Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, right? I popped open a can of Hormel Mary Kitchen 50% less fat Corned Beef Hash for lunch today, and it was awesome. What I did was to empty half a can into a skillet sprayed with cooking spray, and cooked on medium heat for about ten minutes with flipping it. That made the bottom nice and crispy, and then I flipped it over to crisp the other side. After about five more minutes, I cracked an egg on top and let that cook until set, added salt and pepper, and instant lunch! Of course, this is a food more suited for breakfast, but there are no rules here at Mikey’s Kitchen.

I didn’t compare this against the full fat version of this hash, but this one had less fat (I believe 7 grams per serving). However, it was still 290 calories, so if you’re watching your weight, you should keep this one on the shelf.

Anyway, the tasty combo of tiny cubes of corned beef and potatoes was filling and delicious, and even better crisped up with the egg on top. This is a good thing to keep on hand for hangover food or to impress your house guests.

A can a week is back! We hope to bring this feature each week, since grocery store shelves are lined with the stuff…canned food, that is. Anyway, this week we tried Swanson Chicken & Dumplings. It’s not soup, but rather chunks of chicken and small dumplings in a rich chicken gravy.

The pros–very tasty and satisfying, especially on a cold day like today; quality chicken meat and nicely made dumplings; perfectly seasoned
The cons–a bit thin, and if I would have known, I could have tried it over noodles or rice; the chicken chunks were small; and I would have liked some carrots, peas or celery in addition to the chicken and the dumplings.

But overall this is a winning can of food, and as I said a very satisfying cold weather lunch.

I am not sure when Campbell’s bought Franco American, but I just had some Spaghettios for the first time in years and the flavor has not changed one bit–it’s comfort food to the Nth degree, no matter when or where you grew up. I’ll be honest, though, I originally was going to review the ones with sliced hot dogs and those hot dog slices were pretty disgusting so I didn’t finish the dish or the review.

But the one with mini-meatballs is delicious. And let’s face it, it can’t be easy to make processed meatballs taste real, and these do have that canned food meatball thing going on, but they still taste real enough not to be considered mystery meat (I think). And with ground pork being the first meat ingredient, the flavor is a bit milder than all-beef meatballs.

As for the pasta rings, they were done about to the degree you’d expect for canned pasta, but those and the familiar mild tomato sauce with a slightly cheesy taste is still really great. Of course, at 480 calories a can (who’s going to eat half a can?), it’s a pretty hefty calorie binge for lunch. But still worth a once-in-a-while binge at that.

This product did not boast “NEW” on the can or anything, but it sure did catch my eye. I am a sucker for trying anything that could pass for junk food or canned anything. Maybe it’s because I’m positively addicted to carbs. And that’s not a great thing for my waistline, but I sure do love carbs.

Now, I don’t make a habit of eating canned food every day for lunch, but I had to try this Chefboyardee Chili Mac because it just looked intriguing. It was macaroni with chili gravy and some ground beef. Sort of like a poor man’s Hamburger Helper. And poor man’s it is, because there is barely any beef in this dish.

But I can say unequivocally that this chili mac is delicious. Not only is it a tasty gravy, but the macaroni is not mushy. In fact, it’s almost al dente, something you just don’t find in canned pasta. You want proof of how much I liked it? Well, I’m not going to bore you with the photo of the bowl, but I ate the whole can and the whole can was good.

It didn’t hurt that the temperature in Madison today is about a balmy 45 degrees. So anything with the word “chili” in it was going to hit the spot, and this mac did just that.

A few weeks ago, I posted my Grub for Guys chili recipes. But if I have to eat chili from the can, it’s almost always going to be Hormel Chili. I mean, right on the can, it says, “Since 1891.” Holy crap, they’ve been making chili for 120 years and in three differet centuries.

And being that they make several different kinds of chili, I thought we’d review a few of them on our “A Can A Week” feature. This week it’s Hormel Hot Chili with Beans. Hot as in spicy, and when the word “HOT” is almost as big as the “Hormel Chili,” you sure expect at least three chili peppers on a scale of 1 to 5. I’m going to give it about a 3.5 there–I love spicy food, and this chili is maybe one of the spicier canned foods you’ll find, but it’s not like I was reaching for a glass of milk after each spoonful, or even water. I’d say, though, that it’s just the right amount of heat, so as not to overpower the chili.
The heat also creeps up on you a bit, like a swift kick in the back of your throat.

Flavorwise, you really can’t beat Hormel Chili, and this one is no exception. There is a real depth of chili flavor, with tomatoes being there but more in the background. The bean to beef ratio is about 50/50, and pretty decent for a can of chili.

If you eat the whole can (and just like with last week’s Chef Boyardee review, why wouldn’t you?), you’re ingesting 520 calories…but you’re also talking 32 grams of protein and 14 grams of fiber. So no, Hormel Chili may not be classified as health food, but it’s got some nice nutritional value too. And as I write this, I’m FULL and may not eat until dinner time.

So if it’s been a while since you’ve tried Hormel, or if you haven’t tasted the Hot Chili with Beans, go check it out and see if you agree with this assessment. And now, time for a nap (well, not literally).

Next for the Hormel line, we’ll review their Turkey Chili.