Fettuccini with Chicken and Broccoli by Schwan's Food: Product Review

When my wife and I dine at the Olive Garden the only thing she orders and eats, besides the salad and breadsticks, is the Chicken Alfredo. So when I read the description of this meal and it mentioned Olive Garden quality I just couldn't pass up the chance to test it out. Apparently this is a new item for the Schwan's Food Company as it just came out in their August-December catalog. To go along with this meal I also tried their Cheese Stuffed Breadsticks and Toffee Caramel Crunch Ice Cream.

Price:

The total price for this meal including the small bottle of wine from a local winery was 32.67. Now this may seem pricey for a meal at home but we had at least a quart of ice cream left over and 7 bread sticks left over. We did not have to wait in line and there is always a line at our Olive Garden nor did we have to get out of the house. We enjoyed a quiet meal at home that was ready in 19 minutes from start to finish.

Preparation:

I opened the bottle of wine and let it breathe at 6:04 pm. I preheated the oven for the breadsticks and read the directions for preparing the meal. It took about 3 minutes to get the meal into the microwave and set the plates. I was listening to a little Jimmy Buffet on the CD while preparing our meal. The microwave dinged at 6:11 and I stirred the meal and put it back into the microwave for another 2 minutes. At 6:14 the timer on the oven went off and I took out the breadsticks. The microwave went ding and I pulled the items out and set them on the counter. I plated the pasta first and then split the chicken and sauce evenly over the two plates. I added breadsticks to our plates and set it on the table along with a glass of wine for both of us.

Meal Time:

First let me say that the preparation was very simple. It took less time to prepare than it takes to get to the Olive Garden and get on a waiting list. +1 Secondly the aroma in the kitchen was fantastic. +2 The food had a great look on the plate. The pasta was tender and not overcooked. The chicken even though done in the microwave was fork tender, crispy and well seasoned. The sauce was thick and tasty with just the right amount of pepper and garlic. I would have preferred a little bit more broccoli on my plate but my wife was pleased with the amount on hers. It was also tender and was probably 95% complete florets and very few stems. Overall the presentation on the box and in the Schwan's literature understated this meal.

Desert was a real pleasure as both of us are real toffee lovers and this ice cream was just that, smooth, creamy, crunchy and delicious. After feasting I figured based on the nutritional information that we had consumed about 650 calories for the meal and well we will just forget about the ice cream. The food was extremely tasty and a pleasant experience to prepare. My wife was extremely happy with here meal and the savings over a trip to the Olive Garden was about $22.00 not including a tip. I can live with that kind of savings. I look forward to this meal again in a couple of weeks and can highly recommend it to you the readers of AC.