One Pot Wonder… Chili-Mac

Evening fellow food bloggers and lurkers! Today was my first day back at school. I drug my heels all the way, but I guess I am ready to get back in to this thing called a crazy school year! It is our preplanning week, so today was rich and heavy in information. The rest of the week will be filled with meetings and getting prepared for my precious babies that will be arriving next week!!! I saw some of their sweet little 10 year old faces and I think I might have shed a tear or two; they are too cute!

Speaking of cute, have you ever witnessed a large room full of cheerleaders? Like a huge high school cafeteria full of K-12 cheerleaders all together in one place? Probably one of the happiest places on Earth. I have these two cuties starting practice this week. Last week was camp and they were just so precious I almost couldn’t stand it.

So I got off work, picked up the girls, and got Becca ready, (she has practice 3 times a week and Katie has it twice), and I dropped her off at cheer practice. While she was there, I relaxed a bit, then cooked dinner. The hubby picked her up while I finished up cooking dinner. Here is what I made.

Chili Mac

Ingredients

1 pound macaroni noodles
1 pound ground beef (chicken, turkey, or even black beans or soy crumbles if you want to go veggie)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon of onion powder, garlic powder, and chili powder
red chili flakes to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups of water
3/4 cup of heavy cream

Directions

Brown your meat. Add in spices.
Add in tomato paste. Cook down for about 3 minutes. Add in canned tomatoes. Mix well.
Add in pasta and water. Cook about 8 minutes. Stir pasta at the 4 minute mark. If it looks thick, add in a bit more water. Stir well. After 4 more minutes, check pasta. It should still have a bite to it. Add in your cream and cook until done.