Velveeta. Don't laugh.

[Duer 157099]

OK, you can laugh, but still, read and help if you can.

I cannot recall the last time I ate, much less purchased, some of this stuff. But every now and then, I'd read something that would claim that Velveeta is the *only* ingredient that will work for such-and-such a purpose (nachos come to mind).

Well, it was on deep sale at the usual bargain grocery store I go to, and I couldn't resist. They were practically giving it away (I know, I know).

So what should I do with it? I'm not a food snob, not by any measure. I'll eat just about anything. I have plenty of regular good cheeses too, if I need to combine.

Fondue? I've got some nice crusty french bread. Grilled cheese? Mac n Cheese?

What are those things that will only work with Velveeta?

[hippywife]

1. Throw it in a crockpot

with salsa for a cheap, easy queso. (Around here they use Rotel tomatoes.) That's about the only thing I've ever seen it used for. :shrug:

[cbayer]

2. Agree with this and particularly with using the Rotel tomatoes. Either regular tortilla

chips or fritos are good.

Big no on the fondue idea, but the queso and macaroni/cheese ideas are good, imo.

:hi:

[Duer 157099]

3. That was the only thing I could really think of

Velveeta plus Rotel.

Although, I will probably also use it instead of cream cheese to give my dog pills.

[noamnety]

4. Make the cheese fudge!

Disclaimer: I have never made nor eaten the infamous velveeta fudge. I would however like to goad other people into making it.

[Duer 157099]

5. Oh right! That was the other thing.

I may actually consider it. That might have been the item that was stuck in my mind as a "hmmmm, I wonder...?" that made me buy this.

Edit to add the recipe:

3/4 lb. (12 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product or VELVEETA Made With 2% Milk Reduced Fat Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine
6 squares BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 pkg. (16 oz. each) powdered sugar (about 8 cups)
1-1/2 cups chopped PLANTERS Pecans
1 tsp. vanilla
Make It

PLACE VELVEETA, butter, chocolate and corn syrup in large microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 2 min.; stir. Microwave an additional minute; stir until well blended.

ADD chocolate mixture, in batches, to sugar in large bowl, beating with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended after each addition. Stir in pecans and vanilla.

POUR into greased 13x9-inch pan. Smooth top with spatula; cover. Refrigerate several hours or until firm before cutting into 1-inch squares to serve. (For longer storage, wrap tightly and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw in refrigerator overnight before serving.)

[The empressof all]

25. The fudge is awesome!

Use butter. Seriously rich, dense and creamy.

[cheri010353]

6. Potato Soup

My husband makes potato-cheese soup with Velveeta and it's awesome!
Cook 1 diced onion in 1/2 c (1 stick) of butter. When the onions are soft, reduce heat and add 1/2 gallon of whole milk (Preferably organic).
Boil 2-3 lbs. of peeled, cut up potatoes until they're almost done.
Drain potatoes and add to milk mixture. Thicken with potato flakes (The amount varies, but be careful. Use no more than 1/82 cup)
Cut up 8-oz of Velveeta in small pieces and add to soup. At the end, add salt and pepper to taste.
(Keep the heat very low or the soup will scorch),

[madmax]

8. Sounds good. I have to try this.

:hi:

[trud]

13. 1/82 cup?

[Chellee]

22. Dost thou doubt the thickening power of the potato flake!?!

Blasphemer!!

:evilgrin:

[kestrel91316]

7. Wonder Bread + Velveeta = best grilled cheese sandwich on planet. And

dunking it in ketchup is obligatory.

Mmmmmm.....Mom may have been the convenience food queen (gaaaackkkk), but she scored major points with me over her grilled cheese.

[kurtzapril4]

9. You are so right

Velveeta is the best, and I'm saying this as someone who likes 3 year old cheddar. They both have their places.

When I make a grilled cheese....I use the Velveeta!

[kestrel91316]

14. I don't allow petroleum-based "cheese" in my home anymore, lol,

so I haven't had a traditional Mom-style GCS in decades. But I cherish the memory. Homemade bread with good cheddar is different, but also excellent, though it doesn't benefit from ketchup.

