Mac & Cheese Musings
My son came home from a friend's house last week asking me to make what his friend's mother had made them for lunch: Wacky Mac. So I checked it out in the supermarket today. Wacky Mac is instant macaroni and cheese - or, as the box puts it "Macaroni and Cheese Dinner!". The package contains a couple ounces of noodles with a packet of powdered imitation cheese sauce included. Powdered. Cheese. The consumer is directed on the back of the box to add the contents of the cheese sauce packet, 1/4 stick of butter and 3 tablespoons of milk to the pot after draining and cooking the noodles. The resulting noodles are (if the photograph on the box is to be believed) colored a bright neon orange quite unlike anything found in nature. In a word: Ugh.
May I be so bold as to ask why in the world this product even exists? Is real mac n' cheese really quite so difficult to make from scratch? One still has to cook and drain the pasta in order to make the fabulous gourmet concoction known as Wacky Mac, so I'm really not seeing the great convenience here. I am going to go out on a limb here, and make an assumption that real, fresh cheese is just so much more nutritionally sound than the stuff in the packet that clearly has been dehydrated, ground to a fine powder, and food-colored to within an inch of its life. Don't take my word for it, just take a look at the way the stuff is described in the ingredients list, and decide for yourself: DEHYDRATED PASTEURIZED PROCESSED CHEESE FOOD. Lest you think that this delectable treat contains actual cheese - let me assure you it is only cheese food. Whatever cheese food may be. Further perusal of the ingredients list informs me of exactly how the unnatural orange color of the fully cooked dish is achieved: FD&C YELLOW #5 AND #6. Lovely.
Somehow, I don't see this item (Macaroni and Cheese Dinner? Macaroni and Cheese Food? Macaroni and Cheese Food Dinner?) becoming a staple in the OrthoFamily diet. Even if the box does promise that Wacky Mac is "great fun to eat!".
May I be so bold as to ask why in the world this product even exists? Is real mac n' cheese really quite so difficult to make from scratch? One still has to cook and drain the pasta in order to make the fabulous gourmet concoction known as Wacky Mac, so I'm really not seeing the great convenience here. I am going to go out on a limb here, and make an assumption that real, fresh cheese is just so much more nutritionally sound than the stuff in the packet that clearly has been dehydrated, ground to a fine powder, and food-colored to within an inch of its life. Don't take my word for it, just take a look at the way the stuff is described in the ingredients list, and decide for yourself: DEHYDRATED PASTEURIZED PROCESSED CHEESE FOOD. Lest you think that this delectable treat contains actual cheese - let me assure you it is only cheese food. Whatever cheese food may be. Further perusal of the ingredients list informs me of exactly how the unnatural orange color of the fully cooked dish is achieved: FD&C YELLOW #5 AND #6. Lovely.
Somehow, I don't see this item (Macaroni and Cheese Dinner? Macaroni and Cheese Food? Macaroni and Cheese Food Dinner?) becoming a staple in the OrthoFamily diet. Even if the box does promise that Wacky Mac is "great fun to eat!".
posted by orthomom at 7:54 PM
49 Comments:
I also have difficulty understanding the Wacky Mac phenomenon. When my kids request mac & cheese I spend the extra five minutes making the cheese sauce. It must be making a difference...when I picked my daughter up from a playdate, the mom apologized that my daughter didn't want to eat lunch -- Wacky Mac!!
My family was introduced to this wacky mac the same way. I thought the same thing you did, but I bought it anyway. I think that "cheese food" is salt. The color is in fact, pretty bright. In a word, the stuff was gross.
I used to sneak pureed spinach and peppers into my kids mac and cheese dinners, and they were happy - until they discovered Wacky Mac. I don't know why they prefer that alien concoction. Now I just skip the mac and cheese altogether.
Ok, I have to speak up in defense of the Wacky Mac. I currently have 3 boxes of it on my shelf, and I had it for lunch yesterday. Yes, it is a rather unnatural color, and there's most likely no real cheese in it, but what you have to realize is that it's not really the same category of food as real macaroni and cheese. It's like there's good Chinese food, and good takeout Chinese food. Boxed macaroni and cheese is a food all to itself. (And I can't get decent kosher cheddar where I am, so real macaroni and cheese is out of the question.) Also, Wacky Mac has all different shaped noodles, which is just as much fun in college as it is for little kids.
