Macaroni and Cheese Review: Annie's Shells and Real Aged Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese

The other day I decided to get some macaroni and cheese for my son to have for his lunch. We don't normally have butter on hand, but I discovered that there was some in the freezer, so I kept my eye out for the kind of macaroni and cheese that requires butter. What I found was Annie's Shells and Real Aged Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese. According to the box the pasta was organic and butter was optional. I thought that this sounded perfect and was happy to try out a box.

I have been fond of the Annie's brand for a while now. Previously I have tried two cereals from the brand, Cinna Bunnies Cereal and Honey Bunnies Cereal, some crackers from the brand, Honey Bunny Grahams, as well as some deluxe macaroni and cheese that already had a pouch of cheese included, Creamy Deluxe Whole Wheat Shells & Extra Cheesy Cheddar Sauce and Creamy Deluxe Shells & Real Aged Cheddar. I liked the idea of powdered cheese, thinking that it would have more natural ingredients. The ingredients were the first thing that I looked at when it came to the Annie's Shells and Real Aged Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese. They were organic wheat shell pasta, cheddar cheese made from cultured pasteurized milk, salt and non-animal enzymes, whey, buttermilk, cream, salt, natural sodium phosphate, annatto exact and beta carotene for natural color. I was happy to see that there was only one preservative. Feeling good about these ingredients I went straight away to making the macaroni and cheese.

Making the Annie's Shells and Real Aged Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese was not hard at all. The box actually had a tab that you could push in to make it easier to pour out the macaroni and cheese. I had to boil six cups of water, which seemed like a lot to me but also seemed like it would be a good idea since I intended on adding some peas to the pasta. I like to add peas to macaroni and cheese because I feel it is a great way to incorporate a vegetable in the dish and peas really complement the cheese and pasta. I've also used mixed vegetable but I think that they are not nearly as good. Once the six cups of water was boiling I added the pasta and let it cook uncovered for about eight minutes stirring it a couple of times. At that point I added in some frozen peas and let everything cook for another couple minutes. During the first eight minutes I mixed the pouch of powdered cheese with some rice milk. The consistency of the cheese was pretty watery so I added some butter. The box suggest a fourth of a cup of lowfat milk, which I didn't have, so I am sure that would aided to a better consistency. It also suggested using two tablespoons of unsalted butter for a richer flavor.

After mixing the cooked pasta and cheese together I just had to wait a couple minutes for the Annie's Shells and Real Aged Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese to cool off. I wanted to make sure that it wasn't going to burn my son's tongue so I set his bowl in the fridge for a couple minutes, just to take the temperature from hot down to lukewarm. My son is only two and is not a big fan of very warm food, and at that age I don't blame him. With everything a good temperature I served the macaroni and cheese to my son and gave myself a little bowl too. We both though that the taste of the cheese was really, really good. The pasta was really great too. The box made about two and a half cups of macaroni and cheese but since we added about a half of a cup of peas it actually was about three cups. My son was eating about a cup, so had I not tried any the box would last him three lunches. Seeing how the box was only one dollar and fourteen cents I couldn't have been more happy about this.

I was curious to see what this inexpensive box of Annie's Shells and Real Aged Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese would offer my son in the way of nutrition. According to the nutrition facts there was in the mixture of pasta and cheese two hundred and seventy calories with forty calories from fat for a cup of macaroni and cheese. There is ten milligrams of cholesterol and five hundred and thirty milligrams of sodium in every cup too. The macaroni and cheese also provides forty-six grams of carbohydrates, two grams of fiber, five grams of sugars and ten grams of protein per cup. In the minerals and vitamins section of the nutrition facts for one cup it listed vitamin A, calcium, thiamin and folic acid with ten percent and iron with four percent. The one-fourth cup of lowfat milk that the macaroni and cheese requires adds ten calories, five milligrams of cholesterol, twenty milligrams of sodium, two grams of carbohydrates and one gram each of protein and sugars. Over all I thought that the nutrition facts looked good.

I have to admit that I was very pleased with the ingredients, taste and nutrition facts of the Annie's Shells and Real Aged Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese. I think when compared to your average macaroni and cheese it brings all the same flavor and that the biggest difference for me was that it was shell pasta and not elbow pasta. I definitely think that I will be getting this macaroni and cheese again for my son. Out of curiosity I wondered if I could find it on Amazon.com. I don't shop too regularly at the grocery store that I found it at and although Amazon.com had a case that made each box about seventeen cents more it still was a really good price. I am glad that I decided to try this macaroni and cheese and I would happily recommend to anyone to give it a try if they like macaroni and cheese.