Annie's
Macaroni and
Cheese Reviews
Okay, technically, even Kraft
macaroni and cheese is trans fat
free, as long as you make it
with butter and not margarine.
(Watch the saturated fat
content, though!) But, we are
impressed by Annie's Homegrown's
overall commitment to healthy,
trans fat free products, and by
their selection of organic
foods. So, we're providing
reviews of several of Annie's
products to help you make good
decisions about healthy
convenience foods to feed your
family.
Annie's Creamy Deluxe Elbows and
Four Cheese Sauce
 This
is one of the newer Annie's
products and we were really
impressed. It is easy to make –
simply cook the pasta, add the
pre-made cheese sauce (no butter
or milk to add) and stir. The
sauce, made with cheddar, asiago,
parmesan and Monterey jack is
creamy with just the right
amount of zing. Every member of
our family liked it (and our
little one is quite picky!) and
it got our seal of approval. The
only downside is a very minor
one – when saved as leftovers
and reheated, the taste and
texture suffered a little more
than Kraft does … and it is
probably because Kraft doesn't
use real food in theirs…
You
can find it online at the
Annie's store.
Annie's Homegrown Shells and
Real Aged Wisconsin Cheddar
 This
package of Annie's macaroni and
cheese is similar in preparation
to a more traditional style
boxed mac 'n' cheese. You cook
the pasta and then mix the dried
cheese sauce mix with milk; you
can add butter if you like a
richer sauce, but it is not
necessary and I found the sauce
quite satisfying without it.
However, be advised that you
should follow the directions,
since they call for you to mix
the sauce mix with the milk
BEFORE you add the pasta back
into the pan from your colander.
If you do not follow the
directions – I speak from
experience here – you end up
with little cheese lumps in your
shells. Now, they are really
yummy little cheese lumps, but
they are lumps, nonetheless.
The
flavor of the cheese is quite
sharp, and I really enjoyed it.
It was a little zesty for the
toddler in our house, but she
does not like sharp cheddar (or
much else, to be honest).
You can find it
online at the Annie's store.
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