in the butt layout-wise when stacking products, is wholly practical for this type of food, as a tostada is a flat tortilla piled with toppings - it is only about 10mm tall.  Viewing the product through the film, it looked very similar to the one I had in Chimi, all be it a bit smaller and slightly less generous with the toppings.  It did, however, look very appealing and colourful, and to be honest I wasn't expecting some kind of monster serving after my experience with the Ragu on Thursday.
That being said, I didn't end up making myself a side, as I wasn't sure what would go with such a meal, and instead I treated myself with M&S Millionaire Shortbread ice cream afterwards!
To cook this product you have to remove the entire thing from the packaging and put it onto a baking tray.  First off, it was incredibly fiddly.  The tortilla is floppy and soft by nature, meaning it had no rigidity to keep shape while being moved from one place to the other.  Also, the toppings kept moving about, meaning that once the tortilla was in place, I had to rearrange the toppings to be more even on the surface of the tortilla.  In the end, I literally just did tipped the tray up slightly and slid the tortilla into position as quickly as I could.
Secondly, I do note agree with the use of the baking tray, but that is simply because I have discovered the glory of the chip tray.  A chip tray is essentially a twine-like woven sheet, like a small net that you get oranges in, but firmer and heatproof.  They are designed to allow the air to circulate around the chips, meaning that you don't have to turn them over at all and that the chips are evenly crispy all over.  It's a wonderful invention and I chose to use this instead of a tray.  In my experience, trays tend to overcook the base of things, and with something as delicate as a tortilla, I decided it wasn't worth the risk.  if you don't have a chip tray, you can get them from Wilkinsons or sometimes B&M.

Taste Test

Sadly, right at the end of the cooking time, I was distracted by the man who blew up his car outside next door.  This meant that I had to get the tostada out of the oven so that it didn't burn, and then leave it covered for about half an hour or more while I checked that a) nobody was hurt, b) the police had been called and c) the police had all the information they needed.  By the time I got around to eating my dinner, it was pretty much cold.  I have a feeling that I would have enjoyed it much more if it were fresh and hot.
The tortilla had started out crisp, but given the extended amount of time it had been left amidst the chaos, it had turned soggy.  Still, a tortilla is a tortilla, and I still managed to get a little enjoyment out of it.  The chicken was still juicy, though cold, and the rest of the toppings managed to maintain their flavour pretty well given the fact that they too were frigid.  The whole meal had a vaguely Mexican flavour to it, but I was disappointed by how little there was on the actual tostada.  I don't feel that there was enough cheese on top, as I could barely taste any of it, and parts of the tostada were very bare.  The sauce on top also seemed to reduce in consistency during cooking, which considering it was quite thin anyway, was a disappointment for me.  I was also glad I had decided on the dessert of ice cream, as I was still hungry once it was done, and I am beginning to wonder what kind of Mexican sides would go well with a tostada.
However, I found I couldn't enjoy this meal, as I was too hungry and the food was too cold for me to care.  I feel that perhaps, I should give this one another try at a later date, given that my experience was interrupted by an idiot who clearly doesn't read the warning labels on his air freshener.

Overall Rating

Inconclusive Result

The distraction cause the food to go cold and I found I could not bring myself to actually care by the time I got round to eating it.  I will try this again at a later date and review my ratings then.

7 Days of M&S Healthy Dinners: Day 2

Fuller Longer Chicken and Chilli Prawn Pad Thai (£4.19)

