When I was a boy, at the age of twelve or so, I discovered the wonders of Bob Evan’s frozen breakfast sandwiches. These delicious little treats, made with biscuits, egg, sausage, and cheese, were absolutely delightful.
Sadly, my memory of them is not due to just their taste, but because they are the first food I remember ever reading, and understanding, the nutritional facts. This led to a lifetime of obsession over that little table on the back of food items (did you know there’s little to no fat difference between regular, low fat, and no fat whip cream? Or that Panera has some sandwiches that have nearly twice as much fat as a Big Mac?). Back then, to my horror, I discovered that these tiny pucks of amazing food had nearly 30 grams of fat each (about half your daily recommended value), and left me hungry about an hour later.
So I’ve always hurried past that section of the frozen food aisle all my life, until a month ago. See, my morning routine had become quite harried after having a child. Not only was I waking up nearly a half hour earlier, but things were a bit more hectic in the morning. Mornings where I could leisurely assemble a breakfast burrito for the wife and I were a thing of the past. More and more, I found myself picking up an English muffin sandwich at Dunkin Donuts (one of their few relatively healthy breakfast items), which were not only expensive but also really not that good.
That is until, for some reason, a box at the grocery store caught my eye. “Jimmy Dean D-Lights”, it said. “1/3rd fewer calories and ½ the fat”, it boasted. Man, are these things great. I prefer the sausage ones, though they often are out of stock at my local Market Basket. They cost about $1.30 each, not bad for an entire breakfast.
It took a week or two to really nail the cooking procedure. At first I ended up with an overcooked sandwich with a frozen core, but after an excellent tip from Leanne, I placed the sandwich on the far outer edge of the rotating microwave plate, and never had that problem again.
Of course, you’re still eating frozen bread and frozen eggs, neither of which tastes nearly as good as the real thing. But the convenience factor is huge, and the overall nutritional content is pretty good (a little high in saturated fat and sodium, but a very reasonable amount of calories) make these a winner.
