Fun Family Night with Schwan’s Home Service – Review & Giveaway

Life is busy. At some point or another, we have too many errands in too littler time. Honestly, there are times when I’m so pooped, the last thing I want to do is prepare a decent meal. Sadly, that usually means something fast, fried, and unhealthy. Tonight, my eyes were opened to a new way of cooking when I tried some meals from Schwan’s.

About Schwan’s Home Service

The Review

How did I now learn about Schwan’s until now? Schwan’s Home Service is a great and super easy way to serve delicious meals for yourself or for your family. My Schwan’s dinner arrived in a styrofoam box, still completely frozen thanks to the dry ice packed inside. Contents: the new Fresco By Scotto Baked Ziti, Five Cheese Garlic French Bread, Broccoli Florets, and Chocolate Ice Cream.

Everything went into the freezer until a night, like tonight, presented itself. A night where time was short, it was getting late, and I was desperate for a quick meal. And when I type quick, I mean that in just 15 minutes, I had cooked and plated the entire Schwan’s dinner.

I decided to cook the Fresco by Scotto Baked Ziti using the microbake method. 7 minutes in the microwave and then 8 minutes in the oven.

While the ziti was in the microwave for the first 7 minutes, I threw the Five Cheese Garlic French Bread into the oven for the start of it’s 15 minutes of baking. Since both the garlic bread and the ziti baked at the same temperature, the cook times and temperatures worked out perfectly. There are six pieces of garlic bread in the box – I decided to cook only two, which was easy to do since the bread is individually wrapped. You could probably stretch it even further because I think one piece of the bread could comfortably serve 2 or 3 people.

After the ziti went from the microwave to the oven, I put the broccoli into the microwave for some quick cooking. Here is the final dinner:

Of course, you have to finish up your dinner with dessert. I happily scooped out some chocolate ice cream onto the pound cake I made late last week.

Doesn’t that all look delicious? Here’s a quick breakdown of the meal.

Fresco by Scotto Baked Ziti – “Hearty classic baked ziti, tossed with a 3-cheese combination of Ricotta, Parmesan and Mozzarella, smothered in flavorful rich tomato sauce. Bake it in the oven until golden brown and bubbling hot, and enjoy a dish, just like Grandma’s homemade!” Price – $10.81, serves 2.

This tray is supposed to serve 2 people, but realistically it could probably serve 4 people. The pasta cooked up perfectly. I loved that it wasn’t overly-cheese (even with three types of cheese) and the sauce was delicious.

Five Cheese Garlic French Bread - “Crisp and tender French loaves are sliced in half and generously topped with sweet roasted garlic and five big cheese flavors—Mozzarella, Provolone, white and yellow Cheddars and tangy Romano.” Price – $8.73, serves 6.

The garlic bread was amazing. The bread cooked up perfectly, meaning the crust was crispy but the inside was soft (but not mushy). It had the perfect amount of cheese and a very nice garlic flavor. As I mentioned earlier, the pieces are fairly large and you could probably serve at least 12 people with one box, making it a great party appetizer option.

Broccoli Florets – “Our Grade A, 100% Broccoli Florets are easily added to recipes, or served alongside any main dish. Top with garlic-infused olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Conveniently packaged in a re-sealable bag.” 1.5 lb bag, Price – $4.73, serves 8.

Sometimes the broccoli at my grocery store looks sad and wilted. The frozen Broccoli Florets are a great option to make sure I get my vegetables. I cooked them in a bowl in the microwave and they cooked up great – just the right amount of tenderness and still had a great fresh taste. I didn’t even need to add seasoning! With such a large bag, I was able to just pour out the broccoli I wanted for tonight, and then freeze the rest for later.

Chocolate Ice Cream – “Rich and creamy, mellow and smooth, this slow-churned milk chocolate ice cream is the chocolate purist’s choice.” Price – $5.36, serves 14.

I’m usually not a chocolate ice cream fan, but Schwan’s Chocolate Ice Cream was very, very good. It was smooth and creamy with a nice, light chocolate flavor.

Are you feeling hungry yet? If you’d like to make some of your meal times about a billion times easier, then I would definitely suggest you take a gander at Schwan’s Home Service. The meals are reasonably priced and they have tons of meal options, including more meals from Fresco by Scotto, such as Penne alla Vodka with Chicken or Fuscilli with Seasoned Vegetables.

Overall, I am amazed and surprised by how much I liked the Schwan’s meals. The flavors were great and the entire dinner was easy to prepare in a short amount of time. I’m actually going to go through the site now to pick up some back-up meals to keep in the freezer. If you have any recommendations, please let me know!

Schwan’s Home Service Online

• Visit the Schwan’s Website
• “Like” Schwan’s on Facebook
• Follow Schwan’s on Twitter

The WiC Project Schwan’s Home Service Giveaway

The Prize:
One winner will receive the Schwan’s Home Service meal package I reviewed above, which includes the new Fresco by Scotto Baked Ziti, Five Cheese Garlic French Bread, MicrosSteam Baby Broccoli Florets and Chocolate Ice Cream.

To Enter:

1. Visit www.schwans.com and leave a comment with the food item you want to try the most.

For up to TWO Bonus Entries

2. For ONE bonus entry, follow Schwan’s on Twitter and leave a comment with your Twitter handle or “Like” Schwan’s on Facebook and leave a comment with your FB name. Feel free to drop a note telling them The WiC Project sent you.
3. For ONE more bonus entry, subscribe to The WiC Project via reader or via email and/or “Like” The WiC Project on Facebook. Leave a comment letting me know that you have.

The Rules:

Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST, April 6, 2011.

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 free product 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