"College Food Gone Wild"
"So What, There is Powdered Cheese Product in this Meal"
and "23 Year Olds like Boxed Mac&Cheese too!"
There is context to this. I promise. So when Hurricane Sandy was plowing her way up to the Northeast, I had a mini panic attack because Mommy and Grandpa weren't going to be here to make sure I had everything I needed in case of an emergency. It was just me, the cat, the turtle, and the boyfriend.
Have I never mentioned Angelo before? He is my Russian tortoise. I welcomed him into my family during sophomore year of college. He was our suite pet. He's hilarious. And his name is Angelo, which is also funny considering he is not a human.
Anyway, so it's the four of us. We made some spare water, took a candle inventory and made sure the two little flashlights we have had working batteries. Then I ran to the grocery store to get some non-perishable snacks. For some reason, I bought a family size box of Annie's White Cheddar Shells. I don't know what I was thinking or how I intended on cooking this in the event the power went out, but I got it.
I am currently in a pantry-clearing kick and so I decided last night that this purple box with bunnies on it had to go.
I couldn't bring myself to just make the mac and cheese according to package directions, so I decided to dizzy it up a little bit. I had a lot of great veggies lying around as well, so what I went with was a Baked Veggie Mac and Cheese.
I have to say, this really ended up being a pretty flavorful dinner and it came together in no time at all. Better still is that you can take some of the basic principles here and apply it to a real homemade mac and cheese dish (like the buttery bread crumb topping). So next time you find yourself with a box of Mac and Cheese and no drunk person to make it for, try creating something better from it - I don't think you will be disappointed!
