What's for lunch? My review of a frozen organic, vegan meal

I love lunch. Well. I also love breakfast, brunch, snacks, dinner and dessert.

Uh.

Anyway, I do love lunch. I work from an office occasionally and I look forward to going out and 'picking up' lunch. It's my little treat and I like the mental break from getting up from my desk.

I'll admit, my usual go-to was from a local, chain sandwich shop. I chose what I thought was a pretty healthy meal: Whole grain roll, turkey, veggies, mustard and a bag of baked chips.

It's not the pits. Certainly fits into what most of us would consider a low-fat, low-calorie lunch.

However, aside from the veggies and maybe a bit of whole grain this is a pretty low nutrient meal.  In terms of "eating clean" as I'm working at doing, this sandwich doesn't cut it. Processed cold-cut meat, a bag of baked chips, etc - not so clean. Not to mention that I'm avoiding gluten to see if my tummy gets better (I have felt better).

So what the frig to eat?

I remembered that there was a Target near by so I decided to see if I could find something there.

I found this:

I admit, I was afraid

Basically, I chose this Amy's entree because Target only had this and one other option of the sort and this seemed the less of two evils. "Dairy-free," "Gluten-free," no meat? Ugh. This thing is freakin' vegan. I'm no vegan.  I wasn't feeling optimistic but tried to keep an open mind. Gotta try it before you knock it.

I also chose the Wallaby yogurt because it was organic and had all pronounceable things in the ingredients… I figured I'd at least like that.

So this was my set-up:

brought the orange from home

OMG, Amy, I'm sorry I doubted you. You were delish. I couldn't believe how good this little frozen meal was! LOVED it. Like I would eat this even if I wasn't trying to be all gluten-free and clean-eatin'. There were plenty of beans and corn in the tamale, the tamale itself was a very nice texture. The rice was tasty and the flavors were great.  (Now, perhaps I'm over zealous in this review because I was fearing the worst but I was sincerely impressed.)

If you look at the ingredients of the Amy's meal - you can pronounce all of it - no chemicals or weird stuff to be found: 

The best part? It wasn't $$. I think the Amy's thing was on-sale for $2.99 and the yogurt was $1. So hello - lunch for under $5 (including the orange). CHEAPER than a fast food 'value' meal.

This Tamale Verde meal had 12 grams of fiber and actually made me full! I am saving my orange and yogurt for later. I never feel filled and satisfied after a frozen meal (and I relied on a lot of "low fat" frozen meals for lunch). Find the rest of the nutritional information here.

If I was having it for dinner I might add some sliced avocado and a salad of greens to it for a little extra flair.

Have you tried something new lately?

Are you a fan of Amy's Organic stuff?

What else can I have for lunch that I might like?

XO

Jen