Cheesy Chicken Pasta with Parmesan Zucchini

Here in the Andersen house there are two things we that we LOVE to have for dinner, chicken and pasta. Oh yeah, and CHEESE! One night last week I had ran out of dinner ideas before I had the chance to go to the store so I was flipping through some of my cookbooks and found this recipe from Martha Stewart. I changed a few things (like diced tomatoes instead of sun-dried tomatoes and took out the mushrooms because I didn’t have any on hand). All in all it was very budget friendly and tasty too!

Ingredients:

8 oz. macaroni pasta (or any macaroni like pasta will do, penne, rigatoni etc.)
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
Salt and pepper for seasoning
1 tablespoon oil
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cloves minced garlic
3 cups milk
1 cup diced tomatoes
2 cups cheese (***Frugal tip: I always use Costco’s Mexican Three Cheese Blend no matter what the recipe calls for. It is super affordable and my boys love it!)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (The stuff you put on spaghetti)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°

Boil about 5 cups of water, add a pinch of salt, and cook pasta to 3 minutes short of Al dente (only cook for 3-5 minutes).

Cut chicken into bite size pieces and season with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook chicken thoroughly.

In a large saucepan melt butter over medium heat then add flour and garlic, whisking for 1 minute.

While still whisking add milk slowly.

Bring to a simmer and then whisk for about 1 more minute until sauce thickens.

Remove from heat and add tomatoes, cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.