I Ate Jennifer Lopez And Alex Rodriguez's "Affordable Meals" And Here Are What They Tasted Like

    Just throw the ingredients in a pressure cooker and boom. Meal complete.

    Krista Torres
    by Krista Torres

    BuzzFeed Staff

    It's pretty clear that J.Lo and A.Rod are one of Hollywood's hottest power couples right now. (And also, blended family goals.)

    The two recently released a line of affordable meals for busy families in a partnership with Tiller & Hatch. The dishes are said to be "restaurant quality" and were created by Bruce Hecker of Bruce’s Catering, who is known for serving the entertainment industry.

    Although they are frozen, Rodriguez told US that the meals are nutritious. “We are committed, like Tiller & Hatch, to doing good. This partnership offers us the opportunity to provide affordable and nutritious meals to families across America while making significant charitable contributions to shelters and food-based charities across the country.”

    Krista Torres

    Each meal feeds up to four people and can be made by simply dumping the ingredients and some water in a pressure cooker for roughly ten minutes OR LESS.

    Now, I'm a working mom and a terrible cook – the Taco Bell sack is not pictured in our picnic photo below – so I loved the idea of this because, basically, it meant I didn't have to cook!

    Krista Torres

    I decided to test out five of the meals, getting input from my 11-year-old son and my husband.

    Chicken Tortilla Stew

    Krista Torres
    Krista Torres

    Thoughts: This is your middle-of-the-line chicken tortilla soup. It wasn't flavorLESS, but it did lack flavor, so each of us added something different to our bowl to give it a little more taste. My son added cheese, I added salt, and my husband added sour cream. All three of the ingredients we added made this soup taste better, but we all agreed the cheese made it taste the best. For something that required basically zero time and zero effort, it got the job done.

    Overall Family Rating: 5/10

    Sante Fe Inspired Pasta

    Krista Torres
    Krista Torres

    Thoughts: After trying the chicken tortilla soup, we didn't have high hopes going forward, but, we were pleasantly surprised! This pasta meal was actually really creamy and really good. My son even liked it! It was definitely more filling than the tortilla soup, but it also had nearly twice the amount of calories. We all agreed that this is a meal we would definitely eat again.

    Overall Family Rating: 8/10

    Coconut Curry Stew

    Krista Torres
    Krista Torres

    Thoughts: Honestly, I didn't know what to expect with this dish and my husband said he thought it sounded gross. However, IT WAS NOT GROSS! IT WAS DELICIOUS. It has rice, veggies, and a mild coconut flavor. Also, the curry wasn't too overpowering. It was thicker than a "stew" though, but that was fine with me. Side note: I decided to make this in my Hexclad wok because I wondered if it would cook the same. (Also, some families don't own pressure cookers!) Although it did take a little longer because I had to cover and simmer, it cooked just the same.

    Overall Family Rating: 8.5/10

    Louisiana Stew

    Krista Torres
    Krista Torres

    Thoughts: Even though our son hated this meal, my husband and I thought this was a pretty good one. It has a little bit of a kick and is really good with cornbread. The pork sausage also had really good flavor. We'd say it's a solid southern-inspired meal for only having to dump it in a pot.

    Overall Family Rating: 7/10

    Farafalle

    Krista Torres
    Krista Torres

    Thoughts: This one definitely has a strong mushroom flavor, but my husband and I like mushrooms. However, my son picked out all the mushrooms and only ate the pasta. It kind of reminded us of the Sante Fe pasta one, but it was less "cheesy" tasting – both had a very creamy consistency. I also made this one in my wok because, even though it takes a bit longer, it works just as well.

    Overall Family Rating: 7.5/10

    All in all, the meals are pretty good, especially when you factor in the minimal amount of effort you need to make them – plus, they donate to organizations in need. I will say that, because a lot of these meals have more ~mature~ flavors, I'm not sure they would be ideal for families with picky eaters.

    All Tiller & Hatch meals are available for purchase at Walmart.

    All meals were sent to BuzzFeed for free, but we were not obligated to write about them.