Bad planning and Houston traffic led to my latest Fast Times adventure. I had a full day of meetings and errands planned out, and I knew I would be gone for hours. I have been on quite the health kick lately, so I even brown-bagged some healthy snacks: fruits, veggies, and a Nalgene full of water.

Obviously, I left the food sitting on the counter, and ran out the door. And then got stuck in traffic resulting from three separate accidents.

Two hours after my lunch meeting, I still had miles to go but was running out of steam. I started scanning strip malls, looking for any place with food that I could grab and go, and I spotted a Starbucks. My last experience with Starbucks food was a breakfast sandwich that was tasty, if not entirely visually appealing. So I threw caution to the wind and pulled into the parking lot.

I really needed something I could eat in the car, so as I scanned the refrigerated case of pre-packaged meals, I settled on the Cheese & Fruit Bistro Box. Nothing required a utensil, and everything would survive a few minutes in the car here or there while I ran errands. The bistro box includes: brie, gouda and two-year aged cheddar; nine-grain crackers, apples, dried cranberries and whole roasted almonds.

At 480 calories, this is a high-calorie “snack,” but cheese and crackers and one-quarter of an apple don’t really feel like a meal either. I was feeling full after eating the apple, half the cheese and crackers, and all of the almonds. For $5, this is a great deal, and all of the ingredients are of high-quality, with the notable exception of the dried cranberries.

I know it may seem weird to fixate on that, but I eat and bake with a lot of dried cranberries and these were insubstantial and just … not great. Of all the things to skimp on, that seemed strange to me. That said, the cheeses were really yummy, and I particularly enjoyed the sharp cheddar paired with the Granny Smith apples. A cracker and Brie dressed up the lackluster dried cranberries and created a nice balance of creamy and crunchy, salty and sweet, with that slight tang from the cheese at the end. I would buy this again in a heartbeat.

Nutritional info: 480 calories, 28 g fat (10 saturated), 470 mg sodium, 39 g carbs, 18 g sugar, 18 g protein, 6 g dietary fiber

This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 5, 2011.