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.

Price:
$2.30 at Safeway

Packaging Description:
(On Front)
An American Classic - with a Surprising Twist!

Our triple-rich mac & cheese folds butter, thick cream, ages Cheddar, Parmesan and Swiss cheeses into house made macaroni. The result? A distinctive, incredibly satisfying dish that's a delight for all ages. Enjoy!

(On Back)
N/A


Preparation:
*Take the tray out of the box.

Don't just stand there taking pictures. Put me in the microwave!  I'm cold!

*Make sure to poke a few holes in the film before you place it in the microwave.
*Cook for three to four minutes or until hot.  I split the difference and cooked it for 3:30.

**Steve Note** That wasn't enough.  It took almost another 2 minutes before it was "until hot" warm all the way through.  I guess it's hard to fault the instructions if they leave the "until hot" on there but, seeing that instead of a specific time (that was over a minute too short) was a first.

As you can see by my cold whiter center (especially compared to the edges) I did not cook through at the prescribed time implied I would.

I mixed it up, covered back up and cooked for an additional 1:30  This was the result of the extra cooking time.

*Remove the tray from the microwave and let it sit for one minute to cool.
**Steve Note**Remember to take that plastic film off before you eat it, though the instructions don't mention it, I figured I should. Safety first!

*Give it one last stir before eating.


Now it's ready to give me erm... it's riches?

 *Commence with the nomming!

Taste:
Reading the box (yes I do that), I was surprised to see swiss cheese as one of the cheeses used for the mac.  Swiss doesn't carry a flavor that I would expect to have in a mac n' cheese due to it's strenght and lack of blendability with other flavors. Once the meal had actually gotten hot after it's second heating I didn't notice much of an aroma.  I had a hard time with this pasta.  I couldn't tell tell if was very al dente or was suffering from the plastic noodle problem many of these meals are victims of.  In the end I sided with plastic over al dente.  The sauce had a very mild cheese taste and didn't really remind me of the Cheddar, Parmasean or Swiss it was made of.  The sauce itself was reasonably thick and wasn't too soupy, though it did suffer some from it in parts.  It was nice to see that this Safeway mac didn't suffer the same gritty fate as it's diet brother did.

Final Score:
I'm not sure how I should handle noodles that I couldn't quite put my tastebuds on to figure out if they were a little firm, or were just left overs from the toy factory.  I guess i'm glad I got caught up trying to figure out the noodles because the sauce bordered on flavorless for most of the meal, until the random cheesy flavor triple-rich flavor made a brief appearance before it slunk back into the depts of the tray.  The vague directions didn't make me optimistic about the final result.  Is it so difficult to say, cook the meal for 5 minutes?  I guess there are some costs that go into someones salary to determine the optimal time to cook these dishes and Safeway skimped out so that we could get this for 50 cents less than the branded variety.  The final noodle in the coffin was that this meal was packing lots of fat and salt that let me know that this wasn't A. worth finishing and B. not worth getting again.

Nutritional Information:
Serving Size 1 Tray (340g)
Servings Per Container 1

Calories  450  Calories From Fat 180
Total Fat 20g (31% Daily Value)
Saturated Fat 12g (59% DV)
Trans Fat 0g (0% DV) 
Cholesterol 65mg (22% DV)
Sodium 990mg (41% DV)
Potassium 160mg (5% DV)
Total Carbohydrates 53g (18% DV)
Dietary Fiber 2g (8% DV)
Sugar 6g
Protein 14g