Review: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese - Veggie Pasta

Veggie pasta?... Minus the visible veggies? I'm curious.

Most likely, anyone growing up in the United States who's ever had any mac and cheese will at least be familiar with Kraft. For a name brand variety, they've probably been the most consistently delivering company out there for boxed dinner mac and cheeses. There's a great deal of choices out there for most anyone's taste palate, save for those who don't really enjoy packaged mac and cheese.

If you've ever wondered what you're going to make for dinner, but don't seem to have the time to make a full-fledged multi-side meal, and often leave out the vegetables from the mix, Kraft has the answer for you: Add the vegetables into the mac and cheese! But wait, this sounds like something that anyone might do. Just throw them in the bowl and the kids will eat it and get their veggies for the day, right? Well, as many a parent out there knows that kids love to play with their food, and often if they see vegetables, they'll sooner pick them out than even think about ingesting them.

Well Kraft has an answer for this problem as well. Because they're not just putting vegetables in there. No, they're literally hiding them inside the creamy orange guise of what looks like an ordinary bowl of Kraft mac and cheese. Here's what the back of the box has to say:

Pretty cool. I'm totally getting in touch with my vegetableness... though I sure won't see any of it.

Just so I don't spoil right away what this ended up tasting like, I'll spare the "what I expected / what I got" details until the Flavo-Meter section near the end. The rest must be covered first before I can let out the big reveal of what it really tastes like (or you might just spoil the surprise for yourself and jump down to the end... up to you).

Pair-ability:
10-pieces of buffalo chicken bites (pretty good actually), plus a bowl of mixed fruit.

I think the orange in my mixed bowl of fruit looks cheesier than my mac and cheese.

Preparation: 
Making this mac and cheese is basically just like any other you've probably had: You boil your water, throw your noodles in, drain the water when it's done, and add the butter/milk/cheese sauce combo. It's pretty much the same deal as always. Clean-up is of course similar. You won't be scraping off any excess dried cheese, so this part is actually well done. Kraft has mastered their... craft... albeit with vegetables hiding inside the powdered cheese sauce.

Deceptive with its slightly off color, this one is.

Shape-o-meter:
These elbow noodles are the same as always. Nothing new here. They'll go firmer or softer depending on how long you cooked the noodles.

Size-o-meter:
Serving size is the same as a normal Kraft Mac and Cheese box. This one will feed two (with other meal items to go with them), and definitely feed any kids.

Nutriti-o-meter:
Where this Veggie Pasta scores very high on is this area. It's got most all the benefits of normal mac and cheese (high protein, high iron), plus with the added benefit of that extra half-serving of vegetables. Couple that with minimal butter and milk additions, and you've got yourself or your family a mac and cheese dish that you won't feel guilty at all eating. So it's a good choice for those looking for a healthy way of enjoying mac and cheese.

Flav-o-meter:

Now let's get to what my expectations and delivery of this meal entailed.

On the first bite, I thought this had an interesting taste to it, although I couldn't quite put my finger on exactly what it was. I felt like I've had it before, though it's been way too long for me to accurately pinpoint where it came from.

Thankfully, my wife was also there eating with me, and she quickly let me know exactly what she thought it tasted like. And once she revealed what it was, I too tasted it...

Before I say what it is, I'll let the pictures below do the talking...

What I expected:

Mac and cheese that thinks it's replacing your garden variety vegetables

What the box says I got:

Joy. I'm getting Cauliflower... that definitely does not taste like cauliflower...

What I got instead:

It's almost like peas but with that logo it-- (!) I knew it!

So let me get this straight... the box claims you're getting vegetables, while it actually gives you a smattering of finely chopped Cauliflower, but then the taste itself is just like Gerber Baby food with Peas? Definitely not going to be making this one again... at least not for me. There is very little actual cheese sauce, so it dried very quickly. On top of that, the cheesiness flavor was mostly absent as well! The Gerber Peas pretty much overtook the dish's taste.
 
Overall:
Parents, you now have a food you can perfectly substitute for your child's baby food, have him/her eat it without trouble, AND get their vegetables in. On that ground, Kraft's Veggie Pasta wins. As for everyone else, I'd say avoid.

Review: Kentucky Fried Chicken - Macaroni & Cheese Side Dish

Q: Which of the box's adjectives above describes the mac and cheese side dish?
A: ALL OF THEM!... but only if it looked and tasted exactly like grilled chicken.

Being that my aim is to review all types of Mac and Cheese that I can find, I don't want to just stick with the package box stuff (though I've got plenty of them to choose from in the meantime), nor do I only want to do the homemade dishes and concoctions. I also want to include restaurants and places you'd go out to eat as well, whether it's obscure or a place you'd frequent. This not only entails dine-in places, but also the realm of fast food, which one doesn't often associate with Mac and Cheese.

