“Sometimes you just have to make a big ‘ole mess of chili mac.” That was my Facebook update recently. We can’t be gourmands all the time, can we?

There are times we just have to make something fast, and something that we know our kids will eat with little to no complaining. AMIRIGHT? So, there’s that Wednesday when you’re all “I just want something that will be easy and provide lots of leftovers so tomorrow can be easy too, m’kay?” And out comes the chili mac.

Still, I like to assuage my guilt as best I can, so this time I tried to give the ole chili mac a healthy spin. I’m not saying it’s going to win any awards from the Healthy People but it’s certainly much better than its old fashioned beef and cheesy noodle counterpart.

For starters, I used whole wheat noodles. Usually, I detest whole wheat noodles. But in this application, they are just fine. I daresay my family didn’t even know the difference. Well, they do now, since I opened my big mouth about it, but they didn’t at the time, and that is a win in my book. I also hid some extra veggies in there and I used ground turkey instead of beef. Again, no one was the wiser.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2014/mar/20/270744/

Secret-Recipe Heath(ier) Chili Mac
1 bag whole wheat macaroni noodles
1 can diced tomatoes
1 bag frozen peppers and onions (I chopped mine up smaller to “hide” them before I threw them in)
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 cup cheddar cheese, cubed (I used a mix of regular cheddar and jalapeno cheddar. You could go low-fat if you are into that sort of thing, but I am not.)
3/4 cup light sour cream
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 pounds ground turkey (or beef)
Salt and pepper

Boil your noodles and brown (and drain) your meat. Chop up your peppers a little smaller, and toss everything into a large casserole dish. Stir in cheese cubes (I prefer this to shredded as it makes nice “pockets” of cheesy goodness). Bake for 20 minutes until it’s bubbly and warm through.

Note: If you think the mixture looks too dry, you can add a can of tomato sauce as well.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

It took me about 10 minutes to prep, and then I had 20 minutes to sit on the couch and paint my toenails while I waited for it to bake. Chop up a quick salad and boom. Winner winner, chili mac dinner.