Pardon me while I drown myself in this bowl of cheesy delicious. It's macaroni and cheese, doctored up with all the delicious flavors from the traditional King Ranch Chicken. I've made King Ranch Chicken Enchiladas…and we are adding this Mac n Cheese ...

NEW RECIPE: King Ranch Chicken Mac & Cheese - $5 Dinners NEW RECIPE: King Ranch Chicken Mac & Cheese Pardon me while I drown myself in this bowl of cheesy delicious. It’s macaroni and cheese, doctored up with all the delicious flavors from the traditional King Ranch Chicken. I’ve made King Ranch Chicken Enchiladas…and we are adding this Mac n Cheese to our “King Ranch list.” You can use any small shell pasta for this – I used rotini because that’s what I had in my pantry/stockpile. I adore the smokiness of the cumin in this and it plays really nicely with all the cheesy flavors! Just be warned…you will want to drown yourself in the bowl too. Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. King Ranch Chicken Mac n Cheese Yield – 4 servings Preparation Time – 15 minutes Cooking Time – 15 minutes Ingredients 2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (or 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken) 8 oz. small shell pasta 10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies 1 cup sour cream 1 Tbsp ground cumin 1 tsp chili powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese Salad, as side dish Directions Cook and shred the chicken, if necessary. Cook the pasta as directed. Drain. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the diced tomatoes and green chilies (with the juices), sour cream, ground cumin, chili powder and salt. Stir until smooth, then stir in the shredded cheddar cheese. Pour the warm, drained pasta noodles into the bowl with the cheesy mixture and toss until cheese melts into the pasta. If need be, return the pasta and sauce to saucepan to heat through. Stir in the shredded chicken. Serve King Ranch Mac n Cheese with side salad. To Freeze: Place the prepared pasta and chicken into disposable foil baking tray and cover with foil. Thaw and reheat at 350 for 30 minutes.      Mega M&M Valentine’s Cookies Do you ever see those cute little treats and snacks and love-ly ideas for V-Day on Pinterest and think…there’s no way in the world that’s gonna happen!?! But that’s adorbs. I get it…I’m that Pinterest wannabe mom. But I love being silly and clever with food too. I’m just not that great at cleverly (or steadily) decorating cookies. But…I can make a mean chocolate chip cookie. And I can add M&Ms to the batter, no big deal. So when I saw these “mega M&Ms” with the little V-Day messages on them…I thought, ‘now, there’s a simple snack idea I can get behind…and that I have time to make for classrooms full of kids…and the neighborhood gang.’ This is a basic chocolate chip cookie. With mini chocolate chips and regular M&Ms baked into the dough. And then the V-Day messages mega M&Ms ‘nestled on top.’ Yes…I said nestled….   I tried baking them into the cookie. That was a disaster. I tried freezing them before adding them to the batter. Another disaster. I tried chilling the dough with the regular and mega M&Ms inside. More disaster. (Meanwhile, the boys and I were happy to eat up all the disaster cookies.) (And I should define disaster…they were just fine to eat, but the coloring from the M&Ms bled and leaked all over the cookies.) So I resorted to wrapping the regular M&Ms with the cookie dough, then baking them. And just as they came out of the oven – before they cool and collapse – I would nestle 1 or 2 of the mega M&Ms into the baked cookie, with the cute message on display for whichever kiddo would be devouring each cookie. All this to say…save yourself the disasters and just do it this way. (Or repeat my disaster and have a great excuse to make and eat a ton of cookies! )     Your turn…these are such a perfect snack for the un-Pinterest, non-Pinterest, ain’t got time for super clever snacks Mom! Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. Mega M&M Valentine’s Cookies Adapted from: Chocolate Chip Cookies Yield – 3 dozen cookies Preparation Time – 15 minutes Cooking Time – 11 minutes Ingredients 2 sticks butter, softened 3/4 cup white sugar 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla 2 eggs 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 cup mini chocolate chips 1 cup red, pink, white M&Ms 1 bag mega M&Ms Directions Preheat oven to 350 F. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Mix in the vanilla and eggs. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix until dough forms. (Ideally, you’ll refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours!) Mix in the mini chocolate chips and regular M&Ms. Drop by Tbsp onto baking sheets. Bake for 10-11 minutes, or until golden around the edge and soft in the middle. Remove from oven and nestle 1 or 2 mega M&Ms into each cookie, before they cool down. Let cook for 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve Mega M&M Valentine’s Cookies.      More Recent Articles New! Top Deals & Grocery Coupon Match-Ups Baked BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, Budget Friendly Paleo Meals, and Tips on Cleaning Cutting Boards! Plus Bonus Instant Pot Class! ~ Weekly Round-Up Drugstore Coupon Matchups & Best Deals – Week of January 29 Baked BBQ Chicken Sandwiches Asian Flank Steak       Click here to safely unsubscribe from "$5 Dinners." Click here to view mailing archives, here to change your preferences, or here to subscribe • Privacy Email subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz, LLC, 365 Boston Post Rd, Suite 123, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA.