This is the secret ingredient to KC deep fried tacos 
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I don’t think you can just skip over bringing the water to a boil. But fine, whatever.
Well at least that is a step for any approach that starts with uncooked pasta!
Yes. As is cleaning at least two pots and preheating the oven. I make mac and cheese every couple of months. I’m very good at it, and relatively fast. But there’s no way it can be prepared as fast as boxed.
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Back in the ancient times when my first wife & I were newly married & had little kids it was a big week when the grocery store had Kraft Mac & Chees 5/$1.00.
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Even I can’t remember that!
Don’t dis it. When our son was a toddler, I doused a lot of his food with that. It used to come in a slender royal blue cardboard “can”. I could cook up a small portion of pasta or potato and just use enough to flavor, rather than make a whole package of the signature stuff.
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Agreed. Plus mine is worse in that it calls for a measuring cup, a whisk, a box grater, a microplane, a colander, and a baking dish.,
I am struggling with this thread being called “Mac and Cheese”. As someone else said, store bought Mac and cheese, “boxed” or otherwise, is a different thing. I am sure it has many pros, but I dont think I have ever tried it, and I have “tried” a lot of macaroni and cheese.
I’ll see your box grater and raise you one food processor. Even worse! (But faster.)
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My wife loves the FP. I like the easier cleanup of the box grater. They are both yucky enough that I was thrilled to stumble on Tillamook grated in bags!
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A box grater is the best reason to have a dishwasher.
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I left the title of the thread simple so that if someone wanted to talk about prepared, frozen, boxed and homemade it was open to all 4 options.
I did start off my thread by stating that I usually make my own.
I’m not that familiar with the boxed varieties because my mother didn’t buy KD or cook pasta except for egg noodles.
Interesting responses and I did get a few dinner ideas so for me the thread is a success.
Having said that, I do understand why you were struggling with the title.
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Here are a couple good scratch-made Mac and Cheese threads:
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I am reminded that when my son was much younger, he wanted me to make “Hamburger Helper”. I remember starting a thread about it, but it must have been on Chowhound.
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I remember seeing Manwich in a can and asking mom if we could try it.
She just shook her head and kept on walking.
We didn’t have Hamburger helper either my mother made Beef Stroganoff (BS) from scratch. The first time that I had it (BS) was at my gf right after my son was born.
I found it extremely salty, soupy and much preferred my mom’s.
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Saw a similar article before which prompted my younger son and I (older and H don’t like m&c) to do a boxed or frozen mac cheese tasteoff with brackets and all. But we haven’t had a lot of oomph behind our idea yet. We tried 2 boxed from TJs and have 2 frozen from TJs that might be tested this weekend. The article I read - the winner was Walmart’s box version. Shocking. Something like 35 cents each.
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One of these days you may want to satisfy your curiousity… but I can say that Beecher’s isn’t even that good AT Beecher’s! They have a store at Pike Place Market, and I found their mac overcooked and the sauce was broken and extremely greasy.
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Me too. I don’t know why, but I like my boxed mac a little soupy.
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