Preaching truth to packaging. Pictures of packaged food, cooked to specifications, compared to the photo on the box.
Looks: Using the shrimps as a measuring guide, the bowl they used on the packaging is only about 4″ (four shrimps) wide, and every shrimp in the meal is pictured on top of the noodles, implying the unkept promise of more shrimp below. (To be fair, the package clearly states “Shrimp Over Pasta,” not “Shrimp Uniformly Intermingled With Pasta.”) 3 out of 5
Taste: Small rubbery shrimp, soft overcooked noodles, bland watery sauce. Just like Mom used to make. 2 out of 5
Soft noodles and (literally) tasteless sauce. It claims to be “homestyle,” but if my mom was making this “style” of macaroni at “home,” I’d be ordering in every night. Michelina’s is now 0 for 2 on this blog; do I dare institute a “three strikes and you’re out” rule?
Looks: 3.5 out of 5 Taste: 1 out of 5
Looks: Hallelujah, it’s the same as the meal on the box! Well, it’s a little more watery, but that’s it. 4.5 out of 5
Taste: I really like – wait, let me start over. I love macaroni and cheese. It’s possibly my favorite food. So when I saw that this macaroni and cheese looked quite appetizing after cooking, I got excited. I may have danced a little in my kitchen in anticipation. However, my glee was short-lived. Although it looks good, it has only slight cheese flavor, and the noodles themselves are somehow watery. (As in they squish out water when you bite into them.) Don’t make the same mistake I did – don’t get excited over this macaroni. 2.5 out of 5
Looks: The sauce is a bit thicker than pictured (you can’t make out the individual noodles as well), and it’s a little lumpier too. 3.5 out of 5
Taste: SmartOnes is definitely the top of the heap when it comes to microwave meals. This dish avoids all of the traps that microwave macaroni usually falls into: the noodles are properly cooked; the cheese sauce isn’t gummy, but it isn’t watery either; and while it isn’t “bursting with cheese flavor” as the box claims, it does have a cheese flavor. 4 out of 5