Michelina's Frozen Entree Lunch for $1.00

Truth in Advertising?

My favorite grocery store listed Michelina's Entree's in their flyer this week for the amazingly low price of only $1.00 each. How could I resist? In these times of economic uncertainty if you can pick up a decent lunch size meal for only a Loonie why not take advantage of it?

Clearly other shoppers had also seen this as a good bargain judging by the half empty space in the freezer usually occupied by this product midway through Sunday afternoon.

I think there were three or maybe four varieties of these 'authentic recipe' entrees in the freezer. The Shephers Pie and the Macaroni and Beef were the two I decided to give a try. Being new to the product and having limited freezer space I only purchased one of each to see if I had a preference. I figured if I found one I liked I would come back next week and fill my cart with $1.00 meals which even give the golden arches a run for their money in the value department.

The one I first chose to try was the Shepherd's Pie as you can see by the attractive photo on the outside of the package it seemed brimming with tasty beef, corn and sliced mushrooms smothered in mouth watering gravy accompanied by smooth, creamy mashed potatoes.

I carefully followed the nuking instructions by gently lifting one small corner of the lid before placing it in my microwave for the required five minutes of radiation. This was followed by a 'resting' time of one minute to allow the meal to warm through evenly.

With mouth watering in anticipation I gently peeled back the lid avoiding the escaping steam to reveal something which looked nothing like the picture on the lid! In fact, what I saw made hosptial food look like an epicurean delight.

Ever the optimist I further followed the makers instructions of gently stirring the potatoes and meat separately, sure that this would transform the package contents into something resembling the picture.

Alas, it was not to be. After stirring I simply had pretty much the same looking concoction just not all flat and smooth now. I searched and I searched but could not find even one sliced mushroom and in spite of the photo I think I only found four kernels of corn.

As unappealing as this effort was to the eye, I must say if you closed your eyes and focused on the fact you only paid a Loon, the meal itself was not bad at all. It seemed to have a pleasant enough taste, although that could have something to do with the nearly 1200mg of salt the entree contains!

I am going to send an email to the Michelina company suggesting they use the real picture of what the contents looks like on the outside of the box.

I doubt however if they will take my suggestion.