Price: $3.49
Serving: 1/2 Pie, 4 oz.
Calories: 230
Fat: 12%, 8g
Sodium: 6%, 135mg
Protein: 2g
Carbs: 12%, 37g
Fiber: 8%, 2g

Amy says: We live in apple country. Our daughter Amy loves to go out into our garden and pick apples from the tree. In fact, Amy’s Kitchen is only 10 miles from the fertile organic apple orchards of Sebastopol, California. So it’s only natural that the first dessert from Amy’s Kitchen be that most traditional favorite “Apple Pie.” Organically grown apples are lightly sweetened, sprinkled with a dash of cinnnamon spice and then baked in a tender organic wheat flour crust.

Abi says: This pie is a cinnamon-spiced buttery wake-up call of love. I am typing this review while riding on the shuttle bus to school and I’m really, really hoping that nobody looks over my shoulder and sees that first sentence. It would be pretty tough to explain ‘Hey, I’m a food reviewer, not some girl with a strange thing for apple pie.’ Would I even have the opportunity to explain that? Would the person just send it in to Overheard in DC, except it would be ‘Something I Read on Someone Else’s Laptop in Northern Virginia’?

While I’d appreciate a crispier crust (no crisping panel), I would also appreciate if Amy’s Kitchen made a no-crust apple pie. I want a dish of baked apples for breakfast. That would be incredibly delicious and probably much healthier than the buttery love. Possibly even more delicious: topping the pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

On a side note, one of my classmates accused me of eating this just for the website. While I have consumed food ‘just for the website‘, that is not the case with this apple pie.

I enjoyed this pie so much because it contained large apple slices that were still a little firm. If you’ve ever had a cheap apple pie, you’ve probably had the experience of eating what is essentially apple sauce in crust. This pie was not apple sauce in crust. I should have taken a photo to illustrate that there was not a smidgen of pie left after I was finished with breakfast.

Not to end this review on a bad note, but that’s what I’m going to do anyways. This pie didn’t contain nearly the density of apples featured on the box. I find this especially disappointing because the Amy’s Kitchen boxes are generally accurate. I wanted an apple-packed pie and that isn’t exactly what I got.

Yes, sometimes HeatEatReview.com seems like a series of laudatory paragraphs on Amy’s Kitchen meals. Sometimes we’re highly critical (see Black Bean Enchilada Meal), but generally we love the foods produced by Amy’s Kitchen. According to Heather, the toaster pops are no exception.

Price: $2.99
Serving: 1 Toaster Pop (55g)
Calories: 150
Fat: 6%, 3.5g
Sodium: 5%, 110mg
Protein: 4g
Carbs: 9%, 26g
Fiber: 4%, 1g

Amy’s Kitchen says: Made with Organic Apple and Flour. The same crisp Granny Smith apples that are in Amy’s popular Apple Pie and Country dinner. Perfect for dessert. Non-dairy/low fat.

Heather says: Oh, Amy, how do I love these? Let me count the ways:

1. They’re like Pop Tarts - only healthy!
2. They’re kinda like apple-filled empanadas - only healthy!
3. They would make an awesome substitute for those nasty McDonald’s apple pie things I crave now and then because my Mom bought me one when I lost the eighth grade spelling bee (vacuous, v-a-c-o-u-s, vacuous. What, no?)

But I digress.

In short, these are yummy. I grabbed one on my way to campus and felt like I got both a tasty and healthy start to the morning. And that’s even after I burnt mine in my hot new toaster oven. Although not especially filling (I was hungry again after about two hours), they’d make a great snack or part of a breakfast. I’m also contemplating topping one with some soy ice cream and calling it apple pie a la mode. I have no doubt of the deliciousness. Next time you’re feeling hungry (or are having spelling-related anxiety), do give ‘em a try.

Price: $3.49
Serving: 1 bowl, 10.5 oz.
Calories: 400
Fat: 29%, 19g
Sodium: 29%, 690mg
Protein: 15g
Carbs: 14%, 41g
Fiber: 14%, 4g

Amy’s Kitchen says: Organic vegetables, baked organic tofu, and organic rotini pasta in a delectable sauce made with aged English cheddar cheese.

Abi says: I generally love the items that Amy’s Kitchen dishes out. They manage to make my mealtimes satisfying with the added bonus of organic ingredients, which make me feel pretty darn good about myself. That and they use paper bowls, which sure beats scrubbing out plastic trays for recycling purposes.