First Impressions

I'm going to be completely honest and let it be known that my very first impression of this item was "What the fandango is Pad Thai?".
Seriously, what is it?  It doesn't look that different to any other rice noodle dish I've tried so....  wha...?
But anyway, enough of that.  I chose it anyway, because it had chilli prawns in it.  I love prawns, but I've always found ready meals incredibly hit and miss when it comes to a good one, so I thought I'd give this one a try as there was always the chicken to fall back on if the prawns weren't up to taste.
The packaging, much like the new Count on Us packets, is very simple, and you can see pretty much the whole meal through the film, so it was easy to guess what I was going to get.  It was all very well presented, but had a more sophisticated appearance than the Count on Us product yesterday did.  It looked and felt a whole lot more expensive, and priced at 50% more than the Ragu, my wallet certainly felt it.  But, Fuller Longer is marketed as one of our better healthy meals, so I guess that's to be expected.
The whole concept of Fuller Longer is that you don't feel hungry between meals.  As such, I decided to forego the accompaniment tonight, in order to test the theory of being fuller, for longer.  And as I don't eat breakfast in the mornings anyway (I can't eat before 7am, it gives me a tummy-ache), this will certainly be a test of the endurance of the product!
This product is microwaveable; there are no instructions for oven cooking.  This makes it incredibly quick to prepare, which is convenient if you have a hectic lifestyle.  I personally don't, but I can still see the appeal in a healthy meal that you can prepare in less than three minutes.  And, the clear plastic has a handy little tab on it to make opening easier!  No faffing with this meal, it was so quick and simple to open I almost jumped for joy (as I was pretty much starving by then!)!

Taste Test

I didn't bother decanting this product.  I didn't see the point, as the bowl was pretty handy and didn't detract from the food at all, so I just left it.
Now, first things first.  The prawns.  I tasted one.  And I was surprised at how good they were!  Plump and juicy, they tasted almost exactly like the prawns we've cooked for ourselves from scratch!  I couldn't fault them.  I was only sad that there were not more of them.  Second, the chicken.  That too was fabulous; tender and moist with no stringy or fatty bits to ruin the texture.  A perfect chicken breast.
Now the noodles.  The noodles to me were just noodles; they weren't prepared in any particularly special way, but to be honest, I don't think that causes too much of a problem here.  With all the flavour from the chilli prawns, bland noodles seemed to mix well with the dish, as they didn't overpower anything.
Sometimes, I find that you can easily ruin a dish by having too much flavour, or too many things happening at once on your plate.  It's like an inflatable dingy; too little air and the dingy sinks with you in it, but too much and it pops, possibly giving you lacerations from the violent ejection of the stopper.  I'm sorry, I have clearly been watching too much CSI.  A dish that's too busy is hard to eat as you can't really appreciate the combinations of flavours.  But by including noodles which are quite bland, M&S have managed to keep the balance of flavour fairly even.
However, I did find the cabbage a little difficult to eat regardless.  Mainly because, I HATE cabbage.  But, I wanted to try Pad Thai, so I braved the cabbage anyway.  What actually made the cabbage easier to eat was the dressing.  It was mildly spicy and very flavoursome with added zing that covered the cabbage taste so well.  It also brought out the chilli flavour on the prawns too, and gave the chicken that little extra bite.  I like bite.
Also, this meal was a good size, so I don't think it needed an accompaniment.  Unless I was really hungry, in which case, maybe a bit of prawn toast?

Overall Rating

4 Stars (out of 5)

Sadly it was the overzealous addition of cabbage that spoiled it for me.  If it had been something like spinach, I think it would've been much better, but as I am not an expert in Pad Thai, I don't know whether cabbage is a set inclusion or not.  However, the rest of the meal was delicious, and I would recommend it to anyone.  So long as you like cabbage.  And aren't allergic to peanuts.

On another note: I don't know if it was the fault of the Pad Thai, but shortly after finishing this meal, I had a very strange craving for Red Bull.  I'm just throwing that one out there for you.

7 Days of M&S Healthy Dinners: Day 1

As some of you may know I work at M&S on the Foods Department.  And as you may have realised, January is the season of Healthy Meals, Weight Watchers, Dieting, and making resolutions to go to the Gym this year that you subsequently break in February or March (though that last one may just be me...).

Anyhow, work are encouraging us to try the new products that have just come in on our Fuller Longer and Count on Us ranges, so I decided to do "7 Days of M&S Healthy Dinners".  I bought four Fuller Longer meals (currently on 2 for £6) and three Count on Us (currently on 3 for 2).