Think about it. How many fast-food places can you think of offhand that offers mac and cheese as a side dish, much less the main course? Not too many.... McDonalds? Nope. Arby's? Definitely not. Wendy's? Negative. Long John Silvers? You're more likely to fish up an empty plank (I know, bad pun, I couldn't resist). Even if it was offered at your favorite fast food joint and if you were torn on a side dish to go with your burger, would you honestly pass up an order of curly fries in favor of a partially mixed mass batch of macaroni that's probably been sitting in its pot for a couple hours? Not likely. Most sit down restaurants will offer some sort of mac and cheese dish in the kid's section of the menu, but for fast food, what realm did we need to venture into in order to make this happen?

None other than the cholesterol kitchen itself, where Colonel Sanders has mastered his recipe while simultaneously collectively raising the nation's weight average... I'm talking about KFC. Nevertheless, despite my dieting tendencies and slight knocking of the place, I do occasionally enjoy a satisfying meal of perfectly fried chicken. And from what all I've had out there, you'd be hard pressed to find a better place to fulfill that craving for crispy, crunchy chicken than KFC. My wife and I do really enjoy the taste of fried chicken once in a while, and for this meal we opted to treat ourselves.

But any tangent, back to Mac and Cheese...

My wife pointed out to me one night that KFC has a mac and cheese side dish, and not only that, but she loved it as well. Needless to say, this piqued my curiosity. When we ordered our food, seeing as mac and cheese was offered as a side alongside mashed potatoes, biscuits, corn and beans, I just couldn't sit on the sidelines any longer and so I put aside my indifference and sideswiped my card for a dish (yeah that's too many sides, not just for this meal, but also this sentence!)

What I expected: A so-so processed mac and cheese side dish with not much to stand out from something you'd get at a middle-school cafeteria. 

What I got: A mildly flavorful creamy side that was decent for what it was. Not as good as some of my favorite mac and cheese dishes, but a little better than I expected.

What I knew was KFC's ultimate side dish:  The mashed potatoes and gravy, of course!

Pair-ability:
3 piece Extra Crispy Fried Chicken, plus a biscuit and mashed potatoes (big pieces too, so without a doubt... not the healthiest meal.)

The horrified look on my meal's face when it realized what all I was eating tonight.

Preparation: 
Being something you eat out (and from a fast food place nonetheless), there's not much to this step. Simply walk into KFC and order it. Although to be fair, I did watch the kitchen workers prepare it. From what I could tell, they made a big batch of the mac and cheese a little while before we got there, which they stored in a big container and kept warm (newsflash: It was once made fresh daily, but now it comes pre-made... so much for it getting it fresh). And whenever someone wants it, they plop it out into the little round dishes you see here:

"Plop! Plop!"
Translation: "These noodles are swimming in cheese for sure!"

Shape-o-meter:
Very soft elbow noodles that have probably been sitting in a pot somewhere for a while. The cheese really influences these noodles' solidity. For those who want a creamier mac and cheese, this dish will be right up your alley. You'll never really have the issue of a dry side here.

Size-o-meter:
For a side, it's exactly what I expected it to be, size-wise. Any smaller and it would be done in just a few bites, and any larger than that and it would compete too much with the abundance of what all else you'll be eating with this meal. (Believe me, I was pretty full when all was said and done!)

Flav-o-meter:
The creaminess definitely helps out a bit with the flavor. While I prefer many other mac and cheese flavorings, this one does carry a distinct slight sharpness to the cheddar which will be palatable with most mac and cheese lovers. I'm knocking this part slightly though since I felt it carried a bit of the "leftover" taste with it, since it's not made fresh... just kept warm.

Nutriti-o-meter:
With all the potentially competing sides and entres in terms of how bad for you it is, this one side dish alone is just shy of 300 calories (and high on sodium and saturated fat). For the mac and cheese itself, this isn't really so bad, but put it next to all the other things you'll be eating with it and it's almost overwhelming. If you're on a health kick yet you also really like KFC's mac and cheese, then I'd say go for it, but limit your chicken and other side intake. Otherwise, if you can't pass up the extra chicken, then I'd say forget this dish and go with green beans instead. On a side note (har har), despite all the other protein you'll inevitably be getting from your KFC meal, this mac and cheese side dish also sports a decent amount of protein as well (24% of daily value).

Overall:
Walking into KFC, I didn't expect to be wowed in any way by this side dish, and in many ways I got exactly what I expected. While I do certainly wish it was made fresh, for a dish of its type this certainly wasn't bad at all. I've had worse at many restaurants. If you like your mac and cheese on the creamier and more cheddary side, then this is great to go with. It never seems like there's too much or too little, especially since you're never eating this side alone. Nevertheless, I do caution you to consider what all else you're eating in addition, since it's all too easy to go overboard at KFC. While I wouldn't move mountains to go eat it, if you're curious, I'd say give it a try. You may end up loving it.... but not lovin' it like McDonalds would if they had any.

It's okay, Colonel Sanders. I'm letting you off easy this time.

