February 10, 2014

Use-It-Up Macaroni and Cheese - A 1 Pot Meal

I had thawed some ham that was in the freezer and decided to use it to make mac and cheese.  As I was looking through the fridge, I found some more stuff that needed to be used up.  This is what I came up with for dinner:

6 ounces ham (from the freezer from a ham a made last month)
6 ounces diced chicken (a lingering chicken breast that was in the fridge)
3 celery ribs, diced
2 small red peppers, diced
1/2 onion, diced (from freezer)
approx. 1/3 cup diced mushrooms
1/4 bag of frozen broccoli
3 cups low-fat shredded sharp cheddar
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup milk
2 cups medium pasta shells
1/2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. garlic powder
a pinch of salt

Boiled water to cook pasta and frozen broccoli.  Cooked until pasta was done.  Drained water.  Added the rest of the ingredients and stirred.  Put lid on pot and cooked on low, stirring every couple minutes, until the vegetables were at the texture I like them at.  Just a little crisp but not too crunchy.

All of this was cooked in 1 pot so it didn't make too much of a mess and a lot of little lingering bits were used up.  So far Big R and I are the only ones who ate it and she said she liked it.  Any recipe that includes this many vegetables and gets the kid seal of approval is a winner in my book!

2 comments:

  1. I love cooking with pasta. You can throw just about anything and you can't go wrong. Most of mine had a bag or two of vegetables, maybe half a can of peas, leftover tomatoes, lots of mushrooms, and if I was feeling creative or fancy, I'd add some meat. But at that point, the meat is just not necessary, especially with good, heavy mushrooms.

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    1. I wish my husband felt that way. Its not a meal without lots of meat.

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