MorningStar Farms - A Review

Another BzzCampaign to tell you all about! 

For this campaign, I was given a coupon for a free box in my choice of flavors, I chose Grillers California Turkey, which has bits of Avocado and Tomato in them.  They were really good!  Since I didn't have any buns in the house, I used regular old white bread with a little mayonnaise on it and I added a slice of Sharp Cheddar Cheese too.  

These are a quick fix item, just a few minutes in the microwave, which makes them perfect for grabbing a quick meal while the baby is sleeping!  I devoured my box (4 patties) over the course of lunch two days in a row, then I wished I had another box, they were that good!  Of course, my time away from the low-carb lifestyle was short lived (in the grand scheme anyway...I was off the diet for 12 months), so I did not buy any more of these.  Going meatless, even one day a week, I could see how these would make a good substitute for the real carnivores in your family!  I never really have understood why these sorts of foods exist though...if you are choosing to not eat meat, why would you want to replicate the flavor of meat?  Just eat meat I say.  Or don't eat meat...I would think this sort of product would make you crave meat though.

Bottom line, if you are on a restricted calorie diet, these would be perfect for you (at only 90 calories per patty), as long as you have enough self-discipline to not eat the whole box in one sitting!   Now that I have taken a good look at the nutritional information (here), these are only 2g net carbs per patty too!  

This with a good salad would make a great lunch or dinner (or even a breakfast if you served it with an egg on top), assuming you don't react to anything in the ingredient list of course!  7g carb, but 5g are dietary fiber...yup, only 2g net carbs!  These are way better than I had assumed they were.  Looking at the carb/protein/fat ratios, it's pretty darn good too, assuming a 20-25g carb diet (oer day), you get 10% carbs (2g), 40% protein (9g), and 50% fat (5g), if you track that sort of thing (I do not, but I try to keep the pie chart tipped more in this fashion).  These do have a lot of wheat in them though, and the main ingredient is TVP (texturized vegetable protein), so these are not a good choice for the gluten-free crowd!

Overall, this is a good tasting product that I would buy again.  But, only as a treat when I really need a break from the "same old" foods that I tend to eat every day.