Pancake & Sausage on a Stick - Cheap$kate Review

My latest Deal of the Day should not be so good. I think you can understand my suspicion of any meat that's on a stick from a frozen deli case.

But I am a fan of McDonald's McGriddle, a hybrid breakfast sandwich with a pancake bun that's injected with maple sryup. I like my McGriddle with egg and a sausage patty.

So when I saw Pancake & Sausage on a Stick by Snapps  in my local Dollar Tree deli case, I just had to get it. The concept of a breakfast corn dog rang my bell.

And you can check out my Deal of the Day cheap$kate video review at the end of this blog post.

And you get 2 pancake/sausage corn dogs for a buck, Wow!

This is an easy breakfast, just zap it in the microwave for a minute. You want it to be hot to the touch, so you know the inside sausage link is defrosted. Mine was ready in a minute, I might have added a couple of  10 second microwave bursts to finish.

I was quite impressed with the pancake envelope. It was spongy and light like a typical pancake you would make from the box, or even get at a local breakfast joint. I mean nothing out of the ordinary, and that's a good thing.

The pancake was a little over-sweet, but that's because no packet of maple syrup was included. Now, who ever has pancakes without syrup?

I guess I could take off a couple of points for a lack of syrup, but I think everyone has leftover  maple syrup in the refrigerator anyway. I had mine with it and boy did it take it over the top.

Maple syrup not included in box.

For my typical pancake stack with bacon or sausage, the best part is sloshing the meat into the syrup. Well with this all-in-one meal on a stick you do the same without utensils.

The sausage link is standard Farmer John's or Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage. Course ground and a little fatty, but that's okay by me. Seasonings are light and the flavor mildly pleasing.

All in all I was quite taken with this guilty pleasure of a start to my day. The pancake shell was not soggy, just springy in texture  and slightly moist. Even the sausage reheated well, not dried out or tough.

Well, by now you can tell I'm giving my latest Deal of the Day, Pancake & Sausage on a Stick by Snapps, a high Cheap$kate Dining score, of 1 to 9, 9 being best. Just watch the video below to get all the goods. 

Play it here, video runs 2 minutes 27 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Asian Style Rice Bowl - Deal of the Day Review

While not anything to write (email) home about, my latest Deal of the Day, Asian Style Rice Bowl by Banquet, is just okay. Banquet frozen meals are often more miss than hit. But this thawed entree has some tasty bits.

The cooked veggie pieces are a nice size, not chopped into pulp. And chopped broccoli, red bell pepper and sliced carrot retain a bit of crunch even after microwaving - often frozen veggies are mushy and flavorless.

frozen & zapped

They tasted like fresh frozen veggies you would get from the grocery cold case.

I was especially impressed with the white rice, not something I would usually comment on. The rice is cooked perfectly. The rice grains are fluffy without being a sticky lump or a soggy mash. The grains held up well to microwaving.

I liked the "Tangy Asian Inspired BBQ Sauce", although the "Tangy" part is mild, not spicy or acidic at all. BBQ sauce is is not too sweet, as is the case in manhy BBQ frozen entrees.

The BBQ sauce has a mild smokey undertaste and a dash of Worcestershire sauce flavor.


The cooked meat is a large lump, and fairly bland, but that's okay for precooked frozen ground meat. The ingredients say a combination of pork and chicken. For being white meat pork and chicken, the meat has an unnaturally dark brown hue.

The protein part of this frozen entree is good enough. The pork and chicken structure reminds me of a McDonald's McRib sandwich patty, but with a little more texture.

The meat is really  just a delivery device for the tasty sauce, veggies and rice,

It is light lunch - just over 7 ounces. The large loaf of meat and rice provide the heft to this cheap$kate deal.

Click on any photo to see larger.

The ingredient list is way too long, but I guess that's comes with frozen Banquet Meals in the cheap grocery section of your frozen deli case.

So on the 99 Cent Chef's Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, I give this Deal of the Day, Asian Style Rice Bowl by Banquet, a 5. It was an okay frozen meal, but I'm not sure I would get it again anytime soon. I think I will stick with my guilty pleasures of Turkey or Salisbury Steak Meals.

Orange Sesame Chicken Bowl - Deal of the Day Review

This is one sweet Deal of the Day. And it's a delish Orange Sesame Chicken Bowl by Smart Ones, under the banner of SMARTMADE.

I am a fan of Smart Ones by Weight Watchers, and this frozen entree lives up to their tasty reputation.

 Frozen & Zapped

You first taste the sweet orange sauce. It is flavored with pineapple juice too. There is a slight hint of soy sauce that's listed as low sodium. It is sticky and thick, so make sure you stir the defrosted ingredients to get it on all the chicken, veggies and quinoa. I would like more sauce, but what's there is good enough.

This bowl had 4 or 5 huge pieces of white meat chicken. It remained moist when zapped in the microwave - the sauce helps steam the meat. And it is real chicken, not sliced from a processed poultry loaf. The photo shows sesame seeds covering the chicken. I could not taste the sesame seeds as the quinoa was so similar - not that it matters much.

