Question: My kids love american cheese. They enjoy in between flour tortillas and heated in the manner of a grilled cheese sandwich. Is there an alternative cheese you could suggest that isn’t quite so processed?
It is always disconcerting to me to feed my family processed ‘anything’ food. Processed cheese food, processed meat food, processed. . .well you get the idea. The fact that they can’t call it real cheese (because in fact it’s not) has always been problematic for me.
When I first read this question, my initial reaction was to just used shredded cheddar. Then I got to thinking and decided to try it out on my own incredibly astute research and development team. It was not a hit with the kids. They could sense a fake processed cheese food a mile away–oh the irony! (And we are not a family that eats a lot of the stuff!) So with that, I set to developing grilled cheese sandwiches and tortillas that do not use processed cheese and here are a few things I came up with.
Cream Cheese and Shredded Cheeses
The key to using shredded anything as a substitute is to buy the block stuff and shred it yourself. Shredded cheddar has a coating of something on it to keep it from clumping together and probably to keep it fresh longer. (Think about how differently pre-shredded behaves than freshly shredded.) In any case, in terms of texture it makes a difference.
One trick to achieve that creamy texture is to mix shredded cheese (probably cheddar) and cream cheese. Depending on your kids, you might want to consider adding some mozzarella, Monterrey Jack. . .but mix it so that you have plenty of shredded cheese in the mixture. (Think of it like a mushy cheese ball.)
Make your grilled cheese like you normally would. The cream cheese makes the texture a little more processed like. 😉
Powdered Milk, + Milk, + Shredded Cheddar
This is really more of a substitute for Velveeta but it might work the same. Again, you’re mixing powdered milk, plus enough milk to make it into a medium thin paste. Then add the shredded cheese until it is spreadable. I haven’t tried this, but rumor has it, it’s just like the real thing. . .or the fake thing?
Either way, here are two alternatives to processed cheese food. And thank you very much for the question. If anyone has a question for the food blogger (that would be yours truly) please feel free to PM me, or leave your comment below.