Amy

Amy adores bee dogs, avoids meat, and has a love affair with Boursin, pesto, and paneer. That's what happens when you grow up in sunny California. Amy has traveled the world with the goal of eating a lot of delicious things, like smazeny syr a hranolky. She's also a certified ESL instructor and teaches 2nd grade in South Korea.

Latest Reviews by Amy:

South Beach Four Cheese Pizza

June 14, 2006 | Reviewer: Amy

South Beach Four Cheese Pizza

Price: $3.00
Serving: 1 pizza, 6.3 oz.
Calories: 340
Fat: 17%, 11g
Sodium: 27%, 650mg
Protein: 42%, 31g
Carbs: 12%, 36g
Fiber: 40%, 10g

South Beach says: Harvest Wheat Crust Pizza. Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese with Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago Cheeses. New Crispier Crust from the Microwave! Changing the way America eats.

The statement above was cobbled together from multiple statements on the box.

Amy says: So I am doing this review mid-meal, something I have never done before. The reason for this was that I thought up what I think is a brilliant analogy for this pizza, but now that I think about it more, it seems less ingenious. Here it goes: this pizza resembles a fried egg to me. In the center is some cheese that looks the way melted cheese is supposed to look like when it is freshly melted and all of the cheese around it looks like cheese that was melted approximately 57 hours ago. The box says that I will get a crispier crust, it says nothing of crispier cheese. I just tried rapping my knuckles against the edge of the pizza and not only did it not stick to my fingers, but it made an audible knocking sound and has made my knuckles turn pink, I hope it doesn’t bruise.

The center of the pizza isn’t terrible. The crust tastes of cardboard, but the sauce has a little kick to it and the 2 inch circle (I am talking diameter here) of properly melted cheese is pleasant. The crust is soggy in the middle and the “crisp” perimeter is more like the crispiness you get when bread is stale, not the oven fired kind.

The nutrition value of this item isn’t awful. There is a lot of protein, fiber and calcium. There is still a lot of sodium, but I am learning that is something I will have to accept if I am to continue eating frozen entrees.

I am now noticing that there is nowhere on the box where it rambles on about the merits of the taste of this product, perhaps because there aren’t many. Arthur Agatston (author of The South Beach Diet) has a quote on here about how he is proud to be working with Kraft on South Beach products. I can’t say that I share your enthusiasm, Art. I advise that you stick with being a doctor, and leave the creation of frozen food items to the experts.

Filed Under Frozen Pizza Reviews, One Star, South Beach Meal Reviews, Vegetarian | 14 Comments

Organics Cheese Quesadilla

June 12, 2006 | Reviewer: Amy

Organics Cheese Quesadilla

Price: $2.50 (sale)
Serving: 1 quesadilla, 3 oz.
Calories: 260
Fat: 19%, 13g
Sodium: 8%, 190mg
Protein: 11g
Carbs: 9%, 26g

Organics says: This is a mild quesadilla that’s filled with organic Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese and just a little bit of cayenne to give it some personality. These are easy to like and great as a snack or as an accompaniment to lunch or dinner.

Amy says: One thing www.HeatEatReview.com has made me do is check the nutrition information on my purchases. I just realized that my last 2 entries were rants about sodium and fat. I used to be blissfully ignorant of the badness I was ingesting, but now I check the labels like I have an eating disorder, well, not really, but now I read them and am often dismayed by what I find there.

Point being, I had yet another run-in with the % Daily Value of fat in these quesadillas. There are 13 grams of fat in one quesadilla. Considering the size of the quesadilla, I was unsure where they managed to put all that fatty fat fatness. It must be the cheese. There is a rather generous amount of cheese in the flour tortilla. But that is all this is, a flour tortilla and cheese! I needed two quesadillas to actually be full, therefore doubling all of those percentages. Lesson learned here: organic does not necessarily equal healthy.

