Price: $1.49
Serving: 3/4 cup, 2.5 oz.
Servings in Container: 2
Calories per serving: 160
Fat: 12%, 8g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 12%, 290mg
Protein: 1g
Carbohydrates: 7%, 20g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Weight Watchers Points: 3 Points

Ore-Ida says: Introducing new Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Easy BreakFast Potatoes - deliciously crispy on the outside, light and tender on the inside. Specially prepared diced potatoes are tucked between an upper and lower crisping sheet and the heat from your microwave cooks them to crispy perfection in just FOUR minutes.

Abi says: Dang it. I didn’t read the back of the box before I cooked these. Yes, I read the instructions, but I missed this important tip:

Did you know that you could prepare an egg or bacon in the box with Easy BreakFast potatoes and cook a complete breakfast in the box in just minutes?

Does this mean that I should throw a raw egg in the box and microwave it all at once? Are they serious? Being the intrepid food reviewer that I am, I had to track down this egg and/or bacon-making recipe. It turns out that Ore-Ida (which is a combination of Oregon and Idaho, the two great potato producing states) has an entire recipe section. They claim “If you think Ore-Ida® fries taste great on their own, you’ll love them in one of our recipes designed to truly make mealtime special and delicious.” Does telling me how to microwave an egg in your special cardboard container really make mealtime special and delicious?

Actual Instructions from Ore-Ida website:

• 1 box Ore-Ida® Extra Crispy Easy BreakFAST Potatoes
• 1 strip bacon

One strip of bacon? You’ve got to be kidding me. Oh, I guess you’re supposed to cut the bacon in half, making it two strips of bacon:

Lift black tab on box and tear along dotted lines saving the top. MOVE frozen BreakFast Potatoes in single layer to outer edges, leaving a 3 inch open space in center. CUT 1 thin slice of bacon in half, and PLACE the 2 bacon halves side by side in open space. Put top on box silver side down. Push top down into carton flat on top of Easy BreakFast Potatoes™. MICROWAVE on HIGH for 4 minutes and 15 seconds.

If I’m picturing this correctly, your breakfast is going to be a ring of doughnuts (can you tell what I’m craving right now?) potatoes surrounding a single, shrunken slice of bacon. And considering that Ore-Ida thinks there are two servings in the container, you each get a bit of potatoes and half a slice of bacon. That is one of the dumbest breakfast ideas I’ve ever read. Considering that these potatoes aren’t all that great (as in bland, boring and overpriced. Okay, pretty much the least delicious frozen potato item I’ve ever encountered.), I think I’ll stick to the oven-baking method for my Ore-Ida products. It is definitely worth the extra time if you want pre-prepared crispy-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside breakfast potatoes.