Just be glad you can't have Kraft Deluxe Cheese Dinner. That comes with bright orange cheese like sludge rather than a powder. It's really something special. :)
Thanks Emily. I accept your perspective. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that the OrthoKids will find flourescent orange noodles in all different shapes almost as much fun as you do. Pretty soon they'll be jonesing for Wacky mac three times a day, their grades will nosedive when they start selling their schoolbooks to buy more of that powdered cheese food. I think the OrthoFamily will just say NO to the peer pressure for Wacky Mac. Even IF all the cool kids are addicted to - er - eating it.
It's designed to appeal to people who really want to eat (treif) Kraft Mac & Cheese, which has been around for decades. And Kraft have answered your question: they now do "Easy Mac" which doesn't require boiling the pasta!
In Canada, it's simply called "Kraft Dinner"--legend (possibly urban) has it that truth in labelling laws prevent it from being called "macaroni & cheese".
have you checked your (insert kosher brand here) American "cheese"lately?
go to the fridge, and look at what it is called.
p.s.I leave out the butter, and use skim milk, and thereby lower the calories in the Wacky Mac- cant do that with american cheese product
I don't make wacky mac with american cheese. Cheddar is much nicer - and less processed. And the package says "cheese", not "cheese food".
All I can say is, I'm suprised. How can you not have known about this until now??
Wacky Mac is not at all different from Kraft's Mac and Cheese (no, I haven't tried it) and they sell tens of millions of dollars a year in that stuff. So its not a Jewish/kosher thing.
As a previous poster stated, its a food group in itself.
I sent the item to my daughters. One responded that it is her kids' favorite food.
A Chaim Yankel in Teaneck said...
All I can say is, I'm suprised. How can you not have known about this until now??
I guess I knew it existed, but only vaguely. We aren't wacky mac kind of eaters. Which I guess I should be grateful for, considering how many of you love the stuff. And considering what they put into it, of course.
When it comes to feeding my kids, I have to choose my battles wisely. One or two servings of Wacky Mac a week won't hurt -- at least, not as much as all that "nosh" that our kids are introduced to early in life. Mini-muffins with sprinkles, lollipops, taffys, Mike-and-Ikes -- just check those Shalach Manot and what's in them! How about that atrocious stuff that is fed to them as "snack" in their Shabbos morning groups in shuls, or later at a kiddush? A seven-layer cake with margarine and hydrogenated oils? Sodas galore? How about those colorful morning cereals that line up the aisles of all supermarkets proudly carrying the "kosher" signs? Someone is buying them, otherwise they wouldn't be manufactured in such quantaties!
To defend Wacky Mac, I have to add that: a) it's "cheese" and not "cheese food", otherwise I wouldn't have it in my pantry; b) it's low in fat; and c) you CAN control how much of that cheese powder goes in your child's portion -- just REDUCE its amount. I never use the whole packet per box, only one-third of it. And bear in mind, that it's only a "fad" in most children's diet, to be soon replaced with other, hopefully more wholesome food choices.
Oh, come on sour puss. Doesn't everyone think eating carcinogens is great fun??
Perhaps the Wacky mac is lighter on the wallet than kosher - especially cholov yisroel cheese which costs a smarr fortune.
Surprised to hear that anyone with kids in this community isn't already familiar with the phenomenon that is Wacky Mac. It's essentially the same thing as Fould's boxed mac & cheese (which has been around since I was a kid), but with a mix of pasta shapes instead of just the boring straightened-out elbows that Fould's uses.
Like everyone's already said, it's also the same junk as the treif Kraft mac & cheese that's been a mutli-million-dollar business for Kraft for decades.
Thing is, it's not really any more unhealthy than "homemade" mac & cheese, as long as you're smart enough to realize that you don't actually have to add any butter. Although making fresh mac & cheese is certainly easy enough even for lousy cooks, I find Wacky Mac easier because at least I know I'll always get the proprtion of cheese to pasta exactly right, and one box makes just enough for my three kids to have for lunch along with some slices veggies. Plus most people don't even realize that about 3/4 of what's sold in supermarkets (kosher or otherwise) as american cheese is "cheese food." Dehydrating it doesn't make it any more unhealthy healthy.
