Chicken and Tomato Baked Pasta

Things have been busy as usual here at the Scott residence.  This is what most of us look like after these exhausting few days.....

Theresa didn't know about this photography expo, and probably won't be thrilled to find out!

Since last week, I have had a couple of babysitting outings, spent some time catching up with two great friends, driven 4 hours for a 30 minute doctor visit for Daddy, and tried to squeeze in a little bit of cooking.  I made some Oreo pudding last week for my sisters to enjoy, but it is not much to brag about.  I simply followed the 1 step directions on the pudding box.  However, with that being said, it doesn't mean it wasn't tasty--according to Ashton anyways.  She ate 3 of the 4 cups of pudding the box makes, and licked the glass clean each time!  

ok, ok, on to the real recipe!  I made this for dinner last night and I do believe everyone in my family liked it.  Since we have 6 mouths to feed, it is quite rare to have all 6 mouths agree on something.  Especially food!   My mom cooks supper every night, and always gets an earful of complaints.  I felt accomplished last night not having any....this dish seemed to be a real winner! (notice the use of the word dish.  I hate to admit it, but I don't think it was my amazing culinary skills that won over the family's taste buds.  It was simply the meal itself.)  It was also not to hard to prepare, but it did take me about 30 minutes or so to get everything ready.  

Chicken and Tomato Baked Pasta:

• olive oil
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless, chicken breast-cubed
• 1 box whole wheat pasta 
• 1 can diced tomatoes, in juice
• salt
• pepper
• 1/2 large onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 cups grated mozarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated/shaved parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup Italian style bread crumbs
• butter

Preheat the oven to 400.  Cook the pasta according to directions on the box.  While the pasta is boiling, cube the chicken into 1 in. cubes, dice the onion, and mince the garlic (for me, this is the longest step).  Add enough olive oil to a frying pan to cover the bottom.  Add the chicken and cook for about 3 minutes.  Then add the onion and garlic cooking until the onions are soft and the meat is cooked through, about 5 more minutes.  Once the pasta and chicken are done, combine them in a large mixing bowl.  Add the mozarella cheese and can of tomatoes to the bowl, combining and mixing all of the ingredients well.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Once well combined, pour the mixture into a buttered glass baking dish.  Sprinkle the top of the mixture with bread crumbs, and then parmesan cheese.  Finish it off with a few dots of butter to help the top brown.  Bake the dish for 30 minutes, or until golden brown on the top.  Serve and Enjoy!         

As I mentioned earlier, this was a great meal for our family!  We only had one small bowl of leftovers--enough for my dad's afternoon snack today--haha.  We also enjoyed some garlic bread with the pasta.  That's sortof a given though in my opinion.  How in the world can you eat Italian and not eat garlic bread?

Hope you will try out this recipe.  Have a blessed rest of the week.  I am off too the beach for a few days and hoping to get my tan on.