Gluten-Free: Annie's Deluxe Mac & Cheese

First, let me apologize for my tardiness this week.  It's been rough; the kind of week where you think you're late posting for Thursday when it's still Wednesday, yet still can't quite manage to get a post up until Friday.  I also couldn't bring myself to even think about much less write about food without getting sick, no matter how delicious.

But I digress.  This is about gluten-free food... and a particularly authentically yummy variety of such.

Today is all about mac & cheese.  A staple of American meals, ubiquitous in childhood and often considered a comfort food by all, its loss is keenly felt by the celiac or gluten-intolerant citizen.
Humans can't live on fries (and other potato products) alone with their hot dogs, chicken fingers and so forth.

Quick & easy is often a necessity with a toddler.  Liberty doesn't like powdered mac & cheese regardless of its gf status -- frankly, neither do I with taste or fuss but I can live with it if need be-- so I was excited to find Annie's Creamy Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese on my supermarket shelves.  It bears a near exact resemblance to the wheaty Kraft Deluxe version I was so fond of in my own childhood.  From the pasta shapes to the gooshy cheese packet to the texture, it works exactly the same.  No gritty aftertaste here.

The only real difference is that Annie's version tastes way better and is far more healthy.  It has 100% real cheese, no trans-fat, no artificial anything, and no genetically-modified ingredients as well as being a natural source of protein, calcium and vitamin B6 and vegetarian.  Somehow, the rice pasta stays together and never falls apart like so many other gluten-free pastas.  It is indeed extra cheesy -- the eleven ounce box does not lie.  Eleven ounces of elbow pasta makes a lot more than you might think and results in a somewhat unusual amount of food for a gluten-free product.  This mac & cheese even reheats well in the microwave; yes, there's often enough for leftovers.

Annie's is well known for its product line of gluten-free food, including the powered kind of mac & cheese.  This is a welcome addition and the Annie's product that my family eats the most by far.  Anyone who makes their products regularly knows that their cooking directions aren't the best; for instance, it takes more than six cups of water to cook any sort of gf pasta and it's wise to stir far more than recommended to avoid it sticking to the pot.  It can be hard to mix but I think it's worth the extra effort not to use milk to thin it out; you might disagree.  Use common sense and you'll have the perfect deluxe mac & cheese that you used to make when your parents would go out for dinner and you were old enough not to need a babysitter anymore.

With chicken fingers.

Order it on their web shop, Amazon or purchase in the gluten-free section at most local supermarkets.  I recommend Amazon's Subscribe & Save for this one -- we go through this so fast that buying in bulk is definitely worth it and it saves money!


Find Annie's on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.