So, I had my first Boca Burger today. As I've said before, I am from the midwest, so beef has been around me my whole life. No seriously! Every school I went to up to college had a cow farm right next door. =0p Anyway, with a tiny bit of nervousness, I cracked open the package and took my first peak inside. First off, let me say that I LOVE the fact that patties were individually wrapped. How smart! This way I'm not trying to eat an entire package of hamburgers in a week just to avoid freezer burn. My second thought upon seeing the patty was that it was a bit small. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but it just seemed little to me. I chose to fry my burger in a skillet. Mostly because I was lazy and didn't want to go outside and fire up the grill for one burger. The patty turned out really easy to cook. It went from being frozen to cooked in no time AND great thing about this particular burger, it didn't shrink down. I think I've been cooking beef so long I just expected the slightly small patty to turn tiny after adding in a little heat. Not so with this burger. I put the burger on my plate with a slice of non-fat american cheese on top, fished my corn on the cob out of the boiling water and sat down to my first boca burger.
Hmmm....I'll be honest and tell you exactly what I expected this burger to taste like. I thought it would be much like the burgers that school used to serve. We used to make fun of them because the beef was "cut" with soy to make them cheaper. Hmm...I wonder if that is still true now that soy products have gotten to be so popular. Anyway, I digress. The burger wasn't anything like that. It had kind of a squishy texture, not at all like meat. Generally I would say that disgusted me, but somehow, for some reason, the boca burger didn't offend. Now, I wouldn't say it tasted like a hamburger exactly. Nor would I try to "pull a fast one" on friends of family members and try to switch a real beef burger with a boca, but I am definitely okay with the idea of incorporating this food into my weekly meal plan.
As I check out Boca's site I notice that I had the All American Flame Grilled version of the boca burger which has cheese listed in its ingredients --just a warning if anyone is trying to walk down the vegan path.
Overall and final thoughts: A very quick, very easy option for protein. I wouldn't eat it on a day that I was "starving" or I'd go ahead and cook two patties. But I really enjoyed this change of pace --said with the caveat that this is not your "normal" burger experience.
All American Flame Grilled Burger stats:
90 Calories
3g Fat
3g Fiber
14g protein
Know of any other products I should try? As long as I can find it at a local grocery or health food store, I'll give it a try and report back here. Of course, there are some restrictions considering I'm a broke college kid, but I'm willing to give any product at least one try. I'll report back my thoughts here. If you have additional questions about a product I tried and reviewed, post a comment and I'll try to get back with you as soon as possible.
These are just my thoughts/feelings about a product and should be taken with a grain of salt. I'm not you and you aren't me, so maybe you'll like something that I don't =0) I'm just doing this to try to spice up my food options and reinterest myself in losing weight.
10 comments:
YAY! You found fake meat! For real, it will never be exactly the same, but in many ways I can ignore it. It helps that I started eating fake meat when I had been vegetarian for 2 years, but now that I eat meat again, I still opt for the fake stuff more times than not. It's so much better for you!
Ok, so suggestions... I definitely recommend anything made by Boca, Morningstar or Amy's. The Morningstar corn dogs are AWESOME if you like corn dogs. I also like their chik patties a lot. But, definitely try it all, because really, we all have different preferences. I love almost everything made by morningstar, and I have to admit that I don't like the boca stuff as much. But, I have friends who are of the other opinion. I'd recommend trying a few things from each brand and see which you like better. Also, check out the ingredient lists. I tend to avoid fake burgers made with lots of mushroom because I don't tend to like them. But, again, you may love them!
We like those type of burgers too, we make a stir fry with them... just add onions and veges .. yummmmo.
I like Bocca Burgers, but I don't think they are anything like beef. In fact, I have no idea what exactly is in them. If I remember correctly, the ingredient list is a mile long which is why I don't eat them too often. I am trying to avoid...complicated food.
Anyhow, I decided to try some breakfast sausage substitute (Morningstar, I think). I cook it exactly as directed. It sort of looked like sausage. I was quite hungry and took a bite. I promptly spit it out and the gag reflexes kicked in. I thought I was going to hurl for about 5 minutes. I will never try fake sausage again. There is no substitute for a greasy sausage which is why I don't eat them anymore.
Hey. I have tried those. The first time I tried on the grill it fell apart - second time I did it in the frying pan like you did - it was okay. I found the other day a smokie - made with turkey,chicken, feta cheese, and spinach. 120 calories, 2 grams of fat - and holy cow I felt like I was part of the BBQ nite! They were a bit more expensive, but soooo worth it.
That is pretty amazing that it has 14 grams of protein. I thought it was made up of vegetables blended into a paste and compressed into a particle-board substance that is chewy enough to pass as a hamburger.
I have seen those around for years and I will have to try one!
Try vegan ground beef in your next meal of nacho/lasagne/spagetti (realy diet friendly foods *i kids here ;p*).
My work had a "Ministry Wide Retreat" on Monday and vegan lasagne was served using fake ground beef - and I have to say it tasted yum! Or at least not weird...good on you for trying new things...corn on the cob would be super yummy right about now...;)
We don't have the low fat burger patty versions here in NZ (at least I haven't seen any)
It's good to get a variety into our diet so it doesn't become boring.
I wouldn't say I LOVE Boca Burgers, but I definitely like them enough to eat them. There's one that's like a pizza flavor or something -- it's yummy. I eat quite a bit of fake meat. I like cutting up the 'sausage' links into an omelette. I think both of the things I mentioned are Morningstar Farms, but I'm not sure.
Also the meat crumbles (I have no idea what it's actually called) are good for a lot of stuff -- taco salad, etc.
I still haven't worke dup the courage to give the ol fake meat a try. I'm not sure I could slip it past my hubby for one thing! I'm not a huge burger fan in the first place so I don't know......
I do enjopy Hormel Turkey Pepperoni though...it's great for mini pizzas and has a lot less fat and calories then reg pepperoni!
Have a great weekend!
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