Cheesy Chili Mac

It may seem like I’ve abandoned the blog lately, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! I haven’t had time to post anything new because I’ve been spending hours and hours doing some behind the scenes stuff. Jess Fuel is officially free from WordPress.com constraints! Unfortunately, moving included a few hiccups and to keep the site from running slow as sludge I basically had to re-size, re-upload and re-insert every. single. photo. Uhm, yeah.

Anyways, I’m about 3/4 of the way done with that and I decided to take a break from it to cook!

We’ve got a ton of ground moose meat in our freezer (Nick’s uncle hunts in Alaska and is nice enough to share!), so I was looking for a way to use some of it up. Funny, there isn’t a huge selection of moose recipes out there… so I went on the search for some ground beef recipes. It’s pretty much interchangeable! I found this recipe and was drooling over the pictures. I listed beef in the recipe, since I’m sure not many people have ground moose on hand… but any ground meat would work!

Cheesy Chili Mac

(adapted from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures)

• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 2 cups water
• 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 2 cups elbow macaroni
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and salt to the pan.

Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and brown sugar and cook an additional minute. Add the ground beef and cook until just cooked through.

Stir the water and tomato sauce into the beef mixture. Add the pasta and stir to combine.

Cover the pan and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook until the pasta is al dente, stirring frequently to prevent the pasta from sticking, about 12 minutes. Adjust the heat as necessary to maintain a vigorous simmer.

Turn off the heat under the pan, add 1 cup of the cheese, and stir to combine. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top and cover the pan again. Let stand for about 2 minutes, or until the cheese melts.

This was so yummy! Nick had seconds AND thirds, so I’m sure I will have to make it again. The best part was that I only dirtied ONE pan! Usually when I make something this yummy, it looks like the kitchen exploded. But cleanup on this one was really easy!

Back to photo uploading I go…