Buffalo Pasta Bake

The other day I was trying to figure out what to make for lunch with the limited supplies in my kitchen. I remembered seeing a recipe for Buffalo Chicken Pasta Bake, on Pinterest recently and thought I'd give it a try. I made about 1/4 of the recipe in a small Corningware dish for a single serving. I did not have any chicken, so I left that out, and I used rotini pasta instead of penne. Other than that I followed the recipe and thought it was great! I wanted garlic bread, so I improvised by toasting an English muffin and spreading butter on it with a little garlic salt. It was great for dipping in the extra sauce.

This pasta was creamy and delicious with just a touch of spice. It's one I will make again in the future. Very easy, inexpensive, and tasty!

Green Chile Chicken Spaghetti

Tonight I wanted to make dinner with ingredients I already had available in my kitchen. It snowed last night, and I was too lazy to get out in it to go to the store. Most of it melted by the afternoon, but I grew up in Texas, so snow automatically keeps me from doing anything productive. Plus, we are trying to budget better this month, so the less trips I take to the store to buy unnecessary ingredients, the more money we save!

In New Mexico we like to put green chile in everything. It adds such a wonderful depth of flavor and spice, so we are always thinking of ways to incorporate it in new dishes. You can read more about my love affair with green chile in this post. So today as I made a mental list of what I had around, I decided to make a green chile chicken spaghetti. It was amazing.

Ingredients:

• About 3 cups of cooked, chopped chicken
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 3-5 whole roasted green chiles, peeled, stems & seeds removed, & diced
• 1 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 box of thin whole wheat spaghetti, broken into thirds (the box I used was 13.25 oz.), cooked just short of al dente
• Seasonings- salt & pepper, chile powder, cumin, season salt, garlic powder, & onion powder
• Chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

• In a bowl, combine chicken, soup, green chiles, 1/2 cup cheese, noodles & a dash of each seasoning. 
• Spray an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Place noodle mixture in dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of cheese, chile, & cumin. 
• Place in 350 degree oven and bake 45 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and lovely. 
• Sprinkle fresh chopped cilantro over each serving.

This will make 4 servings. If you do not have fresh roasted green chiles, you can buy them in a can either diced or whole. You will need about 1/2 cup. I used hot chiles and it made it nice and spicy, but you can also use mild chiles if you prefer.

You can prepare this dish in advance and bake when you are ready to eat. I made ours during Jack's nap, placed it in the fridge, and baked it later.  It was much easier than trying to prepare it when he was up and running everywhere.

I've linked up with Living Well Spending Less for Thrifty Thursday. Check out other great budget-friendly recipes and ideas!