Chicken and Mushroom Alfredo

Do you ever just need quick and easy?

I cook three meals a day pretty much every single day.  I get up in the morning and make breakfast.  During the school year, I pack lunches for myself, Christopher, and Elizabeth.  And I make dinner almost every night.  Eating out and ordering in are luxuries in our house.  I enjoy cooking.  I find it very therapeutic and fun.  There’s just something about singing and dancing around my kitchen while making something yummy that makes the rest of day melt away.

But sometimes…

Sometimes I just want quick and easy.

This is quick and easy.

And delicious!

If you’re opposed to using convenience foods in your cooking, just look away.  This is VERY convenient!

Chicken and Mushroom Alfredo

• Olive oil for sauteeing
• 16 ounces of sliced cremini mushrooms
• 16 ounces of sliced cooked chicken
• 2 16-ounce jars of alfredo sauce
• 1 teaspoon of freshly-ground black pepper
• Pasta of your choice

Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a pan and warm over high heat for 1-2 minutes.  Add mushrooms and sautee for 5-6 minutes – or until mushrooms have darkened in color and softened slightly.  Add the chicken and cook until it is heated through.  Add the jars of sauce and stir to combine and warm.  Stir in pepper.

When pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the sauce.  Toss to combine.

Well Duh #1:  I bought pre-sliced mushrooms.

Well Duh #2:  I used a bag of frozen fajita chicken strips.  I thawed them in the microwave for 5 minutes before adding them to the skillet.  You can certainly use chicken that you have cooked or grilled.

Well Duh #3:  After I poured the sauce from the jars, I added a little tap water, put the caps back on, and shook them up.  This got more of the sauce out.

Well Duh #4:  I used linguine, but you can use any kind of pasta you like.

From start to finish, this dish took 20 minutes!  And it was delicious!  I love the kick that the black pepper adds to the sauce.  This one will probably be added to the regular rotation!  There were actually a couple of servings left, so I put them in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

This morning, it was gone.  Nobody owned up to it, but somebody sneaked back into the kitchen during the night and finished off the rest of this dish.

Yep.  Definitely a keeper!