Foodgeek Blog

I am currently enjoying a bowl of stovetop macaroni and cheese. I’m not referring to a great recipe for easy, convenient stovetop macaroni and cheese with real cheddar. I’m not even referring to Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

No, I’m referring to the uber-cheap, uber-unhealthy, uber-off-brand macaroni and cheese from a box. (33 cents a box at Aldi’s!!) You know the stuff. It’s the one with the gooey cheese sauce that’s mostly butter, salt, butter, salt, butter, salt, and orange dye number nine. Did I mention the butter and the salt?

I don’t know what it is, but every now and then, I just crave some cheap, instant mac and cheese. Or a vendoburger. (When I was in college, the vending machines sold these microwave cheese burgers that were freaking awesome. Not awesome in terms of a burger, but in terms of a tasty snack food that happens to be vaguely burgerlike.) Or a banquet chicken pot pie. Or a burger from White Castle. (Yes, really.) You get the idea.

I know it’s not high quality food. I know it’s not even medium quality food. (Honestly, in many cases even “low quality” would be high praise. Vendoburgers probably don’t have any meat in them.) What can I say? Once in a while, it really hits the spot.