spontaneous food review from a non-foodie

[saffronhare]

Today, I'm trying one of the Amy's Bowls -- brown rice with black-eyed peas and veggies -- for lunch. Whole grains and veggies! And none of the preservatives that I might get with a mainstream frozen lunch-type product! WIN, I thought.

Except I don't like it much. Don't get me wrong: It's perfectly decent food, and perhaps even more food than I need to feel full. But WOW. I'm probably putting an unreasonable amount of salt on it...and it's all I can do not to drizzle some beef gravy on it for savory/flavory enhancement. Not that I have beef gravy. But you get the idea.

Counter.Productivity.R.Us.
(sigh)

ETA: Just as a general comment...you guys are awesome. I really appreciate the humor and perspective you're offering -- what an unexpected harvest! Thank you. :)

Comments

[archway.livejournal.com]

~L!~ Been there. Slimfast is soooooo much better with Bryers Ice Cream......

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Plus...PLUS! The darn thing cost me 6 WW points for a not-very-satisfying lunch. Ugh.

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Heh. I've had that reaction to a few things.

It may be helpful to identify which kinds of 'sinful' foods (fat, salt, etc) are easiest for your system to manage, and make those your palette-savers of choice?

[fairgoldberry.livejournal.com]

I find that the Amy's Bowls with rice are generally unsatisfying. I think I had one of their noodle bowls that was pretty good, though, and their enchiladas are tasty.

Part of it is that I came to the realization a few years ago that rice, especially brown rice, often does not contain enough flavor to merit the work of chewing it.

Much love,
Rowan

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Have you tried cooking brown rice with a cube or two of Maggi Vegetable Bouillon? Double plus good if you use the soak water from some dried shiitake mushrooms, too!

[diermuid.livejournal.com]

+1! Boullion, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts... all sorts of add-ons that add flavor without adding pure sodium. Granted, it makes it a bit less of a take'n nuke... but makes it easier to resist the drive to Carl's Jr. ;-)

A trick from Colorado was to use the water from boiling ribs (for smoking) and use that plus assorted vegetables and ramen (minus the sauce pack) as lunch for the next week. The same thing could be said for shiitake juice.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Yep. And if you take an hour or so on Sunday, you can prep a whole weeks-worth of lunches for taking to the office.

I like the Maggi vegetarian bouillon better than standard stuff, which is mostly sodium. But yeah, nothing beats using animal bones for stock.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

(sigh) This is the way of the future, I think. I've made good headway over the last year in terms of grocery planning such that I eat from the pantry/fridge/freezer for workday lunches. Next step will be to cook ahead with, you know, ingredients and stuff.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Good luck! It's a commitment, I know. But so worth it. I used to do all my grocery shopping and cooking early on Sunday morning before anyone else was awake. I called it my church time.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

I made deviled eggs for last night's potluck, so right now home smells like EGGZ.

[zylch.livejournal.com]

I missed deviled eggs?!

::dies::

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

I know. We practically had to gorge ourselves with them so they wouldn't go bad. It was awful.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

I am very pleased to be mastering this recipe. It's not like deviled eggs are particularly difficult to make, and I'm sure mine are not remarkable, but they're a simple potluck thing to make...usually only requiring ingredients easy to keep on hand, and not taking very long at all.

Later in the evening, diermuid confessed to loving me (at least in part) for my eggs. Hard to turn down a compliment like that, dontcha think?

[zylch.livejournal.com]

I saw that this dedication to the cause did not extend to the shrimp dip, which was still on the table at 9.45 when I got home. Surely the eggs would have lasted as long? ::makes starving puppy dog eyes::

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize it was that important to you. I'll plan to leave extras next time, okay? :)

[archway.livejournal.com]

YES..................

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Something like that, yeah. When I make rice (in my rice cooker, of all things, because I tend to FAIL at rice), I use half broth and half water for flavor. Turns out yummeh.

Maybe I can make fresh at home the basics that would have gone into this Amy's Bowl, but flavor it up a bit? AMBITIOUS.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Get yourself to Penzey's (in Brookside) and buy something called Mural Of Flavor.

You'll wonder how you ever lived without it. SRSLY. I would not lie to you.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Actually, there's a Penzey's store just a few doors down from where I'll be doing yoga after work. SCORE.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Bonus for you!!! I didn't realize there was more than one in KC. I love me those stores.

