Nothing sounds better than a well prepared, homemade pasta dish that serves your entire family and has a lasting impact on your tastes buds.

My family enjoys a good pasta dish weekly and with 2 young children and busy schedules for both working parents, sometimes it’s difficult to come home and have the energy to not only prepare dinner, but also have a healthy option to choose from. If you are like me, growing up I was told pasta holds a lot of carbs, calories, and is not the best option to choose if you are conscious about you or your families health. It was always something quick and easy to make for dinner but didn’t have any added benefits other than the great flavors that came with it.

Adding GOOD protein

The biggest addition to great pasta meal is adding good protein to make this a well rounded, healthy family meal. I will outline the basic recipe and steps to follow to make this delicious chili cheese mac pasta dish, but will also add a few other alternative proteins you can use to experiment with.

Recipe

• 1lb of turkey or chicken sausage (ground or processed link)
• 1lb of protein penne pasta
• 2 1/3 cups skim milk (you can use soy milk or another non dairy alternative to experiment with)
• 14oz pasta sauce or tomato sauce (I use pasta sauce because of the simplicity to dump into the pan)
• 1 can of low sodium chili beans
• 1 packet low sodium chili seasoning
• 1 cup of sautéed frozen peppers and onions blend tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt or shredded cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup of shredded cheese (flavor is up to you)

Step 1

Start by bringing water up to boil in a large pot so the pasta can be ready to mix with the other ingredients (this will save you lots of time).

Step 2

While water is coming up to boil, find another large sauce pan and combine olive oil and peppers/onion blend and sauté on medium to low heat to caramelize.

Step 3

Once pepper/onions are caramelized to your liking, dump in your preferred meat and cook till well done.

Step 4

After meat is cooked throughly, toss in the chili powder, milk, chili beans, cottage cheese/greek yogurt and pasta sauce into pan. Cook on medium heat and then simmer while pasta is cooking.

Step 5

Once pasta is cooked, strain pasta of all water and then place back into pot. Combine other saucepan mixture into large pot and stir on low heat. Once everything is mixed, combine your shredded cheese and stir until melted.

Step 6

Serve and enjoy! This meal easily serves 6 people with leftovers to enjoy the following days to come.