Two in the Kitchen

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Skinny Pasta Wheels and Cheese with Broccoli and Chicken

Skinny Pasta Wheels and Cheese with Broccoli and Chicken | Two in the Kitchen Did you know that I don’t really cook all that often?  Now I know that may sound strange since I do have a cooking blog and all.  But if you have ever read our About Page, you would know that the trained chef in the family is my husband, Erik.   I am much more the baker of the family.

Now Erik cooks our family some great meals.  But he is not often home during the week nights.  And my kids and I still have to eat right?  So yes, I do have to get out of my comfort zone and cook up my family some dinner every now and then.  When I cook dinner, I rely on my large collection of cooking magazines because I don’t feel nearly as comfortable branching out and trying my own thing with cooking like I do with baking.

Chicken and Broccoli Cheese Mac cii Oh, and when I cook, I am really slow, and really, REALLY messy!  You know those recipes that always beam about being made in thirty minutes?  Yah, those always take me at least an hour.  So I guess what I am trying to say is that if there is a dinner recipe that I can make, then anyone can make it.

Chicken and Broccoli Cheese Mac vii I prefer dinners that aren’t too fancy or high tech.  Just something yummy that I can get on the table quick for my kiddos!  And whenever I can find a healthy meal that my kids will eat, I get really excited.

Chicken and Broccoli Cheese Mac ciii So in one of my Paula Deen magazines, I found a recipe for pasta, cheese, chicken and broccoli.  And this dish is fantastic and even has broccoli tucked away inside for a healthy component.

But I figured I could make it even healthier!  So I used skim milk (instead of whole), used 25% less cheese than called for in the recipe (Which called for a whopping 4 cups) and used reduced fat cheese which uses 1% milk and has 13% less fat than regular cheese! And I thought the result tasted great and plenty cheesy with the benefit of being more fit for my family.

And the true sign of a hit meal is that my kids gobbled it up!  Oh sure they tried to take out as much broccoli as possible.  But I figure they had to have missed and eaten some of it, right?  😉

Chicken and Broccoli Cheese Mac v

 


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Skinny Pasta Wheels and Cheese with Broccoli and Chicken

Ingredients

  • 3 c. pasta wheels (or elbow macaroni would work fine)
  • 2 boneless,skinless chicken breasts cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1/4 c. butter
  • 1/2 c. all purpose flour
  • 3 1/2 c. skim milk
  • 2 c. reduced fat (1%) cheddar cheese (shredded)
  • 1 c. reduced fat (1%) Italian Blend cheese (shredded)
  • 1 10 oz. package of frozen broccoli, thawed and drained
  • 1 c. panko crumbs
  • 3 TBLS butter, melted

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a large baking dish (9x 13 or the likes) with cooking spray
  2. Cook pasta according to the package directions.
  3. Sprinkle chicken with salt and melt butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally. About 4-5 minutes. Add flour and stir constantly until chicken is covered in flour and butter mixture. Then gradually stir in milk and cook, stirring occasionally for 5-6 minutes until mixture has thickened. Add cheese, stirring until it has melted. Stir in broccoli.
  4. Add pasta to the cheese mixture and stir until blended. Spoon everything into the prepared dish.
  5. In a small bowl, combine panko and melted butter and sprinkle evenly over the pasta in the dish.
  6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until hot, bubbly and the crumbs have formed a crust.
  7. Serve and enjoy.
http://two-in-the-kitchen.com/skinny-pasta-wheels-and-cheese-with-broccoli-and-chicken/

 

A note about the source:  This recipe is adapted from Paula Deen’s  March/April 2010 magazine.  The recipe does not seem to be on her web site.  But here it is (as near as I can tell in full) on Food.Com

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  4. Dishes like this are so family friendly, and it’s nice to know when you’re making a dish that everyone is going to love it! This is a great way to get the veggies in without much complaining, too. ha Looks delicious, Renee!

    Reply

  6. What a wonderful pasta dish Renee! It’s looks wonderful and such a great way to sneak in a lot of extra veggies for the kiddos 🙂 Love the panko crumb topping too! Have a great weekend Renee 🙂

    Reply

  7. I think this recipe looks fantastic! And, I don’t think you are slow when cooking a dish at all – as the chef, you’re contemplating how to make each dish absolutely fabulous and not rushing the ingredients, darling! 🙂 And you have! Bravo, bravo! And the messy? You have creative license for being such a brilliant artist in the kitchen. Remember that!

    Reply

    • Hee, hee…. The words “amazing”, “skinny”, “easy” and “score” together are just making me laugh for some reason! 😉 But yes, I like this combination in dishes!!! Thanks for the compliments! (and the laugh!!!! 🙂

      Reply

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