I liked the large veggie pieces of broccoli. The whole snap peas remain firm and fresh tasting. And small squares of red bell pepper add the right amount of pungent flavor. This is one well balanced bowl of savory and sweet.

This oriental-style stir fry is made with quinoa instead of white rice and that's a good thing. I prefer rice, but am starting to warm up to tapioca-like pearls of quinoa. If you have not tried quinoa it is usually steamed, and when done the tiny round seeds pop when bitten. The taste is a grain flavor, with a very mild oats taste. If you are eating glutten-free, this is for you. Quinoa comes from a flowering plant that originates in South America.

At 9 ounces this is a light lunch, but with the addition of quinoa, it is quite filling for it's small package. The ingredient list is small with mainly real ingredients and no fillers or chemicals.

click on any photo to see larger

Once again Smart Ones have come up with a real winner of a frozen meal. So on my Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, I give SMARTMADE Orange Sesame Chicken Bowl by Smart Ones a perfect 9 !

This is one delish Deal of the Day made with fresh and real ingredients, so get a few of them if they still carry them in the 99c only Stores - hey, get a few from any grocery store at full price, it's worth every penny.

Chipotle Lime Chicken by Weight Watchers - Deal of the Day Review

This is one well balanced Deal of the Day. Smart Ones Chipotle Lime Chicken by Weight Watchers is not only tasty, but the ingredients are well prepared, and that's saying a lot for typical frozen fare.

Weight Watcher cuisine lacks the heft of carbs and glutton, but for this Deal of the Day you get plenty of nutritious veggies, white meat chicken and a lot of Mexican-style flavor. At 9 ounces you may not fill up, but you will enjoy every mouthful.

defrosted

First off the white meat chicken is flaky, not a spongy processed loaf texture that typically makes up a cheap frozen meal. And for once the cover box photo matches the size of the chicken pieces inside. Plus, with the tomato, lime and chipolte sauce, the chicken stays moist.

I especially like the veggie medley. Often frozen food purveyors overcook them to mushiness, especially squash. Well, there is still a bit of crunch to the corn, yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, and red bell peppers.

Even the red beans are firm, I like them that way. The veggies remind me of what you get in a fresh frozen bag from the grocery deli case. Good job with the veggies Smart Ones!

The only thing to watch out for is a subtle spicy heat, that sneaks up on you after you've dredged the veggies and chicken through the tomato and spicy chipolte sauce. The sauce is still a light and watery one, and that's fine with me.

The lime flavor is subtle, but it's there. This Deal of the Day has a very mild heat that I think most noshers can handle.

Finally, I like the short ingredient list of mostly natural veggies and white meat chicken. And, of course, the calorie count and fat amounts are minimal.

Click on any photo to see larger.

Well, I think you can figure out what my Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, will be for Smart Ones Chipotle Lime Chicken by Weight Watchers, right? This is one of the better frozen meals I've had lately so this Deal of the Day gets a perfect 9! I'll be stocking up with these as long as my local 99c only Store carries them.

Okay I'll admit it, I cheated on the diet part - I added some brown rice to my Chipotle Lime Chicken by Weight Watchers, to soak up all that delish chipotle lime sauce.

Brown rice is not included in this frozen meal.

Deal of the Day - Salisbury Steak Meal by Banquet

This is my go-to-work lunch. I know, it's sad. But it's not every day, maybe once during the work week. The job I'm at generously stocks a refrigerator full of lunchtime sandwich meat and salad fixings for its part time employees -- so being a tightwad, I rarely even shell out a buck for Banquet's Salisbury Steak Meal, one of my favorite cheapie lunches.

I have been missing this guiltiest of  pleasures. One of the first frozen TV dinners I ever had was a Salisbury Steak Meal by Banquet. There is nothing like peeling back the aluminum cover (this was before microwaving), trying to hurriedly blow off the heat from an oven incinerated entree, and burning your tongue on the first bite. Sometimes one must suffer to reach culinary nirvana. When you're a kid, the top of the food chain are TV dinners and instant Mac and Cheese from a Kraft box!

First off, in this Deal of the Day, the gravy has a deeply satisfying beef flavor. For a prefab entree the ground patty is tasty. It's on the thin side, but fine for a light lunch. And I always prefer reheated frozen corn to canned. If I microwaved this at home I would add a pat of butter (or substitute) on the corn and mashed potatoes.

The mashed potatoes are the weak link - there is no texture, just reconstituted powder with the consistency of whipped cream that has collapsed. I like my mashed potatoes with a few small lumps, so I know what I am eating. With a half century of making frozen meals, you'd think Banquet would make some improvements here, but I guess it's really just a vehicle to soak up the delicious gravy.

This Deal of the Day costs around a dollar in any frozen section of your local grocery. So on a scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, I give Banquet's Salisbury Steak Meal a 6 ! I have to take off a couple of points for the subpar mashed potatoes.

Frozen & Defrosted

And be sure to check back next week when The Cheapest Chef shows you how to make a scrumptious Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy from scratch (click here!)