Review of Sam's Choice Slow Cooker Beef Stew

I had to stop by Wal-mart yesterday afternoon to pick up a donation for an upcoming fundraiser for the skating rink my daughter skates at. Since she had practice that evening and her younger sister had dance classes, I decided to stop off in the freezer section so I could pick up something for my wife and I to eat when we finally had a chance to sit down.

I ultimately wound up purchasing this product because I figured making something in the slow cooker was our best bet. This decision, however, did come with some hesitation, mostly because I have had the chicken & dumpling version of this dinner and, while I didn't hate it, I also didn't love it. And, I will admit, the price tag, while a bit lower since the last time I considered making this purchase, did seem a little high considering I knew it wasn't going to be much more than a meal for two.

That being said, I wound up making this yesterday, as planned, and I have to admit, it wound up being much better than I was expecting.

First of all, I loved the convenience. By the time I got through Wal-mart and was home, I was already starting dinner much later than I had originally planned. And, because of that, had this dinner been similar to others I've purchased and required many complex steps, I probably would have avoided making it.

Fortunately, that was not a problem. All I had to do was open the bag, add the frozen contents to the slow cooker with some water and cook. Even though I started it late, I was able to cook the stew on the high setting and it was done with plenty of time to spare. As I've said before, I'm always willing to pay a little more for convenience.

Since this was a frozen dinner, I honestly wasn't expecting much in terms of overall quality. But, when I finally had a chance to sit down and have a bowl last night, I was pleasantly surprised by this.

One of my biggest concerns was it would wind up being too salty (a problem I've had with other frozen soups like this). That, however, was not a problem. The stew was well-seasoned without crossing that line.

I also was surprised there was so much meat in the stew. I figured it would be like most other frozen dinners and skimp on the meat. But, that wasn't the case. There was just as much meat in this stew as I would expect to add to homemade and I thought there quantity of vegetables was also more than acceptable (even though my wife wasn't a fan of the celery).

This also made the stew much more filling than expected and, while I would still shy away from calling this a "family" dinner, we did have some leftover. This made the price much more bearable.

I had doubts when I purchased this, but this product exceeded my expectations and I would consider buying this again, especially if I'm in a time crunch.

My Grade: A