Product: Joe’s Diner Mac ’n’ Cheese

Description: Frozen, 14-ounce serving of macaroni and cheese made with cheddar, Swiss, havarti and Gouda

Preparation summary: Microwave on high for five to six minutes, then let stand one minute. Or bake in conventional oven for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees.

High points: Mini elbow-shaped pasta swimming in four compatible cheeses, and with edges that come out crusty after it’s cooked, equate to the best homemade-tasting mac ’n’ cheese that you’ll find on store shelves.

Low points: Doesn’t take well to dieters. Eat the whole box (which is easy to do), and you’ve added 720 calories to your girth.

Average retail price: $3.29

Availability: Trader Joe’s

Product: Knorr Roasted Pork Gravy

Description: Powdered gravy mix for pork contained in a 1.3-ounce bag

Preparation summary: Whisk contents with 1 1/4 cups water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for three minutes.

High points: Making real gravy is tricky business for most, so here you have something brown and wet to drape over your pork roast in barely five minutes.

Low points: With only a trace of bacon fat listed in the ingredients, and hardly any spice, this gravy grieves for pan drippings, butter, cream or any unctuous additive to make it convincingly natural tasting.

Average retail price: $1.99

Availability: Most major grocery stores

Product: New Minute Maid Orangeade

Description: Two-liter plastic bottle of orangeade “made with real oranges” and with 100-percent Vitamin C per 8-ounce serving

Preparation summary: Ready to drink

High points: Remember Tang? The drink resembles that fake-orange flavor, but with a subtle touch of fizz to make it more refreshing.

Low points: The vitamin C you get originates from ascorbic acid, and not from the 3 percent natural orange juice contained within. Don’t be fooled by the pictures of juicy orange slices on the label.

Average retail price: $1.69

Availability: Major grocery stores

Product: Chung’s Vegetable Egg Rolls

Description: Four individually packaged veggie egg rolls with packets of sweet-and-sour sauce included

Preparation summary: Conventional oven recommended: Cook on foil-lined baking sheet for 12-15 minutes at 450 degrees, turning once halfway through.

High points: Bigger and better than egg rolls in most Asian restaurants. The wheat flour casings toast up to a delicate, greaseless crisp (when cooked in a conventional oven), and the carrots, cabbage and celery in the filling stay firm and crunchy. Appealing undertones of pineapple appear in the sweet-and-sour sauce.

Low points: None. They’re flawless.

Average retail price: $3.69

Availability: Ralph’s