Say cheese.

Did everyone have a good H.alloween weekend?

I sure did!

First, CW and I scored 3rd place at our work's costume contest. I know I should be happy that we won $100 but my competitive side thinks that we should have gotten 1st place or even 2nd. I felt we were more creative and definitely performed the best!! Oh well, there's always next year. I really shouldn't complain since it's the third year in a row that I've won a prize... but I must say, it has been way too long since I came in 1st! Greedy much?

Moving on.

On Saturday night, we went over to our friend's place for a little get together. No dress-up but it was a lot of fun. We ended up watching "R.epo M.en" which was frighteningly horrible! But they had good food so that made up for it :D

The next morning, The Hubby and I went to our favourite breakfast spot then went home and carved our pumpkins. I should have taken photos! My sister-in-law and her boyfriend came over around 3pm. We chatted for a bit and then watched "S.hutter I.sland". Have you seen it? It's a pretty good movie, definitely better than "R.epo M.en".

Towards the end of the movie, we started getting t.rick or t-reaters. The Hubby and I had fun handing out c.hips and sodas to the little guys though we noticed that we've gotten less kids this year! SIL and her boyfriend haven't seen "Z.ombieland" so we popped that in while we gave out more treats. Overall, a fun evening but I wished I didn't have to go to work the next day.

So last night, I made one of the best macaroni and cheese dinner ever! No box included! It was really tasty and not too hard to make.

Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli and Chicken

Ingredients

4 cups of macaroni
1/2 white onion (finely chopped)
3-5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp of flour
1 cup of skim milk
1 cup of shredded mozarella cheese
1/4 cup of grated parmesan
broccoli (chopped)
chicken (diced)
garlic salt

Directions

1.
Boil your macaroni. I used penne because that's the only pasta I had. And I don't know if I used 4 cups - I used up whatever I had which was half a bag. And I can't tell you what size the bag was.

2.
I used red onion instead of white. I chopped half the onion into small pieces or until my eyes couldn't take it anymore and set aside.

3.
I did the same with 5 cloves of garlic. The original recipe mentioned 3 cloves but me likes garlic. Set aside.

4.
Take this time to also chop your broccoli. You will need this just before the pasta is ready.

5.
I wanted to add protein to the meal so I used chicken. I diced up some chicken thighs and sprinkled some garlic salt for extra flava' flave. Then on a separate skillet, I cooked it in butter. I should have used olive oil but no one stopped me. When cooked, set aside.

6.
Now back to the onions and garlic. On a separate pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Then pour the onion and garlic. Stir until fragrant - do not brown. Add the flour and keep stirring until the oil and flour are mixed together.

7.
Slowly add milk to the mixture. Use a whisk to get rid of the lumps. The mixture will eventually thicken. Add a little bit more milk if it's too thick.

8.
Then add the mozzarella and parmesan, continue to stir.

9.
By this time, the pasta should be done. But before draining, add the choppped broccoli to the pasta and allow it to cook for 1 minute. Then drain.

10.
Then add the pasta to the mixture or vice versa. Stir until pasta is coated. If you want this to be a vegetarian dish, then stop here. Or add your cooked/diced chicken into the pot. Stir.

If by this time you are hungry and can't wait another 10-15 minutes, sprinkle a little more parmesan or mozarella before serving.

Or, transfer the pasta mixture into an oven dish. Sprinkle parmesan on top and put it in the pre-heated oven (375 degrees) for about 15 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.

And voila!!!

It's so good and 'healthy'.

I used skim milk, low fat mozarella and low fat parmesan and it was still dang tasty, thanks to my best buds: onions and garlic.

Next time, I'll use whole wheat pasta and cook the chicken with olive oil instead of butter.

Well, maybe.