Have an Elegant Meal for a Fraction of the Cost

If you're hungry and you don't want to go to a lot of trouble, don't worry about planning to visit your parents just so you can see what's new in their refrigerator. Try Marie Callender's Breaded Chicken Parmigiana instead. It is my favorite brand of frozen dinner when it comes to chicken parmigiana.

Others Fall Short

Hungry Man & Healthy Choice have a similar product, but both fall short compared to Marie Callender's. Hungry Man has a little too tangy of a seasoning on the chicken. It's like they want to make it taste trendy, like KFC. It definitely feels more like fast-food quality, although the portions of a Hungry Man dinner are magnificent. Healthy Choice, on the other hand, tastes a little more elegant, but somehow the lack of seasoning leaves the dinner tasting a little too bland -- rather flavorless, like water. Plus, Healthy Choice portions are smaller than Marie Callenders, because these dinners are made to appeal to folks on a diet.

Savory Portions

This is why Marie Callender's is such a welcome relief. The portions are perfect for me, and the meal has an unbeatable flavor. Consider how much food you get when you buy an 8 or 9 dollar dinner at a classy Italian restaraunt. It's really just too much. Restaraunts get us accustomed to eating portions that are larger than necessary. Frozen meals are obviously cheaper, and often more healthy because of the more reasonable portions. Of course, many people argue that fresh ingredients make all the difference. But this is what's so terrific about Marie Callender's. The chicken in the meal is white meat, and is sumptous. The vegetables come out steamed and distinct in flavor, not mushy. You get diced carrots and sprigs of broccoli, and their flavor actually complements the chicken quite nicely. However, the most special touch of the meal is that the sauce which smothers the chicken is cooked separately in its own bag. Don't worry, it's not complicated to cook. You just put the bag alongside the meal in the microwave, then you cut it open and pour it over the meal when its ready. This is really the secret why the meal is so delicious, I think. The chicken retains its own quality and warmth, rather than having to cook underneath a covering of sauce. If covered when it is cooked, the chicken often comes out a little lukewarm and with a more soupy, marinated quality.

Easy on the Wallet

As I mentioned, these meals are very affordable, especially if they are on sale. Recently, they were 5 for 10 dollars, and there was also a coupon running in the paper for 1 dollar off of 2, so they were really only 5 dollars for 5. You probably won't find them this cheap, but knowing that they've been on sale shows that it's possible to look forward to future sales.

One final thing. Before you cook the dinner, consider popping all of the frozen food out of the tray and put them on a nice plate instead. If you have a plastic cover to put over the plate, it will use the steam to cook itself properly, and you'll come out with a really presentable dish. Consider augmenting it with some fresh french bread from the grocery store, and a couple of glasses of wine, and its really fine enough for a dinner date.