It scares me a little bit when the FROZEN version tastes better than the REAL version at the restaurant; is it because we are so used to the added chemicals in processed food that we’re starting to like them? Or maybe for this challenge we just enjoyed the ginormous amount of cheese on the frozen T.G.I. Firdays loaded potato skins compared to the real restaurant version. Although NEITHER one really deserved the LOADED part of the title – I’m thinking it takes more than cheese and bacon to “load” something.

T.G.I. Friday's Loaded Potato Skins - Frozen Version (left) vs. Restaurant Version (right).

So the restaurant version clearly cheated us on the cheese AND the bacon but did have bacon that tasted more like real bacon; but the yummy cheese on the frozen version comes with a price – Sodium Nitrate, that controversial preservative that most food manufacturers are removing from their products. Like sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate forms nitrosamines, a human carcinogen, known to cause DNA damage and increased cellular degeneration. Potential DNA damage? Too bad they’re not required to put THAT on the label.

Loaded frozen version (left) vs. allegedly loaded restaurant version (right) - don't worry we're not even going to bring up the fat and calories in either one....especially since I had a few of the frozen version ones and may be experiencing DNA changes already...