It’s time to talk about Walmart’s Meal Solutions again! I think it’s a great idea that twice a month Walmart highlights the ingredients for a quick and easy weeknight meal.
This time the menu is Macaroni Grill Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken Pasta. Now you all know by now that I’m not all that big on prepared meals as a way of life. Personally I take great pride in providing my family a hot, home cooked meal every night. But life does happen and if time is short and things are hectic sometimes a prepared meal is a less expensive option than eating out.
Not only that, but frequently you can bulk up a prepared meal inexpensively to make it more “robust”. I don’t know about you, but I typically find those meals that are supposed to feed a family of 4 rarely are enough for 3 people! So this weeks menu takes that into account.
Macaroni Grill Creamy Basil Chicken Pasta
The Meal Solutions Ingredients-minus the extra chicken, milk, oil & eggs.
Macaroni Grill Creamy Basil 8oz
GV Diced Tomatoes 14.5
Reese Artichoke Hearts 14oz
Sarah Lee Garlic Bread 10oz
Pillsbury Fudgy Brownie Mix 19.5oz
***Kit includes: Linguine pasta, cream sauce, basil and cheese seasoning, sun-dried tomatoes, grated parmasean cheese and romano cheese blend***
The Macaroni Grill meal is a complete meal in a bag-you simply take it from the freezer and dump it in a skillet with 1/4 cup of milk and cook on medium till the sauce cubes melt and everything is warmed through.
See those brownish cubes? That's the frozen sauce.
Next you drain the can of artichokes and tomatoes and add them to the skillet along with one chicken breast cooked and chopped (about 1 Cup meat).
Cooking it all together
Heat all the way through and serve.
Not too shabby!
All in all this was a tasty and easy meal to make. Although it cost more than I would normally spend on a pasta dish, it was still far, far less than buying dinner for four at a restaraunt.
Of course, if you’ve got more time and less money you can always make something similar from scratch-this Creamy Chicken Pasta with Broccoli over at Food.com looks yummy.
So do you ever buy prepared meals and doctor them up?
Disclosure: This post is part of a series of Meal Solutions with Walmart that some of my fellow Walmart Moms (Heather of Domestic Diva, Denise of Wholesome Mommy, and Lori at My Wooden Spoon) and I are participating in. Walmart has provided me with compensation for these posts. My participation is voluntary and opinions, as always are my own.
****This is a sponsored post****
Read about my participation in this program at: What Are Walmart Meal Solutions?
I do this all the time. We really like the Wanchai Ferry frozen meals, but I just don’t think they’re very filling. So I usually add extra frozen veggies and more rice and meat, too. Great idea!