Zap Your Way to Delicious Italian Food – Michael Angelo's Review & Giveaway

One of the things that I’ve noticed about TV dinners is that they most often smell better than they taste. I’ll pull out a freshly zapped dinner of Salisbury Steak thinking that it smells absolutely divine, only to be sadly disappointed by the singular flavor and mushy texture. I understand that there are some limitations to making microwaveable meals – especially when you consider the technology that’s being used (radio waves cause water, fat and sugar particles to move rapidly, creating heat) but I want more than different colors of mush that taste the same. Enter Michael Angelo’s.

Founded in 1982, Michael Angelo’s Gourmet Foods is a family run company that embraces the tradition of real Italian cuisine to create a delicious line of authentic Italian entrees. One of the things that I really like about Michael Angelo’s is that their frozen meals are made-to-order, meaning they don’t have a stockpile of frozen dinners stacked in the back freezer somewhere. Each day, they use fresh ingredients to cook their sauces and their meals from scratch, then package and ship the meals with 36 hours of the ingredients’ arrival. It’s also important to note that they do not use artificial colors, flavors fillers, chemical preservatives or additives, which helps bring the home-cooked flavor to their dinners.

Michael Angelo’s has a wide variety of frozen dinners to choose from with different serving sizes (for single serving, family, and bulk) and flavors to suite even the pickiest palettes. I got to try the 10oz Michael Angelo’s Baked Ziti and Meatballs.

When you pull the tray out of the box, you can see the different frozen elements of the meal. In this picture, you can see generous amounts of cheese on top, a meatball in the left corner, some fresh herbs (that are actually green) on top, the ziti pasta, and the sauce.

This is what it looks like after being microwaved.

After heating up Michael Angelo’s Baked Ziti and Meatballs, my mouth was watering. It smelled absolutely delicious and I could only hope that the actual flavor of the food conveyed as well as the smell. It did. While I won’t go so far as to say it was like eating in Italy, I will say that I would be happy if some of the Italian restaurants I’ve eaten at served me food that tasted this good.

The pasta was cooked perfectly – tender but not too firm (except for one or two pieces that were slightly overcooked – which I think is due to the microwave process). The meatballs were more than just bland balls of beef and seemed to have a subtle blend of herbs infused through each bite. These cooked up slightly tough on the outside with a very tender inside. My only beef with the meatballs (haha!) was that they only gave me 5. I wish I could’ve had more meatballs because they were very tasty. The cheese was smooth and added that little umph to the meal. And finally, the sauce was oh-so-good. You could definitely tell that Michael Angelo’s puts a lot of TLC into making their sauces because it was more than just tomato sauce with oregano. The sauce had tons of flavor with a great infusion of herbs.

If you would like to learn more about Michael Angelo’s please visit their website at www.michaelangelos.com. On the site you can use their store locator to find your nearest store that carries Michael Angelo’s, find recipes that have been submitted by fellow Michael Angelo’s lovers, and their online community – the Family Table. Create an account with The Family Table and you can even get a Buy One, Get One Free coupon by watching videos and answering some (super easy) questions about the videos. The videos are a part of their new ‘From Field to Table’ video series, which offers insight into ingredient sourcing and selection. You can also enter to win the WCatDD Michael Angelo’s Gourmet Foods Giveaway!

The Prize:

One winner will receive THREE coupons for FREE Michael Angelo’s Gourmet Food’s products.

To Enter:

Make sure you follow the directions carefully. All giveaway entries should use the ENTRY FORM. You only need to fill out the ENTRY FORM once, unless you decide to additional earn extra entries at a later time. You can earn up to 15 entries into the WCatDD Michael Angelo’s Gourmet Foods Giveaway by doing one, some or all of the following:

Ways to Earn Entries:

Make sure you use this ENTRY FORM for your entries to count!

1. THIS ENTRY IS REQUIRED FOR ALL OTHER ENTRIES TO BE VALID (+1): Visit www.michaelangelos.com and tell me which product you would like to try the most.
2. Become a Michael Angelo’s Facebook Fan (+1)
3. Post this giveaway on your blog (+3)
4. Tweet about this giveaway using the “retweet” link at the top of this post or by tweeting “Heating up delicious Italian frozen dinners in a flash with the @WCatDD Michael Angelo’s Gourmet Foods Giveaway! http://bit.ly/ahwgev” (+1)
5. Subscribe to WCatDD (+1)
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7. Fan our WCatDD Facebook Page (+1)
8. Follow us on Google Friend Connect (+1)
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10. Add the WCatDD button to Your Site (+2)
11. ONE TIME BONUS: Vote for us for the Web’s Top Giveaway Blogs (+2). After voting, don’t forget to comment on this post as well for your chance to win $100 if we win!

The Rules:

One winner will be selected at random for this prize.

Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST, February 4, 2010.

Visit our Giveaway Rules page for general giveaway rules that also apply to this giveaway.

Disclaimer: This post consists of my (and/or fellow tester) opinions only. Your experiences may be different. No compensation was given for this review/giveaway. I did receive a coupon for a free Michael Angelo’s dinner from the manufacturer or their representing PR agency to use and test for the purposes of this review. This did not affect the outcome of this review.

Filed under: closed giveaway, Food & Drink, giveaway, review