FBC Mac & Cheese

[sarbar]

My son loves boxed Mac & Cheese, and truth be told, so did I when I was younger. The one thing that kept me from eating it the past couple years was how unhealthy most brands are (ie. food dyes to make it look like "cheese".) So I had quit buying it, even for my son.
But lately, there have been good brands showing up on the grocery shelves. And not only are they are decent for ingredients, they taste good as well.

My son loves:
Organic Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
Annies
Back To Nature
Simply Organic

This week, in preparation for some trips I prepped up a number of Mac meals for Ford.

Now you might wonder: why can't I just make it in camp? Well, I don't carry a pot big enough to boil pasta in! Nor do I have any desire to carry the fuel needed, or to clean the pan.

I took 4 boxes of Organic Kraft White Cheddar Shells (6 ounce box). I boiled the pasta for a shy 9 minutes (about 1 1/2 minutes less than called for on the box). When done, I drained the pasta, then spread on parchment lined trays on my dehydrator.



I dried the pasta at 135* till dry (the time will depend on type of pasta and humidity.)



When dry, I weighed out the pasta, and split it among 4 quart freezer bags. Weight was roughly 4 1/2 ounces in each bag. I then packed with each bag:
1 cheese sauce packet
2 Tbl dry milk
1 packet olive oil

In camp pour boiling water over the pasta (to just cover). Seal well, and put in a cozy for 10 minutes. Drain off most of the water, leaving in about 1/4 cup. Add in the milk powder, cheese sauce powder and oil. Stir well and enjoy.
Knowing my son, the 6 ounce box will feed 1. As in him.

Works well with dried mushrooms, thinly diced sundried tomatoes or even a tuna pouch.

~Sarah

From my blog.

[Toolshed]

HuH? Seems like an awful lot of work to save 2-3 minutes boil (or cozy) time at camp????

[RockStar]

I have heard a lot of ppl that FBC say they precook their pasta to cut down on boil time and mess! Thanks b/c I LOVE Man n Cheese while hiking! Well...all the time really!

[Doctari]

I don't carry a pot big enough to boil pasta in! Nor do I have any desire to carry the fuel needed, or to clean the pan.

From my blog.

If you follow the directions on the box, it's hard to fix (big pot, lots of wasted hot water & fuel). But the directions (on the boxes I have seen) call for SIX cups of water to cook (about) 1 1/2 cups of pasta. All you really need is 2 cups water per 1 cup of pasta, so for the average "blue box" add 3 cups water to dried pasta, plus about 2 Tablespoons for redoing the sauce & TaDa! No need to drain, my heinekan post holds 4 cups water.

Also bear in mind that the Mac n Cheese pasta is already partially cooked, then dried. I have never felt the need to re-cook it then re-dry it. The re-hydration process cooks it the rest of the way, or at least well enough for me. I stir once or twice in the cozy. Usually, just before adding the cheese sauce, I put in some olive oil, & if I have it some Garlic powder.

Doctari.

[sarbar]

I hate glooey pasta, hence why I precook pasta at home (I eat pasta quite often). When uncooked pasta sits in hot water (in a cozy) it gets er, starchy.

What I have also noticed is that the organic mac and cheeses are not par cooked (like the blue boxes of mac are), especially if you get shells. The packages call for 10 minutes of boiling.

Anyhoo, for me it isn't a lot of work (overall I spent maybe 15 minutes doing the work and so far I have 6 meals made up for Ford). OS for me, the payoff is worth the effort

[Outlaw]

I LOVE Man n Cheese while hiking! Well...all the time really!

Good to know that if we ever meet on the trail, all I have to do is take out some cheese and we're ready for some lovin'.

Sorry, RockStar, I just couldn't resist taking the bait.

[peanuts]

thanks, sarbar. i love annies organic cheddar i was wondering how to make it on the trail without pot clean-up. where do you get the organic olive oil in the pouch? minimus? also if i use the oven, how should i dehydrate and what temp.(not done dehy in oven)

[sarbar]

thanks, sarbar. i love annies organic cheddar i was wondering how to make it on the trail without pot clean-up. where do you get the organic olive oil in the pouch? minimus? also if i use the oven, how should i dehydrate and what temp.(not done dehy in oven)

Mimimus carries the organic oil now! Good stuff
I'd dry in your oven at the lowest setting you have, and prop the door open a tiny bit with a wooden spoon. Use cookie trays, lined with parchment paper. I'd also stir the pasta every hour or so, and break up any clumps. Figure 4-8 hours, but start checking after 4! You want the pasta to be dry and hard.

[peanuts]

thanks you very very much!!! i will experiment tomorrow

[Toolshed]

Box directions huh?!?!
I have honestly never used 6 cups of water - 3 at most pour the pasta in with dried peppers or peas and tomatoes, bring to a boil, turn stove off and put pot in cozy. Wait 11 minutes. Add cheese powder & olive oil, pesto flakes and stir well.

[mudhead]

I don't care for the pasta soup either.

Male, lazy version:

Couscous, olive oil, basil, Parmesean cheese. Bag it.

[QHShowoman]

Not being the trail gourmet that Sarbar is (although I did buy her cookbook!), I was pscyhed to discover that Kraft now makes Easy Mac in 'XL' versions. Basically, the serving size is double that of their original microwaveable Easy Mac. Sold in servings of 4, each serving is comprised of a plastic pouch of macaroni that is glued to a foil lined bag of 'cheese' powder.

Although designed for the microwave, it's easily adaptable for cooking on a backpacking stove. Just add 3/4 cup water and the macaroni to a pot, boil until tender (takes about 2 minutes!). DO NOT DRAIN EXCESS WATER! Turn off heat and add contents of sauce mix, stir until mixed evenly. Sauce will thicken upon standing. I like to chop up an individual serving sized packet of SPAM and add to the mac and cheese. It's great after a long, hot day of hiking, when you need the extra sodium.

[RiverWarriorPJ]

"DO NOT DRAIN EXCESS WATER!" Hey..!!..That's on the PoucH..lol..

[QHShowoman]

Yeah, it's pretty much the same instructions you'd use for the microwave ... thank god, because I can't cook to save my life!

[Grinder]

For my hike a week ago, I made cheesy Beef-A-Roni

As suggested by SARBAR, I precooked the elbows. I dried them in the oven on low (200 or so)

I put them in the freezer bag with the cheese sauce mix and powdered mile and 1/4 cup of "gravel" (dehydrated hamburger) added adobo seasoning and black pepper.

In camp I added two cups boiling water and stirred and let sit in a cosy for maybe 10 minutes. ( I for got to add the olive oil I brought. never missed it)

It was the best freezer bag meal of the trip. Nothing was crunchy.

Tom