You will need:

• 1 lb lean hamburger meat
• 1 pkg taco seasoning
• 1 can Ro*tel
• 2 cups beef broth or water
• 1 cup elbow macaroni
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

To make your super fast and easy supper:

1. Brown the hamburger meat and drain off any grease, then stir in taco seasoning, Ro*tel, broth or water and macaroni. Bring to a boil then turn down to medium/low and cover; simmer for about 12 minutes or until macaroni is tender
2. While it’s simmering, make the cheese sauce: in a saucepan melt the butter then whisk in the flour. Cook while whisking for about five minutes until the roux turns light brown, then keep whisking while you pour in the milk and bring to a boil. Keep whisking (see a trend?) until the mixture is smooth and thick, then remove from heat and stir in the cheddar cheese till it’s completely melted in. Add in the salt and pepper, then pour over the hamburger mixture and stir it all together. Supper is served!

To make this a freezer meal let the macaroni cook for only about six minutes, but complete other steps as written. Pour the whole thing into a casserole dish then cover with a layer of plastic wrap then a layer of foil; when it’s cooled off, pop it in the freezer. When you’re ready to heat it up, thaw it in the fridge overnight, then bake at 350F for 30 minutes or so until heated through.

As promised, another recipe from The Cousin! May I say that this pairs beautifully with margaritas?

We made two sheet pans of this to feed the assorted family we had collected at the house that night; The Cousin wrote down the recipe for one sheet pan for a more reasonable size.

You will need:

• 2.5 cups dry polenta
• 9 cups milk
• 2-3 cups Parmesan cheese
• Salt

Four ingredients, people! You  know I love that.

To make:

1. Brink milk to a boil (it is so, so likely to boil over so don’t walk away), and slowly add polenta, stirring constantly with a whisk then a wooden spoon as it gets thicker
2. When mixture is starting to thicken stir in Parmesan cheese and salt; continue cooking, stirring fairly often until it is “uber thick” (so sayeth The Cousin)
3. Spread onto greased sheet pan and cool uncovered in fridge until firm
4. Top at will (see below) and bake at 400F until cheese is melted

Topping ideas:

• The Cousin recommends fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and fresh tomatoes. I totally concur
• Classic toppings like pepperoni, sausage, etc? Also good
• Sun dried tomatoes on pizza rock my world. I highly recommend
• Other than that? Go crazy! Let me know what you come up with

Regardless, you should try this. Just, you know, don’t sign it up for a food modeling contest.

Bonus: this freezes like a dream! Make two and freeze one covered in a layer of plastic wrap then a layer of foil — just remember to remove the plastic wrap before baking!

I looked around at a lot of different taco sauce recipes and none of them seemed exactly right to me, so I kind of cobbled together my own according to what I had on hand. Very tasty!

Combine these:

• 1 small can tomato sauce (8 oz)
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 2 Tbsp. white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

… in a saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes or so until all the flavors get to know each other pretty well. Store in fridge, cute jar label optional.