Macaroni and Cheese, version #3

I’ve posted two macroni and cheese recipes before. The first one is your basic ham macaroni and cheese recipe and the second one was a stove top version from Cook’s Illustrated which is fantastic.

So last night I thought I had all the stuff to make it, but then realized I didn’t have any ham. So, I thought, I wonder if cubed chicken would taste good? I made a quick call to my twin sister. I told her my idea, she said it sounded gross. But I persevered!

I took out 2 chicken breasts and trimmed all the fat off, and cut them into cubes. I didn’t want to have them just plain, so I tossed them in a skillet with a little olive oil, and put 1 tsp. ground cumin, 1 tsp. chili powder and 1/4 tsp. of cayenne pepper, and cooked them until they were almost done. (They will cook the rest of the way when you bake it).

In a big pot, I cooked one bag of wacky mac pasta, all different shapes and sizes and colors of pasta!

In a medium size pot, I added 2 TB. of Earth Balance Spread(or you can use butter) + 1/4 cup all purpose flour. Melt the spread (or butter) and stir the flour together for a few minutes, stirring constantly.

Add 3 1/2 cups skim milk/or soy milk and cook for about 10 minutes, until sauce is thickened. Once that was done, I added 1/2 cup of green salsa, plus 4 ounces of Mexican Blend cheese.

In a casserole dish, add the cooked noodles, the cooked chicken and the sauce and stir until the sauce has coated all the pasta. Sprinkle more cheese on top before baking at 350 for about 25 minutes.

I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it! I think the green salsa mixed with the sauce, and the spiciness of the cumin/chili powder/cayenne on the chicken gave it a nice heat without being too hot. I will definitely make this version again!

Christina from Dinner at Christina’s tagged me the other day about 8 things about me. Since she was the first person to leave me a comment when I first started my blog, I have to oblige!

8 things I did yesterday:

Made kids lunches
Took kids to school
Came to work
Read blogs during lunch
Stopped by my Mom’s to say Hi!
Made this fabulous mac and cheese!
Saw results show of American Idol
Read more blogs/put kids to bed/relax!

8 things I wish I could do

Spend more time with my kids (they are getting so big!)
Take more cooking classes
Teach cooking classes
Take more jewelry classes (I love making jewelry!)
Work(or own!) a bead store
Have more time in the day!
Travel all over
Buy a vacation house somewhere fantastic and warm!

8 shows I watch

Chopped (on Food TV) + Any show of Food TV
John and Kate + 8 and Little People Big World (TLC)
American Idol
The Biggest Loser
The Real World(MTV)
Antiques Roadshow
I-Carly (Nickelodeon, a kids show, but I like it too!)
I’ll watch most any show on HGTV too!

So that’s about it for me! Have a great day everyone!