Yeah, I like product reviews: Philadelphia cooking creme

Every now and then, the grocery store I work at will receive new products and put them on SUPER SALE. This item, Philadelphia cooking creme, was no exception. It sounded good and with a coupon, it only cost $1.50 ($2.50 normally). It even came with a recipe on the can, so my mom and I decided to give it a shot. We purchased the Italian Cheese and Herb variant and took it home. Mind you, this was a few weeks ago. I was worried that it would be bad by the time we found a good night to use it, but it has a surprisingly long shelf life. 

I decided to keep things simple and just mix it up with some chicken. I steamed some vegetables, cut up some boneless skinless chicken breasts and cooked them up in a cast iron skillet with a little olive oil. I didn't add any seasoning because of the creme. Once the chicken was fully cooked, I added in the vegetables and spooned in the creme. It was much thicker than I anticipated, but thinned once it was mixed in. I mixed everything thoroughly, and made a quick pot of rice in my handy-dandy rice cooker. 


Keeping things rather light, I served the meal with the chicken-creme-veggie mixture over rice. A little salt and pepper, and it was delicious. This was so much easier than trying to make a sauce on my own. It's also just as simple as one of those meal in a bag deals, without the hefty price. I managed to make the cooking creme dish feed seven people, with enough left over that my sister could take it for lunch the next day. Even the pickiest eater enjoyed the meal. This is definitely a product I am interested in buying again. 


Including prep time and cooking time, this meal did take a bit longer to cook. Easy ways to shorten cooking time would be to use fresh vegetables as to cut out the steaming time and boost nutrients. The recipe actually called for veggies of the stir-fry variety, but all I had on hand was a bag of frozen California mix. Pre-cooked chicken would work just as well, I would only worry about the seasoning and sodium being high. Another issue with the cooking creme was the high fat content. One serving of the creme contains 1/4 of an adult's daily saturated fat intake. But like I said, this cooking creme made more than 4 servings, so the fat intake is cut down. Using fresh vegetables and a different protein such as fish, as well as using wild rice, would make this dish quite healthy. Butter and other fattening flavor enhancers are not needed. 


At one point, I did feel the need to mix things up a bit, so I put in a bit of Sriracha. I swear, it tasted so much like curry. It didn't need it, but you know me. Sriracha on everything. 


All in all, this meal was satisfying and delicious. Using the cooking creme kept things simple and mess to a minimum. I look forward to experimenting with this product!


Flavor: 5/5, will appeal to all levels of picky


Cost: 4/5, without the coupon, I don't think I would have tried it at first. However, I can now see myself paying $2.50 for it. 


Usefulness: 5/5, the product was straightforward and even came with a recipe. Nothing complicated; non-martha-stewarts like me will love it. 


Overall Score: 5/5! would buy again.