Mac and Cheese is about the only thing I ever do from the box...
I started teaching my girls young how to cook...they loved being in the kitchen stiring up stuff with me...

And now...one of my daughters eats lots of "box" meals...and her husband usually cooks them.LOL I can't believe it.

Your daughter-in-law making mac and cheese from the box reminds me of what I think is one of my mom's special memories from my childhood.

My grandmother loved to cook, and was a terrific cook. She was known for her cooking, made everything from scratch, and her presentation was always pretty. My mom was a good cook, too, but a very busy working mom on a tight budget, and she made our mac and cheese from a box.

Whenever my grandmother would visit, she would make wonderful homemade meals my parents loved, including homemade mac and cheese. My brother and I hated those meals - we longed for the tacos, spaghetti, etc. my mom cooked.

Whenever we found out my grandmother was planning to make mac and cheese at our house, we'd sneak around and beg my mo m to PLEASE make it from the box.

I love homemade mac and cheese now.

I try boxed stuff but it's always too salty for us. Zatarain's came out with a lower sodium jambalaya, but it's STILL too salty. The bright orange color of the blue box macaroni is just too weird.

Can you believe I have NEVER made it homemade?!

If someone posts a good recipe I might try it though. *hint*hint*

I never have either Connie! Always boxed here.....but I do love the velveeta one over the powdered kind.

I've never made it homemade either. Always been Kraft.

Another Zatarain's Jambalaya fan here. We use an assortment of meats or shrimp. Only gets better if any is left over.

I do mac and cheese from scratch too. My mother in law made wonderful mac and cheese but never used a recipe.

Took me a long, long time to be able to use the boxed scalloped potatoes, but find they are really quite good. But then,I fought cake mix for a long time, too.!

Not a fan of Zatarain's Jambalaya, but I do enjoy their red beans & rice ... I never learned how to make it properly myself, and that's the closest I can get at home. The cafeteria in the building where I used to work made *the best* red beans & rice, I've never ever had better, even when I was in the south!

BUT ... I can't imagine taking boxed anything to a family dinner (other than brownies). That just amazes me. My ex-DIL is a self-admitted Queen of boxed/fast-food, and even she would make the effort to make something from scratch for holiday dinners.

We do both. I like Stouffer's frozen too. They're really completely different animals.

From what I understand, for many people Kraft IS macaroni and cheese. Depending on the crowd, some might have been disappointed to see a homemade version on the table.

Mac & Cheese from the box is way to salty for me. I do like the scalloped potatoes from a box for the Motorhome. But, I make killer homemade scalloped potatoes. The only other boxed food I buy is Jiffy Cornbread.

Gayle

My Mom was a "scratch cooker" and I am to for the most part...but Oh how I love the Blue Box!

I remember having it at a friends house - the lovely yellow color...mmmmm...

That is one treat I love, but only the Spiral kind. I don't know why, but it taste better! LOL! With a yummy hamburger fried with onions...mmmmm....no bun.. just the burger with the spirals....

There are some things I'll make from the box. They all get doctored up though.
Stove Top Stuffing
Au Gratin Potatoes
Zatarains meals
Mac and cheese - I like the spirals too. Or the velveeta shells and cheese. And I don't usually like velveeta.

I do a lot of boxed stuff because I'm too busy to do from scratch. We had a big dinner for one of my coworker's birthday this past weekend. She mentioned making it from scratch. I had to do 4-12 hour shifts which is really 12 1/2 hour shifts, plus 40-45 minute drive each way. I bought the boxed stuffing and took it. I honestly can't tell the difference.

Macaroni does tastes better homemade but it's more time consuming too than boxed.

Living alone I am a big 'box' cooker. It is quick and tastes good to me though I know it is not always the healthiest.

I do few box things for 'Honey' and other guests, as so many are so high in sodium, and most guests are, or should be, watching their sodium intake.

I have made mac and cheese once from scratch using the recipe on the Velvetta box. It was dry and just awful and I followed the recipe exactly...maybe it was the type/shape/size of the macaroni that was wrong.

Anyone have success with the Velveeta box recipe?