I recently had the opportunity to ask Steve Warnert, Director of Sales & Marketing for Amy’s Kitchen just what made the Country Cheddar bowls ‘Country’. While he noted that Rachel (the founder of Amy’s Kitchen and mom of Amy) would have her own story, these bowls reminded him of growing up in Minnesota, the land of casserole. He opined that “the Country Cheddar Bowl is perfectly reminiscent of classic comfort food that blends hearty vegetables, cheese and a great sauce to bring it all together.”

While I am from Oregon, which produces some darn good cheese (Tillamook) I will have to bow down to the cheesemaking expertise of the people of Vermont, Wisconsin, Appalachia, and Denmark. Why? Each of these places has a unique cheese-making history that seriously predates the tradition in Oregon. While I’m reasonably sure that Wisconsonites make terrific cheese, I cannot applaud this cheddar bowl. In fact, I’m worried that I’m doing a disservice to the frozen-meal-eating public by including the above image because my cheddar bowl experience in no way resembles the vegetable-y goodness in the picture. Too bad I forgot my camera that day.

When removing the item from the microwave oven, the president of my organization (a.k.a. The Big Boss) gave my meal a look that was none-too-friendly. When you’re trying to work your way up the corporate (or non-profit) ladder, alienating your boss with poor food choices isn’t the way to go. The only thing I could really do was look him in the eye and say ‘Well, it never hurts to try new things’, thinking that my obvious sense of adventure would impress him. Let’s hope that my bravado was enough to tear his eyes away from the trainwreck of a meal choice.

While digging around for rare brocolli florets, I couldn’t get over the feeling that this was a less-good version of macaroni and cheese. The sauce was lumpy, the vegetables non-existent, and the carbs too-well-represented. Amy’s Kitchen can boast a distinctive pantheon of vegetarian and vegan meals. This bowl fails to meet the level set by those other meals.

Amy’s Bowls previously reviewed (and much better received) by the HeatEatReview.com Staff:
Amy’s Kitchen Pesto Tortellini Bowl
Amy’s Kitchen Sheperd Pie (comes in a bowl)
Amy’s Kitchen Vegetable Pot Pie (ditto)
Amy’s Kitchen Santa Fe Enchilada Bowl
Amy’s Kitchen Teriyaki Bowl
Amy’s Kitchen Stuffed Pasta Shells Bowl
Amy’s Mexican Tamale Pie

Price: $3.49 (sale)
Serving: 1 meal, 10 oz.
Calories: 280
Fat: 11%, 7g
Sodium: 29%, 690mg
Protein: 8g
Carbs: 16%, 47g
Fiber: 28%, 7g

Amy’s Kitchen says: The loaf slice, made from a blend of legumes and organic vegetables, is covered with a perfectly seasoned tomato based gravy and accompanied by fluffy organic mashed potatoes, tender organic green peas and gold corn kernels that keep their own natural flavor without adding oil or butter.

Jess says: I’m going to go ahead and tell you the moral of this review first in case you just want a cheap take-away from my trials and tribulations without a wordy account of my path to knowledge. The moral: Making drunk promises can open up a door to new, positive experiences. You should boozily promise to eat this meal.

The story; I was out for cocktails with some coworkers and HeatEatReview.com contributers. In the Venn diagram of life, these two circles would be mightily overlapping. Abi, mistress of the microwave meal, had promised that we would not discuss HeatEatReview while enjoying our downtime. How foolish and naive we were! The poison was quick and we started discussing the contents of our freezers. At some point this little vegetarian delight was discussed. I mentioned how the very look of it frightened me, nevermind the harsh tonalities of its name. Really, what is appetizing about a veggie loaf? I am unsure if its morally just to allow animal parts to be loafed. And then to model this form by manipulating food processed veggies like Play Doh? Not cool.

Abi asked, “Would you review it if I bought it for you”? The Cuba Libre said “Yes”.

Fast forward to the gelatinous gravy steaming off of a “loaf” of questionable contents. Onlookers were puzzled and huddled together for comfort. Abi laughed in the face of my task. The mashed potatoes and corn held promise in their gravyless far away corners.

Sure, I was scared. But I dug in! And, readers, I kid you not, it was pretty good. It had a grainy, veggie texture like a puffed up garden burger and the crazy gravy had a hint of sweetness. The trick, I think, is that they did not make it taste like meat. The made it taste like, well, processed and manipulated veggies and grains formed into a loaf and topped with sweet gravy. But, you know, in a totally positive way. And like a tried and true friend, corn and potatoes were there to be supportive and reliable when they’re needed to round out a meal.

I’d give it one more star if it was prettier on the eyes. But staring at it too long made me start to feel regret.

Thanks, Abi. I often judge too harshly and, were it not for your wily ways and the effects of the happy juice, this meal and I would not have crossed paths.