Marie Callender's Fresh Flavor Steamers - Smoky Mac & Uncured Bacon

Here is the description from Marie Callender's website.

How can you go wrong with pasta, bacon and cheese?  I like all of those things.

I don't really like this. The cheese comes out nice and it tastes good, I'll give it that much.

Whoever thought that UNCURED bacon was actually BACON was a doofus.  I believe uncured bacon is called pork belly. And pork belly is NOT bacon. This feels like shredded bits of pork that are left in the bottom of the pan after making dinner, and they got all stringy and dry. Not too tasty.

The pasta is cooked well, though, since it's a steamer basket thingy.  I like corkscrew noodles and use them a lot at home.

However, what ruins it for me - and remember, I'm a weirdo that has food issues - are the little limp slivers of scallions and chives floating around in there. They are not substantial enough to chew (or get rid of with your fork), and not small enough to escape down my throat undetected. I feel like I'm eating seaweed or wet grass. Not appealing to me.

Also, it's BLAND!  Something with the words "Smoky" and "Bacon" should be robust and full of flavor. It's not.

All in all, if I had a Hungry Man and this in the freezer (which until an hour ago, I DID), I would choose the Hungry Man.  I'm glad that I have soup in my desk in case I get hungry later.

1 out of 5 whatevers.
I'd eat it if there was nothing else, but I won't buy it again.

Sunday Coupons for 12-26

If you are like me, you hate to buy a Sunday paper and then discover that there are no good Qs in the circular - or even worse, NO circulars!  Luckily, we can go HERE to find out what coupon inserts will be in your paper this Sunday!

I will try to post this every week so that you can check it out.

Get Bagged

Ruffles wants you to man up

Go to facebook and like Ruffles to get 99 cents off of a 99 cent bag.  For those of you too lazy to do that math, that would mean FREE munchies!

Too bad I don't like either of the flavors.  I'll probably get them anyway to try. Because they are FREE!

Thanks to Jen for posting that!

Quaker High Fiber Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Ah yeah, this was the other thing I wanted to review.

I love Cream of Wheat. I REALLY flove Maple & Brown Sugar Cream of Wheat.  However, my local Walmart doesn't carry this flavor, and it's expensive everywhere else, so I only get it when there is a great sale (I'm waiting, Publix!).

A few months ago, there was a great $2/1 (Two dollars off of One Package) Q for Quaker Instant Oatmeal.  I printed that Q and sat on it until there was a BoGo Sale at Publix.  The two Qs make the oatmeal free. I grabbed two boxes of High Fiber oatmeal, thinking that if I ate it at work, it would keep me satisfied until lunch time.

Well, I finally got around to opening the box about 2 weeks ago.  I poured in the 1/2 cup of water from my nifty electric kettle (don't even have to leave my office!) and let it set. I added some cinnamon and brown sugar and stirred.  When I looked into the cup, I gotta say, it looked like chunky snot.  Vaguely grey-brown snot.

I gave it a chance to soften and then I only got through about 1/2 of it before I had to toss it.  It smelled weird and it wasn't super tasty.

I tried it again this morning (it's cold today and I forgot to eat breakfast!) with a little less water, more cinnamon and more sugar.  it was better (or I was hungrier).  I ate all of it, but I didn't feel like licking the bowl when I was done.

4:45 PM - I had to come back to add that not only did the added fiber NOT fill me up, it also, um, made me have to go, really bad.  You know what I'm sayin'. I think I'm gonna skip the added fiber from now on. 

I give it 1 out of 5 whatevers.

Zatarain's Blackened Chicken Alfredo

I work in an office that is downtown. Most "downtowns" have lots of little restaurants to walk to. Not ours. We have a "Crunchy granola" type place, a Quizno's and a Starbucks. Screw me.... There are others that are further away, but it's cold as hell outside lately and I don't wanna.  I don't want to move my car and go to a drive-thru because I got a good parking spot this morning!

So I bring leftovers or frozen dinners to work.  I found Zatarian's New Orleans Style Blackened Chicken Alfredo at my local Walmart for $2.78. It is "seasoned grilled chicken and penne pasta in a zesty, creamy cheese sauce". It's 10oz and 510 calories / 24g of fat (for those of you who care).  It elicited a YUM out of me at the store, so I bought it.

I nuked it up today, and when I took it out of the box, I was very underwhelmed at the chicken. there was about an ounce of teeny-tiny cubes that weren't blackened, but kind of orangey-red.  I guess 8oz of this dish is pasta and the rest is sauce.  Hmph, I sighed as I put it in the microwave.

4 minutes passed and I gotta say, it smelled good.  I took it to my desk and stirred it.  Win - the alfredoey/cheesy/cream sauce actually looked like sauce instead of milky water (I'm lookin' at you Healthy Choice).  It was thick and coated my little plastic spoon nicely.  It needed salt, so I think I dumped in 2 salt packets and stirred it up again, and took a bite.

I think it's a good meal.  The chicken FELT like chicken when I ate it, and the pasta was firm, and the sauce very creamy.  I ate it slowly because it was hot. There is a lot of parsely or some sort of greenery in there - it kept getting stuck in my teeth, so that's a drawback ONLY if you are a psycho picky eater like me.

I think that if I could get it BoGo (Buy One Get One Free) or with a really good Q, I would buy it again.

I give it 3 out of 5 whatevers.

Pringles Sizzlin' Sweet BBQ

I got these for free when I "liked" Pringles on FB. I think.  All my frugalness runs together sometimes.
Anyway, they sent me a Q (coupon) for a free can, so I got this flavor.  I don't like Dill Pickle or Buffalo (two other flavors I remember), so I went with BBQ.

It has a great zing to it, but it's not OMGsoHOT.  If you wnt OMGsoHOT, get some Golden Flake Hot Chips - those'll clear out your sinuses! Anyway, I took these to work with me to munch on (and to dispose of if I didn't like them - isn't that what breakrooms are for???).  I love them! I can't pinpoint one flavor that makes them so good, but all of the spices together make it just right.

On the side of the can is a Hot Meter - from one to four, this flavor is just above two.

I give it a 3 out of 5 (hmm, stars? thumbs up? I can't decide).  It's got a good beat and you can dance to it, as well as eat it at lunch without coming out of your office looking like you just made out with the snotmonster.

(Oh yeah, I don't know what the rules are, but I was not paid or endorsed or tortured by Pringles to write this review - I used that awesome power of Free Will!)

I guess this makes me a "Blogger" now?

Hello, and welcome to The Lazy Lady Blog.  My name is Amy and I will be your blogger for this evening. Our specials include reviews of things like food or snacks, rants/raves/vents, and frugal tips. 

I don't plan on having a set schedule of blog posts. I'm lazy. I'm a mom and a wife and I work full time.  I'm lucky to get a shower some nights! But stick with me and you'll have some fun.


If you are still reading, I'll get you that ten bucks I promised you for following me. OR, perhaps you are actually interested in what I say.  Hang on and enjoy the ride!