Broke Kitchen

A few months ago, I thought I was as broke as I would ever get.  But I was wrong, my friends.  Dead wrong.   How did this happen?  Don't ask me.

  Ok, I'll tell you.  See, I moved to the big city, and now I have to drive further, pay more for the same stuff, and get paid the same, or maybe slightly less?  So, yes, a new job and perhaps a small bank robbery are in order.  But in the meantime, a girls gotta eat.

I have gotten amazingly good at making something from nothing, or at least something from whatever I have in the cupboards.  I recently received my coupon for a FREE tub of the new Philadelphia cooking creme that I got from Kraft First Taste.  (PS - if you haven't joined Kraft First Taste yet, I suggest you do.  I have gotten quite a few freebies from them!)

I decided I could use this to whip up something edible from my stockpile, and so I did. 
I used:
1 Box of Ronzoni Smart Taste Penne (Free at Albies awhile back)
1 Bell Pepper ( $1 at Fred Meyer last week)
2 lbs of chicken breast ($1.88 lb at Albies last week)
1 tub of Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme ( FREE)

(I would have really liked to add some broccoli or spinach to this, but I didn't have any.)

I cut up the chicken into small pieces and seared it in a pan with olive oil ( At this point I would suggest you season the chicken, at the very least with salt and pepper.  I didn't, and I wish I had)  I also cut the bell pepper into strips and added it to the pan when the chicken was mostly cooked.  Waiting until then allowed the bell pepper to remain a bit crunchy but gave it a nice sweet flavor.

I cooked the noodles, drained them, then threw everything in the pot with the cheese.  Stir it up and done!  Easy Peasy.

This made about 5-6 good sized servings.  This dish in particular cost me about .90 cents per serving!  Not too shabby.

Notes for next time:  As I said, I would for sure season the chicken, I think it would make a big difference.  Also, I think this would be good with a few more veggies.  The sauce was pretty good, but you could probably fancy it up by adding addition cheese, milk or cream, maybe some more seasonings.