Noodles With A Tan

I started this blog off with some simple just add water cup o' macs.  I've had 5 varieties sitting in my desk for almost two months just waiting for a chance to shine.  Running low on available frozen options at work (I've got 8 more sitting in the home freezer plus who knows how many more just waiting for me) I dug into my desk and pulled up one at random.  How did lunch go today?  Read on!


The Review

Brand:
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Whole Grain Original Flavor

Silly Kraft cup!  You're not Annie's Homegrown mac n' cheese.  There are no bunnies here!

The Wheels In The Sky Keep On Turning

I don't have too many rules that I've set in place for Mac N' Steve.  Try all the kinds I can find (even the scary ones I would never eat normally) and don't review the kinds that the only difference is the pasta shape.  We're in for the whole experience and a elbow vs a straight noodle really isn't going to change the dynamic of the meal.  Today's meal was my first conundrum that I wasn't sure what I should do.  I decided to allow it because in the end, it was different calorie wise compared to the standard mac they produce (while the weight stayed the same).  If this is the biggest problem I have in writing this blog (other than the whole eating macaroni n' cheese all the time) I think I'm doing O.K..



The Review

Brand:
Michelina's Zap'ems Gourmet: Wheels & Cheese (bought June 2012 and reviewed)
OR
Michelina's Authentico Wheels & Cheese (new branding found 7/29/12)

Zap 'ems, I hardly knew ye.  Less than a month old and you're already changing your clothes.  Was it me?  Wast it something I said about your four cheese brother?  I can do better! I can buy more (well if there are more flavors that is).

TGI-Mac & Cheese

Not too long ago I experienced my first restaurant brand mac n' cheese (thanks to the power of the freezer aisle, I've got more coming).  That mac isn't currently (and probably never was) served in restaurants, but the whole point of meals like those is to make you feel like you're enjoying those restaurants meals while at home.  TGI Friday's is another chain that has gotten into the business of marketing themselves out and letting a food manufacturer bring inspired by meals to our tables.


The Review

Brand:
T.G.I. Friday's Grilled Chicken Mac & Cheese

Flair not included.

A Mac Made For Steve

I've mentioned a few times that my coworkers have been instrumental with not only my creation of this blog, but helping me pick lunches, going to restaurants to try them with me and now taking time out of their own day to MAKE me mac n' cheese.

I've got a number of foodie coworkers, but one often makes some pretty amazing things and brings in the leftovers for lunch.  While she's feasting on her meals, I'm often in the kitchen too, making meals pulled from the freezer for this blog.  We've had a number of conversations about my love of comfort foods and our mutual love of crunchy snacks (we'll share that bag of chips or pretzels to help each other out) and once she found out that I was going whole hog into creating a mac n' cheese blog she said that she was worried about what I could be doing to my stomach and offered to bring in for me a healthier home made mac.

You read that right.  A foodie is going to make me a special lunch, for no reason other than because she's just that kind of person.  I really do work with a GREAT group of people and I can't thank my coworker enough for her kindness in doing this for me.

Some may say, "Steve are you actually going to review your coworker's mac that they brought in for you?"  And to that I can only reply with a resounding YES! She made this for me (and for the blog) so it's only fair that I give it the same treatment that I give all my other macs. I won't pull punches, but looking at it, I don't think i'll have to either.

My FIRST mac made exclusively for the blog and I.  I was so excited by the fact I got a special homemade brought into the office just for me, that I didn't take any other pictures because I was too busy eating it all up. 

The Review

Name:
DT's Healthier mac n' cheese, just for Steve

Baked Mac Must Mean Healthy Mac, Right?

We Americans really love appetizers.  Restaurants offer up these huge appetizers meals before we're served the huge meals that we've actually ordered (not to mention we order appetizers in droves) and they are mainstays of dinner events and parties because of their ease of serving and quick preparation.  Swaths of restaurants have the standard fare including mozzarella sticks, potato skins, buffalo wings, chips & dip a number of other small finger foods sitting on their menus, but as culture pushes towards healthier foods newer options like fried mac n' cheese disappear.  I've already reviewed Target's attempt to bring fried mac n' cheese to the masses, but what happens when a food maker has their eyes on our midsections and offer us a 'baked' solution to a normally fried meal.

The Review

Brand:
Hot Pockets Snackers Baked Mac & Cheese Bites


See! Baked! Totally healthy! Eat the whole bag!



