As the name implies, this is not a recipe for Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo. It is however really easy and one uses 1 cooking pot. This is a great weeknight meal (or in our case it was Mother’s Day & Mama didn’t want to spend the day cooking) because it’s quick, fairly nutritious, easy (make & clean up), and very kid-friendly. A personal side benefit for me? This particular recipe leaves exactly 1 lunch portion for me to take with me to work later in the week & is just as good reheated. It should be noted that while I put broccoli in this dish, you can put most any frozen veggie in it, broccoli just holds up texture wise (super important to kids with SPD & it seems most kids in general). If you have anyone in your house doing the whole “I only eat things that are white” diet (if you’ve ever eaten with a 2-5 year old you probably know the faze I’m referring to) you can use frozen cauliflower & it’s still pretty good. We ate our with a side salad, just to up the veggie content, but you can eat this completely on its own.
You will need:
- About 3 cups of medium egg noodles (you can also use Wacky Mac here if you would prefer, but this is a recipe where I do not recommend substituting wheat pasta, that whole texture thing gets messed up then)
- 2 large boneless, skinless Chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces (don’t worry about them looking pretty , they will kinda disappear in the pasta, just get them close to uniform size for cooking more evenly)
- 1 medium sized bag of frozen broccoli
- 3 Tlbs of powdered garlic (no garlic press in the hotel 😦 )
- 1 Tbls onion powder (Powder helps make this the picky texture kid friendly dish it is & then I don’t have to mince onions)
- 2 dashes of salt
- 2 cans reduced sodium/fat cream of chicken
- 1/4 stick margarine
- Skim milk (or whatever milk you keep at your house)
- Olive oil
- Water
- Large cooking pot with a lid
Put just enough Olive oil in pot to coat bottom. Add garlic, onion, and 1 dash of salt to oil as it heats. Before your oil starts to burn your seasoning, add chicken. Cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is white but done all the way through. Place cooked chicken on a plate for a little bit.
In the same pot, add egg noodles and enough water to cover the egg noodles. Add the other dash of salt, and about a tablespoon of olive oil, bring to a boil. Boil until noodles are done, then drain. Reduce heat on stove to low.
Return chicken to the pot. Add cream of chicken and margarine. Stir until margarine melts, then raise heat to medium and add milk at about 1/4 cup increments at a time until sauce looks like, well, sauce. This sauce should be a little thin and white in color at this point. (If you add too much milk, just let it cook a little longer to thicken)
Once sauce starts to bubble add entire bag broccoli and fold it in. Place lid (vented slightly) on top, and reduce heat back to low. Let simmer about 3 to 5 minutes, then stir. If broccoli is heated through and sauce looks slightly thicker, it’s done! Turn off the stove and serve! If not, put the lid back on and give it another 3 to 5 minutes. I have never seen this take longer than 10 minutes, but that will depend on your “eyeballing” the milk earlier.
Enjoy!
mama's kitchen table 