Is there any way to make Easy Mac not the worst thing ever?

I am so terribly hungry right now, but I have almost nothing to eat in my apartment but some Easy Mac I bought last year. I don't get paid until next Friday, so making a food run is out of the question, and literally the only other food that I can possibly scrounge up is some week old spinach and feta pizza that my wife left in the fridge (it's not the week that gets me, it's the toppings).

So, after Googling this topic to no avail, my question to you all is how can I prepare some Easy Mac without making it taste and feel like mushy cardboard?

Ketchup works. So does hot sauce.

@Maniac_Matt: Good suggestions, but my main concern is the mushyness. Every time I have ever had Easy Mac, it ends up tasting and having the consistency of (fake) cheesy oatmeal.

add tuna fish. :P i used to eat that for lunch quite a bit in college

Bread.... if you have any.

You could try adding stuff to not make it terrible or not adding the cheese sauce so that it's just macaroni. I do recommend investing in a bag of rice for this occasion though. It's like $3 for a weeks worth of rice and you can add almost any vegetable, meat or spice to it so that it's always different.

Frankly, I think ramen is the better solution than even white box generic mac + cheese.

@mosespippy: Maybe its just because I'm in a food rut and hungry right now, but that sounds so great and infinitely more satisfying than Easy Mac. Too bad I don't have rice or a rice cooker...

@Foxtrot0245 said:

@mosespippy: Maybe its just because I'm in a food rut and hungry right now, but that sounds so great and infinitely more satisfying than Easy Mac. Too bad I don't have rice or a rice cooker...

You don't need a rice cooker to cook rice.

@Roflwaffles said:

@murisan said:

add tuna fish. :P i used to eat that for lunch quite a bit in college

Yeah I was going to say tuna.

Gonna go ahead and toss my vote this way.

Add some buffalo hot sauce, bacon bits (real), bit of black pepper & if you have it a few pinches of shredded cheese on top.

@PeasantAbuse said:

@Foxtrot0245 said:

@mosespippy: Maybe its just because I'm in a food rut and hungry right now, but that sounds so great and infinitely more satisfying than Easy Mac. Too bad I don't have rice or a rice cooker...

You don't need a rice cooker to cook rice.

I have literally only ever made rice with a rice cooker or in one of those little Uncle Ben's microwaveable packs. I honestly thought those were the only two options available.

Hot sauce, the hottest you can get.

Less water then directed will make it less mushy. I can't remember math I used at the college dorm, but the recommended amount of water makes it to the equivalent of mush soup. Try bringing it down to 85-90% of recommended water.

Thanks everyone! I think I will try to microwave it for less than the recommended time because I like al dente pasta, not mushy slop, and try some of these additions out.

@Foxtrot0245 said:

@PeasantAbuse said:

@Foxtrot0245 said:

@mosespippy: Maybe its just because I'm in a food rut and hungry right now, but that sounds so great and infinitely more satisfying than Easy Mac. Too bad I don't have rice or a rice cooker...

You don't need a rice cooker to cook rice.

I have literally only ever made rice with a rice cooker or in one of those little Uncle Ben's microwaveable packs. I honestly thought those were the only two options available.

You can boil or fry rice too.

Add rice to a pan. Add enough water so that the rice doesn't burn.

Let it cook until rice is soft (The water will evaporate)

Add a can of tomato sauce and boom! You have Mexican red rice.

The tuna suggestion sounds good. Tuna is cheap as hell.

Hot Cock is always the right answer.

You're all wrong. The answer is bacon.

I used to eat easy mac with bread for a long time, then I hit this point where I couldn't face it anymore. Although adding tuna sounds like a good idea I never thought of.

Pan fry it afterwards? Not that I've ever done it, but now I'm curious about how that might turn out.

Isnt it cheaper to buy ingredients and cook shit yourself?

Just go hungry, fuck Easy Mac.

peas onions and bacon, although it sounds like you dont have any :(

Don't have a credit card to put some groceries on?

But seriously Bacon. I don't eat Easy Mac; I just get Trader Joes Mac and Cheese. However the recommendations of less water and cooking it for less time is ideal to make it more al dente like you prefer. I think Tuna is disgusting and wouldn't put that in there but too each their own.

@Foxtrot0245 said:

Thanks everyone! I think I will try to microwave it for less than the recommended time because I like al dente pasta, not mushy slop, and try some of these additions out.

All the suggestions? My God...

texture: make it normally, top with more cheese, then broil or bake it. Crisp it up slightly, you want a thin sheet.

