Growing up my mum stressed the importance of being able to cook for yourself. 15-year-old me would roll my eyes as I begrudgingly gutted and cleaned a stinking fish, wishing I was somewhere else.
However, having eaten my first ever microwave meal in the form of the uber popular MyProtein meals in Iceland, I am eternally grateful for the vital skill she taught me. Iceland launched the 15 item-strong 'fakeaway' range which is packed with protein but low in calories last week.
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The dishes available range from beef lasagna, jerk chicken and rice, peri peri chicken, salt and pepper chicken skewers, chicken tikka and rice, plus much more. Some are purely microwave meals, while others can be cooked in the oven, I used the microwave for all my meals.
I opted for my all time favourite dishes in jerk chicken rice and peas, chicken tikka and rice and beef lasagna.
The verdict? Not great. But what can you expect from the pocket friendly healthy meals that are priced between £3.50 and £6. The meals which were eaten within three days were mostly underwhelming, small portioned and had very little to no flavour.
The lasagna was the worse of the trio and was very difficult to eat solely from the way it came out of the microwave, definitely not like the picture. When I did eventually eat it, I was met with a tasteless, watery attempt at an Italian classic.
Jerk chicken and rice is notoriously difficult to perfect. Some recipes recommend jerking the chicken for as long as eight hours to achieve optimal taste.
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MyProtein's jerk chicken and rice didn't taste as though a huge amount of time and love was taken to create the dish and the only thing preventing it from being plain old chicken and rice was the hint of coconut milk, the spices barely registered and looks wise it was another struggle to consume. There was a saving grace however, the chicken tikka and rice was genuinely pleasant, and one I thoroughly enjoyed devouring.
I'm not a big fan but understand why these meals have become such a hit. In a cost of living crisis where everybody is working more than ever and earning less, not everybody has the time and luxury to cook healthy delicious meals week in week out or venture to high end restaurants and splash the cash on fine cuisine and for that reason these meals can be a godsend.
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