Price: $3.29 ($2.79 on sale)
Serving: 1/2 Tray, 5 oz.
Calories: 160
Fat: 11%, 7g
Sodium: 10%, 250mg

Green Guru says: Chickpeas sauteed with onions, tomatoes, peppers & exotic spices.

Kate says: Delicious. It is just spicy enough to cause the lightest perspiration under my eyes. The chickpeas are firm and the sauce is flavorful. Green Guru’s Channa Masala would be good on rice, but it also holds up alone.

Price: $3.79/box
Serving: 4 pieces, 3 oz.
Calories: 170
Fat: 7%, 4.5g
Sodium: 24%, 580mg

Morningstar says: Delicious, classic, corn dog taste in a two-bite size

Abi says: Mini corn dogs do not a meal make. It would be very easy to eat many mini corn dogs in a single sitting. Today, I showed perseverance and consumed a single serving of Morningstar Mini Corn Dogs. I expect to receive my award at a ceremony held later today on the lawn of the FDA building.

Actually, I don’t know if the FDA even has a lawn, but the USDA is right on the mall, so that could work well as a ceremony site subsititute. Illusions of grandeur aside, the toaster oven instructions for Morningstar mini-corndogs could cause consternation among your coworkers. Cooking them according to the directions on the package would mean using the toaster oven for almost 15 minutes. Instead of hogging the toaster oven only, heat them in the microwave for 35 seconds, then put them in the toaster oven. That way you are guaranteed fully cooked and crispy bites of goodness.
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Price: $3.19
Serving: 1 Burger, 2.36 oz.
Calories: 100
Fat: 4%, 2.5g
Sodium: 15%, 350mg
Dietary Exchange: 1 lean meat, 2 vegetables

Morningstar says: Each pattie is a savory vegetable and grain burger with a blend of carrots, mushrooms, bell peppers, black olives, brown rice and rolled oats.

Jess says: I am a cheap bastard.

I am proud to call the Morningstar Veggie Patty one of my staple items. You get a package for about $3 and some change and you have four relatively healthy meals. I like to throw them in between some toast ($.99 for about 12-16 slices) and add some ketchup ($1.29 for a bottle). If I’m feeling fancy, I can melt some cheese on top. Or I can add some tomato slices or even spread some roasted red pepper hummus on there. (In the case of hummus there is no ketchup. Damn that would be nasty). One box and I have 4/5 of my work lunches taken care of which allows me to focus on the more important things of life like where to go to happy hour or why Americans like dipping sauces so much or why writing lunch blurbs is so inexplicably entertaining.
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Price: $2.29
Serving: 2 enchilada, 8 oz
Calories: 330
Fat: 15%, 10g
Sodium: 29%, 690mg

Whole Kitchen says: Our enchiladas are handmade using authentic corn tortillas made with natural masa and topped with a savory, traditionally spiced sauce.

Abi says: When in college, I dated a guy who was also part hispanic. I say part-hispanic (even though hispanic is a ridiculous term) because he had an anglo mom and a dad of mexican heritage just like me. One Saturday we took a road trip to visit his family. Sure, it was a little early in the relationship for a step like that, but I was interested in meeting the parents of a person who had a similar background. And at the time I liked this guy who later turned out to be an unfit boyfriend and would randomly call me for Trivial Pursuit challenges even though I had an unlisted number.

Future craziness aside, it turned out that this was not just a trip to meet parents. I ended up in his grandmother’s kitchen helping her make enchiladas and discussing the area of South Texas from which my family hails.

The whole time we cooked I was worried that my enchiladas would turn out just like the Whole Kitchen ones that I ate today. The picture on the box shows oozing cheese. The cheese does not ooze. It is actually absorbed and hardened within the corn tortillas, creating an aromatically cemented masa crust covered in a mediocre sauce. While the Amy’s Kitchen enchiladas did give Jess indigestion, at least they tasted good. Yes, the Whole Kitchen ones are cheap. They are cheap and would be embarassing if you made them with your boyfriend’s grandma.