Welcome to Gaia! ::

My friend Mike made this absolutely amazing mac n' cheese recipe in one of his awesome kitchen experiments, so I thought I'd share his culinary genius here so others can enjoy it. It's delicious!

You will need:
1 lb ground beef
1 lb large elbow noodles (1 box)
1 medium onion (sweet if you can find it)
1/2 block of velveeta cheese
1 lb shredded cheddar
1 package taco seasoning (I like mild old el paso, but go spicier if you want)
1 10 oz can tomato soup (I use a thing of campbell soup on hand
classic tomato, nice and easy)
Garlic Powder to taste (shaking in two circles around the pan seems to work nicely)


- cook and drain the pasta as normal. I usually start the meat portion
shortly before the water comes to a boil, things get done around the
same time that way

- dice the onion and sweat for 5 minutes in a large saucepan with a
pat of butter over medium heat, shake garlic powder over onions.
- add the meat and spike to medium-high to brown
- drain the meat-juice off and follow the package directions to add
the taco seasoning. Use only half as much water as the package calls
for, then add the tomato soup at the same time.

- return the pasta to the cookpot along with the velveeta (cut into
1/2 in cubes, please) and half the cheddar. The residual heat from
pan and pasta should get the melting going nicely

- thicken the meat sauce with your favorite thickener (I use corn
starch) until it approaches stew-thickness, then add the remaining
cheddar. Stir occasionally until smooth, then pour it all into the
pasta pot and (gently! don't break the pasta!) stir to combine. Let
stand a minute or two to let the sauce set up, and serve.