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
Price:
$1 at Safeway
Packaging Description:
(On Front)
Macaroni & cheese with hamburger
(On Back)
These products are dedicated to my mother, Michelina, who used only the finest ingredients when preparing her homemade sauces, pasta, and rice dishes. Don't let the low price fool you. I guarantee you'll like this product as much as or more than any similar product at even double our price. I wouldn't sell a product with my mother's name on it unless it was good and the best value.
Preparation:
*Before placing into the microwave, you are instructed to peel up one corner for ventilation. The packaging says to peel up the lower left corner, but there is nothing special on the packaging about that corner. I had just as hard of a time peeling it up as I did with my previous Michelina's Meal.
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| Corner peeled, cold cold noodles hiding inside. |
*Pull the tray out of the microwave, peeling the cover up, but NOT ripping it off.
 |
| Sauce to the right, noodles get on the left and the sauce really doesn't look all that appetizing. |
 |
| O.K. still looks a bit less than appetizing, but no judging the book by the cover! |
*Once done heating, let the tray sit in the microwave for one to two minutes to cool.
*Take out of the microwave and give it one last stir.
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| Heated, mixed, cooled and ready for a fork. |
*Commence with the nomming!
Taste:
Out of the microwave it had a smell, but the smell wasn't a cheesy smell, but something akin to Hamburger Helper. The sauce was pretty sparse through out the meal and was light on a cheesy taste. The hamburger was much more prominent than the cheese, however there were no burger chunks, it was a very finely blended. The noodles were firm but not undercooked.
Final Score:
This whole meal reminded me of a hamburger helper just add water cup I had a few years ago. It wasn't bad (though eating reconstituted previously dehydrated beef led to interesting discussions with a coworker). It was lacking in sauce and could have really done with a bit more cheese in that sauce. It wasn't great and I'm not recommending that one go out and stock their freezers full of these, but I've had far worse frozen meals that have cost 3x or 4x the price of this.
Nutritional Information:
Serving Size 1 Package (227g)
Calories 340 Calories From Fat 110
Total Fat 12g (18% Daily Value)
Saturated Fat 6g (30% DV)
Trans Fat 0g (0% DV)
Cholesterol 35mg (12% DV)
Sodium 880mg (37% DV)
Total Carbohydrates 38g (13% DV)
Dietary Fiber 2g (8% DV)
Sugar 3g
Protein 17g
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