Things I’ve Learned Since I Got Married #1

The point of this series is not going to feature me arrogantly pontificating about the general knowledge that seems to instantly beam into the minds of newly married people. Rather my own personal revelations from my married life.

I really like Wacky Mac.

I’m not sure exactly why, but I never liked macaroni and cheese (of any sort) growing up. For some reason, my mind had defined a triumvirate of pasta, cheese and tomato sauce, such as ravioli, tortellini, or spaghetti with cheese sprinkled on top. Pasta could also be eaten with tomato sauce alone, but the alternative coupling of noodles and cheese by themselves simply wasn’t appealing. I avoided it at every opportunity wherein such a dish presented itself, most notably at the lunches served by our local Jewish day school.

Then came marriage, where often enough there isn’t necessarily time to prepare a full meal with assorted courses included a main and sides. Sometimes we’re too tired (or more emphatically, ASoG, since she does most of the cooking – more on that in another post) to cook up anything significant, and a quick, satisfying meal is in order.

Enter the magical food known as "Wacky Mac."

I was quite reluctant to try the stuff at first, based on my prior aversion to anything resembling macaroni and cheese. However, I noticed that the finished product looked nothing like the chunky, blocky, yellow-white, crunchy-on-top substance that was presented to us innocent middle school students way back when. The consistency seemed more akin to regular pasta, which made trying to eat it seem more appetizing. In the end, I really liked it, and Wacky Mac has become a regular staple of our meals, whenever we need to quick-fix, delicious dinner.

It’s so simple to prepare, even I have added it to my limited repertoire of things I can make, in addition to pizza, ramen cups (which I don’t eat so much anymore), cereal, cheese toast, and assorted pasta (frozen ravioli and tortellini). Aside from making pizza, I’m not much of a cook, as you can tell.

At any rate, Wacky Mac is now one of my favorite quickie-dinners. It’s easy to make and easy to clean up – more on that in the next segment of “Things I’ve Learned Since I Got Married.”