[fairgoldberry.livejournal.com]

Even with various types of bouillon, there's still a significant flavor emptiness there. I've used mushroom soak water (not shiitake, though), various kinds of broth and bouillon, all manner of herbs and butter and added veggies, and the rice itself still ends up tasting like a flavor place-holder, as if to say, "Here is the space where food would be." It's like a little vacant carbohydrate space accompanied by food-flavor. I eat it because it's nourishing and I don't hate it, but when I think, "What will be tasty for dinner tonight?" I almost never think, "Mmmmm, boy, RICE!"

Y'know?

Much love,
Rowan

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

HA! I like the taste and texture of rice, so we differ there.

If I don't like a food, I don't eat it. Ever. No point in forcing down calories I hate. Luckily, I enjoy eating several types of vegetables and other nutritious things. I'd be hurtin' if all I liked to eat were pastries and hamburgers.

[fairgoldberry.livejournal.com]

I don't eat food I hate, either. But I don't *hate* rice, I'm just supremely apathetic about it.

On forcing down calories, sometimes I have to. I go through depressive phases where I get to midnight and think, "Oh, drat, I forgot to eat again today," and I need something I can cook relatively quickly to get at least a few hundred calories in me. A piece of fruit, a handful of cheese slices, and a bowl of rice are quick, require no defrosting and no attention, and get me a few hundred calories in without actual effort. And unlike potatoes, rice can live for a couple-six months in the pantry waiting for me to have an emergency.

Much love,
Rowan

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

I hear you both. I've come to appreciate brown rice as a building material for a "complete meal." It holds its own pretty well with some kind of lean meat, sops up sauces very well, and gets me a serving of whole grains. Hardly ever bother with white rice anymore, really.

[diermuid.livejournal.com]

I liked Amy's Enchiladas too!

Brown rice isn't a good standalone, but when I make it I tend to add leaner meats (chicken, pork, salmon, or even a good cut of steak) and season it with something tasty like lemon pepper, curry, chinese 5-spice, or even taco seasoning. I also -adore- dried onion flakes or diced garlic as 'spices' that aren't just salt. Plus I never have to worry about bugs. ;-)

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

I really like Amy's Enchiladas, but wanted to try something different that also could count as a serving of veggies. Experimentation, right?

[diermuid.livejournal.com]

Well if you're up for some experimentation...

::grin::

I should try making some gingered chicken. ;-) I recall that you don't like curry, right?

experimentation = WIN

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Many curry flavorings add too much heat or whatever for my tummy and I end up feeling ill in dramatic and unpleasant ways.

(Whenever I join a friend for dinner at an Indian restaurant, I end up trapped between the Scylla and Charybdis of curry & saffron, so have cultivated a taste for Mango Lassi!)

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Not enough flavor to merit the chewing. That is an excellent analysis. :) I do mostly like brown rice and black-eyed peas...and all the assorted ingredients in this particular Amy's Bowl. There just wasn't much YUM to it.

And yet. I have not evolved sufficiently to cook food ahead of time and bring it. Trying to explore prepared options to keep in the freezer at work. More learning ahead!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I have not evolved sufficiently to cook food ahead of time and bring it

If you're so inclined, mosey over to my LJ and click on the tag for "cooking." Most of my recipes are made for multiple meals and reheating. Also, since I sort of wing it on 99.9% of my creations, it's simple and appropriate to swap out ingredients depending on taste and availability of items. Also, they make up fast. I'm a fan of casseroles and one-dish meals.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

One-dish meals are awesome, particularly since I need to incorporate more veggies, etc. I just might check those out...thank you!

[zylch.livejournal.com]

Just to verify, since I know it comes in two versions: did you get the regular bowl, or the low sodium version of the same (has a bright orange bar across the top of the packaging saying "Low sodium").

I've never found Amy's entrees to be lacking in salt, but I use very little of it in my normal cooking so I don't tend to miss it.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

I very carefully did NOT select the "low sodium" variety. I like the flavor of salt and probably use too much, but I'm not supposed to go so far as to limit my salt consumption because of low blood pressure. Heh.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

I have an excellent jambalaya recipe. I'm just sayin'.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

YES. Yes, you do. And I really do have some great recipes for yummy and packable lunch foods...I just rarely budget the time and energy to make things ahead for the work week.

Cutting out most fast foods has helped a lot, but I need to move the needle a little more.

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

I have generally NOT liked Amy's products EVER, especially for the expense.