Have Your Pasta and Eat It Too!!!!!!!!!

Please forgive me for having strayed for a while now; this does not mean that I have not been cooking up a storm, rather I just haven't had time to post anything as life just seems to happen.

So I have found a great recipe from Oxmoor House called Mexican Bow-Tie Pasta with Chicken.  When I ran the numbers through my recipe analyzer, I was floored!  I knew that I could make it way better, or rather healthier, while still preserving the flavor.  So I started manipulating and calculating until I came up with the perfect ingredients, which brings me to tonight's current blog.

Ingredients:

1 lb Barilla Farfalle, uncooked
1 1/2 lbs  Simple Truth - Natural Chicken Breast Boneless Skinless
2 Tbs Land O Lakes Spreadable - Light Butter With Canola Oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Central Market 2% Milk
1 cup Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock
1 cup Red Gold Mild Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies
8 oz pkg Philadelphia - Fat Free Cream Cheese, cubed
2 Tbs Chives, chopped

Preparation:

Cook pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, cut chicken into bite-size pieces. You may be wondering about this Simple Truth Natural Chicken; I found this as Kroger, and it's not super expensive plus the nutritional value is excellent.  

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken; cook, stirring, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook until chicken is just cooked through. 

Stir in flour; slowly pour in milk and stock, stirring constantly. Add Red Gold Tomatoes & Chilies and cream cheese and stir until sauce is hot and bubbling, and cream cheese is melted and smooth.

Add drained pasta to skillet; stir until pasta is coated with sauce and everything is well combined. 

Top with chives.

Serve immediately.

This recipe is enough for 6 servings.  It was a great hit in our household; it has a really great flavor even without adding any extra salt to it.  It is creamy, rich, has a slight bite and is not bad for you either so you can go ahead and enjoy this pasta dish.

Calories:  482
Fat:  5
Sat. Fat:  1
Cholesterol:  75
Sodium:  565
Carbs:  62
Fiber:  3
Sugar:  6
Protein:  43

I know you're probably looking at the carbs and thinking it is too high, but it is not.  You're allotted 0.15 carbs per calorie; based on the calculation, you are allowed 72.3 carbs per serving so this recipe comes under even on that point!

I will warn you that changing any aspect of this recipe, will change all the numbers.  One important thing to look out for is Sodium.  The chicken stock I use has MUCH less sodium than the intended chicken broth; I'm talking half!  So if you're looking at tweaking it in anyway (to fit what items you have in your household) and want to see how the numbers may change, run it through My Fitness Pal recipe calculator.

Hope this serves as helpful and that you enjoy it as much as we did.  I promise to not stay away for such long periods of time.

Until next time, Happy Eating!!