I’m a big fan of pantry glue. Take pasta, protein, and a sauce and you can hold just about anything together and make it tasty…
1 lb of bacon
2 lbs of pasta (I used rotini)
1 small onion, chopped finely
8 oz of mushrooms, cut with an egg slicer into uniform pieces
2 tsp chopped garlic
chop seasoning (salt, pepper, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder) or your favorite blend
2 lbs of chicken, cut into 1/2″ dice
1 jar of alfredo sauce
1 can of cream of mushroom (found at the WAY back of the pantry)
1 can of evaporated milk (again, found at the WAY back of the pantry)
2 cups of shredded cheese – I had smoked mozzarella
handful of sun dried tomatoes, cut into 1/4″ strips
Start water boiling for pasta before you start chopping ingredients. Salt liberally. Add pasta when water is boiling, and cook according to package directions. Drain and return to pot.
Cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces and start in a cold pan over medium low heat.
Chop onion, mushrooms, chicken and sun dried tomatoes. Set aside in separate bowls.
Drain bacon when crisp, reserving 2 tbls of fat. Set aside. Smack hands of any kid brave enough to try to steal.
Saute onion, mushrooms and garlic over medium heat in 2 tbls of bacon fat. When onions are translucent and mushrooms are cooked, remove from pan. Add to cooked pasta.
Saute chicken on medium high heat, season with your favorite blend. Remove from pan when done and no longer pink. Add to cooked pasta.
Combine alfredo sauce, cream of mushroom, and evaporated milk in pan over low heat. Add sun dried tomatoes. When sauce is warm, begin melting cheese. When cheese is melted, remove sauce from heat. Add to pasta and combine ingredients thoroughly.
Serve with bacon pieces on top.
This makes a lot, so feel free to freeze half if your family doesn’t eat like mine does.
Cost:
Pasta – $1.00
Chicken – $4.00
Alfredo sauce – $.50
Cream of mushroom – $.08
Onion – $.15
Garlic – $.10
Fresh Mushrooms – $.99
Bacon – $1 on markdown
About $8 total.
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