“What's for Dinner Tonight” Schwartz 2in1 Product Review

My regular readers know that our dinners, well food in general, can turn into quite a battle and we are trying as many new meals as possible with the hope that it will improve Ethan’s diet. So being offered the chance to review the new Schwartz 2in1 Seasoning Range was a fantastic opportunity for us all to try something new. Schwartz say:

“Тhe new 2in1 range offers easy to use recipe mix sachets in one handy pack: one sachet flavours the main dish whilst the other contains а seasoning for a complementary side dish or topping. With 5 different varieties to choose from, and an easy recipe on the back of each pack, it’s a great way to try out new dishes or transform an existing family favourite.”

We were sent the following two samples to try

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta and Cheesy Crumb Topping: A blend of herbs and spices for chicken pasta with a cheesy topping
Garlic & Thyme Roast Chicken + Crispy Roast Potatoes: Roast chicken seasoning, with garlic and thyme, accompanied by a special seasoning to create perfect Crispy Roast Potatoes

This is how we got on.

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta and Cheesy Crumb Topping

To make this dish we needed

1 tablespoon of oil
450g of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced
1 yellow pepper, chopped
150ml of water
400g of tin chopped tomatoes
200g of pasta, cooked and drained
75g grated cheddar cheese

To prepare the dish we did the following

Heated the oil in the frying pan and fried the chicken until browned

Added the yellow pepper and cooked for a further two minutes

Mixed the Mediterranean pasta recipe mix with water

Added the mix to the pan along with the tomatoes, bringing it to a simmer

This was then mixed with the pre-cooked pasta and transferred it to a baking dish

The pasta was then sprinkled with the crumb topping and the grated cheese and placed under the grill

Dinner was then served

Our Verdict: We love pasta so were looking forward to this one. Ethan on the other hand has always turned his nose up at pasta bake type dishes so we weren’t holding out much hope and had the fish fingers on standby. To our surprise relief he cleared his plate, which made us all happy.

This dish was very tasty and the crumb topping added some lovely flavours to the dish. It also felt like it was a nice and healthy dish to eat as although cheese was added to the top of the dish the inclusion of the tinned tomatoes and the pasta recipe mix didn’t make the pasta fill heavy. This dish easily fed five of us, four adults and little Ethan. I would quite happily have this again for dinner.

Garlic & Thyme Roast Chicken + Crispy Roast Potatoes

To make this dish we needed

5 tablespoons of oil
1 x 1.6kg whole chicken
1kg of peeled roasting potatoes

To prepare the dish we did the following

Mixed two tablespoons of oil with the chicken seasoning and brushed over the chicken. Covered the chicken with foil and placed it in the oven to cook

Par-boiled the potatoes

Drained the potatoes and sprinkled with the potato seasoning. Placed the potatoes on a pre-heated roasting try and placed them in the oven

After a total cooking time of one hour and twenty minutes dinner was served

Our Verdict: This was the first time I have ever cooked a whole chicken so I was very proud of myself for attempting this recipe. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this dinner was.

The potatoes tasted amazing and everyone loved them, the flavours in the coating really brought them to life. The chicken was nice and moist but I felt the coating was lost when we cut the chicken to serve. I think if I was to make this meal again I would buy chicken pieces rather than a whole chicken so that you wouldn’t have to cut up the meat to serve. This dish fed all five of us again, and everyone enjoyed it, the potatoes were a real hit.

“This post is an entry for BritMums ‘What’s for Dinner Tonight?’ sponsored by Schwartz.”