Quick Family Meals with Lemon Grass Kitchen and a Coupon #mc #sponsored

I love planning out my weekly menu. It has proven time and time again to save me time and money. No matter how well I have planned I have learned over the past few years to be really flexible with a busy household. Do you plan weekly meals? What tips do you have on dealing with feeding the family when meals don't go as planned? I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Mom Central for InnovAsian Cuisine. I received coupons for Lemon Grass Kitchen frozen meals to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

Sometimes a scheduled meal doesn't turn out as planned. Other times I find that I can't cook a planned meal because of schedule changes and no one will be home to eat. Do you ever have these problems? There are also times when I don't want to plan a meal and hope to have easy meals in the freezer ready to go. Do you ever use prepared freezer meals?

I have recently learned about InnovAsian Cuisine Lemon Grass Kitchen and that they are one of the first Thai frozen food lines created by Chef Mai Pham. They offer a variety of easy cooking entrees such as Chicken Pad Thai, Beef & Broccoli Noodles and Red Curry Chicken. These are high quality frozen meals which the ingredients are individually packaged for superior freshness. The meals work both on the stove top and in the microwave.

Red Curry Sauce with Chicken - Family added in extras such as sticky white rice, thai basil, basil or cilantro

Have you heard or tried these meals? Does your family love Thai food? My family does and it is always a special treat when we travel to a larger neighboring town to enjoy fresh Thai food. We don't do it very often because it is too expensive and it is too far away to just hop over for a quick bite. 

With the Lemon Grass Kitchen meals we can now have Thai food on those super busy nights when plans change. One box would be find for up to two people. Sometimes a 6-12 minute meal from start to finish is the best choice for the family. These meals are free of MSG and trans fat which is an extra bonus. 

Thai-Style Chicken Fried Rice- Family added in chilies, fish sauce, lime or Sriracha sauce

As part of this sponsored post I picked up Lemon Grass Kitchen's Red Curry Sauce with Chicken, Thai-Style Chicken Fried Rice, Beef & Broccoli Noodles, and Shrimp Pad Thai for my family to try. I loved how quick the meals were to prepare. Everything was separated into packets for ease of preparation and to keep the meal as fresh as possible. So for example, the Red Curry Sauce with Chicken had 3 packets: chicken, vegetables and sauce. The Beef & Broccoli Noodles had 4 packets: beef, noodles, vegetables and sauce. The directions were easy to follow and yes, it was super easy to prepare. 

Beef & Broccoli Noodles - Family added in chilies, basil, Siriacha sauce

We are Thai food fans so we know that certain Thai dishes get peanuts, bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, chilies, sticky white rice, and limes. I purchased all the extras for the family to pick and choose what they wanted to add to their meal. One box is 3 servings so for my family I would have to make 2 boxes for one meal. 

Overall the meals were as stated, quick to make. I wasn't so thrilled at the salt content but most companies can't make processed meals without the extra sodium. My family thought that the meals were ok over all and agreed that they would be handy to have in the freezer. Sometimes a quick meal is needed and since we love Thai food this would be a good alternative to going out to a restaurant. This can also be a quick meal for the teens to make when we are out of town. The meal is complete as is and can be made in the microwave or stove top. 

Here are the steps to make the Shrimp Pad Thai which was our favorite pick overall. 

Frozen Noodles

Thaw noodles

Thaw sauce

Add all ingredients to skillet

Cook 2-3 minutes until hot

Family added in extras such as lemon, lime, basil, peanuts or bean sprouts. This really makes it more fresh!

Do you think this is something you would try with your family? Do you ever buy or prepare frozen meals? 

The Lemon Grass Kitchen line can be found at Walmart and Safeway stores. Right now you can get a $1.50 off a Lemon Grass Kitchen product to give them a try. The Lemon Grass Kitchen coupon can be found here http://bit.ly/1p7CA9p. It is a digital coupon on coupons.com and once you click the link it will go into your print queue. 

Find out even more about InnovAsian Cuisine on their social media channels: 

• InnovAsian Cuisine Facebook page
  
• InnovAsian Cuisine Twitter page

So which quick meal will you try first? 

New Satisfying Selections from Weight Watchers #SmartOnesReview

Thanks to SocailMoms, I was given the change to review two of the *New* Satisfying Selections from Weight Watchers Smart Ones. It has been a few years since I have purchased a Smart Ones meal. I use buy them when I worked outside of the home. It was a great way to get a healthy, warm meal away from home.

Do you ever purchase these type of meals? I bought the Sesame Chicken and Chicken Broccoli Alfredo. Below is what I thought of each one.

Sesame Chicken
(From package) 9 WW points, 360 Calories, 7 fat grams, 6 grams of fiber, 25 grams of protein, and 49 grams of carbs with 10 of those coming from sugar.

Overall, this meal was satisfying and perfect for those on Weight Watchers or if trying to control food portions. I was surprised that the entire bag was one meal! The portions were generous. It was super quick and easy, under 5 minutes and the meal was ready to eat in the microwave. The meal can also be cooked on the stove top.  The price is just right for a one person meal. I would have loved it to have had more veggies in the bag. The chicken was tasty, breaded but not necessary. I had high hopes for this meal because I love anything Asian. This meal was too sweet for me. I will say though, that after I ate dinner I never got hungry for rest of the night. 

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
(From package) 7 WW points, 300 Calories, 4 fat grams, 4 grams of fiber, 28 grams of protein, and 39 grams of carbs.

Overall this meal was also satisfying and perfect for a perfect portion controlled meal. The portion was very generous, right price and quick & easy to prepare. I loved this meal. In under 5 minutes I had a pasta dish that was perfect and cheesy! The chicken was cooked just right for this meal. I would have liked more veggies in this meal. I added a salad with my meal but it was necessary because I was completely full after eating this one, too. I never got the munchies later in the evening. It kept me full!!

I plan on purchasing the Ziti Marinara with Meatballs & Cheese next. Overall the price and portion is just right for a one time quick meal. Just like most frozen meals, they are full of preservatives. The protein was a perfect and I wasn't hungry later. If I'm serving myself or my family this type of meal I always balance it with fresh fruits and veggies. If there isn't time for it, this meal is perfect for convenience!  If you are watching your portion and need quick meals I hope that you will try these Satisfying Selections and see what you think about them.

Provided Product Information:

New Satisfying Selections™ from Weight Watchers® Smart Ones® offers much deserved satisfaction to your dinnertime occasion with 30% larger portions than traditional tray meals

• Packaged as a bagged meal, they feature heartier pieces of meat and veggies than what is typically found in a frozen nutritional tray option.

Nutrition
The pre-portioned nutritional meals help you to stay on track – especially at dinnertime.

• All meals in the new line are portion controlled for dinner
• And, they all have less than 400 calories, 8-10 Weight Watchers PointsPlus™ and 25 grams or more of protein.

Prep-method
With dual-prep methods you can prepare them just the way you like.

• Either steam them in the microwave or cook on the stove top and serve on a dinner plate.

Varieties
The new Smart Ones bagged meals are available in five delicious flavors:

• Sesame Chicken
• Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo
• Ziti with Meatballs & Cheese
• Chicken with Broccoli & Cheese
• Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry

Sizes: 1 Package (331 g)

Suggested Retail Price: $3.69

Availability: Weight Watchers® Smart Ones® Satisfying Selections is available nationwide.

Product locator: http://www.eatyourbest.com/storelocate.aspx
Website: www.eatyourbest.com

Smart Ones on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/eatyourbest

Disclosure: This post is part of a SocialMoms product evaluation, for which I’ve been selected. I’ve been compensated for my time with 6,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Heinz.