Kraft Dinner, as it has long been called up here in Canada, is one of those staples of life, much beloved by not only Canadian kids, but also Canadian University students, who have been known to live on the stuff. It is often one of those items packed in overseas “Care packages” to students studying out of the country as well as soldiers serving in foreign lands.
Okay, but what is the best way to make it cheesier? Answer: cut down on the liquids added to the macaroni. Omit the milk totally, only use a slight bit of margerine, only enough to wet the macaroni, and then dump in the cheddar powder and stir the bejesus out of it, and then eat it.
If you’re still missing that milk, pour yourself a glass and drink it while you eat your cheesier Kraft Dinner, and don’t even bother getting ripped off by buying Cheddar Explosion or whatever it is.
I concur. My boys are 14 and 16, and I think I am going to have to take out a second mortgage just to feed them. Grocery bills are eating me alive. Something that used to feed them for three meals now barely covers one. I think they eat about 6000 calories a day, no kidding. Don’t know how you do it with three.
Since we are talking macaroni and cheese, I have a big oval deep dish casserole dish that have always made mac & cheese in, and we used to get two meals for four people out of that dish. Now, the boys would empty it themselves if I let them, forget that dad and I might want a little, :p!
It’s called hyperbole. If you’re allowed to get all elitist about frigging macaroni and cheese, I’m allowed to call your preferred version frou-frou.
Don’t you ever eat anything that’s processed, or junk food, or “instant,” or from a can, total crap? Do you really make EVERYTHING from complete scratch? If so, then bully for you. Some of us don’t have the time or the inclination, and we just don’t care. everybody has stuff that they have to have the best, and stuff where the cheapest is just fine. Mine (and others’) is mac & cheese.
My husband’s mother had three kids with her when she remarried…and the man she married had five kids of his own, in just about the same age range. She had eight teenagers in the house at once, SIX of whom were boys.
She encouraged the boys to get jobs in restaurants, where they could eat for free or for a deep discount. My husband used to work at Pizza Inn after school, and his first task of his shift was to clear the lunch buffet tables. He’d merge all the pizzas into one huge platter, set it on top of the oven, and munch out while he was working. He’s always been a fast worker, so he was able to clear the tables AND eat the leftovers, too. After his shift was done, he was allowed to have one free meal a day, so he got a big serving of spaghetti (he wasn’t in the mood for pizza, can’t think why), and ate it before he went home. His brothers had similar jobs.
As for the shortage of mac’n’cheese, set a new rule in the kitchen: Mom and Dad get their servings FIRST now, and the kids have to evenly divvy up whatever’s left evenly.
I have made homemade mac & cheese before, and the hilarious thing is that if I call it “mac & cheese,” the kids don’t want to eat it. If, however, I wise up and call it “cheesy noodle casserole,” everyone loves it and asks for seconds.
I agree with those that say Kraft mac and cheese has its place. It’s one of the great American comfort foods, and when I was living abroad, anytime one of us American expats went back to the States, we had to pick up a carton of American cigarettes and loads of Kraft macaroni and cheese for the others. We could all be food snobs in our little way, but we needed that bit of home to bring us back.
Anyhow, when I’m making homemade macaroni and cheese, I use Alton Brown’s stovetop method, because it reminds me of the mac and cheese of my childhood, only richer and creamier. And I sub Velveeta for at least half (more like 75% usually) of the cheddar Alton calls for. That and the Rotel queso dip are the only times I ever use Velveeta in my kitchen.
On Thanksgiving I was supposed to bring macaroni and cheese. I simply didn’t have time, so I whipped up a three boxes of Kraft and layered and topped it with shredded sharp cheddar. I put it under the broiler for a minute or so. I got a snide comment or two for not making the ‘real’ thing, but there wasn’t so much as a single elbow left to bring home.
Ha. Ha. Ha. Actually he’s the one who wound up turning into the big foodie. He watches Emeril, Malto Mario, and Iron Chef, reads cookbooks, and truly loves to cook. His mother still can’t cook worth shit and he hates it worse than I do when we have to go her house for holiday dinners. I just introduced him to the power of fresh, simple, homemade food, and he is the one who took that concept to another level.
He tackles much more complicated dishes than I would ever dare, so believe me, his balls are perfectly intact.
Word.
(My gripe is Hillshire Farm Sausage, it’s now 14 oz. instead of 16. And it’s wierd adding BEEF to Hamburger Helper to stretch it to two adults and two 7 year old boys. I fear we’ll have to double the recipe in the not too distant future.
Today’s dinner was home made Beef Stew. Last weekend we had Lobster on Fettuchini with alfredo sauce. If I want plastic Cheese with plastic pasta, I’ll damn-well make it!
What’s funny is, the pasta in a box of Mac n Cheese is the single cheapest component in there! So instead of 5 cents of pasta, there’s 4.2.
YMMV, I’ve never had homemade macaroni and cheese that wasn’t bland overcooked noodles with bland cheese. I don’t know if there is a way to get nice al dente noodles after baking. I keep hoping someone will give me some good homestyle macaroni and cheese, but it is never any good.
I’ve noticed too that Kraft Dinner seemed to get blander as I got older (I’m fine with the idea that’s it’s me who’s changed, but the result is still the same) - my solution to that is to use the Sharp Cheddar version of Kraft Mac & Cheese. It seems to have a discernible cheddar flavour that is missing in the regular flavour now. Course, I also add extra shredded cheese, vegetables, chicken breast, and sour cream to my KD, too.
I made it once, and it was awesome. Not sure if I have the recipe any more…
The secret is using cheeses that melt smoothly to begin with, plus some cheddar. Also, what really helps is a good chunk of American “cheese.” Adds some serious smoothness.
Am I the only one who makes “mac & cheese” by adding a knob of butter and a handful of shredded cheese to whatever pasta I have on hand? It’s not a proper job with a white sauce and all, but it’s still better nutritionally (if for no other reason than sodium levels) than the stuff from the blue box and doesn’t take any longer to make.
