Sharing a recipe - Homemade Mac 'n Cheese Upgraded

Ingredients

1 box shells
1 pound hot Italian sausage
1/2 package frozen peppers and onions blend
1/2 large packsage of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
3/4 jar of your fave spaghetti sauce (I like Ragu or Prego sweet basil)
1 pint heavy cream
1 1/2 - 2 cups 1% milk

Directions

In a deep skillet, brown sausage and peppers/onion blend. Break up chunks of sausage so that they are roughly the size of a macaroni shell or smaller. When brown, add washed and sliced mushrooms to the skillet and reduce heat, stirring until mushrooms are cooked through.  Drain any excess grease. Add heavy cream and stir to combine. Add 3/4 to full box of shells depending on how much your skillet will hold. Stir well. Add milk and stir to combine. Cover with a tight lid, reduce heat to low and let simmer until shells are tender.

To serve, sprinkle with shredded parmesan. This is great with a green vegetable on the side like a salad, asparagus, or broccoli. It's also good with some crusty French bread hot from the oven, but that could be considered carb overkill.

This is comfort food at its best. Try making it the next time we have a cool spring evening ahead or you need a bit of mama's style home cooking to heal you from the cruel, harsh world. Bon appetit, mon amis!