Price: $2.50 (sale at Giant)
Serving: 1 packet, 1.5 oz.
Calories: 160
Fat: 3%, 2g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 4%, 100mg
Protein: 4g
Carbs: 11%, 33g
Fiber: 20%, 5g
Weight Watchers Points: 3 Points

Kashi says: With warm, creamy oats naturally sweetened with pure maple syrup, it’s a tasty way to do more for your heart.

Abi says: Warm? Check. Creamy? Check. Naturally sweetened witih pure maple syrup? Maybe. My tongue’s initial reaction to this oatmeal was not one of pleasure. First, it was far too creamy for my taste. I like a bit of crunch in my oatmeal and in this session, crunch was absent. Second, the distinctly chemical taste of the oatmeal made me draw back…from my own mouth. If you’ve ever tried to do that, it does not work.

“This is not good oatmeal.” I announced to the cube area. Then I stared at the bowl of Kashi Golden Brown Maple Oatmeal for a couple of minutes, trying to figure out what could possibly make such a horrid taste come out of a food item that is the definition of innocuous.

A quick perusal of the ingredients has led me to believe that it is one of these things:

• Chicory Root Fiber
• Activin Grape Seed Extract
• Decaffeinated Green Tea Extract
• Alpha Tocopherol Acetate
• Tomato Extract
• Pyridoxine Hydrochloride

Yes, all of those things are on the actual ingredients list for this oatmeal. Now you understand why it got two stars.

Admission: I ate two more packets of this oatmeal before writing ‘Free Oatmeal’ on the box and leaving it in the office kitchen. I’m not proud of that, I just thought I should let you know how long it took me to pick up a new box of oatmeal.

Price: $3.00 on sale, free from Kashi
Serving: 1 entree, 10 oz.
Calories: 340
Fat: 12%, 8g
Sodium: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 18%, 430mg
Protein: 8g
Carbs: 19%, 58g
Fiber: 28%, 7g
Weight Watchers Points: 7 Points

for omnivores
for vegans

Kashi says: Black beans with roasted red onions and green peppers, red peppers and carrots. Served over Kashi 7 Whole Grains Pilaf and topped with fire-roasted mango sauce. A delicious dish that’s Vegan too!

Abi says: “Please let this be full of mango, please let this be full of mango.”

That was the mantra I chanted to myself while tearing open the end of the Kashi Black Bean Mango box. Unfortunately for me, this meal contained only 12 nubs of mango. Yes, I counted. The frozen meal was also covered in a sauce. A light yellow sauce. Ok, so reading the package informed me that this was a ‘Zesty Mango Sauce’, but I don’t really read the package when I buy meals. You’d think I did, but really I’m more of a pictures girl, that’s how I get into so much frozen food trouble. Then again, the ratio of carrot to mango shown in the image on the box is reversed in the actual food product.

The actual experience of eating the mango made me realize that you don’t actually want a meal full of mango chunks. Why? They begin to approximate the texture of apples in apple pie (sort of mushy), thererefore negating the mango-ness that probably led you to buy the meal in the first place. The mangos and sauce do add a heady sweetness to the meal, wonderfully offsetting the black beans and nutty Kashi blend.

I dig Kashi’s sense of spice, which is much, much more adventurous than that of most frozen meal producers (I’m looking at you Lean Cuisine). The sauce, or peppers, or something magically hovering in the Kashi itself gave my tastebuds a little kick. I greatly appreciated the change of seasoning pace. Where I’m concerned is the overwhelming amount of zesty mango sauce. I stirred all of my sauce into the meal and realized that it was pretty much drenched in the goo. On the flip side, I’d probably be a little disappointed if I had to eat a bunch of dry Kashi.

In case you’re not familiar with Kashi’s products, you should know that they involve a great many whole grains (7, to be exact). Whole grains are covered in bran and require a great deal of chewing. While those of you in a hurry are probably not going to like this feature, I found it a refreshing change from the general sogginess of frozen meals.

Would I eat Kashi meals every day? A definite NO. My mom gave me a few Kashi TLC bars (aka granola bars) while I was in Oregon. The combo of a Kashi meal for lunch and a Kashi bar snack pretty much made me detest all things Kashi for the rest of the week. Pace yourself, folks.