Lobster

Canned tuna and hot sauce are great ideas. You can add ground beef to mac and cheese. Other cheap ingredients that I can think off is adding frozen peas or saltine crackers.

@Foxtrot0245 said:

@PeasantAbuse said:

@Foxtrot0245 said:

@mosespippy: Maybe its just because I'm in a food rut and hungry right now, but that sounds so great and infinitely more satisfying than Easy Mac. Too bad I don't have rice or a rice cooker...

You don't need a rice cooker to cook rice.

I have literally only ever made rice with a rice cooker or in one of those little Uncle Ben's microwaveable packs. I honestly thought those were the only two options available.

Depending on the rice, a good basic rule of thumb is 3/4 cup of rice to a cup of water. You'll want to rinse the rice out until the water is clear. Bring the water to a hard boil, drop the rice in, cover, and lower the heat. Cook for 20 minutes. I add an additional 1/5th cup of water after 10 minutes when I remove the cover, stir, and put the cover back on. Once the twenty minutes is up, turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes.

You can replace the water with chicken stock. Dice up some carrots, celery, and parsley.

Here's another simple one.

Potatoes. Cut them into wedges and drop them into hard boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes. While it's boiling, bring your oven up to 425. Pull out the wedges, toss with olive oil, rosemary, and either diced garlic or garlic powder. Season with salt and pepper. Toss it in a cast iron pan and cook for 20 minutes.

liberal applications of ketchup and pepper. and hotdogs.

Easy Mac can't be the worst. Britta is the worst. Britta is not Easy Mac. Ergo, Easy Mac isn't the worst.

i like to put taco bell sauce on it. i have it hanging around because i get extra sometimes. it taste pretty good.

Easy Mac is basically Kraft Dinner, right? I fail to see how anyone could find that disgusting -- maybe bland, but it's just noodles and cheese sauce. I wouldn't touch tuna with a ten-foot pole, for instance, but I have no problem with some KD.

Bacon bits

@Foxtrot0245 said:

I am so terribly hungry right now, but I have almost nothing to eat in my apartment but some Easy Mac I bought last year. I don't get paid until next Friday, so making a food run is out of the question, and literally the only other food that I can possibly scrounge up is some week old spinach and feta pizza that my wife left in the fridge (it's not the week that gets me, it's the toppings).

So, after Googling this topic to no avail, my question to you all is how can I prepare some Easy Mac without making it taste and feel like mushy cardboard?

HOTDOGS!!

@Jrad said:

Easy Mac is basically Kraft Dinner, right? I fail to see how anyone could find that disgusting -- maybe bland, but it's just noodles and cheese sauce. I wouldn't touch tuna with a ten-foot pole, for instance, but I have no problem with some KD.

Tuna is god damn amazing. Some Miracle Whip and Relish in it and throw her on a sandwich. Deadly.

You're not hungry enough if you're worried about taste. I'd suggest waiting another 12 or so hours but you've probably already tried some of the advice above and eaten the pasta. Real hunger makes anything taste fantastic.

@Butano said:

Hot Cock is always the right answer.

I think Easy Mac is pretty good, but if you were to put something on it, this would be it.

Sccop the mac n cheese into a ball and throw it against the wall. Then run outside and get like nine Lucky Charms Cereal Bars.

Nope!

Isn't regular Mac & Cheese cheaper than Easy Mac? It tastes 100% better but is still kinda a poor meal.

I always like to mix some cereal with my kraft dinner. Pickles work pretty great too.

Although, I assume if one is strapped for cash they probably don't have cereal. Why the fuck is cereal so goddamn expensive!?

@Chop: Kellogg's Special K is 3 for $9 at my local Rite-Aid. Oats & Honey and Vanilla Almond have been a staple in my household of late.

@Foxtrot0245 said:

@Chop: Kellogg's Special K is 3 for $9 at my local Rite-Aid. Oats & Honey and Vanilla Almond have been a staple in my household of late.

I usually buy the family packs and those things run me about seven bucks. I suppose it's not incredibly bank breaking but compared to all the other cheap ass food I buy, the price is more than I'd like.

Unfortunately, cereal is by far one of my favorite foods, so I have no choice but to keep paying and paying and paying. ARGGGGGG!

If the noodles are mushy, you've cooked it too long. If the sauce is runny, you had too much water. I like Easy Mac, but hot sauce sounds pretty good as an addition.