Tuesday 2 July 2013

Review | Schwartz 2in1 recipe mixes

Now I know what some of you are thinking, "what one is she going to review as there are five of them".  Well guess what my lovelies I got to test ALL five of them for free thanks to Schwartz!  So what flavours are there?  Let me give you a list:

- Garlic & Thyme roast chicken + crispy roast potatoes

- Chicken Tikka + mint & cucumber raita

- Mediterranean chicken pasta + crispy crumb topping

- Southern style crunchy chicken bites + BBQ dip

- Garlic & herb crunchy chicken bites + cheese & chive dip

Below I have reviewed each one separately by answering questions that they wanted me to answer.  I have also provided pictures of the final recipe and what it looks like.....well before I ate it!

 Garlic & Thyme roast chicken + crispy roast potatoes

I think we burnt it a bit!

I would give this a rating 3 out of 5. Me and my partner both feel that the flavours were a bit dry and also that the potatoes were a bit bland and we both had to add a little salt to add some flavour as it just tasted like we had sprinkled both sage and onion stuffing on top of it. Though I'm not going lie we did feel like we may of over cooked it.  It was Pretty easy to cook and everything was explained very clearly on the packet from what ingredients to buy and how to cook it.  We used the instructions on the back of the packet however we did use chicken drum sticks instead of a whole chicken as there are only three of us.  Schwartz say these are supposed to make meals times easier but I didn't really see any difference with making our mealtimes easier as I am used to using recipes off of the internet to make healthy meals. I haven't tried them all so I am unsure as of yet. However if I do find some really tasty I will be tempted to buy them in the future as they are quite big hearty meals and we do use a lot of chicken in our dinners.  I liked it but to be honest I was expecting better I was hoping for better and stronger flavours.


Chicken Tikka + mint & cucumber raita


this got a 1/5 for me. I can safely say this was the worst out of all 5.  So when I first had this on my plate I couldn't wait to try it I normally love the homemade Tikka chicken that my partner makes.  I saw the sauce however and it had chuncky bits so I was thinking that it wouldn't taste that nice as the flavour prehaps would be too strong.  Oh how I was wrong, I had some of the sauce first and it was soooo lovely!  So lovely infact it was much better then the chicken!  Urgh the chicken, it tasted bitter and left a horrible aftertaste in my mouth.  I dunno why maybe it was because it was a powder instead of the paste but it was just sooo bitter.  We followed the recipe so didn't overload it with lemon...just..oh god that taste never want to taste it again.  My partner and my son thought the same.  I found this quite easy. However there had been easier recipes out the 5. I followed the recipe on the back of the packet, though I also added rice and a nan bread.  It may of made it easy to cook but I would of rather it take longer to prepare if it tasted nicer.  I would definitely not buy this!  I will prefer to make it myself from scratch.  I hated this without a doubt.

Mediterranean chicken pasta + crispy crumb topping


My rating for this recipe is the following, 4/5 (hot) 5/5 (cold!).  I personally liked the flavour of the pasta it was a nice summer taste a bit bland BUT nice on a hot summers day. It was nice to have the crunch of the pepper and also the cheese topping was really tasty too but me and my partner both agreed it could of been a bit crisper. However it was still very nice and I even went back for seconds! Infact it cooked up such a large portion I had it cold again for lunch the next day and it tasted even better!! I just wish I didn't eat it all so I could eat it all over again haha. My son loved it too as he ate all of it and gave us a big "mmmmm" too haha.   My partner cooked this meal and he said it was very simple and easy to make.  He followed all the instructions on the back as it was written. I had some salad with mine.  As a family we are used to making pasta bakes so it didn't make it easier (especially as we had to cook the pasta first, not that, that was a bad thing)  however it did make it different.  I loved this recipe so much it was even better cold! I will be looking out for this to buy without a doubt!

Southern style crunchy chicken bites + BBQ dip



I would give this a 4/5, I would of given it full marks but I felt the crumbs on the chicken were a bit too dry.  I personally really liked it, the bbq dip was really tasty and the chicken was indeed crunchy and had a peppery kick to it which was unexpected but nomalicous! My partner also agrees with me and says the strong flavours were really nice. I can safely say that my son loved it! He is only 1 years old and normally makes a mess at dinner but I was shocked when I saw his plate empty and I looked on the floor expecting to find food....THERE WAS NONE THERE!  It was very easy and simple to follow. The measurements for me were spot on! Which is rare to find now a days.  I followed the recipes but had it with chips if I had any I would of added some peas as well haha.  I would say for this specific recipe it did indeed make it easier to cook, as it didn't take as long as I would of expected. Also to make the BBQ sauce all I needed was tomato ketchup which nearly every household normally has. I mean I HATE ketchup but we have it for when guests come over.  I would buy this when I next go shopping as all it requires is the packet, chicken and well the ketchup I already have. So it really does save you money, which is always a win in this economy.   Overall I LOVED it!

 Garlic & herb crunchy chicken bites + cheese & chive dip


I have to say that out of all 5 this is the best one!  My partner and I came at a disagreement with this recipe. My partner thought that the flavour on the chicken, although not being so dry as the other chicken bites, it didn't have as much flavour. I however felt that although the chicken yes was a bit bland. I felt that the dip more then enough made up for it. The cheese and chive dip is a strong flavour so I felt it complimented the chicken nicely. My son liked the chip and he couldn't get enough of it as he get filling his mouth up more and more the partner and I couldn't help but laugh. He however didn't touch his dip which I found odd as he normally loves them.  My partner cooked this meal and he said it was very simple and easy to make.  He followed all the instructions on the back as it was written and we had it served with chips. I would say that it did make our meal times easier as I noticed this was very quick to make. I wasn't waiting for long!  I will be looking out for this buy without a doubt! It's my favourite yet!  nomnomnomnom can't wait to have it again!

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