Dream Dinners Review - Maple Valley Boneless Pork Chops w/Rice Pilaf
The best thing I can say about the Dream Dinners Maple Valley Boneless Pork Chops with Rice Pilaf meal is that it caused us to discover a pizza shop that has a really great selection of microbrews!
I had a rough day at work on Friday, and after relaxing for a bit once I was home, I started cooking. This was the only Dream Dinners meal we had left that was thawed, and I opted to serve it with broccoli with cheese sauce. The longest part of cooking the meal was allowing the rice to cook. The pork chops were easy to cook, as I simply sprayed a pan with non-stick cooking spray, seared the pork chops for a few minutes on one side, and then flipped them, allowed them to cook a bit more, and added the marinade. I then allowed the marinade to cook to thicken a bit.
While Mac was finishing up in the basement, I plated everything, so as soon as he ventured upstairs, we could eat.
We each had a bite, and I asked him what he thought. He commented that it tasted musty or moldy, and I shared my opinion that it had a very, very odd taste that I couldn't really explain, but that I didn't like. I think his description was probably best, as it tasted and smelled a bit like something that had been left in the fridge for several weeks and turned into a science project.
As such, he finished the broccoli, we packaged up the rice, since it was good, and we headed out for dinner. :) I'd suggested a BBQ place that I've wanted to try to for quite a while. On the way there, Mac suggested a pizza place that many of his coworkers recommended, saying that they mentioned how good the food was and that they had a great beer selection.
Since I figured I could use a bit of a liquid attitude adjustment, we headed to Al's of Hampden instead. Wow! We walked in to a packed restaurant, with 1 empty table, which we conveniently snagged. Mac browsed the bottled and canned beer selection, and told me to order food and a beer for him. They proudly feature Pizza Boy Brewing beers (from what I can tell, the owner's own microbrews/on-site brewery), and the three that we tried were very enjoyable. They also feature a cheesesteak stuffed pizza, which was incredible!
So, while the Dream Dinners - Maple Valley Boneless Pork Chops meal was a bust, we did have some really yummy food on Friday... just not at home!
I had a rough day at work on Friday, and after relaxing for a bit once I was home, I started cooking. This was the only Dream Dinners meal we had left that was thawed, and I opted to serve it with broccoli with cheese sauce. The longest part of cooking the meal was allowing the rice to cook. The pork chops were easy to cook, as I simply sprayed a pan with non-stick cooking spray, seared the pork chops for a few minutes on one side, and then flipped them, allowed them to cook a bit more, and added the marinade. I then allowed the marinade to cook to thicken a bit.
While Mac was finishing up in the basement, I plated everything, so as soon as he ventured upstairs, we could eat.
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| Maple Valley Boneless Pork Chops with Rice Pilaf |
We each had a bite, and I asked him what he thought. He commented that it tasted musty or moldy, and I shared my opinion that it had a very, very odd taste that I couldn't really explain, but that I didn't like. I think his description was probably best, as it tasted and smelled a bit like something that had been left in the fridge for several weeks and turned into a science project.
As such, he finished the broccoli, we packaged up the rice, since it was good, and we headed out for dinner. :) I'd suggested a BBQ place that I've wanted to try to for quite a while. On the way there, Mac suggested a pizza place that many of his coworkers recommended, saying that they mentioned how good the food was and that they had a great beer selection.
Since I figured I could use a bit of a liquid attitude adjustment, we headed to Al's of Hampden instead. Wow! We walked in to a packed restaurant, with 1 empty table, which we conveniently snagged. Mac browsed the bottled and canned beer selection, and told me to order food and a beer for him. They proudly feature Pizza Boy Brewing beers (from what I can tell, the owner's own microbrews/on-site brewery), and the three that we tried were very enjoyable. They also feature a cheesesteak stuffed pizza, which was incredible!
So, while the Dream Dinners - Maple Valley Boneless Pork Chops meal was a bust, we did have some really yummy food on Friday... just not at home!
I agree! I just prepared the Maple Valley Boneles Pork Chops and Rice Pilaf and found the meal to be inedible after one bite, as did my sister. What a disappointment. The house still has the scent of that strange tasting sauce. euuu It's like the sauce was a sour brining
ReplyDeletesauce rather than a gravy/glaze. I've had other Dream Dinners that were just fine...really good in fact, making this experience one never to be repeated. Thanks for blogging on this topic, I wanted to make sure it wasn't just our taste buds gone sour.
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I'm thrilled that it wasn't just something that I did incorrectly! Thanks for reading!
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