Tanya at IateaPie.net gave this meal a try too.

When Amy’s Kitchen says “distinctive flavor . . . for which Asian cuisine is famous” they mean “this tastes like ginger”..

Price: $2.29
Serving: 1 Meal, 10 oz.
Calories: 290
Fat: 11%, 7g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 28%, 630mg
Protein: 9g
Carbs: 17%, 50g
Fiber: 16%, 4g
WW Points: 6 Points

Amy’s Kitchen says: The tender organic rice noodles, combined with a traditional chinese sauce, organic mushrooms and organic vegetables give Amy’s Asian Noodle Stir-Fry the distinctive flavor and texture for which Asian cuisine is famous.

Amy says: I ate this meal a while ago and forgot to submit a review. Details of the meal are a bit fuzzy, but I do remember several irrelevant facts and they are as follows: 1-I heated this and then brought it to Dupont Circle to eat, it was a beautiful spring day and 2-I picked out the broccoli because I loathe broccoli. This may be because when you steam broccoli it smells like fart and the odor is very strong. I have never been able to get past the funky smell of steamed broccoli and will not eat broccoli in any form.

There are also two things I remember about this meal (and yes, they are relevant) that left quite an impression on my brain and taste buds. Item 1-when Amy’s says “distinctive flavor . . . for which Asian cuisine is famous” they mean “this tastes like ginger”. I do enjoy ginger, but other flavors come to mind when I think of Asian food, such as soy sauce, sesame oil, and teriyaki sauce. This entire meal tasted like ginger. Mayhaps I would have enjoyed the broccoli had I left it in as it would have tasted just like ginger as well. I am thinking about Abi as I write this, she is passionate about her ginger, mayhaps she would be enamored with this bowl. This leads me to Item 2-the noodles to vegetable ratio was not ideal for me. Even after I had removed the broccoli I ran out of noodles long before I ran out of vegetables. I like a bit of noodle and vegetable in every bite, but once the noodles were gone all I could do was stare morosely at the remaining veggies.

Overall, the meal was decent, but not Amy’s finest. I love me some Amy’s, but have learned to stick to meals that somehow involve dairy.

Price: $2.50 (on sale)
Serving: 1 pie, 8 oz.
Calories: 160
Fat: 6%, 4g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 20%, 490mg
Protein: 5g
Carbs: 9%, 27g
Fiber: 20%, 5g
WW Points: 3 Points

Non-dairy/gluten free/no cholesterol

Amy’s Kitchen says: Meatless version of a long time favorite. Organic vegetables in a nourishing broth blanketed with smooth mashed potatoes.

Abi says: This afternoon, Kate asked the following question, which has nothing to do with organic pie, but very well indicates how much Kate follows sport:

“What game are we going to tomorrow, the Pistons?”

FYI, we’re going to a Nationals game tomorrow. The Nationals are a) a baseball team in Washington, DC, and b) not a basketball team in the playoffs.

Ok, so none of that has to do with the Sheperd’s Pie I bought yesterday. Safeway was having a sale of Amy’s pies and Amy (my coworker, not the company’s namesake) and I decided to pick up a few of these tasty treats. I say that having never eaten an Amy’s Pie, though Jess seems to like the Vegetable Pot Pie and Kate enjoys the Tamale Pie.

Now, about the blurb on the box: “A long time favorite of English country folk”

Do people from the English countryside like being called that? It makes them sound like characters from Monty Python’s Search for the Holy Grail. I grew up in the country (in Oregon) and I would probably have to punch someone if they called me “American country folk”. Except I’m not a violent person, so I would probably scowl at them instead.

Amazingly, this pie does taste like something that people wearing baize and living in thatched huts would eat. It is hearty and potatoey and not really made for eating in the summer (May in DC is as hotter than July in Oregon).

Ooh, and the vegetables stay crisp but it is strange to eat garbanzo beans in a pie. So reader, please eat this pie in the winter while wearing a wooly sweater and gazing out the window at the freshly fallen snow, but don’t call people “country folk”.

P.S. The term “country folk” also reminds me of Deliverance and I’m sure that no company wants people to think about the imagery involved in that while shopping for a frozen meal.