Oases in A Desert of Exhaustion

Two of my favorite names these days are Amy and Annie. No, I don't think they're especially cute or have a particularly nice ring to them, rather, they're at the top of my list because of their delicious and wholesome nature. I find Amy when I want a satisfying lunch or dinner, then scout out Annie for some healthy snacks.

I'm referring of course to Amy's brand natural and organic foods and Annie's brand, well, natural and organic foods. I know the jury is still out on the whole organic food debate, and for the most part I am too, but what I love about Amy especially is the fact that every ingredient in her meals is an actual food. It's such a simple concept that you'd think would be in everything on the grocery store shelves but, alas, no. Either way, here's a peek at the ingredient list of one of my favorite Amy foods (the Black Bean Vegetable Enchilada):

INGREDIENTS: (VEGAN) FILTERED WATER, ORGANIC CORN TORTILLAS (ORGANIC WHITE CORN COOKED IN WATER WITH A TRACE OF LIME), ORGANIC TOMATO PUREE, ORGANIC ZUCCHINI, ORGANIC TOFU (FILTERED WATER, ORGANIC SOYBEANS, NIGARI[MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE, A NATURAL FIRMING AGENT]), ORGANIC BLACK BEANS, ORGANIC YELLOW CORN, ORGANIC ONIONS, EXPELLER PRESSED HIGH OLEIC SAFFLOWER OIL, ORGANIC SWEET RICE FLOUR, ORGANIC BELL PEPPERS, SPICES, TAPIOCA FLOUR, BLACK OLIVES, SEA SALT, ORGANIC GARLIC, ORGANIC GREEN CHILES.

Apart from nigari, everything else is refreshingly simple, readable and familiar. It just makes me happy to know that I can eat something like a frozen, packaged black bean enchilada and not be put off by the fact that I don't know what half of the ingredients are. In fact, if I wanted to, I'm pretty sure I could make that at home. And the best part? And this really is the best part: the ingredient lists are like that in everything Amy puts out. Everything. From Asian dishes to pizzas; burritos to burgers. Amy is a bit more expensive than your Smart Ones or Lean Cuisines, but the flavor and quality totally make up for it.

And speaking of Lean Cuisine, talk about an edge over the competition: LC's Chicken Enchilada Suiza with Rice meal has just 270 calories and 4 grams of fat, compared to Amy's respective 360 and 12, but let's take a look at the comp's ingredients:

blanched enriched long grain rice (rice, ferric phosphate, niacin, thiamin mononitrate and folic acid), chicken enchilada (corn tortilla (corn masa {corn flour, cellulose gum, mono- and diglycerides, trace of lime}, water), cooked chicken meat (chicken, carrageenan), tomatoes (tomatoes, tomato juice, salt, calcium chloride, citric acid), onions, water, green chiles (green chiles, citric acid, salt, calcium chloride), modified cornstarch, garlic powder, jalapeno peppers (jalapeno peppers, water, salt, acetic acid, calcium chloride), paprika, spices, salt, cilantro), water, tomatillos, onions, skim milk, corn, red peppers, cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes, annatto color), green chiles and citric acid, buttermilk powder, modified cornstarch, garlic puree, dehydrated sour cream (sour cream (cultured cream, nonfat milk)), cilantro, salt, cultured whey, spices, soybean oil, jalapeno puree (jalapeno peppers, salt, acetic acid and calcium chloride), yeast extract, sugar, chicken fat, bleached wheat flour, lime juice concentrate, dehydrated onions, seasoning (wheat starch, extracts of annatto and turmeric color, natural flavor).

Wow, did you read through all of that? Kind of extensive. And I can't make that at home. Dehydrated sour cream? Natural flavor? Natural flavor of what? There goes my recipe. Lame.

My key points: lots of chlorides, concentrates & extracts and something I always forget to add to my cooked chicken meat: carrageenan. So it's a tough choice, seriously. Do you go for the lo-cal, hard to read, cheap enchilada or the regular-cal natural pricier enchilada? I prefer to opt for the latter, but the majority choose the former.

Alright now I'm getting depressed, so on to snack crackers!

Annie's Homegrown products are pretty much as good and delicious as Amy's. She boasts a hippie website and seems to cater mostly to kids, but I can dig that. Her Cheddar Bunnies and Bunny Grahams are favorite snacks of mine and, once again, natural and easy to read ingredients can be found on the boxes:

Made with only the best ingredients: ORGANIC WHEAT FLOUR, EXPELLER PRESSED VEGETABLE OIL (SAFFLOWER AND/OR SUNFLOWER), SALT, AGED CHEDDAR CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK,

CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES), YEAST EXTRACT, PAPRIKA, ANNATTO EXTRACT FOR NATURAL COLOR, GROUND CELERY SEED, ONION POWDER, YEAST.

It's such a nice change from eating Nabisco Cheese Nips whose ingredient list is:

Ingredients: ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), SOYBEAN OIL, CHEDDAR CHEESE (MADE FROM CULTURED MILK, SALT AND ENZYMES), PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED OIL, SALT, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA AND/OR YEAST), MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE (FLAVOR ENHANCER), ANNATTO EXTRACT (VEGETABLE COLOR), PAPRIKA, SODIUM CASEINATE, LACTIC AND ACETIC ACIDS, SPICES, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, SOY LECITHIN (EMULSIFIER), CORNSTARCH.

Apart from having twice as many ingredients, Cheese Nips boast partially hydrogenated oil, MSG, sodium caseinate (?) and enriched flour. You can come to your own conclusions.  

I've said it before and I know I'll say it many more times to come (with an audible sigh): I wish people cared more about what they ate.