Looks can be deceiving

Today for lunch I had another Marie Callender Meal that I really wanted to try. It was thier Country Fried Pork Chop, and do I love country fried anything! Too bad this is not another love story like the Rigatoni was unfortunately. I had really high expectations for this meal. Why shouldn't I, the picture on the box is really good looking. The packaging is a bit weird once I opened it but other than that I didn't have a clue that it wasn't going to be good.

The cooking instructions were intriguing when I first read them. The instructions called for the preparer to puncture the gravy bag that is stuck to the top of the microwave trays film covering. After doing the usual puncturing of this and that you have to take the lava-hot gravy bag off the top of the tray and stir the potatoes. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the potatoes, they had seemed like the major selling point when I saw the packaging, and they were just a shadow of what was promised.

Once I was done with the familiar song and dance of microwaved meal preparation and letting it stand I sat down with my disappointing looking potatoes… I mean meal. I shouldn't put all of the focus on the potatoes, but looking at the
picture you have to admit they look awesome on the packaging. I sit down to start eating and put the gravy on the meal like it is illustrated. Wow, this gravy is tasteless, and I am a "gravy man" if there ever was one. I love to slather any potato dish with gravy and this was as tasteless as it gets. Good for my reading audience I can identify all of the ingredients of any meal just on taste alone.

To give you an idea how the gravy tasted I will give you what my interpretation of the gravy recipe was:

2 parts water

1 Dash of black pepper to taste

1 part Saw dust (either pine or maple will do)

So if you want the great Marie Callendar Gravy taste for your meal stop by your local Lowes Hardware store and ask for a bag of their finest saw dust, I am sure they will be happy to oblige.

Overall the most disappointing this was pretty much the mashed potatoes and gravy. The breaded pork cutlet wasn't bad at all, but it was overshadowed by the tasteless sides of the meal. I wasn't a huge fan of the vegetables either; they tasted more like boiled vegetables than micro-waved. I expect sub par vegetables from Banquet but not from Marie Callendar at all.

Maybe I will chalk up today's review to false advertising. There is no way that this meal could look as good as it does on the packaging and I was really disappointed as a result of this (well, that and the really bad gravy…shame shame shame.) I guess with this long of cooking time and preparations that had to be made I expect a much better meal.

Overall, this meal was not very delightful.

Cooking time: 4 minutes, then 4 minutes

Stand Time: 2 minutes