While Whole Foods is expensive, many of the items they carry justify the higher prices. Hopefully some of these more expensive macs are worth it. With a focus on organic and healthier items many of the brands seen at Whole Foods are ones you're not going to find at your local grocery stores and because of that, I'm heading down a path fraught with danger for someone who isn't normally very adventurous when it comes to food.
My lunch today was made by a company named Blake's. Blake sounds nice enough, let's hope his mac n' cheese is too.
The Review
Brand:
Blake's Mac & Cheese with Chicken
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| Well Blake, if that's actually your name... let us see how your mac n' cheese is |
Price:
$4.99 at Whole Foods
Packaging Description:
(On Front)
Made with Organic chicken and organic bowtie pasta
Made with white meat chicken
(On Back)
Our comfort food likes to get a little fancy.
Comfort food is relaxed. It's jeans and sneakers on a Sunday afternoon. Sometimes our comfort foods likes to get a little dressed up. Our Mac & Cheese with Chicekn represents the best of both worlds, made with organic chicken and organci broccoli. Then we add organic bowtie pasta and, of course, the cheese! So dust off your fancy pants, but keep the slippers on, and enjoy your dinner in style.
Every Blake's meal is made completely from scratch in small batches using the finest organic and natural ingredients. So leave the cooking to us and enjoy some time with the ones you love.
*No antibiotics used *0 Grams trans fat *No artificial flavors *No animal by-products *No artificial colors *No preservatives
Preparation:
*Open and remove the tray from the box.
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| Wait a minute.... no one told me that there were going to be veggies! |
* Place the tray on a microwave safe plate and cook in the microwave for three to four minutes. As always, I split the difference and cooked it for 3:30.
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| See what happens when you heat up plastic wrap, it just pulls and reshapes what it's covering into whatever shape it feels it should. Fortunately this is a rare time that it's not going to matter. Your tummy will do way worse things than this wrap did to the tray. |
*Carefully remove the plastic film covering the meal and let it sit for one to two minutes.
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| The ice crystal looking stuff is actually breadcrumbs on the top of the meal. Darn you microwave for not browning as you cook! |
*Stir up the mac n' cheese.
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| Now that it's all mixed up, I can see chicken and cheese and broccoli and pasta! What clues do you have for us next, Blue? |
*Commence with the nomming!
**NOTE**
This mac recommends that you don't use a microwave, but use your oven to prepare the meal. I didn't really want to put this in the office toaster oven and cook it for that long and prevent others from being able to use the toaster oven if they wanted to. I do have another mac made by Blake's. If possible i'll heat it in the oven and see how it comes out. Below is the one oven direction for those who want to be adventurous and wait FOR-EV-ER for their meal.
*After removing the plastic film set the oven to 375 and cook for 30-35 minutes.
Taste:
Pulling the plate out of the microwave I was greeted with a complete lack of smell. Only after i removed the plastic wrap did I get any kind of aroma from the dish, which was dominated by both broccoli and chicken. The broccoli was green and cooked (but firm), while the noddles were overcooked and very chewy/gummy. The cheese sauce tasted like cheddar when I could taste it. Parts were very cheesy, while other parts I couldn't taste any cheese at all. The chicken was all breast meat, torn, not cut (into equal sized chunks) and the pieces were quite large. The bread crumbs (via the microwave) really didn't add anything to the meal and just made it taste starchy.
Final Score:
This tray of mac tried very hard to give those of us eating it a special treat. Organic chicken, organic veggies and noodles along with real cheese! It just never quite got there. The chicken while good, was a bit tough. The meal had a starchy taste through out, thanks to the bread crumbs, which even if they crisped up, I don't think would have helped, because the noodles were very gummy. With the sauce so hit or miss the whole meal just ended up not being very good. Even giving this the oven treatment won't stop those noodles from being so gummy unfortunately.
Nutritional Information:
Serving Size 8oz (227g)
Servings Per Container: 1
Calories 360 Calories From Fat 150
Total Fat 17g (26% Daily Value)
Saturated Fat 5g (26% DV)
Trans Fat 0g (0% DV)
Cholesterol 80mg (26% DV)
Sodium 320mg (13% DV)
Total Carbohydrates 34g (11% DV)
Dietary Fiber 3g (12% DV)
Sugar 5g
Protein 18g
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