Banquets, Feasts And Buffets... Oh My!

With almost anything in today's capitalist driven society you've got tiers of products.  Ones that cost more (that tends to be of better quality and/or is some kinds of status symbol) and those that cost less (sometimes of lesser quality and can come with stigmas because of what it is).  Food is no different (except when it comes to perishables) with store brands and name brands.  There are also tiers of name brands.  Some brands are considered good, while others aren't due to their cheaper costs and perceived lower quality.   Banquet is one of those brands known for their price (cheap) and not for their quality.  Societal stigma on mac n' cheese?  Not in this blog!


Brand:
Banquet Macaroni & Cheese Meal

Hamburgular Stole My Mac

When at the store this last week buying fruit for the office, I did my now regular jaunt through the pasta and frozen aisles looking to see what I still need to buy and if there is anything new to the shelves.  I stumbled into a pair of mac n' cheeses I hadn't seen on the shelves before and they were both macs with meat.  I was pretty excited to try them because everyone seems to just do the standard fare mac n' cheese and there seems to be no experimentation with add-ins.

Another when I first planned on this blog two years ago moment, when trying the numerous macs I had bought, I would toss chicken strips into the toaster oven and crisp them up before adding them to the mac.  It was quite tasty and seeing a few add-in variety mac's has raised my hopes up that I'll find one worth having regularly.

The Review

Brand:
Michelina's Cheeseburger Mac

A homeroom That Should Be In Every School

This blog has really opened my eyes.  I've been simply stunned by the amount of mac n' cheese out there.  Frozen kinds up the wazoo, enough just add water varieties to make the state call for water rationing and so many stove top kinds that I could fill a grocery aisle.  Restaurant mac n' cheeses are something that we're sorely lacking in comparison.

When I first started the blog, I put out a call to friends on Facebook for places that I should try (if they knew of any) and between FB comments and coworkers, I had 8 people telling me that I needed to venture off to a place in Oakland called homeroom within the day I mentioned it.  If there was that much positive feedback I knew I had to get out there, and soon. 

This last weekend I finally got a group of friends and some of their family together (9 of us!) and we all went to homeroom for lunch.

Restaurant:
homeroom

Mac + Cheese?  I think we've got a winner here.

Get In Mah Belly!

I have been fielding a number of questions and comments regarding my health and the any effects on it thanks to the large number of mac n' cheese meals that I've been eating these last two months.  I felt it best that I try to dispel some of the concern and let everyone know health wise what I'm doing to prevent myself from ending up the next tragic Yahoo! News story about fat gluttonous Americans who can't stop eating the cheese (but the blog's traffic would be amazing for a week and I'd get a few bucks for the family if I had ads turned on for the blog). 

I'd like some cheezy poofs and some mac n' cheese mom! (Image lifted from SouthPark Wiki)

Amy, What Has Happened To Your Kitchen?

Like a glutton for punishment, or one who's enjoying a very good meal, I keep coming back for more.  I'm not getting tired of mac n' cheeses by any means but I would hope that a company who've gone to the effort to create so many kinds has a real reason to keep making all the flavors.  Hopefully Amy's picks it up today.



The Review

Brand:
Amy's Kitchen Rice Mac & Cheese

So we meet again Amy's... How many combinations of mac do you have because we're at three and counting and I don't think it's ever going to stop.

The Most Expensive Mac N' Cheese I've Ever Had

Last week we went to the Alameda County Fair and I tried to get some fried mac n' cheese (on a stick!).  I was unsuccessful. Yesterday after dinner, we decided that it was probably the last good time to try again before the fair closed on Sunday. 
The weather was great, a few friends were at the fair already and though I had forgotten, it was also fireworks night.  My friend who was already at the fair, had taken a pic of some mac n' cheese on a stick  and had messaged it to me. Her success left me feeling pretty confident that I was going to get to experience what should be heavenly fair food.  Once we got into the fair, we went back to the booth that had so ungraciously scorned me last week, only to find out that they were once again (or still?) out of mac n' cheese.

Hello good sir, can I have some fried mac n' cheese?  NO CHEESE FOR YOU!

After hunting down my friend and telling her of the sorrow I was one again subject to, she said that she had found a different booth that was also selling mac n' cheese and the picture she sent me was from that booth.  We worked our way over to this second booth to lay waste to the bounty they had in store.


