With the start of Kindergarten, I have quickly realized the importance of meal planning and easy dinner ideas. Our days and nights seem to be getting away from us, and there just are not enough minutes in the day! Naturally, when I was thinking, "what's for dinner this week?" I consulted my trusty pal, Pinterest, and went to this Pin for an easy one-pot chili mac and cheese. I've made this in the past and it was a hit.
If you're following our adventures on Instagram, you may have seen a post earlier this week with a delicious meal we made. The beauty of this one was that you don't need to cook the pasta first, it all goes into one pot and it doesn't take too long to make. This makes the cooking easy and clean up even easier.
First, I grabbed my helper, who grabbed a Halloween decoration broom, and as I got to work cooking, she was "kee kee" which I believe is Ada code for cleaning.
I used my big cast iron pot, but a sauce pan would work just fine too. I used this recipe, and changed things slightly to fit our family's taste buds and restrictions. I used gluten free penne, and that was a mistake. It still tasted delicious but it absorbed too much of the liquid and became a little mushy. So next time I'll be using elbows and also adding a little extra broth, because gluten free pasta tends to suck it right up. I also used turkey burger in lieu of hamburger and omitted the beans because I have house full of crazies who don't like them.
When adding the cheese, I like to listen to The Pioneer Woman and freshly grate it. I used a Cabot sharp cheddar which is naturally lactose free (for my son who has lactose sensitivities).
I served up this meal with some fresh baked corn muffins. I cheated a little and used a gluten free boxed mix from Price Chopper because it really is the best corn bread I've had. I make it a lot. The box calls for cooking it in a pan, but this time I tried muffin style and it was very yummy, you just may need to adjust the cooking time. One thing I have learned with making these, is not to use Lactaid in place of regular milk. I'm not sure why, but it make it extremely salty.
Ada was a huge fan of the muffins. She ate three and then demanded more. My husband devoured this and my five year old son loved it too. That, my friends, equals a meal time success!
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To see more of our gluten free adventures, follow @KnaptimeKnitter on Instagram!
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