a bit of comfort food: tasty light mac n' cheese

Our boys LOVE pasta, but we honestly don't cook it all that much.  Lately we've been trying to add it into our menus every once in a while and today I made this recipe. It didn't get all rave reviews but that was mostly because people wanted a delicious mac n' cheese for zero calories...ha.  Like I said, the occasional comfort food. Though this recipe is lighter than some.

I tweaked it a bit (based on personal preferences and what I had in the house). I thought it had a subtle creamy deliciousness and it's super quick and easy to make.

Ingredients:
Kosher salt
12 ounces large elbow macaroni
1 tbsp salted butter
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
4-6 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp mustard powder
1/2 cup skim milk
1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
2/3 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
2/3 cup mixed cheese, grated
3 tbsp pecorino romano cheese, grated
black pepper
2 tsp greek oregano or Italian blend spices
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped

Directions:
1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta and cook according as instructed. When it's cooked through, save 3/4 cup of the cooking water then drain the pasta, set aside.
2. In the pot melt the butter, add chopped shallot and minced garlic and cook until soft, about 2 minutes.
3. Add the flour and mustard powder and stir until golden brown.
4. Whisk in milk and cooking water until thick, about 2 minutes.
5. Reduce heat to medium and add the yogurt, mozzarella and mixed cheeses and 1 tbsp of the pecorino romano cheese, whisk until melted.
6. Add the pasta back into the dish, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and oregano or Italian spices. Preheat broiler.
7. After pasta is thoroughly covered in the sauce, transfer to a baking dish, top with remaining pecorino romano and chopped parley and broil on high until golden brown on top and bubbling, about 2 minutes.
ENJOY!

sloppy joe pizza: perhaps the easiest meal ever. (disclaimer: I don't like real sloppy joes...)

sloppy joe pizza really might be the easiest thing you'll ever make your family for dinner.
I got my original recipe from my Momma and tweaked it a bit for my family.

Ingredients:
1/2-1 pound ground turkey (depending on how thick you like the topping)
1 cup frozen corn (thawed)
1/4-1/2 cup shredded cheese (whatever type you like, we've generally used straight mozzarella but sometimes a mix) 
1/2 cup (to taste really) Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
1 precooked pizza crust or french bread loaf

Directions:
1. Brown ground turkey, salt and pepper to taste. I also add some fresh chopped sweet onion or onion flakes.
2. Mix thawed corn, turkey and BBQ sauce in a bowl.
(Do as much BBQ sauce as you prefer, I don't like it to be super thick, just enough to get the meat and corn sticking together.)
3a. pizza crust: Cover the pizza crust in the meat and corn combo and top with cheese, bake as directed for crust (or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted)
3b. french bread: slice in half length-wise (like you would for a big sandwich), put the two halves on a cookie sheet and top each with the meat and corn combo and cheese, bake at 350 until cheese is melted and dish is warm through.
4. Cut and serve.