Topic: fancying up the Easy Mac

[8ullfrog]

So, Easy Mac. It's been around since the 90's, bit like ramen in that you had a cup of noodles, fill to fill line, microwave, then stir in the cheese packet.

It used to taste vaguely of chemical death and polystyrene.

But they've gone cheap, now it's just a packet of noodles and packet of cheese-ish sauce.

Turns out, it's not too hard to fix it up.

I just needed a bigger bowl, and a tablespoon of margarine.

Then it tastes fine.

So instead of using a cereal bowl, I used a bowl one might use to serve a salad in, then plated it back into the smaller bowl post cooking.

That might make the cleanup a bit harder, but it also made a crap dinner a slightly less crap dinner.

poo, I tried to track down an image of the old cup design, but instead I get random bottom recipes, or poo about apple computers.

OK, to fix that, you have to write "kraft easymac" then you get the cup image.

[6pairsofshoes]

That sounds like a convenient dinner, although I'm not sure how I'd feel about it now.  I used to like those Mac n Cheese box meals when I was a kid.  My grandmother made an excellent version from scratch with velveeta and home grown tomatoes that she'd put up.  I don't eat velveeta any more, but, hey, I was a kid.

We sometimes eat Annies Mac n Cheese. I get it on sale and we usually eat it with frozen peas on the side (cooked, of course).

At my last job they stocked the breakroom with lots of treats and instant meals.  Cup o Noodles was one.  I had some once as an experiment.  It was some kind of spicy shrimp flavor.  I tore the styrofoam cup away and put it in a largish bowl with some water and nuked it.  It maybe helped remove the styrofoam flavor but I wouldn't recommend it if you had an alternative.

[8ullfrog]

the kraft blue box of the 90's is dead and gone, due to the malfeasance of mommy bloggers.

They said the usual poo, the dye makes kids hyperactive! Same as the sugar, that doesn't.

More specifically - "Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 have been linked to certain health issues such as asthma, skin rashes and hyperactivity in children but larger scientific studies have been inconclusive."

People look for endless excuses for the misbehavior of their children.

Anyway, from what I hear, the reason Kraft Mac & Cheese is poo compared to the past is annatto and tumeric.

And the assholes tried to say no one noticed when they changed the recipe! I NOTICED, ASSHOLES!

I don't like tumeric to begin with!

I've read that Annies is as close to the classic as you can get.

As to velveeta, my Grandma made the best grilled cheese sandwiches with velveeta, but whenever I've attempted it, they're slimy, gross messes.

But my mom bought shredded velveeta by accident, and throwing that on bread and tossing it in a toaster oven has returned promising results.

[6pairsofshoes]

We had someone who fits the description of a mommy blogger renting a unit in our building once.  She was all emotion and no brain, but convinced of her rectitude and really annoying.  Thank god she moved away to the suburbs where she's still probably busy destroying Kraft Mac n Cheese or related activities.  Tumeric is a basic ingredients in most Indian curries, so I use it a good deal, but I've never found it strongly flavored.  It seems more of a colorant, but perhaps I miss the subtleties of its taste.  It's a ground root, I think.

My brother grew up on canned pasta (Spaghetti-Os) and other carbohydrates:  white bread toasted with margarine and sugar/cinnamon sprinkle.  Gak.  My mother wasn't much of a cook.  She could bake, but we had pretty basic simple fare growing up, including Hamburger Helper.  I do remember her special skills in burning cauliflower so that the house just reeked of it, and I grew to hate what is otherwise a delicious vegetable as a result.  Eating it as an adult was a revelation.  It can taste good.  Wow.  Who knew?

[8ullfrog]

I don't know if my sense of smell/taste is messed up, but tumeric is always grossly bitter to me. I understand it's a staple in Indian cooking.

I believe I mentioned that my roommate will occasionally mix bagged cabbage with a white cream soup in the microwave, and how that's relatively unpleasant. I imagine your mom's boiled cauli was about that bad.

I love broccoli and cauliflower when they're prepared well and not rendered to goop. Raw, I won't have either.

Eggplant is another one where it's right on the sword, if it goes either way too far, don't care for it.

I always found the science behind liquid smoke fascinating, but I've never used it.