LOVE TO COOK

Something you all may not know about me is that I really, really enjoy cooking. I think much of it comes from my mom and watching and help her cook dinner for our family every night. Now, I am by no means an expert chef and if you looked at my pinterest board, you might be concerned that I only eat pasta (a lot of mac and cheese), mexican, and chicken.... which wouldn't be far from the truth. But I'm getting to a point where I can just whip something together without a recipe and it turns out completely delicious. Like this pasta I made the other night - so simple and SO good. I was inspired by one of my favorite dishes at Biaggi's, an Italian restaurant at home. Biaggi's recipe uses chicken and red pepper, but I forgot about the red pepper and ham seemed easier than cooking chicken. I highly suggest this for a weeknight meal - it's so easy to make for one and is really good for leftovers!

Alfredo Pasta with Bacon, Ham, and Peas (super fancy name, I know)
1 box your choice of noodles, I decided on shells
1 can Clasico Alfredo sauce
1 thick slice of ham from the deli
2 slices of turkey bacon
1 package of frozen peas, I like the individual Steamers bags.

Cook noodles - don't need to use the whole box, just a cup or so depending on your choice for leftovers. While noodles cook, dice the ham and cut the bacon into little pieces and saute with butter in a pan (Probably cook for about 5ish minutes). Cook peas according to directions. Drain noodles, add ham, bacon, and peas and top with alfredo sauce! Voila!

Enjoy!

Love to... Cook

I enjoy cooking, I really do. Growing up, my mom always made dinner for our family, and I more often than not helped out. There's certain things I've picked up from her, like putting a bit of sugar in spaghetti sauce (trust me, it makes it SO much better!) Senior year, when I finally had to cook on my own - although I often took advantage of Theta's meals - it wasn't as easy as I had hoped. I would often got bored with eating the same thing over and over... usually some form of chicken and a LOT of pasta, tortellini, and quesadillas. I still continue to struggle with this and am always looking for new recipes. Thank goodness for Pinterest. One of my biggest problems, though, is that so many recipes require a ton of ingredients and prep time. After scanning Real Simple's Quick and Easy recipes, I found one recipe that was as delicious as it was easy to make: Parmesean Pasta with Chicken and Rosemary. After I made a couple changes, like using Buitoni Light Alfredo sauce instead of the homemade parmesan sauce, and making my own chicken instead of rotisserie, it's definitely something that I'll add to my rotation.

Ingredients

• 12 ounces pasta (I used bowtie)
• 1 chicken breast, cooked in hot water on stove
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 cup light Buitoni Alfredo sauce
• 1/4 cup Parmesan
• 1/4 cup milk
• salt and black pepper

Directions

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, place chicken breast in pot of water. Bring to boil, then let simmer on low heat. Cook for about 15-20 minutes.
3. Shred chicken with a fork or fingers and set aside.
4. Toss the pasta with the chicken, rosemary, alfredo sauce, milk, salt and pepper.
5. Cook, stirring, over medium-low heat, until the sauce has thickened slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan. 

*Original recipe can be found HERE.