What's for Dinner? Cheatin' Alfredo and Peas

So hubby and I don't typically eat peas. I keep them in the fridge for soup, because for some reason, I like sweet petite peas in my soups with corn and carrots and potatoes and all those other veggies. BUT, at the store this week, thinking I grabbed a bag of frozen green beans (a HUGE staple in our diet), I grabbed peas. SO, since it was a huge bag, and not petite peas, I'm going to have to make an effort to use them... which means we may end up with another option for veggies at dinner... cause dinner the other night was DE-lish!

So this is the easiest, most "looks like you spent time" meal I've made in a while.

I grilled our chicken (which was in tenderloin form) but I've made this dish with broccoli (our typical method) just in 1 pan... so you can salt and pepper the chicken, (I always add a little garlic to EVERYTHING) and throw it on the grill before cutting it into cubes, or you can cut it into cubes and cook it up in a pan... either way works.

Basically, find a pasta you like - Bowties would be perfect for this - I didn't have any in my cabinet. and cook it to your desired consistancy. Check.

Open jar of alfredo sauce. I personally love Classico's 4 cheese alfredo, and usually have 1 or two jars on hand all the time - for nights I need a quick "no think" meal like this one.

Pour alfredo sauce into pan (possibly with cooked chicken) and heat

Add peas (or broccoli) until heated through.

Add cooked pasta and toss to coat.

Serve.

That's it. you've got all 4 food groups (I know... it's a pyramid, whatever) in 1 pan and 1 pot with 1 spoon (and a cutting board). Talk about easy dishes, and in however long it takes to cook the pasta/chicken (which you do at the same time) you've got this fancy schmancy dinner, right out of your cabinet. I love meals like this. And it was super yummy too!! And we really liked it with the peas! Time to go buy me some more Alfredo...

P.S. One little jar of Alfredo can go a long way. If you need to stretch it... add some milk when heating it up - it will be a little thinner and cover more noodles. This pan here used 2 cups dry noodles, 10 little chicken tenders and 1 jar alfredo - peas till it looked green enough :-P. It should have fed at least 4 - I still have at least a serving and a half in the fridge (mmmm... lunch today...). So if you need to serve a few more mouths than 4, just add more noodles (or chicken) whatever your family likes. It's easily made for 1 or two as well if you only use part of the jar :-P I was lazy and dumped the whole darned thing in.