One Pot Garlic Parmesan Pasta

Rich, creamy, flavorful, healthyish pseudo-alfredo that makes minimal dishes and Michael actually likes.

It's a pre-Christmas miracle.

IT'S DECEMBER. Which means it's officially the Christmas season. Which means I can figure out how to decorate my new house. It means I get to watch Christmas movies. I can listen to Christmas music and no one can say anything about it! 

And there's gonna be cookies. Lots of cookies.

But sometimes we need to eat non-cookie things. And maybe we want that thing to be pasta.

I've already made this pasta twice. Because it is so good (also it doesn't make a ton of pasta so it was gone allll too quickly). Listen up to how this goes down: you make a sauce from chicken broth, milk, butter and garlic. Then you cook the fettuccine right in the sauce! This means you make everyone in one pot and it also means that the noodles soak up that flavor as they cook and this thickens the sauce in the process. You finish it off with some parmesan cheese (and maybe fresh parsley if you have it) and you're done!

The result is super creamy and rich and no one will ever believe that you didn't use heavy cream and tons of butter. Which is awesomeness. I will give you a couple pieces of advice: it's easy for the noodles to stick together so I suggest breaking them in half before throwing them in to cook and also just consistently stir and try to keep them separated. Also, the sauce gets extremely thick and somewhat clumpy as it gets cooled so it is definitely best served fresh, but you can add some milk and try to heat it back up to thin it back out if necessary.

Looking at these pictures...mmm....I think it's time for another batch!

Something Saturdays (11/29/14)

Hiya guys! Did you have a great Thanksgiving? Me too! I went to Michael's stepmom's family earlier in the day (and brought cookies) and then went to his mom's side of the family later on (and brought what was left of the cookies). We had so much fun and the only not so great part was the hour long drive home from Michael's grandpa's that took 2 hours because it had just snowed a couple inches and the roads were not in great shape. EEp! At least he was driving and not me!

Then yesterday we went back to our cake bakery for the wedding (Tiffany's) and Michael tried some fruit fillings while I went over the design and locked in the flavors and price, etc. We got so lucky-we go an awesome deal! And we're going to have 3 different flavors of cake: white cake with vanilla custard filling, white cake with strawberry filling, and chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling. And they all taste incredible! Yayyy! Then we went back to Michael's aunt's (where we'd had our first dinner on Thanksgiving) and ate some leftovers and visited and played games. Then we went to Youngstown to a big benefit/variety show that his family puts on every year. Michael and his brothers were so so hilarious...the highlight was the 3 of them dressing up in 80's gear and performing "Pop" from Music & Lyrics. Everyone died laughing. And theeeen we left early so we could go to his dad's side of the family's cousin game night. Which was SO much fun and so funny.

So now I'm exhausted and this holiday's festivities aren't even done yet. Today I'm baking cookies for my grandma's birthday tomorrow. Tonight we're having another dinner just with Michael's mom and siblings. And tomorrow is my grandma's 80th birthday!

I'm gonna sleep like a baby on Monday.

#HillshireSnackPros Review

So. Didja have a good Thanksgiving? Yes? 

Great. Back to real life!

Which means packing Michael a lunch and finding me a (non-chip or sweet) snack. 

That's where Hillshire Snacking comes in! 

Do you like the sound of 15g+ of protein, premium meats, and super bold flavors? ME TOO. And Hillshire Snacking offers all of that in 8 different varieties.

• Grilled Chicken Bites with Teriyaki Sauce
• Genoa Salame with Gouda Cheese & Toasted Rounds
• Grilled Chicken Bites with Honey Mustard Sauce
• Grilled Chicken Bites with Mango Habanero Sauce
• Italian Dry Salame with Gouda Cheese & Toasted Rounds
• Hot Calabrese Salame with Pepper Jack Cheese & Toasted Rounds
• Peppered Salame with Pepper Jack Cheese & Toasted Rounds
• Grilled Chicken Bites with Sweet Chili Sauce

I was lucky enough to get a bunch of packages of the grilled chicken bites with sweet chili sauce to try (although I would love to get my hands on some of the other varieties in the near future)! Michael went gaga---these are right up his alley. Unique and flavorful (therefore breaking up the monotony of his usual lunch and snack options) the chicken has a delicious grilled flavor and the sauce adds a fun bite of zesty spice.

Hillshire Snacking products are perfectly portioned to be an everyday snack or the thing to grab on the go but they are also encouraging you to get creative and think of these as a unique way to snack! Share your unique Hillshire Snacking experience with the hashtag #UniqueWay.

For the most part we just ate these in a straightforward way---however I did create a sandwich with 1 pack of the Grilled Chicken Bites with Sweet Chili Sauce. I used the sauce as spread on each piece of bread and placed the chicken and a slice of cheese in the middle. It was gooooood.

So, to sum up--I'm sad we're almost out and I think I need to locate a Target near me that carries Hillshire Snacking products!

#spon: I'm required to disclose a relationship between our site and Hillshire. This could include Hillshire providing us w/content, product, access or other forms of payment.