Showing posts with label burritos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label burritos. Show all posts

Friday, December 11, 2009

Product Reviews - Healthy Frozen Burritos and Lunches

I've been trying to eat somewhat less meat (mainly due to the environment - there's plenty about that in Food Matters) and also avoid always eating standard processed foods with a lot of chemical-y-sounding ingredients that no one would have recognized as food a few generations ago (inspired by In Defense of Food). But I don't usually have time to cook up enough stuff to have healthy leftovers to take to work for lunch. So I decided to start tasting my way through lunch-compatible burritos and other items from the frozen organic/natural section.

Two from Amy's Kitchen were terrific:

Amy's Cheese Pizza in a Pocket Sandwich - very flavorful, tasty - "Classic cheese pizza combination of mozzarella cheese and our flavorful organic pizza sauce."

Amy's Vegetable Pie in a Pocket Sandwich - this was fantastic -could qualify as comfort food. I think this was the first time I had tofu and liked it - it's not in chunks - it helps give the pot pie sauce/gravy a nice thickness and creaminess but it still tastes normal. If you, like me, aren't a tofu enthusiast, think of this pocket sandwich as "tofu made tolerable" or more accurately, "tofu made tasty."











Another from Amy's was good, although I wouldn't put it on the same level as those first two. The (meatless) shepherd's pie was decent, but one drawback is that it wasn't that filling -- it only has 160 calories, 5 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber -- it's about half a lunch for me! The human body has to run on something, ya know.

Now, for two burritos I won't be buying again:
Amy's Breakfast Burrito - bland, and just meh generally. If you don't like (even small) chunks of tofu, avoid this one.

Guiltless Gourmet Mediterranean Spinach Wrap - the taste was only so-so, and as I looked at the wrapper, I realized I should have read it more closely. Sure, it says "70% Organic," but guess which part isn't? A part that really counts -- the spinach! And organic vs. non-organic spinach matters because it's one of the "dirty dozen." Also looks like the cheese wasn't made from milk that was free of antibiotics or hormones, which may not bother you but is something I prefer and something I'd expect in a "guiltless" wrap in the organic frozen section.

I'll close with an RIP for one of my favorite healthy frozen lunches that both the grocery company and Kashi told me hasn't been selling well enough for them to keep making or carrying it. Sigh. Kashi's Chicken Rustico pocket bread sandwiches are filling, only take about 2 minutes to microwave, are very tasty and just right (for me) in terms of calories, protein, etc.


Monday, December 7, 2009

Good News on Healthy Burrito Line


Good news, if it pans out --

My email to Evol Burritos 11-29-09:



"Hi - I saw your shredded beef and shredded chicken burritos in the frozen foods area of the organic section of my local Giant grocery store in the Harrisburg, PA, area. They looked tempting until I saw they both contain about 50 percent of the RDA for sodium -- yikes! I hope you'll lower the sodium level to something like 25 or 33 percent and/or offer a lower-sodium version that uses more spices and herbs, etc."

(Wegmans' useful website lists the sodium content -- and lots of other information -- for the shredded chicken Evol burrito -- 48 percent of the recommended daily allowance.)

I got a response the next day:

"Thank you for taking the time to contact us. You read our minds. We anticipate having our new lower-sodium recipes and packaging released early next year. Please keep an eye on us as I'm sure we will make an announcement on our website as this is something we have been concerned about and working on for some time now. In the meantime, I would love to send you some goodies if you would be so kind as to send me your address."

(Note: I haven't gotten any coupons or whatever they're planning to send, but even if I do, I think adding the lower-sodium products is a good move on their part.)
(UPDATE: I got the envelope from Evol. It contained stickers (um, ok :-) and coupons. I'll probably wait for the new lower-sodium burritos to come out before I use the coupons, though.)