{a recipe}

I love to cook. I wish I had more time to cook {and while we're at it, more money}. But working from 8-5 and wanting to have dinner on the table by 6:30 the latest {I haaaate eating after 7..} doesn't really give me a lot of time to have some fun. Unless I plan ahead and do all the prep work the night before, or, gasp, a week before, it's just not happening.

So that's when I go to simple dishes. Like the one I'm about to show you. I've seen the commercials for the Philadelphia cooking creme {above} a couple times and when a $1 off coupon appeared, I knew I wanted to try it out. We chose the Italian cheese & herb kind and the original. There's a nifty little recipe on the back of the tub and though I didn't have what it called for specifically, I used it as a good jumping off point. We had some frozen broccoli and green beans so I used those.. Didn't have the kind of noodles it wanted, so I used a pound of penne pasta. And to round out the dinner, some good ole crescent rolls. Yum.

First, you'll want to cook the chicken, but not too much. It's going to be in the pan for a while and you don't want chewy chicken. While you're doing this, boil the water for your pasta and preheat the oven for the crescent rolls. I took pictures, but they're crappy so you don't need to see cooking chicken & boiling noodles.

When the chicken is no longer pink, add the veggies of your choice. I steamed the broccoli for a few minutes in the microwave so it would be a little easier to cut with a fork. The green beans were fine left alone.

Once they're heated through, add the cooking creme and stir. I used a couple teaspoons of the pasta water to thin the creme out a bit, but I don't know if it was really necessary. It's pretty thick to begin with, but once it starts to melt, a little goes a long way. I did, however, use the entire tub. Well, whatever was left after me dipping my finger in it a few times. So yum! {side note: this would make a great veggie dip!}

Once that is incorporated, drain your noodles and let them join this yummy party. Keep stirring and don't worry, a few noodles will try to abandon the party a little early. Pop those suckers back in the pot. Unless they fall to their death, then let the pup finish them off. ;)

{Yay for messy pots! Keepin it real.}

And there ya go! I let it sit for a few minutes, just so everyone could get acquainted. But mainly because the crescent rolls weren't quite done yet.

Yay, dinner! Y'all, this was seriously delish. I completely recommend this!! I don't, however, recommend using green beans. Their texture just wasn't good.. Maybe fresh ones with a bit of a crunch would be better but these, no thanks. I love green beans, but they have their place {in a casserole}. Between the noodles, the chicken and the broccoli, this was a super filling and healthy meal! It would have been healthier if we used wheat pasta, but the only kind we had was spaghetti and I wanted to use fun pasta.

I'll definitely be making this again and not just because we have another tub of it in the fridge.. It was SO easy and super quick!