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Asda Chilli Pasta Bake
by xxfoxyredxx
When it comes to meals I can cook up fast I always tend to buy them. I don't mind cooking but at the minute I'm really busy living and have no time to cook meals up from scratch and so tend to go for easier options for the time being!
This meal for two I bought the other night from Asda. Being a meal for two people I shared it ... with my boyfriend with a glass of wine and a dvd and costing only £2.00 it didn't break the bank!
The Packaging:
The meal comes in a black plastic and rather large and deep tray with a see-through peel off plastic cover to the top of it and over that there is a cardboard sleeve and on the front of that there is a photograph of the cooked pasta bake and we are told that it is Asda 'Chosen By You', Meal For 2 Italian Chilli Pasta Bake 'Italian penne with minced beef in a spicy tomato and chilli sauce, topped with a creamy cheese sauce and cheddar' and that it weighs 800g, is suitable for freezing and there is an at a glance nutritional chart shown. On the back of the sleeve other information stated includes being how to cook the meal (you can oven bake or microwave this from chilled), the ingredients and allergy advice is given, there is a full nutritional chart stated , storage details are given (this is freezable by the way) and contact details for Asda are listed. Nice enough, informative packaging this is.
The Meal Itself:
What you get is alot of food, enough for two people. You can, as I have previously mentioned pop this in the microwave for about 8 1/2-9 1/2 minutes or oven cook it in around 25-30 minutes, because I am lazy I always if possible microwave everything!
What you get is alot of tubes of pasta in a dark red sauce with visible melted cheese over the top and it spells spicy. Sadly though this is quite a sloppy dish so once served does look a bit of a mess.
However appearance can be deceptive and we rather enjoyed this meal. The pasta was al dente although didn't carry a lot of flavour, the tomato sauce was just that really and tasted fresh. Tomato flavoured with lots of bits of mince in it that wasn't fatty or gristly and had a mild and slight kick of chilli to it. The melted cheese was mild in flavour thankfully to calm down the chilli flavour and there was a subtle hint of garlic going on within it too.
This was a nice tasting meal and enough for two people, however it just didn't look all that appetizing on a plate. I liked all the flavours though and didn't find it too spicy and the cheese although tasting and looking gooey like melted cheese didn't taste mature to me but was creamy and plentiful.
I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase this again purely cos it looked sloppy but it is nice enough and worth the £2.00 I paid for it.
Nutritional Information Per 1/2 Pack:
Calories: 630
Sugar: 6.4g
Fat: 20.0g
Sat Fat: 10.8g
Salt: 1.7g
Only available in Asda stores.
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Asda Chicken & Mushroom Puff Pie
by xxfoxyredxx
When it comes to pies, well I simply love pastry and puff pastry is one of my favourites. I spotted this in my local Asda store the other night and costing only 62p for an individual pie or priced at a very reasonable £2.05 for four of them I decided to treat myself to one as a little trial as I usually adore a chicken and mushroom ... pie.
The Packaging:
Well the packaging is simple with a see-through plastic sealed bag type of an idea over it and on the front of it we are told what it is and of course who it is by, we are told that it is freezable, cooks from frozen in about 30 minutes (though this can be eaten hot or cold by the way) and there is an at a glance nutritional chart shown and then the pie itself is a long oval shape with a visible puff pastry lid and rather thick.
The Pie Itself:
Well the pie is made from a golden thick pastry with only the lid being made of puff pastry and looking a bit flaky. The inside of the pie is filled with a greyish sludgy filling with little pieces of mushroom within it and although chicken is mentioned to be within it I couldn't detect any at all though I could taste chicken flavour but only in the way of stock flavouring to be perfectly honest with you.
The filling is ok, the appearance was a little off-putting though to be fair to it there was plenty of it and it was well seasoned. There was as I have just mentioned little tiny cubes of grey rubbery mushroom but hunt as I may I found no chicken pieces at all even though it is meant to be breast of chicken.
The pastry was a little lacklustre in flavouring really though not greasy and was a wee bit flaky but all in all this is a bit of a bland pie with a weird looking filling so for me, it not for me! lol.
Nutritional Information Per Pie:
Energy: 389kcal
Protein: 15.8g
Carbohydrate: 35.9g
of which sugars: 3.2g
Fat: 20.1g
of which saturates: 8.0g
Fibre: 0.8g
Sodium: 0.20g
equivalent as salt: 0.5g
Only available in Asda stores.
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Asda Classic Cottage Pie
by xxfoxyredxx
I do like food that I can prepare fast and so the other day in my local Asda store when I spotted this I decided to get it to try out as I do love a bit of cottage pie!
The Packaging:
The meal comes in a black plastic and rather deep tray with see-through plastic that goes over that and then over that little lot ... there is a cardboard sleeve. On the top on that sleeve there is a photograph of the cottage pie and we are told that it is Asda 'Chosen By You', Meal For 1, 'Classic' Cottage Pie 'Tender minced British beef in a rich beef and onion gravy, toped with Maris Piper buttery mashed potato' and that it is freezable, weighs 500g and there is an at a glance nutritional chart shown. On the back of the sleeve other information listed includes ingredients and allergy advice along with a full nutritional chart, cooking instructions are given (from chilled) for both the microwave and the oven and contact details for Asda are also listed. Nice enough, minimal informative packaging this is.
The Meal Itself:
Well cooking this is really easy. It takes 30 minutes in the oven or about 9 minutes in the microwave. I am impressed that this is rather a large portion and is simple in concept.
All it is a thick layer of moist and buttery and with no lumps in it mashed potato which is well seasoned and like I say totally lump free. Then under that good quality mince i in abundance in an oniony fragranced and tasty thin gravy which is plentiful without being too much type of thing. The mince isn't greasy, fatty or gristly and there are no vegetables or anything within it at all and it is what it is basically...mince beef in gravy and mash potatoes and its an excellent quality as well as an excellent portion of meal and it gets a huge thumbs up from me!
Nutritional Information Per Pack:
Calories; 590
Sugar: 0.0g
Fat: 23.5g
Sat Fat: 12.5g
Salt: 3.0g
Only available from Asda stores costing £2.00 for a 500g (one portion serving).
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