Sue

Chemocurl, no but I have used Velveeta in homemade mac and cheese. Layer cooked macaroni with cut up Velveeta, cheddar cheese. Do a couple layers with bits of margerine or butter substitute or butter whatever you want, and then pour canned evaporated milk overtop, salt and pepper, cover and bake. It is one of the best tasting recipes I've had. I've actually never read the box recipe.

There are many boxed/prepared foods that are as good as, if not better than made from scratch. A little doctoring can fool even the worse of food snobs.

I use Tuna Helper once in awhile, but I prefer made from
scratch for most foods.
Here's my recipe for cheese sauce. I use it for mac & cheese, augratin potatoes, nachos, and over veggies.

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
dash of dried mustard
1 1/4 cups of milk
1 1/2 cups American cheese
In saucepan, melt butter, and flour, and blend. Add milk
and cook until slightly thickened and bubbly. Add chesse, stirring until melted.

Before I married DH I didn't know there was such a thing as mac and cheese from scratch. lol

When I was a child we had an annual family reunion potluck picnic by the lake. Someone (I don't know who) used to bring a big bucket of KFC every year. I LOVED that. We didn't eat out and to me it was a huge treat that I looked forward to all year. I would have been very disappointed if it hadn't been there each year :)

I meant to add, I've had some very bad hommade mac and cheese that I would have traded for 'from the box' stuff in a heartbeat.

From the box (the creamy kind) or on the stove top if made from scratch. I use velveeta. I don't like baked mac & cheese. Tastes rubbery to me. I like it creamy.

Linda

Mac and cheese was always Kraft here. We wouldn't accept any other brand, and we made it extra cheesey by not adding that much milk. Plus, we liked the noodles JUST cooked - not mushy. In Canada, Kraft Dinner is like a national dish ROFL. Unfortunately, these days, at a dollar a box? No longer the cheap eats it once was.

I don't really eat it anymore, plus DH and DD don't care either way so now I buy whatever brand costs less.

I love love love the home-made kind. DH does too, but DD doesn't like it at all. Whenever we travel to Florida I have to have my doses of mac and cheese, biscuits (Golden Corral is fine), and Sonny's bbq. I like my mac and cheese creamy and saucey. I like the baked part on top, but no crumbs please!

Mmmm, Sonny's BBQ. Thanks Dances ;) now I want some of their Texas toast!

Chemo curl,

We almost always make mac and cheese from scratch,but NEVER with velveeta cheese.We use sharp cheddar and the sharper the better.When the kids were little and dh wasn't home we would eat Kraft mac and cheese and i'd rather eat that than velveeta.

The only thing i've ever used velveeta for is a grilled cheese sandwich.I havn't bought that stuff in years
Kathi

Thanks for all the hints and tips.

I forgot to add, when making the plain ole cheapie box kind, I add some shredded cheese...just whatever I happen to have on hand and open at the time. It really makes it delish.

Sue...another Sonny's Barbeque lover

I love Zatarains Red beans and Rice, I always slice up a Polish sausage in it. And I do make Hamburger Helper a few times a month. My Mom never taught me to cook. I am self-taught. Either use cookbooks or tried and True recipes from KT.

Several have mentioned Sonny's BBQ. SIL's parents ALWAYS went to Sonny's on Friday night. All the staff knew them by name. Then they started eating SIL's BBQ. They seldom go to Sonny's now. They told SIL he ruined Sonny's for them because his was so much better.

Linda

I always make box myself mainly because I'm the only one that likes mac & cheese of any kind in my house. My DD hates cheese of any kind and my DH hates noodles. I don't mean to be the bad guy but here's another thought, whenever my MIL tells me that I have to bring something in particular, I really resent it. I like it much better when she asks in general terms such as could you make a hotdish, or salad or whatever. That way, I can make what I'm good at making. Maybe she is like me and just does not know how to make mac & cheese from scratch.

I love mac and cheese made from scratch. I honestly thought that only college kids who didn't know how to cook used the Kraft from the box. Once DS started cooking for himself, he lived on Kraft mac and cheese and Top Ramen.

Glenda, she is probably intimidated by your excellent cooking skills and was afraid to tackle the mac and cheese from scratch. And maybe her kids really like the box kind.