Cheesy Macaroni Casserole

For dinner tonight, we wanted to eat something light. I know what you are thinking. There's nothing light from the above title. Well, the casserole sure did turn out well and it was soo relatively easy to make. Here's how I did it ...

1 box of Kraft Mac n Cheese
4 tbsp margarine/butter
1/4 cup of 2% milk
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 tbsp garlic paste (or 2 garlic cloves)
2 tbsp jarred jalapenos, diced
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
2 handfuls of seasoned croutons, blended to make crumbs
2 tbsp Kraft parmesan cheese
1/8 block of Kradt mozzarella cheese, shredded or finely peeled
Salt and black pepper to taste

1. Make the mac n cheese based on the directions on the back of the box. First, I boiled some water. Throw in the pasta and cook for about 8 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
2. In another pot, sautee some onions. Then, add the garlic and diced jalapenos. Melt the butter in the pot next.
3. Then add the black pepper, italian seasoning, red chili powder and boxed cheese mixture. Pour the milk into the pot slowly and mix well.
4. Finally, add the drained pasta to the pot and mix everything together.
5. Mix the crouton crumbs with the parmesan cheese.
6. Remove the mac n cheese into a casserole dish. Garnish the parmesan-crouton mixture on top along with the mozarrella cheese.
7. Place the casserole dish in the oven under broil for just 2-3 minutes, until the cheese is nice and golden brown. You could bake for a few minutes, but everything is pretty much already cooked so we just wanted to melt the cheese.

The casserole tasted great with a few shots of hot sauce. It was a little dry, so next time, I will add more milk to the mac n cheese to retain moisture. Another great idea would be to add some Rotel sauce with the mac n cheese. Try it and enjoy!