Remember last week when I wrote about Mann’s new product, Veggie Mac-and-cheese? Well this is the week when I tell you what I thought of the product.
First off a little about me.
I am a food elitist (but not the judgey, holier than thou, kind. More like the picky, mind my own business kind.)
In my defense, I can’t help it! I grew up in a home where all of my meals were prepared fresh by my Mom. We ate our own meat, always had lots of local fresh veggies and fruit. We rarely went out to dinner, but when we did, it was never fast food. In college, my friends would fight to come home with me for a Mom made lunch or dinner.
I loved the packaging. Maybe it’s because I am in my early 30’s, but I thought this kid was really cute (OMG, did I really just say that?! Quick get me my cat!)
Ok, back to the matter at hand, Mann’s Veggie Mac-and-Cheese. Like I said before, I got an awesome box of veggie mac-and-cheese sent to my office on a Friday. I scurried on home and invited my partner in eating, Daniel, over to help me taste test.
This was the bacon and cheddar and fiesta cheddar (my two favorites) and I added cooked chicken.
It was good. I mean really good.
Each bag (we tried all four flavors), have 55% vegetables (!), 25% cheese sauce (it was gooey, yummy cheese too), and 20% noodles. I also added chicken to my veggie mac and cheese because, well, because I like meat, a lot.
I actually wish I wouldn’t have cooked all the flavors all at once (they were so good I wanted some later in the week). Since I do work in town, write, work on the ranch, do adult 4-H and have a social life. I don’t have a lot of free time. In fact my free time is usually spent cooking because I am such a food elitist, I refuse to buy most convenience food.
Usually by the time I get home at night and finish my chores I am only capable of simply wiping the pig poo off of me and the snoticles from my nose (it’s winter!) and crashing on the couch.
This veggie mac-and-cheese is a perfect meal to come home after a very long day. It was ridiculously easy to prepare and it made me really happy because I got to use my cast iron skillet (I LOVE cooking in it). Even Daniel, who is not a cook (when I met him he “cooked” bread and tomato sauce for dinner) could make this!
Best of all, I felt healthy eating this. The vegetables were that perfect crisp cooked, the noodles were soft, yet firm, and the cheese was just right. It was a great way to get a complete serving of healthy veggies without me even noticing!
Perfectly cooked crisp veggies. SO GOOD.
Is this a product that will be included in my weekly shopping cart? Yes, it is. I’m grateful to Mann’s for giving me this opportunity to try something new. And really excited to support such a great company (remember womann owned, 3 generations of a family growing AND packing veggies). AND Elena said if any Beef Jar readers would like to receive discount coupons, they can email Mann’s at info@mannpacking.com (OMG – how cool).
One dirty skillet, no prep or clean-up, its really good and I felt healthy. This product is a winner in my book.
And now for the giveaway! Mann’s is giving the winner of this giveaway 7 days worth of veggie mac-and-cheese (coupons of course)! When Elena told me that I’ll admit, I got a whisper jealous! This is a great prize! All you need to do is leave me a comment and next Monday, February 18, 2013, I will use random.org to select a winner! Good luck!!! And thank you Mann’s!
