This weekend, our lovely daughter, April, and her family came to visit. This is always such a fun time. Her children run non-stop and keep us hopping but also laughing! The oldest, Paige, is six, and then Gwynn has a birthday this coming weekend; she will be two. The third is a sweet little baby boy, Landon, who is six months old. So, when I say they keep us hopping – you understand!
Anyway, when they come to visit, I don’t like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking, so most of our meals are ordered in, or picked up at some fast food establishment. However, April did cook one evening for us, and made a yummy dish that I want to share with you. It makes a wonderful family dinner, and it would also be excellent to take to potlucks, which are the kind of dishes I love! Since it is April’s version of a recipe she found online, we decided to dub it April’s Creamy Chicken Pasta.
Even though Philadelphia Cooking Cremes have been on grocery shelves for quite some time now, I have never used them. I don’t know why, other than I just never think of them, but April used them in the dish below and I have to say, I have been missing out.
April used the Italian Cheese and Herb in her recipe, and it was easy and delicious. There are several kinds of sauces: Savory Garlic, Savory Lemon and Herb, Creamy Pesto, Original, Santa Fe Blend, and Tomato and Basil. I’ve got to get busy cooking and trying these out! They all sound so yummy – and to make things even better, they are available in reduced fat.
There are many ideas on how to use the sauces on the kraftbrands.com Web site, like a creamy grape salad side dish, savory garlic scalloped potatoes, creamy pesto shrimp and rice, creamy vegetable gratin and many more. Check it out.
As far as the nutritional data on these cooking sauces, they weigh in a bit heavy. In one-quarter cup of the Italian Cheese and Herb, there are 110 calories and 80 percent of those calories are fat calories. Ideally, the fat calories of any product should remain under 50 percent; however, you probably will not be eating a fourth cup of this sauce right out of the container. At least I don’t think you will! There are no trans fats.
Regarding the cholesterol in the one-quarter cup serving, there is only 10 percent of the Daily Value based on a 2,000 calorie diet. So all in all, if you do not rely on these sauces for every meal, then they aren’t so bad, especially when combined with other ingredients and some vegetable side dishes.
The recipe I am printing is April’s version of a recipe she found online. She changed it up quite a bit, and the entire family loved it. There are other changes that could be made, like adding sautéed mushrooms and onions (although both April and I have “no mushrooms and no onions” husbands), adding black olives, substituting the wine with chicken broth, adding more soup to make more sauce, and you can also change the pasta to penne pasta, or pasta bowties. The recipe is so versatile, the changes are almost limitless. I would hold off on adding any extra salt, as the soups and sauce contain plenty of sodium.
As I said earlier, for more recipes using these sauces, go to the Kraft Web site – they have some really quick and easy recipes for all of them. This recipe took her about 20 minutes to prepare. Enjoy!
April’s Creamy Chicken Pasta
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
1/4 cup butter
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 of 1 can (10.75 ounce) condensed Golden Mushroom soup
1/2 of 1 can (10.75 ounce) Cream of Mushroom soup
1 container Philadelphia Italian & Herb Cooking Sauce
1 pound angel hair pasta
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and place in 13x9 inch baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. In large skillet, sauté chicken breasts in small amount of olive oil until well browned. Do not overcook chicken, or it will become tough. Remove chicken and set aside. In same skillet, melt butter over low heat. Add minced garlic and sauté about two minutes. Stir in the package of dressing mix. Blend in wine and soups. Mix in cream cheese and stir until smooth. Heat through, but do not boil. Pour three-fourths of sauce over pasta. Slice each breast in neat half-inch-thick slices and then arrange slices on top of pasta and sauce. Pour remaining sauce over chicken. Place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is done and sauce is bubbly. Serve immediately with a green salad and hot, crusty bread.