Ultimate box dinner, updated

As promised, ultimate dinner box, dissected.

The red box is 2.50 at QFC. It was free to me.

It has a total of 9 ounces. It breaks down as such ( Tare weight included)

5.33 ounces of penne pasta. At 1.00 a pound ( I get it for as low as .38). It is always somewhere for a buck
Cost. .34

1.13 ounces of seasoning mix

3.14 ounces of cheese sauce. There is less than 5 mg of cholesterol.

For a total of 4.27 ounces.

The difference between the cost of the pasta and the cost of the box is 2.16 or 8.00 a pound.

The mixes ( I can't differentiate between packs) include the following. Please note that 4 punches is a quarter of a pound.

Water
Canola or soybean oil
Cornstarch
Milk cheese cultures, salt, enzymes
Whey
Modified whey
Sodium phosphate
Non fat milk
Flour
Corn syrup
Parmesan cheese ( part skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes)
Sea salt,
Modified tapioca starch
Natural and artificial flavors
Partially hydrogenated soybean oil
Mono and diglycerides
Lactic acid
Sodium agin ate
Parsley.....a word I can pronounce lol
Citric acid
Enzyme modified cheddar cheese ( milk cheese cultures, salt, enzymes)
Dried buttermilk
Can than gum
Yeast extract
Cream
Spice
Sodium DIACETATE
ONION, DRIED
sodium casein ate
Silicon dioxide
Sorbitol acid nisin preparation.

A lot of that has the word salt and sodium in it. There are words that sound really chemical in nature. I am not a chemist, or a nutritionist, this is just my observations for what they may or may not be worth. The fact that there is less than 5 mg of cholesterol in it sounds at least a little better than the last box I dissected. It sounds like it would take the same 23-26 minutes; maybe with less intensive cooking so you could cook the sides too. It actually has some dried milk in it, an improvement from the last box. I will look into what cheese cultures means.

I haven't made this yet. I suspect , judging from the milk, flour, thickener ingredients, that it is pasta, chicken you provide, milk you provide that it is a white sauce with onion and undisclosed seasonings, and some Parmesan cheese. Subtract the .34 from the price of the box and your cheesy white sauce is 2.18.

My daughter made a fast version of the same thing sans the chicken with a .50 can of recipe starter basil, .50 worth of sour cream and a handful of asigo cheese. She added milk, but you have to add milk and butter to the box too.
Probably less money. Probably not less time because pasta takes time to cook. Cooking pasta in the microwave means it is passive cooking and you can make the rest of dinner while it cooks. I might add peas or,chopped brocolli to either version.

You could also, just make a white sauce and add some Parmesan and onion and or garlic powder to it. And stir in some Parmesan or another hard cheese. . I usually buy whatever is the lowest in price. I buy fresh cheese, the box stuff is awful! For a white sauce, 2T veg oil cost .05 and 2T flour cost .008 Milk totals .63 for a total of .70
Add penne at .34equals 1.04 plus some cheese. The mix costs 2.50 and you have to add some milk. Simce all of the ingredients including cornstarch and other thickeners, preservatives, milk solids etc total 4 ounces, there can't be much cheese in the box.

It costs .35 for a cup of white sauce. It cost .50 for 2.25 cups of recipe starter.


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I'll be back after I look up cheese cultures. Cheese cultures are bacteria specimens that are added to make cheese.


Jane