This or That: Velveeta or Easy Mac

It’s about that time of the semester when the glamour of the Caf begins to wear out and you’re taking laps around the Caf only to find yourself settling for the unappetizing slop of food on your plate become a common occurance.
The food you have back in your dorm room is looking better and better, especially when you’re too far away from the UC to walk and your car is parked in one of two places: a really good parking spot that you don’t want to lose, or in the middle of nowhere, i.e. the baseball field parking lot.
Of course, choosing to live off of microwaveable food does not a healthy person make, but this is college and in college, just about anything goes.
I was actually talking with some friends, over dinner, about the available options for microwaveable meals when you have limited refrigeration. The immediate response was ramen, but there were things like Chef Boyardee, and other kid-friendly, microwavable foods. However, this was just a discussion. I told my friends that I’m writing a ‘this or that’ piece, so I needed something a little more controversial.
My friends thought for a minute, took a bite of the macaroni and cheese on their plate, and nonchalantly brought up Easy Mac. As soon as Easy Mac in the bowl was mentioned, the conversation quickly became heated. Someone mentioned Velveeta as their microwave mac of choice and the basis of my article was formed.
Personally, I prefer Velveeta. I’m a die-hard “blue box” fan and I will rarely eat any mac and cheese that isn’t from the “blue box.” However, Easy Mac is just gross, to me. Albeit, convenient, it’s still gross.
Sophomore year, my roommate introduced me to Velveeta’s version and I was hooked. Now, I’m also lactose intolerant, so having cheese is not normally a pleasant experience for me. That’s why I only eat Kraft Mac and Cheese because it’s worth the resulting stomachache.
I was hesitant to eat Velveeta and it took me a while to find a day when I was feeling more tolerant. Velveeta is obviously not ‘real’ cheese and Kraft is known for it’s nearly synthetic cheese, so with that similarity they’re almost the same.
I don’t know what it is about the microwavable Kraft, but the texture is all gritty and the taste seems to be missing something creating an experience that  just isn’t worth it.
Velveeta on the other hand provides a nice silky macaroni and cheese while remaining flavorful. Plus, those little pasta shells are just too cute to pass up! So whenever the craving for some good ol’ mac and cheese comes up, and an oven isn’t available, the first thing I reach for is the yellow bowl with the even brighter yellow cheese.

Comments on this opinion
can be sent to
cecilia.villagomez@live.mercer.edu