Meet Cassie...
...and Annie.
These two young ladies are graduating high school this year and were curious about where the best value for their favorite fast food would be. Now that they realize they will soon be responsible for paying for their lunch value has become very important to them.
Their favorite food by far is macaroni and cheese. They both agree that nothing will compare with mom’s homemade mac and cheese (smart girls). But what drive-thru restaurant in Jacksonville will give them the best variety and value for their buck?
Goal: Find the best tasting and most economical Mac and Cheese
Criteria: Must be a national chain (Cassie wants to go to University of Hawaii) and it must have a drive-thru.
Rubric used:
Appearance, taste, portion size, overall value, and grade.
Contestant number 1: Steak and Shake
Steak Shake only offered mac and cheese on the kid’s menu so size was small, but it came with a small fry and a drink.
Appearance: Barely mixed together Easy Mac. The appearance was not appetizing at all.
Taste: Tasted like generic Easy Mac.
Portion Size: Only about 5 bites worth of mac and cheese, but the small fry helped.
Overall Value: or about 3 dollars the consensus was they would rather go to the grocery store and get a whole box of easy mac instead of the tree bites Steak and Shake gave.
Grade: D
Contestant number 2 – Kentucky Fried Chicken or KFC
Appearance- Was a little off putting but with a stir it was better.
Taste- After they got over the color they both agreed that the taste was really good. Very Cheesy and overall it was "yummy".
Portion Size- The large side of Mac and Cheese would be enough to make a meal no problem
Overall Value- The cost for a large side is 3.59 which is a great value considering that could be a meal in itself.
It is a far cry from homemade, but size and price make it a good option.
Grade: B
Contestant number 3: Captain D’s
Appearance: The first thing that was noticed is the color. It was a shade of orange that just doesn’t naturally occur in nature. It was not appealing it had a crust and it smelled a little “OFF”
Taste: Was ok but not something they will seek to get out again.
Portion Size: It is an item on their side menu so the size is a small Overall Value- If you want to get a side on its own, it is nearly three dollars and they give you maybe 5 bites of mac and cheese so the overall value sucks.
Not worth the time.
Grade: D
Contestant number 4: Panera
Appearance: Was great it looked most like homemade.
Taste: Was not like Mom’s but still Very good.
Portion: Portion size was huge. A large order comes with a huge container of Mac and Cheese. It looks small when you get it, but it holds tons. Plus, each order comes with half a baguette.
Overall Value: It is the most expensive option at seven dollars and some change. But you are not left hungry after this and it seems more like real food than the processed versions from the other places.
Grade: A
The great mac and cheese question, who does it better? If you have some money and want to get full of food that will remind you of the homemade goodness your mom made you, then go to Panera. If you are short on cash but still want to leave satisfied, go to KFC.
After this experiment, I know that I need to send them fruit and a multivitamin in care packages when they go to college in the fall.
This little experiment did make them take a closer look at meal plans the university of their choice offers and gave them an idea of how much it realistically will take to live on their own.
I guess I need to work on perfecting a way to send mac and cheese to Hawaii.