Bottom line: yeah, it's kinda gross for adults, but it's far from evil or radioactive, it's no worse for my kids than, say, a slice of pizza, and they LOVE it. I wouldn't serve it every day but once in a while won't do anyone any harm.
Surprised to hear that anyone with kids in this community isn't already familiar with the phenomenon that is Wacky Mac.
Like I said, I knew it existed, but we never serve it here in the OrthoHouse. I do take issue with your assertion that it is no more unhealthy than homemade macaroni and cheese. I'm far from a heath food nut, but I can't imagine that anyone really thinks that macaroni and fresh cheddar is not healthier for growing kids (and adults, for that matter) than the boxed junk with all the additives and partially hydrogenated oils it contains. I agree a box here or there won't kill anyone, but I just don't see the allure. My kids seem content when I melt some fresh cheese over pasta in the microwave - and doing that is just as easy.
Not sure why people think its so unheard of not to eat this crap. we dont touch it eithger. it cant be heatlhy.
"And bear in mind, that it's only a "fad" in most children's diet, to be soon replaced with other, hopefully more wholesome food choices."
yeah, right.
I think boxed macaroni & cheese dinners fall into the category of "guilty pleasures" for some of us. We know deep in our hearts that their nutritional value is highly suspect and that their taste is not exactly sophisticated.
But for whatever reason -- especially childhood memories -- they are a comfort food. You can't win an argument about comfort food, even when you're right.
Why, next, someone will point out that canned vegetarian vegetable soup filled with crushed crackers is not exactly a stellar nutritional or culinary achievement, and then I'll have to start beating people up!
I only make the boxed m & c once in a great while, so I can maintain a certain detachment on the subject of Wacky Mac, et. al, but don't mess with my vegetable soup! Or Entenman's cinnamon rolls, for that matter!
But for whatever reason -- especially childhood memories -- they are a comfort food. You can't win an argument about comfort food, even when you're right.
Maybe that's part of it. I NEVER saw boxed mac and cheese growing up. Didn;t know it existed. It was simply not in my mom's repertoire. So I guess those warm memories just aren't there.
And trust me, I know Entenmanns aren't exaclty healthful fare, but there's no ban on the white box in my house...
Fould's macaroni and cheese (like Wacky Mac) is one of G-d's great creations. I have yet to try a 'real' macaroni and cheese that is as good.
Just realize they way overstate how much butter/margarine you need.
It’s handy in case you have none of the ingredients at home(especially the cheese which is perishable)
When my wife is too busy, I will whip up real Mac and Cheese and shave white truffles on top. The kids go crazy over it. None of that boxed crap. Its all chemicals anyway.
To add to the mac and cheese stories---my son recently got married. About 2 weeks later, he knocked on a neighbor's door and said, "my wife and I are making dinner and we are missing an ingredient, can we borrow some milk?" the neighbor said, "sure can, what are you guys cooking?" And my son replied, "wacky mac!!"
As a real Mac and Cheese lover, I will tell you that Wacky Mac just hits the spot once in a while. I would choose the real stuff anyday but there is just something about the way the artificial stuff tastes that makes me crave it every once in a while. Though, I would avoid giving it to young children who may never want to go back to the real stuff!
As a convert, I grew up on Kraft Mac&Cheese. Delicious, and completely horrible from a nutrition standpoint.
(aside - it IS called "Kraft Dinner" in Canada, but I'm not sure of the reason)
Wacky Mac is the kosher analogue to the above, and it's a guilty pleasure which I occasionally have when I'm eating alone.
I'd recommend keeping it out of the OrthoHouse, because you can really develop a taste for it, and it's better to let the kids get the taste for something a little bit more healthful.
(that said, Entenmann's is pretty bad too...)
I'm also a convert and while I did not grow up on kraft mac & cheese, I never liked real mac & cheese. I only like kraft. Now I keep kosher and wacky mac is the closest I can find to the good stuff (foulds is a poor substittue if you've been exposed to kraft). In reality I think it takes 1.5 of the cheese packets per box to make it cheesy enough.
No its not something that should be fed to kids daily. But as an occasional treat and something even the most inept man in the kitchen can make its not a bad thing to have in the house.
Fould's, which is like Wacky Mac but only one shape has been around for a very long time. I believe it predates Kraft, although I am not sure. One advantage is that kids can make it themselves at a somewhat younger age that that at which they (or mine, at any rate) become patient enough to stir real cheese and milk enough to get it smooth.
