Sharing the Love with evol Burritos

NATURAL FROZEN BURRITO IS BOFFO IN BOSTON

A new frozen burrito, evol, from Phil’s Fresh Foods, Boulder, Colo., was a big hit at the recent Natural Products Expo East event at the Boston Convention Center. The natural and organic evol (love spelled backwards) burrito is available in four sizes—7 oz. premium burrito, 7 oz. premium wrap, 3 oz. mini burrito and 8 oz. burrito.

The folks at Phil’s have dubbed the mini burrito as the “energy bar of the frozen food section.” The mini is available in five flavors: chicken, bean and rice; chicken and black bean; bean and cheddar; shredded beef; and veggie fajita.

The premium burrito is available in three flavors: fire grilled chicken fajita; fire grilled steak fajita; and pork canitas. The three premium wraps are all dairy-free: teriyaki chicken; veggie curry; and Mediterranean couscous.

The 8 oz. burrito is available in the following flavors: chicken, bean and rice; shredded beef; egg and potato; pinto bean, rice and cheese; cilantro lime chicken; veggie fajita; basic bean and cheese; tofu and spinach sauté; egg and sausage; egg and green chile; and pork and green chile.

Officials with evol say the products are made with locally sourced ingredients, certified humane cage-free eggs, free-range chicken, humanely-raised and sustainably sourced meat and RBST-free cheese.

TFFG Says: It was while chatting up another frozen food vendor in his booth at the natural products show that The Frozen Food Guy spotted one of the mini burritos. It was upside down and lying not far from the vendor’s packages (a seafood company), so TFFG was mildly curious but not wanting to interrupt the vendor’s presentation with a “what’s that on the table?” since it clearly wasn’t part of the product line under discussion. He was “on message” and I didn’t want to derail him and have him go “off message,” so to speak.

Later, the TFFG was perusing all the various products on display in the new product section at the front of the exhibition floor area when he spotted the “evol” burrito. While jotting down notes about the product, another convention attendee shared—totally unsolicited—with TFFG how very good these frozen burritos truly are. So, TFFG made a personal visit to the evol booth and got the pertinent info and gave the mini burrito a test run (or two) himself. Thumbs up, evol!

And ya gotta love the “e-v-o-l” (backwards) right?

‘Hearty, Healthy’ Breakfast Options From Cedarlane Natural Foods

Cedarlane Natural Foods is helping Americans get their day off to the right start with a new line of all-natural frozen breakfast items. The line includes three flavors of breakfast omelettes and two flavors of breakfast burritos.

Cedarlane says its egg white omelettes are gluten-free, high in protein and low glycemic. The flavors are Spinach & Mushroom; Green Chile, Cheese & Ranchero Sauce; and Vegetable & Cheese with Turkey Bacon. The breakfast burritos are available in Vegetable & Cheese and Vegetable & Cheese with Turkey Bacon flavors. The company touts them as a “hearty, healthy and high protein breakfast.”

Cedarlane says its egg white breakfast items are the first such products in the frozen food sector and are on trend with the 5% growth in frozen breakfast foods as tracked by Packaged Facts.

“We are thrilled to bring to market our new, first-of-its kind egg white breakfast items,” says Robert Atallah, founder and president of Carson, Calif.-based Cedarlane Natural Foods. “In keeping with our legacy of providing great-tasting natural food products, we created this breakfast line with our customers’ health in mind.” For more information, go to http://www.cedarlanefoods.com/.

TFFG SAYS: These breakfast burritos and omelettes make for a good meal any time of the day. Of the two burritos, the Scrambled Egg, Vegetable and Cheese is a hands-down winner. The turkey bacon and egg white flavor is a bit bland at first, but is OK overall. The ends of the burritos tend to come out hardened after heating in the microwave, but that could just be an issue with TFFG’s microwave oven. The consistency of the scrambled egg in each was quite good.

The omelettes delivered on both taste and aesthetics. After being heated in the microwave, they came out looking very much like the photography on their packages (boxes; the burritos are sealed in a plastic wrap). The cheese in the omelettes had good texture and a nice color.

Each of the omelettes could suffice as an entree--paired with a vegetable and possibly another side dish-- for any meal, and the burritos make for a great on-the-go snack. The omelettes are filling and hearty. At 8 oz. each, they pack a nice punch. So do the 6 oz.-burritos.