Thursday, August 11, 2011

Mac & Cheese or Pasta Primavera

{it's crispy!}

The Backstory:

Since I go back to school soon, I thought it might be a good time to start going through the boxes I brought home with me from college this past June. Yes, I am one of those slightly disorganized, deal-with-it-when-I-have-to type people who leave things until last minute. What can I say? It's worked for me so far.

While I was sorting through the stuff, I found the drawstring bag that Target always gives us UCLA students at College Run Night. Our school and the lovely Target team up every year to have those massive tour bus type buses come by the dorms and pick up students who realize after their parents have already dropped them off that they need shampoo or notebooks or a TV or whathaveyou. The buses then whisk them off to a local Target that's open only to UCLA students that night from 11 pm until about 2 am.

College students don't sleep. That's why that time frame works.

Target sponsors the games, the food, the prizes, the giveaways, the music {they hire DJs...}, the works. Seriously, it's kind of like Black Friday in the middle of September. And it's fun! Just to go and see everything is awe-inspiring in itself. I've gone with my roomies for the past two years and we make it a roomie date.

As you walk out the door, you're handed a drawstring bag with a fun Target logo pattern on it and inside there's a bunch of things that are pretty much free {ish} marketing for the companies who are giving them away to the ohsogullible college students. In all seriousness, though, the store does a pretty good job of thinking about what a college student might need and putting either coupons or a free sample in the bag.

In past years, there's been an entire bottle of Method handsoap {I happen to love their products/marketing, so that was fun}, a full-sized bag of cotton balls, a box of bandaids, a box of zip-lock bags, a few garbage bags, Post-It notes, coffee samples {ewcoffee}, and miscellaneous food and beauty/hygiene products.

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The Point:

{ooh, pretty colors!}
This past year, one of the things in the bag was a sample of their instant mac & cheese.

I normally don't eat mac & cheese, mostly because my mother is a dietician and the boxed stuff is super unhealthy.

Last night, I decided to be brave.

I decided to risk the forces of carcinogens and saturated fats.



And got wide-eyed at the color of the stuff after it'd been 'cooked.'

It really does look like the Crayola Crayon color!

Goodness.



It didn't taste too bad, but the fact that it was an unnatural shade of yellowish-orange was a bit off-putting.

I don't think I'm the instant mac&cheese, Ramen type college student. I do like pasta, but I believe that the prep time should take more than three minutes.

Just saying.


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Anybody a super fan of instant mac & cheese? How about the gourmet, real-cheese type? Try anything brave lately? Do any late night shopping?

And which colors in the Crayola Crayon box did you always remember as a kid? For me, it was the Mac & Cheese yellow and Tickle Me Pink. Neither of which I used. Didn't like that shade of yellow, don't like pink. Whyyy I remembered those two the most then is beyond me. *shrugs*

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