I'd like to echo what someone wrote above. Cost is an issue. The Fould's can usually be gotten for 99c, with a small additional investment in milk and butter. To get enough real cheese, you'd have to use at least half of a $3 package, plus 50c of pasta.
STOP THE PRESSES!
What a surprise -- kids like to eat something that tastes good to them and isn't healthy? Wow! This has got to be a first. I can't believe that this isn't a major news story.
I know some of you like to live in a ghetto-like closed environment and try to shut yourselves off from the rest of the world (Jewish or otherwise), but come on. You act as if you never heard of a kid who likes to eat something other than the “real” home cooked meals that mom makes.
You've got to get out more.
Orthomom, you sound so pretencious as if you are way above making "Wacky Mac" for you kids. Obviously your kid prefers it to your crappy version of mac and cheese or he wouldn't have asked you for the unhealthy boxed version. Get over yourself, yes we'd like our children to eat healthier but like anything else they like the taste of things that are unhealthy than health.
I applaud you for trying to encourage your children better eating habits, but don't put down other people who use this supplement.
I think we are all missing the point here. Although Wacky Mac is not well regarded by adults, kids I know (including my son) seem to not be able to get enough of it!
It not as healthy as the mac and cheese that I make, but (in the scope of things) there are a lot of other kosher products that have a far less healthy ingredient list (such as Entenmann's as pointed out above).
I say pick your battles - & let this one pass.
Now an investigation of what in the Wacky Mac makes it so appealing to kids would be interesting ....
OrthoMom -
I enjoyed finding your blog while searching for the brand name [Foulds] of Wacky Mac, and its less-than-wacky counterpart, "Elbo [sic] Mac."
See, as a student in Israel, I find that often, my roommates and other friends prefer Wacky Mac over other, higher-work alternatives. It is tasty, colorful, [the orange matches the nearby Gush Katif ribbons - we live near a resettlement village for former GK residents] and requires little effort. In addition, it creates multiple servings from each box.
I grew up eating various types of boxed Mac'n'Cheese, still preferring my mother's homemade alternatives, yet understanding and appreciating the ease and scrumptiousness of the boxed variety.
While it isn't that difficult to make cheese sauce from scratch, the pre-made variety is still easier, and on days when one doesn't feel like cooking, the kids can (as I did when I was younger) handle the instructions with no problems.
In all, Wacky Mac is fantastic, a great time-saver, and a wonderful food. While I would not eat it too often, I would also not ban it from my household.
-Nathan
well well supermom it's too bad everyone can't be as wonderful as you are. why don't you give yourself another pat on the back there sweetheart. gotta love the pretension...
i would love to try it it sounds the best
well try it
This is the best mac and cheese ever. Whatever you say bad about it is completely not true
I think everyone here is missing something.....has anyone ever checked the sodium content of "other boxed mac and cheese?" I could not believe how little sodium is in wacky mac..360mg. Even compared to Foulds elbo mac and cheese dinner..500mg per serving. Kraft and velveeta are way off the charts! Make Wacky Mac with unsalted butter and skim milk, and it's an ok guilty pleasure, even for grown ups, with or without highblood pleasure! Next trip to your store, just check the sodium in the other brands, and also in the ingredients in your "homemade" version. Wacky Mac wins! oh...and how much cholesterol does that "homemade version of yours have?
I make Fould's Mac & Cheese with extra pasta, 1 tbsp of salt-free butter and then a low fat cheese (to make up for the lost butter). The advantage of making this over homemade Mac & Cheese is the convenience of not needing to measure (or find) ingredients when you need to get dinner on the table in 10 minutes or less. I always manage to cut up vegetables while the pasta boils, which I would never have if I was getting a homemade cheese sauce ready in another pot.
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i found this thread googling "wacky mac" since i had always wanted to try it (we keep kosher but not like two sinks kosher) and had it for the first time tonight.
i am 25, educated, and have a rather enviable figure, and i find wacky mac to be effing fantastic.
don't ever dismiss this product as being unhealthy - from what i've seen of the world, the more orthodox the jew, the worse the diet. like kosher ramen style soup actually manages to have more sodium than "real" ramen.
let the kids enjoy it once in a while, but take a good look at the other kosher foods you're dishing out before hating on poor wacky mac.
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