Friday Chicken

A picture taken by Reese that has nothing to do with this post!

My friend, Tanya, was telling me about Friday's Spinach Artichoke Dip.  She said it was like alfredo, spinach and artichoke got together and had a love child.  Who wouldn't try it after a description like that?  She mentioned eating it with freshly cooked pasta which sounded great.

So, T was out of town and I broke the cardinal rule.  I went to the store to get the ingredients to make this instead of eating out - all while the chanting in my head got louder and louder:  "you don't cook when T's out of town, you don't cook when T's out of town", on and on.  But I knew I needed to try this myself before offering it up to his scrutiny because he's the world's pickiest eater.  He's also not a fan of "white" sauces (what the what?, who categorizes things and puts them in the "don't" pile like that?) 

So, with the no cooking rule broken, I proceeded to make this dish that I've named Friday Chicken:

3 ingredients

The next picture is really corny because there's nothing really to show.  I put the dip in the microwave, boiled the pasta, added the chicken, then we ate.  But in an attempt to document the process - here's the pasta boiling:



I kinda like how the picture makes the burner look fuschia

I am a big fan of Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals, even though I've yet to make one in the allotted time frame (I need a cute young prep boy to cute the veggies, etc.).  I'm all about making something that tastes good with as little effort as possible.  With that said, this recipe blows her 30 minute meals out of the water.  Start to finish - 20 minutes - that included getting the water to the boiling point.

Reese didn't care for the chicken, but asked for seconds of the pasta.  I would have to agree.  Maybe if I'd grilled my own chicken it would have been better.  But the pasta with the Spinach Artichoke Dip?  In the words of Rachel Ray - it was yumm-o!

And finally, the finished product:



My food pictures suck...don't let that keep you from trying this!


Here's the written recipe:

1/2 lb of penne pasta
1 package of Friday's Spinach Artichoke dip (frozen)
1 package of Tyson Grilled Chicken strips

Cook pasta, microwave artichoke dip, mix it all together and eat! 

Last night we had leftovers and T saw the pasta.  He said, "oooooh, when did you make this?"  Like it actually looked appetizing.  He gave it a thumbs up, but only 45 degrees instead of 90 - but he's picky, remember?  Best part?  The whole meal cost me a whopping $6.62.  Couldn't get Chinese Buffet for that even if they were still open!!