Check out my progress on Frozen Food Finds
The frozen food aisle in the average supermarket can be a confusing place. On one hand, you’ve got all the cost-saving and health-enhancing frozen fruits and vegetables. However, just a few steps away are some of the worst foods in America—think mega-meaty pizzas, 1,000-Calorie pot pies, and every possible permutation of a fried potato. Unlike the produce section, the frozen food aisle is not a place where you can feel comfortable that everything is a nutritious choice. Rather, it is a place that includes thousands of products with sky-high sodium counts and often unidentifiable preservatives too. In order to find healthful frozen foods, you’ll need to pay close attention to those labels.
So when I ventured into the frozen food aisle recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find two new products that met my criteria for wholesomeness and nutrition.
Garden Lites
Garden Lites is a company that produces low-calorie frozen foods with minimal processing. I was most anxious to try the egg white soufflés, so I recently picked up a trio of those: broccoli, roasted vegetable, and cauliflower. Gee, I wonder which one I tried first…
Why yes, I tried the broccoli soufflé.
Upon arriving home from my trip last weekend, I had very few groceries in the house and even less energy to prepare dinner. I popped the soufflé in the microwave, and a few minutes later, dinner was served.
I really enjoyed the flavor of this soufflé, and I love that there is actually an appreciable amount of vegetables involved. So often with frozen foods, you get about a tablespoon of vegetables in the whole dish, with the rest being less nourishing ingredients like bread or pasta. The bottom was a little soggy compared to the crisp top, but I think that might be rectified by cooking it in the oven rather than the microwave.
Nutrition, Ingredients, and Preparation
High protein, moderate sodium, and no funky ingredients. Love it!
Cost
Garden Lites retail for $3.99 at my local Harris Teeter, but I was able to use coupons and buy them for $2.49 each. At that price, I would certainly buy these again as an back-up meal.
Van’s Muffin Crowns
We are all probably familiar with Van’s for their impressive array of whole grain and gluten-free waffles. Recently, they seem to have expanded their offerings and are now producing “Muffin Crowns.” All you fabulous bakers out there probably see no need to buy frozen baked goods, but I was not blessed with baking skills. Even now after taking several food prep courses for my nutrition degree, I still kind of suck at improvising my own baked goods. Shall I remind you of my cookie fail of last year?
Anyway, in light of my inadequacies in the baking realm, I do not often have muffins around even though I enjoy them, particularly in parfait form. (Recipe to come!)
Crumbled, prior to being enjoyed in a muffin breakfast parfait.
I tried the Wild Blueberry variety, and the muffin crowns certainly lived up to that name, as the blueberries had that distinctive intense flavor that only wild blueberries have—no mushy or bland bloobs here.
Nutrition
Ingredients
These muffin crowns are very high in fiber considering their small size, but that’s probably because of the added oat and maize fiber. The sugar content is also reasonable, provided that you stick to just one crown!
Cost
These muffin crowns were very pricey–$5.69 for 4 crowns. In order for me to buy them again, I’d have to find a coupon or a good sale. You pay for convenience, of course…but I’m not willing to pay that much!
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So those are my most recent food finds in the frozen aisle. Please note that I was not compensated in any way to publish my thoughts here. These were just recent purchases of mine that I thought I would share with the class 
Do you have any frozen aisle favorites? What are your most recent food finds?
Filed under: Food Finds, Product Review | 1 Comment »
Caroline Yoder, dietitian-to-be and all-around foodie.
