Tombstone Mac and Cheese Pizza?!

When I went to South Carolina for spring break this year, one of the things about which I was most excited was visiting CiCi's Pizza. I know it sounds like a weird thing to get excited about, but they happened to have a mac and cheese pizza that looked like the most amazing thing ever. CiCi's did not disappoint, but I did, unfortunately, have to return north, where our repertoire of fast casual dining restaurants is severely limited.

I thought that mac and cheese pizza was going to be just a fond memory until I was browsing through the grocery and found this pizza: a Tombstone frozen pizza with Kraft mac and cheese on top. Brilliant, no? I immediately rushed home in order to see if my wildest dreams had, in fact, come true.

Ratings

Flavor: 3.5/5. The cheese tasted remarkably good – you could tell it was Kraft, but it was better.

Consistency: 3/5. The sauce itself was pretty good. However, I thought that the frozen-pizza crust was too thin to hold the macaroni and cheese, and it additionally made it seem dry.

Pasta Shape: 4/5. Elbows are a conventional choice, but they worked surprisingly well with the Kraft sauce.

Overall: 3.5/5. So the mac and cheese pizza did not disappoint. While it wasn't perfect and there were things I definitely would have changed, it was pretty damn good. A solid meeting of two delicious foods.

Lean Cuisine Macaroni and Cheese

I'm always extremely wary of low-calorie versions of high-calorie foods. There's a reason delicious foods so often have high calorie counts, and I find that it's better to enjoy a small quantity of the high-calorie version than a whole lot of the low-cal. That said, who doesn't secretly wish for a less fattening version of their favorite food?

Lean Cuisine describes this product as "Tender macaroni in a creamy cheddar cheese sauce." I don't know how creamy or cheesy something with under 300 calories can be, but I'm keeping an open mind. Users on the Lean Cuisine website have given this mac and cheese a rating of 3/5, which is slightly promising, but I also have to keep in mind that these are people who are probably dieting and therefore used to eating blander food than the rest of us.

Halfway through the cooking process.

Ready for eating. Looks delicious. Too bad it wasn't.

Ratings

Flavor: 1/5. I don't even know if I should have given any points because there was literally no flavor. None. I might as well have been eating thick orange water on pasta and I probably was.

Consistency: 4/5. Despite the horrible flavor, the sauce was relatively thick and appeared creamy. Unfortunately, good consistency means nothing when the flavor is as bad as this was.

Pasta Shape: 3/5. Elbows: a safe but solid choice.

Overall: 1/5. Normally, I give consideration to all factors equally when determining this ranking. However, the flavor was so disappointing and terrible that nothing could remotely redeem this mac and cheese (if you could even call it that). Do not buy this under any circumstance. If you're really trying to watch calories, buy a better mac and cheese and save half of it for another meal.

Nutrition Information: 290 Calories, 60 Calories from Fat; 7g Fat, 4g Saturated Fat, 0g Trans Fat; 20mg Cholesterol; 620mg Sodium; 41g Carbohydrate; 2g Fiber; 8g Sugars; 15g Protein.

Boston Market Frozen Macaroni & Cheese

I love Boston Market. Like, love. I don't know what it is, but their delectable sides get me every time. However, I had never actually tried any of their frozen meals. I had very high expectations for this mac and cheese, but I attempted to be objective in my critique.

The description of this mac and cheese reads: " It’s simple. Spiral rotini pasta holds the sauce better. And when the sauce is as rich as this one – an unbelievable combination of Cheddar, American, and even a little Bleu – we wouldn’t have it any other way." I was intrigued by the rotini pasta and the promise of bleu (no, it's not a typo) cheese, though I could tell by the dish's appearance that when they said "a little" they meant it. Preparation wasn't anything particularly crazy: microwave with the plastic vented, and stir partway through. As I stirred, I noticed that the cheese seemed slightly runny, and I was hoping that letting the tray sit for a moment before eating would allow the sauce to thicken.

Pre-cooking.

Cooked and ready to eat.

Ratings

Flavor: 4.5/5. Good flavor, but, as always, I wish there had been more cheese.

Consistency: 2.5/5. It literally pains me to give any Boston Market-related product such a low rating, but the sauce was far too runny and didn't stick to the pasta nicely.

Pasta Shape: 3/5. I know some disagree with me, but rotini is not my favorite choice for mac and cheese. Additionally, this shape doesn't really work as well as it could in a frozen mac and cheese because of the fact that it takes longer to cook; my boyfriend felt that the pasta seemed a little undercooked.

Overall: 3.5/5. A solid effort by Boston Market, but needs a little tweaking. (Not to mention the fact that the mac and cheese at the restaurant is infinitely better). Honestly, for the amount of calories and sodium I consumed, I felt that I could have eaten a much better mac and cheese.

Nutrition Information: Serving Size 220g (about half a tray). 320 Calories, 80 Calories from Fat; 9g Fat, 4g Saturated Fat; 20g Cholesterol; 880g Sodium; 45g Carbohydrates; 4g Fiber; 14g Protein.