Au Bon Pain

Restaurant: Au Bon Pain
Address: Multiple Locations
Website: http://www.aubonpain.com/
Name on the Menu: Stews-Macaroni and Cheese
Price: $3.79

Au Bon Pain is like my second home. However, previously I had only bought their pastries, breads, and sandwiches. Today, I finally tried their Mac n Cheese. When I opened the lid of my container of mac, I was met with the smell of cheese and nutmeg. The aroma was wonderful. I immediately noticed that there was a lot of sauce. The elbow mac was hidden under all the sauce. I chose to stir my mac up a bit in an attempt to thicken it. The pasta was soft and the sauce was extremely creamy. The sauce's color was on the light orange side. You could taste the cheddar, though it was mild. You could also taste the nutmeg, which in combination with the pepper gave the mac a nice kick. There was no aftertaste, which was nice. The container did its job and kept the pasta hot. It was very filling. So I ate half for lunch and half for dinner. I ate a little bit of the mac cold for dinner and it tasted awful. I reheated it and it lost all of its flavor. So make sure to eat this mac right away.

I give this mac 3 wedges. The sauce was a little bit too liquidy for my taste and did not stick to the pasta at all. There was really no bite to the pasta, so I could have slurped it all down. I like to actually feel like I am eating something. The redeeming quality was the flavor of the sauce. If you do not mind adding calories to your meal, buy some bread and mop up all the leftover sauce.

Stouffer's

Name of Product: Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese
Website: http://www.stouffers.com/Index/Index.aspx
Price: Usually $2.29-$2.99 

Since I started this blog, my friend Brian has encouraged me to try to Stouffer's Mac n Cheese. I bought it right after he suggested it, but it has taken some time to get to it. So, Brian I finally ate it and I loved it. I followed the instructions on the box for 1100 watt microwave. This is the first frozen Mac n Cheese where I could actually hear and smell it cooking. I stirred the dish, then I let it sit for 2 minutes to thicken up because there was a lot of sauce. The sauce smelled and tasted like cheddar cheese. The sauce was thick and creamy, which is rare for frozen Mac n Cheese. The elbow macaroni was tender, not too soft and not too hard. Even after sitting for 2 minutes it was still very hot. It retained its heat for the entire time I was eating it. After I finished eating all the pasta there was still some sauce left. The sauce was too good to leave it, so I scooped it up with a spoon. The box claims that they use real cheddar cheese and fresh pasta. You can taste both of these facts. There are no preservatives. All of these factors help make the sauce taste authentic as opposed to the artificial taste of some of the other frozen Mac n Cheeses. I was very hungry before eating this dish and after eating it I felt full.
I would definitely recommend this frozen entree to anyone who likes Mac n Cheese. I give this dish 4.5 wedges. The only reason that it does not get 5 wedges is because there was no crust on top or layer of cheese. 

Market Pantry #2

Store: Target
Address: Various locations
Website: http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/page.jsp?title=market_pantry
Name of Product: Market Pantry-Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
Price: 69 cents

Market Pantry's boxed Mac n Cheese definitely needed improvement. The box makes a point to let the consumer know they used spiral shaped pasta. I do not know why they really want us to be aware of this because it is not a factor that would persuade me as to whether or not to buy it. I could care less about the shape of the pasta; I am more concerned with the overall taste of the dish. I followed the cooking directions on the box. I did not deviate from the box even though I wanted to. The powdered cheese packet dried out the dish. It needed extra butter or milk to save it. The sauce clung to the pasta and there wasn't any extra sauce. The sauce was orangy yellow and was on the pale side. According to the box the sauce was made with cheddar cheese. Though it was tasteless, it was filling.

I give this mac 2 wedges. I could tolerate eating a whole box of it, but it needed serious help in the taste department.

Lean Cuisine

Name of Product: Lean Cuisine Macaroni and Cheese
Website: http://www.leancuisine.com/Index/Index.aspx
Price: $1.99 at Target

Even though it was Lean Cuisine, I still had high hopes for this frozen entree. Why? The first thing I noticed upon removing the tray from the box was lots of orange, which meant lots of cheese. I love really cheesy mac, so I was excited. I read the box and it claimed that they use real cheese. I checked the ingredients to find out that the cheese they picked was cheddar. I prepared the entree following the directions on the box. After 4.5 minutes I got a steaming tray of elbow mac with lots of cheese. After letting it sit for 2 minutes, I dug in. I was very disappointed. I did not taste the cheese! The pasta had no texture to it. I felt as though I wasn't even chewing anything. Instead, I could have slurped my whole meal down with a spoon.  About half way through eating, the Mac n Cheese finally started to thicken up and I could finally taste the cheese. The cheese tasted very artificial and when I finished eating, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I am writing this about 20 minutes after eating the mac and I am still hungry. I am a light eater, but even I would have needed another one to feel full. The question is, would I have wanted to stomach another one? The answer: no. So I am left to rummage through my fridge for something else to eat, while I eye all the Mac n Cheeses I still have left to try in the freezer and cabinet. However, those are for another day.

I give this mac 1.5 wedges because it had more cheese than the last frozen mac I tried. It would have been 2 wedges if the cheese tasted slightly less artificial.

Market Pantry

Store: Target
Address: Various locations
Website: http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/page.jsp?title=market_pantry
Name of Product: Market Pantry-Macaroni & Cheese Bites
Price: $3.99

If you read some of my previous posts, you would know that I loved TGI Friday's Fried Mac n Cheese Balls. These Mac n Cheese bites from Market Pantry are the next best thing. They come frozen and there are usually 8 in a box. You need to bake them in an oven for 10-15 minutes depending on the size of your oven. I use my toaster oven. The key to getting these bites cooked thoroughly inside and out is to flip them occasionally during the cooking process and to poke holes in them. This will allow them to cook evenly on both sides and for the heat to get inside. The bites are made with cheddar cheese. The noodles resemble small tubes. The bites are nice and crunchy. There is a lot of cheese inside and it tends to ooze out. They are extremely flavorful and do not taste like they were ever frozen. They are not filling. You would have to eat the whole box if you wanted to make this your entire meal. They are great for a snack.


I would give these bites 4.5 wedges.

Pace University

I recently had a giant helping of Mac n Cheese at Pace University. Their mac had a very thin layer of cheddar cheese on top, which looked like it came from randomly sprinkled cheese shreds that melted when it was put in the oven. They chose macaroni with ridges to help absorb some of the sauce. The pasta was soft and flavorful. This flavor came from the pepper they sprinkled all over the pasta. The mac was not super cheesy nor was it creamy. I liked that they did not go for the liquidy sauce that tastes more like velvetta. This mac tasted very southern, where every bite had cheese flavor, but it was not over the top. It was not filling, I had to go back for seconds and I was still hungry. My only recommendation would be a tiny bit less pepper and a little more baked cheese. It needed some cheese crunch for contrast.

I give this mac 3 wedges. Not bad for college cuisine.