[Duer 157099]

21. LOL, "petroleum-based cheese"

Good one :thumbsup:

(but doesn't deter me from eating it, lol)

[pengillian101]

11. Wonder Bread + Velveeta = best grilled cheese sandwich on planet

As a kid in the 50's 60's - what else would Mom use, eh?

I haven't bought Velveeta for a long time, but I wouldn't mind a grilled cheese again with it.

[trud]

10. grilled cheese with pickles

Grilled cheese sandwich, opened up when the cheese has melted and then bread and butter pickles tucked inside.

[Arkansas Granny]

12. This is the recipe I have that I haven't found a suitable substitute for Velveeta or

the mushroom soup. Before anyone gets turned off by hominy, I have served this dish to people who say they hate hominy, but they wind up asking for the recipe.

HOT HOMINY CASSEROLE

1 lb. hot pork sausage
1/2 C. chopped onion
1/2 C. chopped bell pepper
1 can cr. of mushroom soup
1/2 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed
chopped jalapeno peppers to taste
2 cans hominy, drained
1 C. grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350F. Brown sausage, add onion and bell pepper and cook until onion is translucent. Add soup, Velveeta and chopped jalapeno peppers. Heat until cheese is melted. Place hominy in 2 qt. casserole or baking dish, pour cheese and sausage mixture over hominy and mix well. Cover and bake about 20 minutes, until hot and bubbly, sprinkle grated cheese over the top and return to the oven, uncovered, until cheese is melted and slightly browned.

I sometimes add a can of drained Ro-Tel tomatoes to this. It tastes good adds color.

[Duer 157099]

20. I love hominy, and this one looks like a great winter meal

How does it do without the sausage? Although I'm sure I've got some in the freezer.

[Arkansas Granny]

26. I've never tried it without the sausage, but I think it would probably be good.

[Catherina]

15. So many things but I make my own

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 lb. grated cheddar cheese, divided into 3 equal parts shopping list
* 1 1/2 cups almost boiling water, divided into 3 equal parts shopping list
* 1/2 cup plus 1 tbls. instant dry milk, divided into 3 equal parts shopping list
* 1/2 envelope unflavored gelatin (1 1/2 tsp.), divided into 3 equal parts

How to make it

* Line a 8x4x2 loaf pan with plastic wrap
* Put 1/2 cup water, 3 tbls. milk, and 1/2 tsp. gelatin into blender
* Blend until gelatin has dissolved
* Add 1/2 lb. Cheddar cheese
* Blend until blended
* Pour into loaf pan
* Repeat same procedure two more times
* Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight before unmolding
* Makes 2 Lb.

[Denninmi]

17. Now, that is really creative.

Homemade Velveeta -- who knew?

[Catherina]

28. It's the things you learn as an expat

:rofl:

[TreasonousBastard]

16. My favorite sammiches as a kid were...

bologna and Velveeta, with or without the bologna. And, I would happily carve off slices of the stuff and just eat it by itself.

I haven't bought any in years myself, but now I'm intrigued and on my way to the store-- I have some things around that are crying for cheese sauce and the stuff is so fast and easy to use.

I can't think of anything that actually requires Velveeta, but its uniformity and melting qualities make some things much easier.

[Phentex]

18. I've only used it for dips but

I bet it's good for other things. I seem to only buy it for football season.

[MadBadger]

19. After seeing it plastered all over the Big Ten Network , I broke down and had Rotel Velveeta Queso

Wasnt that bad.

[NMDemDist2]

23. twice stuffed potatoes

velveeta is the bomb on those!

[TreasonousBastard]

24. OK, I went out to buy some AND THAT SHIT IS EXPENSIVE...

8 bucks a pound if it's not on some huge sale. I get perfectly good cheddar for four bucks a pound, so what's so special about this stuff?

Well, like cream cheese and other gooey dairy things, it goes down real easy and you can eat a lot more of it than you wanted to. Good for Kraft, not so good for your weight.

