October has been an incredibly busy month! I had a consulting job in California, so I headed out there (without my family). Then, I spoke at a conference in New Orleans and I took my family with me. We left at 4am and drove for over 10 hours. The kids were great and my spouse and I took turns driving. This has been a traveling year for my family, which means that I have had to plan more than usual when it comes to food.
My family works hard at not spending a lot of money on food, which is difficult right now. Also, with the hubby being allergic to gluten, I had to plan hard and ahead of time. For my trip to California, I didn’t have to do much. However, New Orleans was different. We were there for four days, so I definitely needed to plan out breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the family. One of my favorite meals to cook is homemade beeferoni!
Beeferoni, Chili Mac n Cheese, or whatever name you want works really well with a family that does not mind leftovers. We started making this meal when the kids were toddlers and it is a family favorite. This can also be made as a gluten-free meal with GF pasta. It saves me time and works well for the family. This meal covered two dinners and two lunches for my family of four, which made it easier to plan the other inexpensive meals. This also allowed me and the kids to use $$ for yummy beignets as Cafe Beignet. Here we go!
Beeferoni
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1-28oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 1-14.5oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 can red kidney beans
- 1 can black beans
- 8oz shredded cheese
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tblsp chili powder
- 2 tblsp minced garlic (more or less)
- 1.5-2 cups gluten-free elbow pasta (or non gluten free), cooked
Directions
- In a large pot or Dutch Oven, brown the ground beef and drain the grease.
- Place the ground beef back into the pot.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, minus the elbow macaroni and cheese.
- Let everything cook on medium-low for 30 minutes.
- Turn down to a simmer for an additional 10 minutes until everything blends well.
- When the chili is ready, add the cooked elbow pasta and cheese. Stir well until the pasta is covered and the cheese is fully melted.
- Sometimes, I add Velveeta cheese to this, but choose the type of cheese you want. Serve with veggies and garlic bread (gluten free if you want).
I also make this meal when I freeze chili. In that case, just let the pre-made chili thaw and add cooked pasta and cheese. Enjoy!
