I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t had the time to cook much of anything. To stave off starvation, I turn to my time-crunch savior, Amy’s. On a recent Whole Foods trip, I had bought Amy’s new gluten-free, dairy-free rice macaroni with Daiya cheeze for just such a time. And it was on sale for $3.49.
Heating it up couldn’t be any easier, it takes just 5 minutes in the microwave and comes out as a nice, hot tray of creamy, cheesy goodness. I’m no mac-n-cheese connoisseur but Amy’s is pretty tasty. The smell is wonderfully cheesy, the texture and look is spot on.
Although my eyes did bug out when I glanced at the side of the package and saw the amount of sodium, 740 mg. Is mac-n-cheese normally so salty? It’s fairly high in fat and calories too. It’s a whopping 22 grams of fat and 520 calories! That’s like a whole meal for me right there in that one tray.
At least it’s filling and I wasn’t hungry for the rest of the day (good for the super busy). But as tasty as it was, I’m reserving it as an occasional treat only.
There’s something about gooey mac & cheese in a paper tray that really takes me to my childhood… that looks sooo good to me, I’ll have to look for it at my local WF.
That’s the problem I have found with most, if not all, of Amy’s dinners, is the sodium content! I try to stay on a very low sodium diet and because of that I need to cook everything from scratch. Maybe I should start a line of Vegan Low Sodium Frozen Entrees, lol
That does look like rainy day awesome comfort food.
I too have been noticing that many of the new Amy’s frozen foods are supper hight in sodium and fat. Even the tofu breakfast ones.
Speaking of cheesy goodness, our local health food store shared that Daiya is finally going retail later this month! (For those without a Whole Foods in your hood)
Years ago as a quick meal for my son I would make this for him. Wow I don’t know why I never looked at the sodium content. He hasn’t had one in a few years but still. yikes! I still haven’t tried Daiya.
I was shocked by the high calories & fat as well. But as an occasional treat, this is really yummy! They did a good job! Now if my Whole Foods could get the Daiya shreds, I would be in vegan heaven! :-)
Daiya itself has a good amount of sodium: 250g for 1/4 cup. But, as I recall, cheese is fairly high in sodium so macaroni and cheese always was too. Either way, I love this Amy’s stuff and so does my 1 year old, so I’m working on making a slightly healthier version to freeze and have on hand for him.
Also, the local Natural Foods store around here, Vitamin Cottage, started carrying a couple of weeks ago after I requested it. So, it’s always worth asking after!
So cheesy so yummy! The way I love it :)
i think the amy’s gluten-free mac ‘n cheese has gotta be worth it! cheezy, filling, delicious – and i am in looooove ’cause it’s gluten-free and vegan! doublew00t! i can’t wait to try it out. so yum!
I was finally able to find this a couple of weeks ago! I’ve been looking for it for a while because I’m soy-sensitive and couldn’t eat the pre-daiya version. It was amazing, but definitely a *very* rare treat for the reasons you mentioned.
I’m with you- This was a delicious treat, but super rich. Definitely an not an everyday purchase!
I was finally able to find this a couple of weeks ago! I’ve been looking for it for a while because I’m soy-sensitive and couldn’t eat the pre-daiya version. It was amazing, but definitely a *very* rare treat for the reasons you mentioned.
I think this mac and cheese is awesome. There is so much cheese sauce, you could easily add more pasta to it and have two servings.
I tried this today and agree about the aroma, and the texture, but it had a bit of an “off” taste for me. I mean, it’s clearly not cheese, so if anyone is hoping for the same flavor, it’s not quite it… but… really close!! I admit I took my finger and scooped up all the sauce my spoon missed. :)
Secret weapon for the “frozen entree high in sodium” issue: if the frozen entree is going to work with you, pack along a 1-cup (or more) baggie of broccoli florets and baby-cut carrots, or chopped green beans, or chopped cauliflower, etc.- you get the idea (make it a point to keep a bag of cut up veggies ready for the week’s meals). You can micro-steam the veggies in the same time it takes to cook the frozen entree, thereby possibly reducing the bad karma of the sodium in the entree. Mix it all together in the same tray to get the bad-ass sauce all over the veggies and you will be much happier!
Our Whole Foods has had Daiya for quite awhile now and I do buy both the Mozzerella and the Cheddar variety. I use them both sparingly and don’t eat Daiya weekly even because it is still fattening and full of sodium as you all mentioned but it is the closest thing to cheese I have found and it is nice to add an occasional amount to homemade veggie pizza and casseroles. It is the best out there right now. Funny how we become vegan to avoid animal products and then look for substitutes to fulfill out old favorite animal product cravings. Ha. I wish I had been raised a vegan so I would not know what animal products taste like and they I used to use them to add flavor to dishes.
I can also find the Gardein products at my Whole Foods and I do buy an occasional package of the chicken like breast scallopine and the beefless tips both found in the frozen food section. They are gret additions to dishes when I want some chicken like product or beef like product for the ish. Our Chipotle Grill is offering the Gardein Chicken as a meat alternative so one can put it on their burritio or taco as they go down the line of goodies. I understand that Chipotle is offering Gardein chicken in 7 of their 1,700 restaurants to see how it sells. Gardein also makes spicy buffalo wings that are really good as well. My granddaughter (4 years old) thinks they are the real thing. She is a carnivore too. Diane from California