Meals-in-a-Box

I love food and I love to cook. Before my daughter was born, it was a fairly common for me to spend 2 hours making dinner or 3 hours baking homemade bread. Now that I have two children, I rarely find time to prepare such elaborate meals. And as all working moms know, sometimes it is nice to make dinner, not from scratch, but from a box. (This may seem like no big deal, but before my kids came along, I would have been horrified by the thought!) I've discovered that even if you make dinner from a box, you don't have to sacrifice flavor or nutrition when making a quick meal. I've discovered quite a few meals-in-a-box that are pretty good.

Here is my list of gourmet meals-in-a-box:

Wanchai Ferry Dinner Kits: You can find these in the Asian food isle. They have cashew chicken, kung pao chicken, spicy garlic chicken, and sweet and sour chicken (this last one was not my favorite). They come with rice and seasoning, and you just have to add chicken. I usually add in half a bag of stirfry veggies to make a healthier meal. They also have meals in the freezer section. They are a little pricey, but easy to prepare. I also typically add a little more rice to increase the amount of food and because there isn't much included in the bag.

A Taste of Thai: Also in the Asian food isle, A Taste of Thai has lots of food kits. My favorite is peanut chicken. Brown a lb of chicken, cut up, until done. Add 1 package of TOT peanut sauce mix and 1 can of light coconut milk. Cook until hot and serve over rice noodles. I also like to add in a cup of grated carrots.

Boboli Pizza: Nothing is easier than buying Boboli pizza crust, sauce, and topping them with whatever sounds good. Their new whole wheat crust is really good if you're looking for more nutrition.

Amy's Kitchen: This brand can be found in the organic food section. Their TV dinners are little pricey, but their enchiladas and Indian cuisine are SO good!

Foster Farm's: Their chicken nuggets, hot wings, hot dogs, corn dogs, are all good.

Marie Callender: Awesome tv dinners (watch the calorie count and sodium content). We also just tried their slow cooker meals, which were just okay.

Wind's Pasties: These are only available in the northwest, but they are extremely good. If you don't know what a pasty is, it is the British version of a pot pie. http://www.windspasties.com/Index.html

If anyone has other good meals-in-a-box, let me know!!