It was a cheesy night!

Hey again,
So alot of you like the recipe idea and that makes me SO excited.  Ive been anticipating putting today's recipes all day long haha.  I know, weird that something so simple can make someone so happy :) Well I have been going to a few restaurant's lately and have come across a Gouda macaroni and cheese and have loved it every time I had it.  So I wanted to try it myself and see how it turned out.  Tonight we had the smoked Gouda macaroni and cheese, tomato and cucumber salad, and wheat french bread on the side.  I also wanted to give you the recipe that I had cooked last night for Travis for "Mexican-ish" Shepherds Pie.  He's from New England and hates how they make it so we changed it up a little.  I hope you enjoy today's recipes!

"Mexican-ish" Shepherds Pie  (this is for you meat and potato type of people)
Ground Beef
Taco Seasoning Packet
1 can Corn (drained)
diced Jalapenos (to your taste add as much as you want or leave out)
Mashed Potatoes
Shredded Cheese (we usually use mild cheddar, last night I used pepper jack and the mild Cheddar is the better way to go)
Casserole Dish

1)Brown your ground beef and season.  First layer in the casserole dish
2) Spread the drained corn and drained jalapenos next
3) Spread the mash potatoes
4) Smother it with cheese and cover with foil
Heat in the oven for about 20-30 min on 350* and then remove foil. Let cheese melt on top the last 5-10 min in oven uncovered. And serve.  I hope you like it as much as Travis does because I hate it lol

Tomato and Cucumber Salad
2 Cucumbers
2-3 Roma Tomatoes
1 ts. Salt
1 ts. Pepper
1 ts. Garlic Powder
2 tb. Olive Oil
2-4 tb. Balsamic Vinegar
(all these ingredients are to taste so you can add or take out whatever)

Chill and serve.  Another perfect Summer side.

Gouda Macaroni and Cheese

1 bag of noodles (I used seashells this time but you can use anything you like, with my other m&c's I use the spiral rigatoni noodles)
2 cans Cheddar Soup for cooking
2 can Milk (refill empty soup cans)
2 blocks of Gouda Cheese (Trader Joe's)
Casserole Dish

1) Cook your noodles and drain and put into casserole dish
2) In your same empty pot, combine the soup and milk and let cook until all mixed together
3) Cube your Gouda cheese into small pieces and put into soup until fully melted.  This will make your cheese sauce. (the deli had told me Gouda cheese does not shred but I am not positive on that)
4) Mix together the sauce and noodles and stir
5) Cover with foil and cook on 350* for 20 min and then uncover (this is not mandatory, I wanted to make more of a "bake" and put it on broil for a few minutes after and it didn't make a difference)

To me the Gouda cheese didn't taste any different than the Cheddar macaroni and cheese I make so it wasn't that special.  I found this other recipe but the reviews say its dry or that people played with it and added other items to make it better. Feel free to check it out: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/smoked-gouda-cheese-macaroni-recipe/index.html

For the Cheddar cheese macaroni I use the same recipe but use cream of chicken soup instead. It is DELICIOUS! You will never use a box of macaroni again! I promise.

I hope you guys liked to today's recipes, and see you on the flip side.