Showing posts with label Amy's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amy's. Show all posts

Monday, October 31, 2011

Product Faceoff! Amy’s Soy Mac & Cheese vs. Stouffer’s




This week I compared one of my favorite staples, macaroni & cheese. I’ve just tried about every mac & cheese out there (boxed and frozen), and as the sole lactose-tolerant writer of this blog, I couldn’t wait to see if soy mac & cheese could stand up to my regular lineup. Below are the results!

Price
Amy’s - $2.79

Stouffer’s - $2.00

Winner of Price category: Stouffer’s… and bonus, you get 12 oz with Stouffer’s vs 9 oz in Amy’s

Taste
Amy’s – Could definitely tell this was not the real thing. It had a very sharp, odd taste to it. It had a very strong smell to it as well, and it wasn’t a nice one…

Stouffer’s – the regular stuff didn’t disappoint in this category. It had a nice mild taste and it smelled delicious.

Winner of Taste category: This was not a close call – Stouffer’s gets the win

Nutrition Info
Amy’s – 9 oz serving
370 calories, 15 grams fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 500 mg sodium, 42 grams carbs, 4 grams fiber, 2 grams sugar, 16 grams protein, 15% calcium

Stouffer’s – 6 oz serving
340 calories, 16 grams fat, 7 grams saturated fat, 25 mg cholesterol, 810 mg sodium, 32 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 4 grams sugar, 13 grams protein, 30% calcium

Winner of Nutrition info: With the Amy’s soy mac & cheese, you get a 50% bigger portion for similar calories & fat, and much less saturated fat & sodium. With Amy’s you’ll also save on sugar and gain some fiber instead.

Accessibility
Both were from your neighborhood grocery store

Winner of Accessibility category: It’s a tie

Texture
Amy’s – Although the taste was very disappointing, the texture was alright. It was pretty similar to the regular stuff. The cheese melted well and the pasta cooked well in the microwave.

Stouffer’s – the cheese sauce was slightly thinner than the soy cheese version, but overall a great texture – better than the soy cheese

Winner of Texture category: Stouffer’s wins again

Final Results: This is no surprise – I couldn’t get past the taste and smell of Amy’s soy mac & cheese. It just had a very fake, strong taste and smell to it. If you have another dairy-free mac & cheese option, we would love to hear about them. Leave your comments below!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Product Faceoff! Amy’s Soy Cheese vs. Regular Cheese Pizza




This week I compared Amy’s products. After the experience I had last week with the Trader Joe’s soy creamer, I was pretty nervous to try the soy cheese pizza. Below are the results!

Price
$5.99 for both kinds

Winner of Price category: It’s a tie

Taste
Amy’s soy – I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the soy pizza tasted very similar to the regular version. I couldn’t even tell the cheese was dairy-free.

Amy’s regular – This was delicious - everything about it was great, from the cheese to the sauce to the crust

Winner of Taste category: Both pizzas had the same crust and sauce, just the cheese was different. I’m going to give Taste to the dairy-free version simply because it was so close to the real thing, I was extremely impressed.

Nutrition Info
Amy’s soy – 290 calories, 10.9 grams fat, 1 gram saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 590mg sodium, 37 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 3 grams sugar, 12.1 grams protein

Amy’s regular – 310 calories, 12.1 grams fat, 4.1 grams saturated fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 590 mg sodium, 38 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 4.1 grams sugar, 12.1 grams protein

Winner of Nutrition info: Soy pizza is the winner here since it doesn’t contain saturated fat or cholesterol. Calories, fat, fiber, sugar, and carbs were all pretty similar.

Accessibility
Both were from the neighborhood grocery store – most sell Amy’s products

Winner of Accessibility category: It’s a tie

Texture
Amy’s soy – Although the soy pizza rocked in the taste category, the texture will still slightly off from the regular version. The soy cheese didn’t melt as well as the regular version. The sauce and crust were still just as good as the regular stuff. The end result was still a tasty pizza, but it was very easy to decipher which pizza was soy and which was the regular version.

Amy’s regular – The cheese melted perfectly in the regular version. The crust was delicious too.

Winner of Texture category: Due to the soy cheese melting (or lack thereof), the regular version wins out here

Final Results: I was pleasantly surprised with the soy cheese pizza and it wins this week’s product faceoff. Even though the cheese didn’t melt like regular cheese would have, Amy’s still managed to make a tasty dairy-free pizza that rivals the original. Sometimes you just need to eat some pizza, and if you are lactose-intolerant, Amy’s should be your go-to brand.