Fast Food, For Your Freezer

I'd never heard of Schwan's until my friend, Kimbie, sent an email letting a bunch of her gal pals know that the home delivery food service company was offering a free $9.99 meal to new customers. (My apologies to my other gal pals to whom I failed to forward this message – didn't cross my mind, I'm afraid.)

As I'm not one to pass up a free meal, and I have a penchant for trying new things, not to mention a deep-seated pleasure in spending my sweetie's hard-earned money, I decided to give it a try. Based on suggestions from other gals in Kimbie's group, I opted for the Tamales, though I didn't stop there.

Why not try some other things, I reasoned. Delivery was no cost, and I had that $10 that I'd saved to spend. So I also ordered Fiesta Lime Chicken, which we had tonight, and Monster Mania frozen cookie dough.

After a few botched delivery attempts/miscommunication between parties, our food finally arrived about two weeks ago, about 6 weeks after placing my initial order. (Schwan's delivers to your area on the same day every two weeks.)

Upon checking out the goods, I was disappointed in the size of the tamales portion, though rereading the description just now, I see they tell you up front there are only 6 in the bag, and supposedly you can feed 6 people on those. That remains to be seen, but I'll let you know.

We fired up some of the Monster cookies right away, and they were, as expected, tasty. Unfortunately, I think they got overcooked in the top part of my double range oven. I always defer to that smaller area for time/energy/money savings, but I'm starting to think it's not the best place for the more delicate items I prepare.

Tonight, I made the Lime Chicken. It was tasty but, in my opinion, too small a serving. Even though it was advertised as a 2-person meal, I still think there could have been more food to share and it was kind of short on chicken. We'll see what happens with those Tamales, but as of now, I'm not too sold on the concept.

In spite of the delivery issues, the customer service has been great. And the food has been good. But the items are a little pricey for the amount you get. I know I have to consider the fact that it's all delivered straight to my door, but I feel like, with a little more effort, I get more value out of a Dream Dinners type of establishment. I'll probably wait for the next big offer before trying it again.

Anyone else ever used it? What are your thoughts?