#BlogLife167 - Picky pasta/noodle preferences updating

As winter is settling in and the days are getting chillier. I grabbed a few different brands of pasta pots to try out. 

I don't have hot drinks loaded with sugar so this is an alternative to warm me up from the insides.

I have just tried for the first time Soba Yakitori Chicken for a £1. It smelled good. It came with free soy sauce I guess it was. A tiny packet but adequate.

I mostly filled it with water, do not drown it completely, otherwise it will spill over and they recommend three minutes in the microwave but I have found four works better.

Mix it thoroughly and then put it in for that extra minute helps it to cook properly. I then let it stand for a few minutes and it was done.

It was nice, it had seasoning and flavour to it but I have had a lot better. I don't think I would buy it again, I'm sure there are better versions out there.

To date my favourites are Batchelor Macaroni and Cheese which is probably now discontinued. This version was in an Americany style box and it was delicious.

They then cheaped out and did a pot version and took the flavour away and it's really bad.

There was another one Tesco used to sell in a yellow tub but I can't remember the make, that was tasty.

I bought a few others and will add my notes here, when I've sampled them.

**Update**

I kept the Soba tub and am now trying the Super noodles, chicken flavour. I don't recall sampling this before and it smells great.

For such a small packet, they pack a lot into it. It was 60p and I had to break it up into small pieces, apply the sauce, fill it with water and only cook it for 2 minutes firstly to break it down.

I'll let it dissolve and then maybe more water and another two minutes should suffice.

At one and a half minutes it was close to bubbling over, so I have just switched off the microwave and left it to set so that the water can evaporate.

I find usually there is water/sauce left at the end but it's better that the pasta is thoroughly cooked.

It doesn't ever taste watery though, which is the nice thing. Usually it has a hint of whatever seasoning they use in the packet :)

They also look different to how I imagined them, they aren't skinny noodles, they are quite dense.

Conclusion, certainly much tastier than Soba, careful you don't water down the flavour though.

Highly recommended to wave off the chill and fill you up.

**Update**

I tried out Batchelors chicken and mushroom pasta as I like the mushroom sauce but not the actual mushrooms themselves.

I didn't taste any mushroom bits, thank goodness and it smells like soup. Very appealing.

This seemed to cook really fast even with chunky pasta. The sauce was enough and after about 3 minutes..

I just left it to set. For me it's filling because my appetite is still weird, so I can happily snack rather than partake in a big meal.

I also tried out the Batchelors bacon mac n cheese because I was craving macaroni and that was the only version left.

Cooking it smells horrendous as I never cared for that pork scent.

It cooked fairly quickly after 3 minutes and wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Probably just on the dry and salty side. It was alright but with a hint of bacon which I was hoping would be more non existent, it's my least favourite of the bunch.

**Update**

I have just tried the Mugshot Roast Chicken version and I thought that would be a high quality product but I hated it and binned it.

It was bland and didn't cook properly unlike the others. Soft and gloopy and had no taste whatsoever. I won't be buying it again, it was awful. Ick.