Every Day Is Friday

I've been relatively lucky so far with this blog.  Not too many of the meals that I've had (or picked up and am sitting on for review) have ceased to exist.  I know we've lost the Four Cheese Hot Pocket and menu items have changed at homeroom recently (fresh review of new mac coming soon!) but the losses are much shorter than the new additions.  It's sad that things get dropped, but sometimes sales don't dictate keeping something around or that the costs to produce it have become too high.  But today, this is a blog first.  The return of a long lost friend.

T.G.I. Friday's has gone through some rough times of late and locally (SF Bay Area) has shuttered a good number of their restaurants.  One thing that they had on their menu for a number of years starting in the late 2000's, was a fried mac & cheese appetizer.  There would be six breaded wedges of mac and cheese that would come out on a long plate that was drizzled with some kind of cheese sauce and a little bit of parsley (for color!).  Sadly they disappeared off the menu probably two years ago.  It was better for our midlines that they weren't there, but the blog lost a potential review and I lost a tasty appetizer. 

At the store not to long ago, I did my check of the frozen food aisles and what did I see, with a *New* burst on it's box, but T.G.I.'s frozen appetizers had gained an old friend back, the mac wedges.

Brand:
T.G.I. Friday's Mac &Cheese Wedges - Three Cheese

Back from the dead. This calls for a celebration, the party starts at 8!

Price:
$ 5.99 at Safeway

Packaging Description:
(On Front)
Macaroni and creamy Cheddar, Parmesan and Romano cheese sauce in a crispy breading.

(On Back)
Get the great taste of T.G.I. Friday's straight from you freezer!  Appetizers - Snacking & Meal Time


Preparation:
*Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

*Remove the frozen wedges from the package. 

So many wedges.... **drool**

 *Lay the wedges down on a non-stick oven safe surface.

Fresh out of the baggie and frozen solid. While the pan I'm using is nonstick, I prefer to keep the messes to a minimum so out comes the foil.

*Place the tray into the oven on the center rack and set the timer for 10 minutes.  

I cheated a little. I pulled these out at 5 minutes and flipped them.  I often have experienced that things don't always get evenly heated when cooked for a short amount of time and no flipping is required so I took the liberty and fliped em just to be safe.

 *Once the timer goes off, remove the wedges from the oven and let them sit and cool for a few minutes before eating.  The guts will be quite hot.

You'll know when they are done when you see that they've all blown open!  Also, this is why I put foil down.  I didn't want to clean that mess up.

*Commence with the nomming!

Taste:
The smell of these little breaded bites fills the room before the come out of the oven to greet you.  While you're not smelling the mac that breadcrumb smell you are getting is still a pretty nice aroma to have in the room.  The breading was nice and crispy though a little loose (meaning that crumblies appeared on your fingers with ease). The bites are very tasty and a good mac and cheese flavor.  These did lack a bit of the flavor compared to those found in the restaurant (but thats probably due to these not being fried or drizzled with the cheese sauce).  Inside the noodles were well cooked and the sauce was nice and cheesy. The guts of these bites had a good sauce to noodles ratio.

Final Score:
Mac items like these are dangerous because they don't really fill you up (well all mac items are dangerous unless they really really suck, but thats not the point).  Those little bite sized pieces can quickly fall one after another into our tummies and we'll be none the wiser, save when our pants no longer fit us.  That aside these are really tasty.  They cook quickly and don't require any minding of them (unlike if they were fried in a personal fryer).  I am glad that these mac bites are making appearances on our store shelves because I don't have a clue how I'd make these on my own at home and it's a nice addition to a meal that could benefit from something crunchy or mac n' cheesy.

Nutritional Information:
Serving Size 3 Wedges (81g)
Servings Per Container about 5

Calories 240
Calories From Fat 110
Total Fat 12g (18% Daily Value)
Saturated Fat 3.5g (18% DV)
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 15mg (5% DV)
Sodium 400 mg (17% DV)
Total Carbohydrates 28g (19% DV)
Dietary Fiber 1g (4% DV)
Sugars 2g
Protein 6g