June 20, 2006

Morningstar Farms Broccoli Cheddar Veggie Bites

If you've read this blog long enough, you should know that one of the mantras is "Read ingredients lists." I fell victim to ignoring my own advice.

While spending time in the depths of Suburbia, I found myself at the grocery store with a minimal selection of natural and organic food options (they stock the four frozen veggie options with the T.G.I.Friday's Potato Skins.) Generally I like to make everything from scratch, but dealing with high heat and humidity and my mother's kitchen (a whole other blog, really) makes for complicated cooking. So, I decided to pick up some quick frozen bites for my two year old to make all of our lives easier.

I grabbed a box of Morningstar Farms Broccoli Cheddar Veggie Bites, since I knew that Morningstar Farms is a company that also makes veggie burgers as well as touts itself as a line of healthy foods. I never looked at the ingredient list.

When I went to prepare the bites, I looked at the list. I'll just start by saying that there are 42 ingredients in these bites that are half of the size of my computer mouse. Included in this list are two kinds of sugar (sugar and dextrose) and hydrogenated soybean oil -- two definite no-no's on my eating list.

At this point, I had a starving child who had already spied the food, so into the oven they went. They baked up in about 15 minute's time and came out of the oven smelling vaguely of brownies (but that could be me.) Inside they had real chunks of broccoli and what appeared to be melted orangeish cheddar cheese, which impressed me. They tasted fantastic, with nice broccoli taste, creamy cheese and even a hint of pepper after finish. I'm sad to report they taste better than the all natural broccoli bites that I usually buy.

So here's the dilemma, do I buy them for taste or do I buy the less satisfying ones that are healthier? Tough call. I think that I would rather find a better tasting healthy option, than just succumb to the convenience of hydrogenated oils and sugar. Of course that didn't stop me from eating three bites myself.

And yet, despite all of this deliberating, my child wouldn't touch one bite.

About Morningstar Farms:

Morningstar Farms is a subsidiary of Kellogg's and has been producing veggie products for 25 years, according to their website. It is unclear how they were started or when they became a part of the Kellogg's brand.