Now I am going to be straight from the off: this is highly unlikely to make me any healthier or anything like that.
For one thing, I'm only planning on eating healthy dinners, not breakfasts and lunches.  I am also not changing my exercise regime.  These reviews are purely for the purpose of testing the TASTE, which is, I think, a very important part of the appeal of a healthy meal.  Let's be honest, if it tastes like cardboard soaked in petrol you won't want to eat it!

Also, did you know: M&S's Fuller Longer range now holds a 40% share of the healthy meals market, ousting Weight Watchers as the number one healthy meal brand?

Just thought I'd throw that little factoid out there... ;-)

And thus, I begin with Day One.

Count on Us: Beef and Pork Ragu Cheesy Pasta Bake (£2.79)

First Impressions

The main reason I picked this item is because it's not chicken.  Most ready meals I like are chicken based, as you will see as the week goes on, and I knew that I had to break out of that habit if I was really going to do this properly.  However, I am not a big fan of fish; I only really eat salmon and prawns (not fish, I know, but close enough), so I chose this to be one of my non-chicken meals.

I like the packaging for Count on Us; for the most part it's simple yet stylish with no fiddly boxes taking up air space (yes, Steak Yorkshires, I'm looking at you!).  The dish looked cute and colourful, as ready meals go, and the whole appearance was overall very appealing.  However, when I picked this up out of my fridge earlier, I found myself wondering if perhaps it might be a little on the small side for me to have it alone.

I astound people with how much I am capable of eating (a whole Tuscan Sausage Pasta with Focaccia Crostini to myself?  No problem!), and this to me did not seem enough.  Having not thought of this prior to all the shops closing, I didn't have anything to have as a healthy accompaniment, so I made myself some home-made garlic toast to go with it.

The plastic film was annoying.  It would start to come off easily enough, but for some reason it tended to split up in small pieces.  I don't know if this was just me being a bit of a dipstick, but it was quite frustrating.  The cooking instructions were simple enough: 160C Fan oven for 20 minutes.  I even managed to get the garlic toast in at exactly the same time because the temperature was so low!

 

For anyone that's interested, garlic toast: 1/2 a teaspoon garlic puree, 2 teaspoons of butter/margarine/spread and a pinch of garlic granules, mixed together in a small bowl and spread over one side of a slice of bread; then oven baked.  I usually do it at 180 for 5-10 mins depending on how crunchy I want the toast to be but apparently 160 for 20 mins is fine!

Taste Test

Because I wanted it to look pretty in the pictures I was taking, I decanted mine onto a plate.  A small plate, I would like to add.  I was right with my first idea that there may not be enough there for me, so it was a good thing I'd made my side of toast.  But anyway...

Pasta is a very bland food by nature, so it's really up to the sauce and suchlike to give the pasta it flavour.  The sauce was as basic as you can possibly get, tomato with a hint of basil, and that is always a safe way to go as it's very difficult to get a tomato sauce wrong.  The beef and pork within the sauce was minced, and I felt that perhaps there wasn't really enough meat in the dish, as it was very difficult to taste any of it over the flavour of the sauce.  Delicate, is probably the best way to describe the flavour; it's there, but it doesn't work hard on your taste-buds   Having said that, there was nothing wrong with the taste itself, I just think that perhaps I am more of a carnivore than I would care to imagine!

The topping was lovely; all crunchy and with plenty of finely grated cheese, two of my favourite things when it comes to pasta toppings!  The cheese was a mild flavoured one, which I'll admit isn't my usual taste (I'm all Mature+) but given the theme of the rest of the meal, it seems an appropriate choice, as a more mature cheese may have overpowered the subtle flavours of the sauce and meat.  The addition of herbs to the crumb was a nice touch, as it gave it a little kick without resorting to an overpowering spice (spice for the sake of flavour is fine, spice for the sake of spice is wrong).  The inclusion of spinach in the recipe was good too, as I definitely don't eat enough greens normally, and there wasn't so much that it overpowered the rest of the food; just complimented.

Overall, this is definitely too small to have alone, though I'm not sure what I would have alongside it other than garlic bread or something like that.  Maybe I just need a smaller stomach?!

Overall Rating

4.5 Stars

A little too small for me as a stand-alone meal, but tasty none-the-less.  Looks good, easy to cook and good for you!