I feel the need to clear the air. I find boxed processed foods to be the enemy of our society. Yes, they are easy. Yes, they are quick when we have a busy day (and who out there doesn’t?), but fresh is best. That’s always been ingrained in my head, even growing up when my mom stopped buying the orange-powder mac & cheese in a box and made her own (and far more delicious) from scratch. I normally do this. But…sometimes the last thing I want to do is stand over a hot stove, stirring my almond milk and gluten-free flour to make my white sauce to melt my cheese over my noodles with.
On a weekend, sure. But when a macaroni and cheese craving hits while heading home from the office and your stomach has a case of the rumblies because your mid-afternoon snack didn’t hold you as long as you wanted.
Normally someone would grab the Kraft EZ Mac or the box with the pouch of neon orange powder off the shelf and spend the next 10 minutes whipping up an easy, satisfying mac and cheese meal. But when you are gluten-free, Kraft is not the answer.
Thank goodness for Annie’s Homegrown…the answer to a quick and inconvenient mac and cheese craving. Annie’s gives the gluten-free community a delicious, creamy, and healthy mac and cheese option. No…seriously! And while it does come complete with the neon orange powder pouch, the comparison ends there!
The noodles in Annie’s Homegrown are rice pasta. And they hold up very well under the boiling process to get them to the perfect consistency. They don’t fall apart like some cheaper gluten-free pastas do. And, more importantly, they don’t stick together. The calorie count, when compared to Kraft is cut cut dramatically. Annie’s gluten-free option is about 280 calories a serving as compared to Kraft’s 400. The sodium content in Annie’s is 390mg as compared to Kraft’s 580mg. Annie’s has less sugar and less cholesterol too.
It’s prepared like regular boxed macaroni and cheese. Boil water, add rice noodles…cook for about 10-12 minutes at a boil. However, instead of adding the powder to the cooked noodles, in a separate container, you take 1/4 cup of milk (I use unsweetened almond milk) and dump the cheese powder into it, mixing it up separately. Then, drain the noodles, put back in the pan and pour over the now-liquid cheese. For a creamier texture, the box invites you to add margarine/butter, but it’s not necessary and this is only an option. I chose not to use the margarine, and settled in with my bowl of easy gluten-free macaroni and cheese.
One bite and I was in easy-mac heaven. Seriously. It was creamy without the margarine. And by mixing the cheese separately, it meant that it didn’t have lumps or that grittiness that often comes with those boxed & powdered varieties. The flavor was cheddar cheese heaven. Just the right amount of flavor. The noodles were spot-on with consistency and texture.
While processed is never my first choice, on those days when I’m strapped for time, this is a great meal to prepare and enjoy without doing damage to your waistline or your budget. This gluten-free treasure is one of the less-expensive gluten-free food options out there. It’s hard to say no when it’s affordable and easy.
It will never replace my homemade macaroni and cheese, but it will always have a spot on a shelf in my pantry. In fact, I currently have two boxes on there for my next emergency dinner crisis! Thank you Annie’s Homegrown for giving us a flavor-filled burst of macaroni and cheddar cheese when needed most. My tummy thanks you!
The Celiathlete 
So glad you liked them!