Chicken Parmesan Pasta

I have GOT to go to the grocery store TO-day!  Anybody with me?!  I mean...Miles had pear juice and Owen had water with breakfast!  Not even any milk!  So I had to get a little creative with supper last night...

I had seen this recipe on pinterest that looked soooo good:



It is made with raw chicken and croutons.  I had already cooked up some chicken breasts over the weekend to have on hand this week (frozen chicken breasts, onion, garlic, tad bit of water and chicken boullion in crock pot for 4-6 hours= fall apart chicken great to throw into any recipe).  And I had some spaghetti sauce in fridge that I needed to use up, along with a bag of croutons in pantry (we're not really salad eaters).

So I tweeked the recipe some and here we go:

(I cooked this up in an 8x8 pan- I've learned that (for now) a 9x13 dish is too much for us.  8x8 is just right with just enough leftovers for the next day.)

cooked, shredded chicken (I used two chicken breasts and this was almost too much chicken)
pasta (I used rotini, you could use penne or whatever you have on hand; I also only used about half a box)
2 cups spaghetti sauce (make your own or use the jar)
1-2 Tbsp basil
1 garlic clove pressed
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups parmesan cheese
2 cups mozzarrella cheese
5 oz bag garlic croutons

Boil your pasta according to box.  Mix pasta, chicken, 1 cup parmesan, and sauce.  Put olive oil and garlic in bottom of dish and spread around to coat.  Pour pasta mix in.  Sprinkle with basil, rest of parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.  Spread croutons on top and press down.  You can sprinkle more cheese on top if you want.  Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.  Serve with garlic bread and maybe some green beans!  (I didn't have either---I'm telling you- I have got to get to the store today!!)

fyi--- croutons reheated are n.o.t. good- pasta is great next day- just leave the croutons off  =)

Here are two ways I love to make green beans that are sure to get eaten up!!

Quick Green Beans:
1 can green beans
1-2 Tbsp Cavendar's seasoning
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tbsp sugar

Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan.  Heat to boiling.  Cover and reduce heat.  Let simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

Great Green Beans:  (from Mississippi Magazine) (I usually half this!)
6 cans green beans, drained
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup crumbled bacon

Put green beans into a 9x13.  Melt butter, stir in brown sugar.  Pour over green beans.  Sprinkle with bacon.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Prepare to be thanked and asked to bring it to every function from now on.  =)


How do you make your green beans?  Do you ever tweek a recipe with stuff you have on hand at home?

***there's another great recipe on my pinterest page that calls for fresh green beans- we had them for Christmas eve dinner and they were fantastic!  Those may be on the menu for this week, in fact!