Review: MorningStar Farms Frozen Lasagna with Sausage-Style Crumbles

First things first, I am not a full-on vegetarian.  That said, as a way of controlling my calorie intake and monitoring my health, I do try to live a semi-vegetarian lifestyle be trying to contain my meat intake to only two days a week.  Because of this, I'm always looking for ways to get past the normal "boring" vegetarian-type food of fruits, grains, vegetables, etc.  That led me to MorningStar Farms line of frozen vegetarian products and this Lasagna with Sausage-Style Crumbles.  At 270 calories for an "entree", it's not a belt buster either.  This was purchased at Marsh on sale for $3.99.

As you can see, this looks like your typical frozen entree with the oddly colored melted cheese and mix-up of ingredients spread everywhere.  Where this differs in terms of how it looks is that I haven't seen a lot of lasagnas that have such an overabundance of carrots.  Maybe I'm eating the wrong lasagnas, but that was a first for me.  Also in the mix for the lasagna was "sausage-style" crumbles, kale, onions, peppers, garlic, basil, oregano, mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.

In terms of mouthfeel, this one also different from most frozen lasagnas that I've had in my lifetime as well and that was a positive.  Most frozen lasagnas that I've had in the past always end up with having the lasagna noodles get rock hard and nasty (FYI, I used microwave preparation on this one; oven preparation was an option available, but I didn't want to wait half my life for it to get done), but the noodles in this one stayed soft and tender and that was a welcome change of pace.

The taste on this was a unexpected positive as well.  The "sausage-style" crumbles (I can't help but laugh every time I type that) were not plentiful, but they were flavorful and added a nice little spice to the lasagna.  The rest of the vegetables were obviously there, but the taste was not overpowering in either a positive or negative way.

Buy It or Fly By It?  This is a tough one.  While it didn't taste bad (I was pleasantly surprised actually), the size of the entree left me wanting more at the end.  When you combine that with the price and the fact that I'm a bargain shopper, I would definitely say to FLY BY IT.  If you are a person where cost does not matter, you may have a different opinion, but value drives my purchases and that's why I side on the negative side.

FLY BY IT!!

After finishing typing this review, I just went and took a second list at the ingredient list.  Yikes.  There is definitely nothing natural about this one.  LOL.  Take a look at the list from the MorningStar website:

"WATER, LASAGNA (ENRICHED FLOUR [WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), FOLIC ACID], MULTIGRAIN MIX [YELLOW PEAS, GARBANZO BEANS, OATS, PEARLED BARLEY, FLAXSEED, KAMUT, WHEAT FIBER], WATER, EGG WHITES), TOMATO PASTE (TOMATOES), VEGGIE SAUSAGE CRUMBLES (TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN [WHEAT GLUTEN, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, WATER FOR HYDRATION], WATER, CORN OIL, INULIN FROM CHICORY ROOT, SPICES, SALT, DEXTROSE, NATURAL FLAVORS, MALTODEXTRIN, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, HYDROLYZED SOY PROTEIN, HYDROLYZED CORN PROTEIN, CARAMEL COLOR, SUGAR, PAPRIKA [FOR COLOR], GARLIC POWDER, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, YEAST EXTRACT, MALIC ACID, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, ASCORBIC ACID, NIACINAMIDE, ONION POWDER, SKIM MILK, EGG WHITES, IRON [FERROUS SULFATE], HYDROLYZED TORULA AND BREWER'S YEAST, SOY LECITHIN, THIAMIN MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], HYDROLYZED WHEAT GLUTEN, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE [VITAMIN B6], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], VITAMIN B12), TOMATOES (TOMATOES, TOMATO JUICE, SALT, CALCIUM CHLORIDE, CITRIC ACID), LIGHT RICOTTA CHEESE (WHEY, CREAM, VINEGAR, CARRAGEENAN), FAT FREE CREAM CHEESE (SKIM MILK, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SODIUM TRIPOLYPHOSPHATE, SUGAR, PASTEURIZED MILK AND CREAM, SALT, ARTIFICIAL COLOR, XANTHAN GUM, POTASSIUM SORBATE AND CALCIUM PROPIONATE AS PRESERVATIVES, CARRAGEENAN, CHEESE CULTURE, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CAROB BEAN GUM), CARROTS, MOZZARELLA CHEESE (PART-SKIM MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES), ONIONS, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF RED BELL PEPPERS, RED ONION, KALE, PARMESAN CHEESE (CULTURED PART-SKIM MILK, SALT, ENZYMES), ROASTED GARLIC, EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, RICE STARCH, GARLIC, SALT, BASIL, SPICE, XANTHAN GUM, OREGANO."