Fantastic Frozen Foods (Part 2)

Ever since I stumbled upon Evol products at Target, I noticed they are popping up at every grocery store!  Each store has a different variety of products, and I have only tried a few, but so far everything has been delicious!  

Evol's food philosophy is to make frozen, convinient foods with REAL ingredients.  Their products contain no animal hormones or antibiotics, no artificial flavors or colors and no GMO's!  

I also love their huge variety of products:  breakfast sandwiches, burritos, quesadillas, street tacos, dinners and 18 gluten-free items!  

So far I've tried:

• Quesadillas- both chicken and steak were delicious, easy to microwave or heat up in a pan.  They also come with two guacamole pouches that can easily be defrosted!  
• Bean and cheddar burrito- this burrito was ok, but lacked flavor.  Not sure I would get it again.  
• Butternut Squash and Sage Ravioli-  these were very tasty and a great option for lunch 
• Truffle Parmesean Mac & Cheese- I was very hesitant to buy this because of the fat content but I just HAD to try it!  It was amazing of course, and I can only imagine how fattening the gluten-free bacon mac & cheese is! 

I'm very interested to try the breakfast sandwiches and some of the other dinners.  I'll follow up with another review shortly!  

I used to eat Smart Ones quesadillas all the time, but now I am way "smarter".  I tried to compare the Smart Ones quesadilla to an Evol quesadilla, but oddly Smart Ones does not list their ingredients online (shocker!).  They only talk about how low the calories and fat are- this is a trick!   Why aren't their ingredients listed online?  Because they are bad for you!  Luckily, Lean Cuisine had their ingredients posted.  Let's check these out, shall we? 

 

This is for the Lean Cuisine BBQ Chicken Quesadillas:

TORTILLA (BLEACHED ENRICHED FLOUR (BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, SOYBEAN OIL, SALT, SUGAR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, POTASSIUM SORBATE (A PRESERVATIVE), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM PROPIONATE (A PRESERVATIVE), FUMARIC ACID, SODIUM METABISULFITE (DOUGH CONDITIONER)), REDUCED FAT MOZZARELLA CHEESE (CULTURED MILK AND NON-FAT MILK, MODIFIED CORN STARCH*, SALT, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, ENZYME (*INGREDIENT NOT IN REGULAR MOZZARELLA CHEESE)), CORN, LIGHT PASTEURIZED PROCESS CHEDDAR CHEESE (CULTURED MILK, WATER, POTASSIUM CITRATE, SALT, SODIUM CITRATE, WHEY*, SORBIC ACID, CREAM, APO CAROTENAL AND BETA CAROTENE COLOR, ENZYMES, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, LACTIC ACID (*INGREDIENT NOT IN REGULAR PASTEURIZED PROCESS CHEDDAR CHEESE)), COOKED WHITE MEAT CHICKEN (WHITE MEAT CHICKEN, WATER, SEASONING (SALT, FLAVORINGS, MALTODEXTRIN, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, SUGAR, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, FLAVOR {MALTODEXTRIN, SMOKE FLAVOR}, SPICES, CARAMEL COLOR, AND CITRIC ACID), ISOLATED SOY PROTEIN, MODIFIED RICE STARCH, CHICKEN FLAVOR (DEHYDRATED CHICKEN BROTH, CHICKEN POWDER, FLAVOR, SALT), SODIUM PHOSPHATES), WATER, WHITE RICE, ONIONS, TOMATOES, TOMATO PASTE, SEASONING (BROWN SUGAR, DRIED MOLASSES (REFINERY SYRUP, CANE MILL MOLASSES), MODIFIED CORN STARCH, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, CARAMEL COLOR, SPICES, DRIED ONION, DRIED GARLIC, SMOKE FLAVOR SALT, NATURAL FLAVORS), VINEGAR, BACON (BACON CURED WITH WATER, SALT, SUGAR, DEXTROSE AND/OR SODIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM ERYTHORBATE, SODIUM NITRITE), 2% OR LESS OF CORN STARCH, SOYBEAN OIL

OMG...that is in one little quesadilla??? I can't even count how many ingredients are in there!  

Let's check out the Evol Chipotle Chicken Quesadilla:

Ok, so this also has a lot of ingredients, but at least we know what all of these things are!  And don't forget their products don't have GMO's like I'm sure Lean Cuisine and Smart Ones do.  Remember, just because something is low in fat and calories doesn't mean it's good for you.  

Great job, Evol!  Of course, it is always better to make your own meals, but these frozen options are great if you don't have time!  

Fantastic Frozen Foods (Part 1)

Hi everyone,

I am SO embarrassed that my last blog post was in March!  Sometimes life gets too busy and honestly, I wasn't inspired enough by a topic to write about...until now!

I am seriously obsessed with Target- for clothing, storage, school supplies, and now food (most Targets around here have been expanding into grocery stores too).  I usually stop in the food section because Target is one of the few stores that sells Coffee Mate Natural Bliss (natural coffee creamer with no artificial flavors, like they all should be!).  But during my last trip to Target I found that they now have a huge organic and natural foods section, especially frozen foods!  This led me to discover two new brands:  American Flatbread and Evol (I'll review them in part 2).

American Flatbread is a New England company that makes hand-crafted frozen pizzas.  Their pizzas have 100% organically grown wheat crusts and cheese with no rBST growth hormone.  They're all-natural with no preservatives, artificial colors or flavors, and NO GMOs!  I've tried the Cheese and Herb pizza and the Revolution pizza (with mushrooms and caramelized onions).  Both were delicious and easy to make!  And even better, you can pronounce all of the ingredients!

Check out all their products on their website:   American Flatbread

Crust contains: 100% Organically Grown Wheat (this is a white flour with restored wheat germ), Good Mountain Water, Kosher Salt, Fresh yeast.

Topping contains: Mozzarella Cheese (Whole Milk, Vegetable Rennet, Salt), Vermont’s Blythedale Farms Asiago/Grana Padano Cheese (Whole Milk from Jersey Cows, Vegetable Rennet, Salt), Garlic Oil (Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Canola Oil, Fresh Organic Garlic), Fresh Organic Parsley, Herbs, Kosher Salt.

Now take a look at the ingredients of a Freschetta 4-Cheese Pizza....yikes!

INGREDIENTS: ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), TOMATOES (WATER, TOMATO PASTE), CHEESE BLEND (LOW MOISTURE PART SKIM MOZZARELLA CHEESE [CULTURED PASTEURIZED PART SKIM MILK, SALT, ENZYMES], WHITE CHEDDAR CHEESE [CULTURED PASTEURIZED MILK, SALT, ENZYMES], PROVOLONE CHEESE [CULTURED PASTEURIZED MILK, SALT, ENZYMES], PARMESAN CHEESE [CULTURED PASTEURIZED PART SKIM MILK, SALT, ENZYMES]), YEAST CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: CORNMEAL, SHORTENING (PALM OIL, NATURAL FLAVOR, SOY LECITHIN), BUTTER FLAVORED OIL WITH GARLIC (LIQUID AND HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, NATURAL GARLIC FLAVOR, SALT, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SOY LECITHIN, BETA CAROTENE [COLOR], VITAMIN A PALMITATE), SUGAR, SALT, SPICE, DATEM, WHEAT GLUTEN, DEXTROSE, SEA SALT, OLIVE OIL, GUAR GUM, GARLIC, SOY LECITHIN, ASCORBIC ACID, ENZYMES (SODIUM CHLORIDE, WHEAT STARCH, ENZYMES, MALTODEXTRIN).



Wouldn't you rather be eating an American Flatbread pizza for dinner?  :)

~The Healthy Food Detective