The ingredient list shows nothing particularly scary in there. In some of my favorite cheeses they inject MOLD, ferchrissakes, so how bad could a little alginate be?

Have fun:

http://brands.kraftfoods.com/velveeta

(I have keen interest in the spicy buffalo beer dip)

[trud]

27. $4.50

I just checked with peapod and it's 4.49 a pound.

[TreasonousBastard]

35. Around 5 bucks here, too. It must have been mispriced on the shelf.

[hippywife]

30. I'm not finding an ingredient list for the product itself

at the website, am I overlooking it or are you reading it off the box?

[TreasonousBastard]

36. Both. I tossed the box, but goggling...

"velveeta ingredients" will, eventually, find an ingredient list.

Kraft's Velveeta site is the pits-- doesn't even mention who invented it.

[grasswire]

32. heck, I can buy two pounds of Tillamook cheddar for that price.

And Tillamook is real cheese and good stuff. $4.49 for a two pound brick.

In fact, last week my market had 8-12 oz packages of grated Tillamook varieties for $1 each. Pepperjack, sharp cheddar, Italian blend, etc. I stocked up.

It's a locavore buy for me, too.

[TreasonousBastard]

33. Velveeta is "real" cheese, believe it or not...

it's an unaged soft cheddar-- not so different from the stuff between the mold in a decent Brie or Fontina d'Aosta.

Yeah, it's tacky, bland and kinda yucky in some ways, but it's as real as farmer cheese or ricotta.

I usually get the 8 oz packages of cheddars, jacks, and swissy stuff for 4 bucks, but BOGO. Food is expensive out here, so that's a good deal.

[grasswire]

34. I looked at the nutritional analysis...

...between 28 grams of Tillamook medium cheddar and 1 oz Velveeta and see that the major differences are in the sodium count (125 Tillamook vs 420 Velveeta) and carbs (0 Tillamook vs 2.7 Velveeta).

Velveeta isn't allowed to call itself "cheese." It must be called "processed cheese food."

I'm not arguing, just clarifying. Nothing works better in bean dip.

[TreasonousBastard]

39. Sodium content for cheese is all over the place...

I seem to remember some sheep cheeses as being really salty, but I found this in a quick search:

http://oto2.wustl.edu/men/sodium.htm

rough guide for grams of sodium per 100 grams (3.5 oz)

Cheese, cheddar 620
Cheese, processed 1189
Cheese, cottage 406
Cheese, cream 296
Cheese, Mozzarella 373
Cheese, Parmesan 1,862
Cheese, Swiss 260

I imagine the carb content is a little higher because of the milk-- Velveeta mixes the cheese curds and the whey while most cheeses throw the whey out.

Anyway, I don't want to start a flame war over Velveeta (didn't we have one a while ago?) but just clarifying that it's made from real food, not from motor oil, toxic waste, and the more digusting fish parts.

[japple]

29. My mom used to make pimento cheese with velveeta. She would

melt velveeta, add grated sharp cheddar and a jar of pimento. I loved it!

[Lucinda]

31. I love Velveeta Rotel Cheese Dip

Is the best! And versatile.

Velveeta
Rotel - Mild for me

You can usually find directions on the box - but I melt the cheese - cubed - in the micro or crockpot with the canned rotel added. Just heat till the cheese is melted and stir. Great to use as a dip, a cold cheese spread etc.

You can look it up online for more specific directions and additions. Had a friend who made it with browned ground sausage. Was tasty.

[GoCubsGo]

37. My sister used to make a sausage dip.

She didn't use the Rotel. I don't remember if there was anything else in it beside melted Velveeta and browned breakfast sausage, but I remember it being good. I prefer the Rotel dip, and the sausage-free version of it.

[Lucinda]

38. The rotel dip is really versatile - lots of people like it on veggies too

I agree...the no sausage version is better too...but its a nice change

[Arkansas Granny]

40. Over the years, we've tried a lot of add-ins to the basic Rotel dip.

We've added sausage and ground beef which is very good and we've used it to make nachos. We've also tried adding sauteed onions and/or mushrooms. They make a nice addition, also.