Meg's Meal Planning

mac and cheese

One-Pot Chili Mac & Cheese

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One-pot chili mac and cheese is the perfect comfort food and fall meal. Easy enough to make for a weeknight dinner or enjoy on a lazy Sunday. 


There is nothing I love more than a one-pot dish. PERIOD. Especially when it’s a one-pot comfort food dish. This chili mac and cheese, inspired by Sunday Supper, is warm, incredibly flavorful, super cheesy, and will leave you wanting to lick the bowl clean! My husband and I actually fought over who gets the eat the leftovers…who do you think won? ;o)

This version is not spicy despite the jalapeno pepper, so it’s great to feed to little kids, too. Next time, I’d love to kick it up a notch and use spicy sausage instead of the ground chicken. Recipes that are so versatile are the perfect addition for your “go-to” recipes. You can use whatever ingredients you have available in the fridge/freezer. The only ingredient I had to buy for this dish was the onion. Thanks to BJ’s Wholesale Club, I have two pounds of ground chicken in the freezer and my pantry is always full of pasta and beans. For more must-have pantry items and tips on “go-to” recipes, click here. 

One Pot Chili Mac & Cheese
 
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Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lb ground chicken
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • ½ jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
  • 3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • ½ cup onion, diced
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • 14½ oz can diced tomatoes (don't drain)
  • 4 cups beef stock
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 15½ oz cans of red beans, rinsed and drained
  • 16 oz of uncooked pasta (shells or elbows)
  • 2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  • Fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat.
  2. Add in ground chicken, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, onion, and garlic. Cook, breaking up the chicken, until no longer pink and peppers are soft.
  3. Stir in chili powder, ground cumin, paprika, onion powder, tomatoes, beef stock, milk, and beans. Stir and let simmer.
  4. Add pasta, cover pot, and allow pasta to cook for 9-11 minutes or until soft (If not using shells, check the box for cooking time).
  5. Remove from heat, stir in cheese until melted. Top with fresh parsley.

Meal Plan for Week of September 4th 

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Monday – Easy Baked BBQ Ribs

Tuesday – Crockpot cilantro lime chicken


Wednesday – One-pot chili mac and cheese


Thursday – Thai Pork with peanut sauce over rice


Friday – Easy veggie panini with eggplant, mozzarella, pesto, and roasted red peppers

Creamy Sage and Cheddar Mac and Cheese

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The aromatic sage enhances this dish. It pairs beautifully with the cheddar cheese, causing a fragrant aroma and warm flavor that you won’t be able to get enough of. 

I’ve had cheese that was sage flavor in the past and it was awesome! So the other day I was digging in the depths of my freezer thinking what on earth do I have in here when I found the fresh sage that I froze. I said hmm I already made sage/cheddar biscuits, what else can I make??? I remembered that time I had the sage flavored cheese and thought that would be perfect! Since I knew we were having ribs for dinner, mac and cheese would go along perfect! 

Sage and cheddar mac and cheese


Ingredients 

  • 1 tablespoon 
  • Salt
  • 8 oz elbow pasta
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 2 tablespoon chopped sage

Steps

  1. Bring pot of water to a boil and cook the elbows halfway, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta and return pasta to the pot
  2. Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the milk, flour, butter, the mustard powder, Worcestershire sauce, and 1 teaspoon salt. Simmer stirring until sauce thickens, 3-5 minutes
  3. Turn off heat and stir in cheese and sage. Serve
 

Week of Aug 30th

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I hope everyone enjoyed Grill Week! Brian did a great job and I know he enjoyed a week off from doing any dishes! Hopefully he’ll return again soon! 

  
Monday – Zucchini pasta with cherry tomatoes and cashews. I really need to use my spiralizer more; I’ve only used it a few times. More importantly, I need to show my husband this wasn’t a waste of money and we REALLY NEED IT!  

Zucchini Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Cashews

 Ingredients

  •  2 large zucchinis, spiralized
  •  2 tablespoon olive oil
  •  1/3 cup cashews
  •  3 garlic cloves, minced
  •  ¼ cup onion, minced
  •  1 container cherry tomatoes, rinsed
  •  Handful of basil, chopped

 Steps

1. Heat cashews in large skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring 

2. Add olive oil, garlic and onion to skillet, sauté about 5-7 minutes

3. Add cherry tomatoes and cook until they start to burst open

4. Add spiralized zucchini and stir together, turn off heat

5. Add basil, stir

 

Tuesday – Grilled chicken with grilled veggies and mac and cheese. I used left over squash and zucchini and grilled it to reheat it, along with the chicken. This recipe for mac and cheese is by far the creamiest one I’ve ever tried and it’s so simple to make! The mac and cheese was inspired by this recipe. The chicken was seasoned with ½ teaspoon ground cumin, paprika, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, chili powder, and 1/8 teaspoon salt and ground cinnamon.

Creamy Mac and Cheese

 Ingredients

  •  Two cups dried egg noodles
  •  2 ½ cups of milk
  •  1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  •  1 tsp hot sauce

Steps

1. Pour milk and egg noodles in a large sauce pot. Bring to a simmer then lower the heat and cook for about 10 minutes or until the noodles are done.

2. Turn the heat off, add the cheese and hot sauce. Stir

Wednesday – Kale salad with quinoa, mango, sliced almonds, and feta cheese.  (I was inspired by this recipe, but used different fruit). Yum, yum, yum! What a healthy salad, and it’s great as a left over the next day! I made extra quinoa and stored it in the fridge for some easy lunches the following week.

Thursday– Grilled BBQ chicken with grilled sweet potato fries and a caprese salad. I was baking zucchini bread at the same time, so I couldn’t put the fries in the oven. We tried them on the grill, seasoned with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. They came out ok, but not the greatest – definitely prefer them baked.

Friday– Tacos! Enough said. 

 

Shopping List

  • 2 large zucchinis, 1 small zucchini
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Fresh basil
  • 1 small squash
  • Milk
  • Shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 bag of kale
  • 1 mango
  • Feta cheese
  • 2 large chicken breasts or 4 small pieces
  • 4 chicken drumsticks
  • 1 sweet potato
  • Two large tomatoes
  • Fresh mozzarella
  • Taco shells
  • Ground beef
  • Lettuce
  • Salsa
  • Sour cream

 Pantry

  • Olive oil
  • Cashews
  • Garlic
  • Onion
  • ½ bag egg noodles
  • Hot sauce
  • Red quinoa
  • Sliced almonds
  • Lime juice
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Honey
  • Dijon mustard
  • BBQ sauce