I am forcing myself to stop now and actually discuss the quality of the product. I opted to stick the quesadillas in the toaster oven for a little crunch as I am a big fan of crunchy carboydrates. I took the quesadillas out after about 10 minutes on 350 and the tortilla had a nice golden brown coloring. The cheese was nice and gooey and there was a lot of it. The box says that they had kids in mind when they developed this product and I can see why they make this claim. The quesadilla itself is pretty bland and they do not add any additional spices so there’s just no zing. I could have made this same dish if I had a block of cheese, a knife and a tortilla. So this dish saves you about approximately one minute in preparation time since you don’t have to cut the cheese (AHHHAHAH). For those of you who don’t have the time or energy to buy tortillas and cheese and then to cut the cheese (one line later and it is still funny to me) then this would make a good snack, but I am going to steer clear of this frozen cuisine in the future.

Filed Under O Organics Reviews, Two Stars, Vegetarian | 2 Comments

Banquet Macaroni and Cheese

May 19, 2006 | Reviewer: Amy

Banquet Macaroni and Cheese

Price: $1.00 (on sale)
Serving: 1 meal, 12 oz.
Calories: 400
Fat: 17%, 11g
Sodium: 40%, 990mg
Carbs: 20%, 59g
Fiber: 16%, 4g
Protein: 16g

Banquet says: Macaroni and Rich Cheddar Cheese Sauce.

Amy says: I got this frozen meal because the price was right. Abi and I had stopped by Safeway to see if they had the elusive Amy’s Pesto Bowl and I stumbled onto the Banquet 10 for $10 sale. I figured that even if it was terrible and I threw it away it was only $1. The directions tell you to heat, mix and then heat again. As I took the mac and cheese out to stir it several things went through my head; these things included, but were not limited to “Gross”, “I can’t believe I am going to eat this” and “Well, I did pay a dollar for it”. While waiting for it to heat, I noticed that this product seemed to have only one ingredient, salt. It is 40% of your sodium intake for the day. Upon reading this, I said out loud to the microwave and its contents “Holy crap”. And then the microwave beeped and it was time to eat.

I must say that it still looked rather unappealing when it first came out of the microwave, but after letting it sit for the prescribed 2 minutes it was more tantalizing. The first bite tasted like nothing, but the second bite was not too shabby. Yes, the noodles were a bit soggy, but the overall flavor was pretty cheesy. It was rather filling as well. I would think twice before buying this meal again due to the sodium, but it is not too shabby for the cost. What else can you say about $1.00 macaroni and cheese? My answer to this question is nothing.

Filed Under Banquet Frozen Meal Reviews, Mac and Cheese, Pasta, Three Stars, Vegetarian | 10 Comments

Trader Joe’s Green Cheese Chile Tamales

May 10, 2006 | Reviewer: Amy

Trader Joe's Green Cheese chile Tamales

Price: $1.99
Serving: 1 tamale, 5 oz.
Calories: 280
Fat: 23%, 15g
Sodium: 27%, 640mg
Protein: 8g
Fiber: 20%, 5g

Nutritionally
Taste-wise

Trader Joe says: Handcrafted cheese and green chile tamales wrapped in corn husks

Amy says: I made a HUGE mistake before consuming this meal. While leaning over Abi’s shoulder I noticed the amount of fat in the product. My jaw dropped and then my head exploded when Abi informed me that the 15 grams of fat is in one, ONE pinche tamale!!! And the sodium is through the roof too! Dios mio!! I was ready to plop down and eat both of the tamales, but upon revealing the true nature of this beastly tamale I had to re-think my game plan.

The fat discovery likely played a large role in my lack of excitement for the tamales. I dare say that it made the tamale a bit sour at first bit. Yeah, dig the psychosomatic bit. About halfway through the first tamale I realized two things: 1) I was starting to enjoy the taste of the tamale, and 2) that there was no way I could eat the second tamale. This lightened my mood quite a bit and improved the flavor of the meal. I also took it upon myself to drizzle some (spill a ridiculous amount of) Trader Jose’s Mexican Sauce on the side of the plate. This ‘Mexican Sauce’ added to the tastiness of the lunch, but not so much to the fat content. The tamale was pretty tasty, filled with a generous serving of cheese and little bits of green chiles. The corn mush was not too mushy, but not too dry and each tamale held up in the microwave, aside from the cheese spilling out the ends. However, overall I would say that the taste of this meal does not make up for the outrageous fat and sodium content.

I learned an important life lesson today: I should either read the nutrition facts before buying the product or not buy it at all.

Filed Under One Star, Three Stars, Trader Joe's Reviews, Vegetarian | 5 Comments