Frito Pie

Normally I make frito pie using Wolf Brand Chili (with beans). Tonight was an exception to the rule. I recently purchased Progresso Chili. My boyfriend has been requesting frito pie for quite sometime now; with his allergies acting up, I figured today was the day! I used the Smoke House Pork and Beef Chili with beans for this particular frito pie dish. Simply pour the bag into a frying pan and heat over medium stirring occasionally. Upon placing the chili in the frying pan, I quickly realized it wouldn't be quite enough for our appetites. Unfortunately, I didn't have any red beans to add to the mix so I grabbed a can of Bush's Black Beans. They worked just as well!
Into the bowl frito chips went. I used the H-E-B store brand. I forgot to pick up some shredded cheese from the store today, but I did have some Borden slice pepper jack cheese acquired solely because of a rebate on Ibotta for Wal-Mart. The cheese itself cost $1.88 and the rebate is a total of $2.50 making it a $.62 moneymaker (before tax)! I tore up a slice to place on the fritos, topped with chili, and again with more cheese.
Stamp of approval received from my boyfriend!

Pasta Night!

Albeit this meal wasn’t exactly homemade, it still came from the heart. Yesterday, I used the new Barilla Pronto pasta to make spaghetti. It is incredibly easy. Simply place the pasta in your pan with three cups of water. Add some salt (this is optional) and set the heat on high for 10 minutes. Make sure you stir occasionally or your pasta may stick! At the end of 10 minutes, add in your favorite pasta sauce. I purchased the Ragu Grilled Steak pasta sauce a couple of weeks back and have been looking for an excuse to try it out. I mixed in some shredded Parmesan as well.
I was running low on time last night as dinner was a little later than usual so I didn’t have time to chop onions or mushrooms. I can only imagine how wonderful an addition they would be! However, the meal was still delicious and I received the stamp of approval from Mikey (remember, Mikey eats anything?) AKA my loving boyfriend. We both agreed however that we could not taste the steak flavor in the pasta sauce, just tomato. If I am to purchase this sauce again, I would probably add some flank steak to the mix to try to enhance and pull out that flavor.
If you’ve tried either the Barilla Pronto Pasta or the Ragu Grilled Steak pasta sauce, let me know what you think of these products in the comments. I’d love to hear the opinions of others!