Review of Daiya's Cheezy Mac Boxed Pastas

I discovered these mac and cheese's at my local Fred Meyer. I was really, really excited. They cost around $4-$5.  Each box "serves three", but if I add some fruit on the side it serves four of us (three kids and an adult)  for lunch. You just boil the noodles and then there is a packet of sauce that you open and stir in. The sauce is totally pre-made and you don't even need to heat it up.  Just stir in the sauce and serve. Talk about easy!  The one thing to note, is the pasta is a little finicky. So make sure you don't over cook it. It definitely gets a little mushy, like rice pasta can, if you don't cook it just right.  To learn the secrets of rice pasta go here! This is perfect for a fast meal! Note: The photos are from Daiya's website. Here are the ones to choose from:

The Deluxe White Cheddar Style Veggie:
This one is creamy with a light cheddar flavor. The veggies have a texture that is a little different the fresh, but it's not bad at all. Kind of reminds of of the ramen veggies when I would have a cup of soup.  It's nice to have the added nutrition of some veggies on the go. It's nice how it makes it more of a meal.

The ingredients are:
Brown rice pasta (whole grain brown rice, rice bran, water), filtered water, dried vegetable blend (pea, carrot, red bell pepper), tapioca starch, non-GMO expeller pressed: canola and/or safflower oil, coconut oil, sea salt, vegan natural flavors, pea protein isolate, potato protein, tricalcium phosphate, evaporated cane sugar, lactic acid (vegan, for flavor), xanthan gum, yeast extract, titanium dioxide (naturally occurring mineral), onion, vitamin B12.

The Deluxe Cheddar Style:

This one definitely has a strong cheddar cheesy flavor.  The sauce is super creamy, more like a Velveeta type sauce. The texture is quite creamier than Amy's frozen Mac and Cheese.   It definitely satisfies that craving for Mac and Cheese. My kids love it.

The Ingredients are:

Brown rice pasta (whole grain brown rice, rice bran, water), filtered water, tapioca starch, non-GMO expeller pressed: canola and/or safflower oil, coconut oil, sea salt, vegan natural flavors, pea protein isolate, potato protein, tricalcium phosphate, evaporated cane sugar, lactic acid (vegan, for flavor), xanthan gum, yeast extract, titanium dioxide (naturally occurring mineral), annatto (color), onion, vitamin B12.

The Deluxe Alfredo Style:

This one is equally as creamy and definitely has a more mild flavor.  I personally think it could use a little more garlic, but that would be easy to add if you wanted to.  The flavor definitely isn't strong. This is the sort of thing that kids really love. You could add bacon or broccoli to snazz this up! Yum!

The Ingredients are: 

Brown rice pasta (whole grain brown rice, rice bran, water), filtered water, tapioca starch, non-GMO expeller pressed: canola and/or safflower oil, coconut oil, vegan natural flavors, sea salt, pea protein, potato protein, tricalcium phosphate, evaporated cane sugar, lactic acid (vegan, for flavor), xanthan gum, titanium dioxide (naturally occurring mineral), yeast extract, spices, onion, garlic, vitamin B12.

What's For Dinner Tonight? Stark Raving Gluten Free Vegan Pizza

We are having pizza with Caesar salad tonight! Yum! This pizza is one of my favorite discoveries in awhile. It's a gluten-free, vegan frozen pizza that you can throw in the oven and have ready in 10-15 minutes. The rice/potato/tapioca based crust has a tomato sauce and Daiya mozzarella on it. We usually buy Applegate Farms pepperoni to put on it with some black olives. It is gluten, dairy, egg and soy free. The crust is fairly thin and crispy when baked. It makes 10-12 slices. I buy mine at PCC and throw them in the freezer for a night when I don't feel like cooking (or want some a fun change of pace).We like to pair it with a nice salad (assuming we are up to cooking that much). I sometimes bake one of these the night before a trip, wrap it in foil and take it on the road for lunch the next day. They cost about 13 dollars per pizza pie. If you haven't tried one, I'd highly recommend it!

I can't get enough of this pizza! I don't know why it is putting this white box here, so I am filling it up!