Review: Knorr Pasta Sides - Cheesy Bacon Macaroni

Yes, I did open it before snapping a shot of it. I'm hungry!

For this review, although we're staying in the packaged mac & cheese realm, I'm moving onto something I've never tried before. I love bacon. And I love Mac & Cheese. So checking out some reviews of Knorr Pasta Sides - Cheesy Bacon Macaroni, I was a little distraught to find that this one isn't exactly winning the hearts and minds of bacon / cheese lovers everywhere. Still, I was hopeful that this side could prove to be mildly interesting tasting as well as passable on a make-me-quick level...

...Well, I was partially right on the former. Onward...

What I expected: Gooey spiral elbow noodles with bacon bits adding a mild hint of bacon flavor to the cheesiness. 

What I got: Dry, sticky spiral elbow noodles with little to no bacon bits, yet ironically with the bacon just about taking over the cheese flavor. 

Pair-ability:Corn, Fried Shrimp (with Coctail Sauce), and Chicken Nuggets (with BBQ Sauce)

Not pictured: Delicious BBQ & Coctail sauce to go with the shrimp & chicken.
Pictured: Much drier mac & cheese than expected

Preparation: 
Used the stove method (combine 1 1/2 cups of water + 1/2 cup of milk with 1 tbsp. of margerine into pan & boil on high for 10 minutes with package ingredients while stirring). Easy enough to make, not too many extra ingredients (just the milk, water and optional margarine/butter). Unfortunately, the cleanup was less than optimal. Despite stirring constantly for 10 minutes on boiling like the instructions directed, much of the cheese and noodle mass ended up sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning, leaving a sticky mesquite residue that's very tough to get rid of. This takes away some of the serving size as well since several noodles are now encrusted to the pan. Compared to many other packaged mac & cheese dinners, this part could go a lot smoother.


Shape-o-meter:
These noodles were actually decent in both texture and shape. I've always loved the spiral elbow noodles (spinning around but with a hole in the center like the regular elbow noodles). These have never failed my preference as far as the hardness goes. Even if they get a little softer through the cooking process, they still hold a certain amount of firmness to them. Knorr, you get a point!

Size-o-meter:
It was a smaller package, so for its serving size, it doesn't feed very much. Still, the package did prominently state it as a "Side" and not a main course (Kraft family size mac & cheese, this is not), so I'm more forgiving of this factor here. It'll only feed about two, and with our other dinner items, it definitely qualified more as something to top off the meal as opposed to making or breaking it.



Flav-o-meter:
I'd give it a medium strength rating overall, although I was disappointed in the cheese. While cooking, the ingredients combined had me believe that this meal would have some actual sauce to it. Especially with the way it was boiling:

Seriously, Just look at how bubbly that is! Quite deceptive...

Not to mention, there was no draining whatsoever. Since this was an additionally-flavored side, I fully expected the bacon to influence the flavor some. However, the bacon ended up overpowering the cheese almost to the point where I couldn't tell if there was any. Only the color orange saved it from making me go "what is that?". It was akin to something of a bacon cheeseburger, minus the burger. And the ketchup. And much of the yum. The bacon flavoring itself wasn't too bad. It tasted about how a package-dried bacon flavoring would be expected to taste (this isn't grilled bacon afterall!) Surprisingly, there were very few actual bacon bits in the meal, despite the package's boasting of "bacon bits" not only in the phrasing but the package picture... they must've been lost in the burnt sanctums of the pan's bottom, which I'll have to go clean soon...

Nutriti-o-meter:
Being a smaller package (not to mention, splitting this already small package with someone), this actually doesn't do too bad in the nutritional department. The only concern would be the sodium (36% of daily value), but aside from that, there is very little fat in this one. From that standpoint, if you're concerned with keeping off pounds and you have a mac & cheese craving, you could do much worse than Knorr's Cheesy Bacon Macaroni (Especially if you decide to forgo the margarine).

Overall:
It's simply okay, not as bad as the amazon reviews would have you believe, although certainly not the best packaged mac & cheese item either. You can definitely do better. I like that it adds bacon flavoring as its main attraction (this opinion will vary depending on whether or not you like bacon... it's important here because it makes up the primary flavor). It delivers some of what the package tells you it is, although don't expect the Cheesy Bacon Macaroni to have much in the way of "cheesy" sauce to it (it might be preferable to take it out of preparation a few minutes early). The preparation itself is straight-forward and doesn't take long, although you'll have to watch it like a hawk if you want your pan to end up without any burnt food to scrape off (big no no). In all, I'd only recommend this one to those who want something very quick and don't necessarily care about how high quality the taste is. Parents, I'd suggest microwaving this one to avoid burning the dish. Everyone who is one the go, this would be a quick dish to make that you don't need to feel guilty eating, although don't expect this one to fill you up entirely either.

Anyway, I hope this review was helpful. Thanks for reading, and until next time... Cheers!