The Daily Balance

So after all of the lusting the Mister did over Amy yesterday after eating her fantastic rice bowl, I naturally wanted to see what all the fuss was about!

Thanks to Anja, I received a few coupons to pick out whatever Amy’s products struck my fancy! As you know, I picked out the Brown rice bowl with veggies, due to the wonderful things I’d been hearing about it in the blog world I had also been hearing rave reviews on the ‘whole meal’ offerings. I REALLY wanted to try Chili & Cornbread Whole Meal or the Country Dinner Whole Meal, but neither one of them were available. I ended up settling on something similar, Veggie Loaf Whole Meal.

I’ll be honest, I was a little skeptical to try this. The mashed potatoes and veggies kinda creeped me out. I thought they would taste bland and slimy. It brought back horrid memories of Kid Cuisine. Do you guys remember these? That lil penguin made everything look so scrumptious! I remember seeing commercials for them as a kid (DAMN YOU companies who market unhealthy food to children!) and BEGGING my mom to let me get one. I was SO excited watching the lil tray go round and round in the microwave! Of course I selected the entree that featured the brownie and sprinkles for dessert and I believe my main course was mac n’ cheese. ACK! I’m surprised no one has challenged this company on their use of the term ‘cuisine.’ Really? Quite a stretch there… Even as a child I remember thinking (as I spit it out) that is NOT a brownie and that CERTAINLY isn’t mac ‘n cheese. Seriously, how do you mess up mac n’ cheese and CHOCOLATE of all things?

Oh yea…here’s how:

Take a look at the ingredient list of one of Kid Cuisine’s meals:

INGREDIENTS:
MACARONI AND CHEESE SAUCE: ELBOW MACARONI (DURUM SEMOLINA ENRICHED WITH [NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE {IRON}, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID], EGG WHITES), WATER, CHEDDAR CHEESE (PASTEURIZED CULTURED MILK, SALT, ENZYMES, ANNATTO [COLOR]), DRIED SWEET WHEY, SOYBEAN OIL, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, DRIED SWEET CREAM (SWEET CREAM, NONFAT MILK, SODIUM CASEINATE), WHEAT FLOUR, CHEDDAR CHEESE FLAVOR: DEHYDRATED CHEESES (GRANULAR AND BLUE [PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES], WHEY, SUNFLOWER OIL, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, LACTOSE, MALTODEXTRIN, SALT, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, CITRIC ACID, LACTIC ACID, YELLOW #5 AND #6), BUTTER (SWEET CREAM, SALT), WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, ACETIC ACID ESTERS OF MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES WITH MALTODEXTRIN, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, SALT, FLAVORING (MALTODEXTRIN, NATURAL FLAVOR), CITRIC ACID, BETA CAROTENE (CORN OIL, BETA CAROTENE).

CORN WITH WATER, SUGAR.

MIXED BERRY FRUIT FLAVORED ROLL: GRAPE JUICE FROM CONCENTRATE, SUGAR, MALTODEXTRIN, CORN SYRUP, PEARS FROM CONCENTRATE, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, CITRIC ACID, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, PECTIN, SODIUM CITRATE, CARRAGEENAN, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, MALIC ACID, XANTHAN GUM, RED 40.

CHEESE SAUCE PACKET: WATER, CHEDDAR CHEESE (PASTEURIZED CULTURED MILK, SALT, ENZYMES AND ANNATTO COLORING ADDED, IF COLORED), WHEY POWDER, SWEET CREAM (SWEET CREAM, NONFAT MILK, SODIUM CASEINATE), STARCH, WHEAT FLOUR, SOYBEAN OIL, DEHYDRATED CHEDDAR CHEESE BLEND (CHEDDAR CHEESE [MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES], CREAM, SALT, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, LACTIC ACID), BUTTER (SWEET CREAM, SALT), SALT, SODIUM PHOSPHATE (DIHYDRATE), PAPRIKA OLEORESIN (DEFLAVORED PAPRIKA OLEORESIN, REFINED SOYBEAN OIL AND PURIFIED ANNATTO),DATEM (MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES BLEND), CITRIC ACID.

CONTAINS: WHEAT, EGGS, MILK, SOY.

EEEEEEKKKKK!!!

My, oh my, it certainly is amazing how far certain companies, like Amy’s, have come. Take a look at the ingredients that were in my dish:

Veggie Loaf Whole Meal
INGREDIENTS : NON-DAIRY…NO CHOLESTEROL 0G TRANS FAT • NO ADDED MSG • NO PRESERVATIVES ORGANIC POTATOES, ORGANIC PEAS, ORGANIC CORN, MUSHROOMS, ORGANIC ONIONS, ORGANIC BROCCOLI, ORGANIC LENTILS, ORGANIC BABY OATS, BABY LIMA BEANS, ORGANIC LEEKS, ORGANIC TOMATO PUREE, ORGANIC CELERY, ORGANIC CARROTS, ORGANIC SOY MILK (WATER, ORGANIC SOYBEANS), ORGANIC SWEET RICE FLOUR, FILTERED WATER, EXPELLER PRESSED HIGH OLEIC SAFFLOWER OIL, EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, SEA SALT, POTATO STARCH, HONEY, ORGANIC GARLIC, ORGANIC APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, SPICES*, BLACK PEPPER. CONTAINS SOY AND GLUTEN. *100% PURE HERBS & SPICES (NO HIDDEN INGREDIENTS)

I have no words. It’s pretty OBVIOUS, no?

So OK, Amy, you look good on paper but what about making my tongue happy? I mean, you’ve already manipulated the Mister — lemme see what you’ve got!

OK fine so you're pretty. Don't you that it's what's on the inside that really matters?!

Fine, I get it. You're perfect.

Doesn't even have a bad side!

Wow.

This was honestly DELICIOUS. I licked the plate. No joke. Aren’t I classy? Thank goodness no one walked in my office, they would have really though I’d lost my gourd!

The textures were fantastic — no slimy or gritty nastiness here! It really tasted as If I had whipped this up myself! I really am shocked with how good this was. I’ll be buying them much more often. FANTASTIC nutritionals too! The whole meal was less than 300 calories.

Alright Ms. Amy, you won me over. But don’t go thinking you’ve captured the Mister’s whole heart just yet. I can make desserts! Ha! You will never have him now! Take that! Oh wait — you can too….

What is your favorite Amy’s product? Did you ever have the displeasure of chowing Kid Cuisine?

Tags: daily delish, product review

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Daily Delish. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.