1/3 cup hidden vegetables!
Well, there’s your problem.
For boxed mac and cheese, Annie’s isn’t bad. Their regular and white cheddar are perfectly fine for a “fuck it. I don’t want to think” meal that might leave you slightly less guilt ridden than Kraft blue box. But probably not.
When they start trying to make a low-effort comfort food “healthy”, it’s the path to disappointment.
Have you tried Annie’s frozen mac? I have not, but one of my clients is a huge fan. The Aldi brand is pretty bland.
I haven’t tried the frozen mac. Since I’m more or less WFH on a permanent basis, my pre-packaged frozen consumption has fallen precipitously (probably a good thing). There’s still fish sticks, TJ’s chicken strips and orange chicken, and a box of frozen White Castles because I have no shame. Most of the rest of the freezer is stuff we’ve preportioned and frozen for convenience. Individual steaks / fish fillets, jars of soup, etc.
Beecher’s frozen mac is worth the price (in both price and calories – it does NOT serve the number stated on the box…)
Dinner tonight was another round of stuffed shells for mom (assembled fresh from the frozen stuffed pasta from the other night and the separately frozen sauce), plus cheese.
Had a minor dinnertime disaster when the outlet that the countertop oven is plugged into started sparking, and I decided no further use till the electrician comes and checks it. So I cooked everything in the microwave (at varying powers) instead, including melting the cheese on top. No one cared, as it turned out, everything still tasted good, just not browned on top.
Sis and I had masala omelettes a la dad (though nowhere as good as a la dad). Minced onion, tomato, cilantro, and green chilli mixed into the beaten eggs and done. Dad beat each separated egg by hand with a fork so that one egg was the size of two, the ratio of masala to egg was perfectly in balance, and the omelettes were both fluffy and thin, somehow. Still, I haven’t had one in a while, and it’s tasty even when it’s not exactly right.
Tomato avocado salad on the side.
Frozen White Castles…for midnight freezer belly bomb raids. Memories.
The frozen sliders are REMARKABLY close to what you get at the restaurant (and this is coming from someone who stops at White Castle upon arrival in Chicago the way some folks go straight to In 'n Out in L.A.)
Certainly good enough to scratch that salt/grease/mush itch that only White Castle can. If you’re a pickle person, adding two dill chips to them will complete your experience.
Pumpkin noodles with shrimp and shiitake mushrooms, adapted from https://rasamalaysia.com/pumpkin-rice-noodles/
Also, green beans.
My dairy insensitivity is largely proteins…so I actually appreciate this as pea protein causes the same reaction as bovine dairy.
sigh
TGIF.
I’m going to indulge this weekend. Tonight is filet mignon with sauteed sherried mushrooms and shallots, seasoned with thyme and s/p.
The lone side is buttered green beans. Unless you consider wine a side. 
Beautiful. Wine is one of the best sides
Beautiful job on the beef! 
Had our pescatarian buddy over for linguine con cozze e vongole. It was just gonna be canned clams but Aldi had some Fremont market cooked frozen mussels, so zu added them to the mix. The sauce was a melange of olive oil, TPSTOG, RPF (coulda used more), parsley, lemon zest, vermouth, lemon juice, butter.
Salad on the side, escargots for starters.
White pizza with a garlic-oregano bechamel, three cheeses, fresh asparagus, marinated artichokes and sundried tomatoes in oil. There were some colorful pickled peppers which didn’t make the photo. On the side, romaine in a creamy Italian dressing.
sausages and taters, yet again! Fatted Calf “greens” sausages were super juicy, with simple boiled potatoes with butter & parsely, the BF’s creamed spinach topped with TJ’s French friend onions, and a salad. All quite delicious. he’s really got that spinach down pat.
Happy Friday, everybody!
Stir-fried soba noodles with onion, scallions, chicken breast, shrimps, red and green pepper, eggs, light and dark soy sauce. Topped with some sesame seeds, gari and fried shallots
Shrimp tostadas - sous vide red Argentine shrimp, tomato, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice, and mayo on tostada shells.
Last night’s dinner was a Chic Pea, Spinach and Chicken stew over rice. I limited the chicken to just one (skinless) breast which will make four servings. The cholesterol per serving will be minimal. Sunshine and I really enjoyed our dinner and there is enough for leftovers, tonight.
Chinese at home for dinner tonight. We went all out, with the intention of getting two full meals (plus some midnight snacking) out of it.
Garlic fried rice, vegetable Hakka noodles, steamed chicken with black mushrooms (similar to this and this), and mixed mushrooms with paneer for mom.
Everything turned out well except the noodles, which tasted great but were a gloppy mess — turns out they were some new no-boil version and the package timing was obviously wrong, because when my sis soaked and drained and them per directions, they were already too soft.
Mom really enjoyed the mushroom and paneer dish, which had buttons, black / dried shiitake, oyster (and some surprise king oyster in the box), and woodears, so lots of texture and flavor variety alongside the soft paneer.
It was my first time using woodears which was an interesting experience because they really blow up in size when rehydrated!
I ate the steamed chicken after a couple of years, so that was my favorite part of the meal. Also those gloppy noodles that were bizarrely tasty 
