good earth Prize Pack Review and Giveaway!

I’m not a person who often buys prepackaged or boxed food (cereal doesn’t count). Part of it is because I didn’t grow up eating it (with a family of 10 people, you learned how to cook!), part of it is because of the expense, and part of it (the biggest part) is because boxed food isn’t generally healthy. When MyBlogSpark contacted me to do a review of General Mills’ new good earth Restaurant Favorites line, though, I was pretty excited. For the first time, there seemed to be a healthy boxed dinner option---which is like the equivalent of receiving a foot massage for a pregnant lady with a toddler and a kitchen that’s torn out due to remodeling! I was more than happy to try it out.

My family made the Mediterranean Chicken with angel hair pasta box and we were all impressed. It was easy (boil some pasta, coat some chicken, cook the chicken, stir in water, milk, and some seasoning packets and then simmer—20 minutes tops). It required very few cooking dishes. And it tasted amazing (I would be impressed if someone served this to me in their home; it doesn’t taste like it came out of a box). The biggest thing I liked about the taste is that it wasn’t too salty like one would expect from a seasoning mix and that my toddler loved it as well (in fact, I caught her with her hands in the main dish more than once). One little change I did make in preparing the meal was that I used chicken breast cutlets instead of slicing chicken breasts like the directions suggest. Using cutlets saves on time and reduces your exposure to salmonella which worked out great.

The main ingredients in the box are whole wheat pasta and flour, water, cheddar cheese, tomato, whey, and olive oil. There is no MSG or added salt, though one prepared serving does give you 22% of your daily sodium intake. We love chicken and whole wheat pasta (the only kind we buy!), so it wasn’t hard to fall in love with a whole grain and poultry meal. On top of having a base of wholesome ingredients, there are five servings per container and they aren’t skimpy, either! I was surprised by how much food it actually made. We were able to eat leftovers quite a few times after our initial dinner.

Visit RestaurantFavorites.com to see all of the different dinner varieties they offer and get ready to “stay in and go all out!”

Win It! One lucky person will win not only a good earth Restaurant Favorites Mediterranean Chicken with angel hair pasta dinner, but you will ALSO receive two sets of bamboo flatware, two bamboo dishes, a bamboo utility board, and a 100% recycled grocery tote! To enter, you just need to be a follower/friend/subscriber of mine (only one way is necessary) and then leave me your best healthy-time-saving food tip below. Be sure to leave an email address and separate comment for EACH entry! Contest will end August 19, 2010 at noon, EST.

Additional Entries:
*Blog about this contest or tell people about it through a parenting forum (2 entries)
*Subscribe to or follow me (each different way = 1 entry; Blogger, Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

*Fav me on Technorati or otherwise vote me up somewhere

*Grab my regular button (2 entries)

*Tweet about this contest with a link and @LifeMoreSimply included (can tweet 2x/day)

*Have another great idea to spread the word? Do it and tell me how you did!


I received a good earth prize pack from My Blog Spark and General Mills for this review and giveaway. No other compensation was received and the opinions expressed are all mine. :-)