Cheesy Beefy Chili Mac

Hello, all!  The weekend is here!  And sadly, it is almost halfway over... :(  But at least we get an extra hour of sleep time tonight! I bet my sisters, who are living it up at the Carolina Game, will appreciate that extra hour. 

Last night, I finally got to make that spaghetti squash.  I tried something different.  I tossed it with a little butter, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and parmesan.  It was... eh... just ok.  So I won't share that recipe with you tonight.  It tasted much sweeter this time, and I think that was the problem.  Maybe it was more ripe than last time.  We had some steamed peas and rotisserie chicken with it. 

Isn't it sad how we often pack all our chores into a Saturday afternoon, when we should be enjoying ourselves?  Today we had a lot of projects to tackle:
-- hitting the gym (Zumba for me, weights and treadmill for Ryan, play time for the munchkin)
-- unearthing our dining room table (We haven't seen the tabletop since around July, but now it's back!  Woo hoo!)
--meal and recipe planning (Good eats coming soon!)
--grocery shopping for the week (and a dinner party we've got coming up)
--putting away laundry (I HATE putting clothes away.  I would love, just once, for all laundry to actually BE in our drawers.  I don't think it's ever happened.)
--dusting, vaccuuming, etc.

So now I need another Saturday to rest up from today.

Tonight, I wanted to make a one-pot meal.  Something warm and comforting because it's been cold outside the past couple of days.  (Finally, the electric bill is going down!  The air conditioner can take a rest!)  I decided on Cheese Beefy Chili Mac.  I had this can of Ro-Tel sitting in the pantry and it was just calling out to me. 

This recipe passed the family test.  Ryan liked it, and so did Sadie.  They both asked for seconds, so that's a good sign!

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 can Ro-Tel (I used mild for the fam, but if it had just been me, I'd have gone for full strength)
1/2 can of Mexican corn
1 packet of taco seasoning
8-10 oz dried macaroni noodles (we used whole wheat)
1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

Directions:
Cook noodles according to directions for al dente pasta.  While noodles cook, brown ground beef in a large skillet.  Drain fat.  Mix in Ro-Tel, corn, 1/2 cup of water, and seasoning packet.  Allow to cook, uncovered on medium, until sauce has thickened a bit.  Remove from heat.  Mix in sour cream.  Drain pasta and add to the meat mixture.  Mix well.  Top with cheese and mix well once more.  Serve hot.  Top with more cheese if desired. 

We served it with mango slices and a Pomegranate Martini-- you know-- just to test it out for the POM dinner...