Chicken Spaghetti

Chicken Spaghetti is something that can be made very quickly. Especially if you use all my little time saving tricks! This is basically pasta, chicken, and a cheese sauce all mixed together. To save myself some time, I put 3 FROZEN chicken breasts in a crock pot with about a 1/2 c. of water and some seasonings in the morning (ish). I generously sprinkle some garlic powder, pepper, and a little Italian Seasoning all over the chicken breasts. You don't have to be too perfect because it's all going to cook together anyway. I say morningISH because it depends on what your schedule is. If it's a day I'm working, I usually put them in in the morning around 8 and by 1:00 (lunch hour), they're done. So then I can cut the chicken up and put it in a container for later that evening. I've made this on a day off (today) and I put the chicken in the crock pot around 11 and took it out at 5. So really, you need about 4-6 hours. Just do it whenever it works best for your schedule! I say to reserve 1/3 c. of chicken juice or pasta water in the recipe. I would recommend the chicken juice because it has more flavor, if you'll be cooking your chicken like this. I've also boiled the noodles ahead of time before too. Just don't forget to reserve your water if you are using pasta water! The rest of the recipe goes together very quickly! A couple other things: Sometimes I'll make this into 2 meals by using 2 8X8 square pans instead of a 9X13 pan. I bake one and freeze the other. If your family likes having leftovers though, go for the 9X13 pan. Also, you can pretty much do whatever you want as far as chicken goes. Buy a rotisserie chicken, do the crock pot idea, or bake it in the oven. I've even boiled it before and it was fine. You have to add a little more seasoning to the rest of the dish if you boil the chicken though. Lastly, the cheese. You can add more cheese if you so wish. Cheese is delicious. It ranks up there with my love for peanut butter. If you add a little more velveeta, it will be some cheesy lip smackin' deliciousness. Or sprinkle on some more cheddar cheese. Or, just don't add any more cheese and make it the way it's written ;-)

-1 13 oz. box/pkg. spaghetti noodles
-3 cooked chicken breasts
-1 can cream of chicken soup
-1/2 c. sour cream
-8 oz. velveeta cheese
-1/3 c. reserved pasta water or juice from cooking chicken breasts
-1 c. shredded cheese (use cheddar, colby jack, or casserole style)
-salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil noodles according to package directions. While noodles are boiling, cut chicken breasts into bite sized chunks. Set aside. Cut 8 oz. of velveeta into small chunks. Place in a sauce pan, along with sour cream and cream of chicken soup. Heat over medium heat. Once the mixture starts melting, stir every couple of minutes to prevent from burning on the bottom. Once noodles are done, scoop a measuring cup into the water to obtain the "reserved pasta water", and set aside. Strain noodles. Stir cheese sauce again. Pour noodles into a 9X13 pan. Once cheese sauce is completely melted, stir in pasta/chicken water. Stir in chicken chunks. Pour mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (we go pretty generously on the pepper, but light on the salt. Then, I just allow people to salt their own dish if they want more). Top with shredded cheese. Put in the oven and bake for just about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and everything is heated through.

Who's hungry?!