Cheesy Chili-Mac

It's been cooler in SoCal the last few days and a piping hot bowl of chili sounded like just the right kind of meal to warm things up.

When chili is made in our house it's usually Scott's "thing." He's pretty particular on how he likes his chili - super dry, and no chunky tomatoes. I received this recipe from my mother-in-law and it looked and sounded gooooood, so I decided to give it a go.

Cheesy Chili-Mac

3/4 pound lean ground beef (naturally, I used extra lean turkey; I'm guessing the extra lean skinnied this dish up pretty well)

2 medium onions chopped (I chopped up the onions and thought there was a bit too much, so I used about 1 1/2 onions)

29 oz canned, Mexican-style, stewed tomatoes (undrained)

2 1/2 cups canned tomato sauce

4 oz canned diced, green chili peppers, drained

2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (I had some whole wheat penne pasta that I used instead)

31 oz canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup low-fat shredded Cheddar cheese

If you don't have a non-stick skillet, coat it with cooking spray...

In your large skillet cook beef/turkey and onions until meat is browned, stirring and breaking up meat, about 10 minutes; drain off any fat (if you're using lean or extra lean turkey there should be little to no fat to drain).

Stir in undrained tomatoes and the juice, tomato sauce, chili peppers, and chili powder; bring mixture to a boil.

Stir in macaroni (or if you're me, whole wheat penne pasta - or any sort of whole wheat pasta) and beans; return to a boil. 

Reduce heat, cover and simmer until macaroni is tender, about 15 minutes (I found with the whole wheat penne it took about 25 minutes to get the noodles tender).

Spoon chili into bowls and sprinkle with cheese.

Yields 8 servings

Prep time: Approximately 15 minutes

Cook time: Approximately 30 minutes

Weight Watchers points (for those following): 7 - I'm going to guess with lean, or extra lean ground turkey it brings the point total down a bit

The chili was awesome! And, it was chunky enough for Scott's standards, and he didn't seem to mind the tomato chunks - he went back for seconds :) Best part, it makes a ton of food, and it's a pretty skinny dish!

A big thanks to my mother-in-law who shared this recipe while she was visiting.

Source: My mother-in-law, via weightwatchers.com