The Review

Richie Rich, Your Dinner Is Served

Welcome to another adventure in generic mac n' cheese!  Store brands are often called generics because they do not mass advertise their meals on TV, radio or in print (outside of the stores shelf signage or store weekly fliers).  That is in part why they cost less than the branded versions they sit next to on the shelf.  That distinct lack of advertising saves a bundle and those savings are passed on to us, the lucky consumer.  I've visited Safeway's in-house diet brand already, so I thought it might be good to try their in-house regular mac.

The Review


Brand: 
Safeway Select Triple-Rich Macaroni & Cheese

I tried a number of times to have some kind of witty rich themed joke for the title.  That was the best I could manage.

The TV Told Me To Buy It

Marketing is a huge part of all of our daily lives.  So much so that we almost don't even notice it anymore.  Advertising sneaks into almost everything.  That logo on the shirt you're wearing?  It's an ad.  That hat? An ad.  The shows you watch on TV?  When not broken up by ads, you find all kinds of product placements through out them.  Look the detective is using his smart phone while pointing out that they've just used a specific search engine to get that key piece of evidence.  Don't blink or you'll miss the explanation as to why they are using the special voice controlled GPS to get them to the suspects house in their amazing new car.  It's everywhere.

Some of the most powerful sales tactics are when mascots are used, especially when they are characters that kids relate to from that TV show or favorite cartoons.  Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny and a slew of other characters  have found their way onto everything.  It should come as no surprise that they've found our beloved mac n' cheese as well.


The Review

Brand:
Earth's Best Elmo Mac 'n Cheese with Carrots & Broccoli

Hi! I'm Elmo!  Can you believe that you're hearing my voice as you're reading this?  I'm so cool that not only am I a marketing tool but this is MY mac n' cheese!  I stay up late when not filming Sesame Street and make this for all of you! Consider any red fuzz an unexpected special bonus!

Doctorate Degree Not Required For Cooking

I've already mentioned that restaurants have invaded the frozen foods aisle with their inspired dishes. But todays meal is a rarity.  The restaurant that 'inspired' this meal is now mostly no more (I was under the impression that the entire chain had folded last year, however only 31 of their stores did).  Marie Callenders was quite well known in California and I ate there a number of times when I was little (and hated it if stories I remember are correct).  Marie Callendars is one of those restaurant chains that does pies (for desert and pickup year round) and homestyle dinners much like Bakers Square and Coco's. 

The last times I remember eating at a Marie Callenders was with a roommate who discovered their frozen meals when I was still at SJSU around 02-03 and was floored to discover that they had restaurants out there serving their food as well.  I took him to the Milpitas, CA location and we ate there I think twice that week, it was that enjoyed (I didn't go back, but he did for a while longer).  I also ate at one in San Ramon sometime in 07 or 08 with the wife.  I wasn't sad when the chain died and the restaurant eating public wasn't either as Marie Callendars were losing money like gangbusters.  How the chain shut down some of the stores was shocking, as they shut down mid servicewith people in the dining room eating dinner and employees and customers alike were all kicked out and the doors locked. 

Marie Callenders was one of the earlier chains that licensed their name to shelf stable (thanks for that awesome name wikipedia!) and frozen foods.  This portion of their business has been by far the more successful part and though the restaurant has become a regional one the frozen meals are nationally distributed.

The Review

Brand:
Marie Callender's Smoky Cheddar Mac & Uncured Bacon

Mac + cheese + BACON?!?  We may have a winner here.

I'm Looking At The Mac In The Mirror

Living in the SF Bay Area, I'm privy to all kinds of amazing things when it comes to mac n' cheese. From restaurants that serve nothing but to other places that have carved spots for it on their menus.  Out in the East Bay, Alameda County has it's yearly county fair (this year was it's 100th anniversary!). Since this is practically in my backyard and after hearing from a little birdy that they had some special fair food that was right up my alley, I was compelled to swing by on Sunday in hopes of getting some.  Alas, my destination at the fair was was "out of cheese".  I'll see if they've got cheese once more before the fair closes up shop in a week.  Hopefully i'll be lucky enough to try this out.

I decided that I was still going to have a mac n' cheese day, which after planning on a meal that was going to be horribly unhealthy, I changed gears and had the 'healthiest' kind I had in the freezer based purely on front of the box marketing.

The Review

Brand:
Lean Cuisine Macaroni & Cheese