Creamy Chicken Pasta with Asparagas

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

8 oz macaroni

6 oz frozen asparagus (You'll find an 8 oz bag, just don't use the bottom of the spears)

3 tbl spoons flour, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup grated Parmesan Romano cheese

1/4 teaspoon paprika

Olive oil for cooking chicken

1. Rinse chicken, pat dry and cut into bite size pieces. Combine 2 tablespoons flour, salt, pepper and parsley in a plastic bag. Add chicken and shake till coated.

2. Cook noodles according to package. Cook asparagus according to package.

3. Cook chicken in a frying pan with oil. Set aside. Cut asparagus into bite size pieces.

4. Melt butter in a small sauce pan over low heat. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon flour. Cook on low heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually whisk in milk. Whisk in cheese and stir until thickened. Stir in paprika. Stir in asparagus. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Pour sauce over noodles and chicken.

---REVIEW---

This is an old-y but good-y in my house. It was a staple when we lived in LA. Usually it has frozen spinach instead of asparagus, but I think I like it this way more.

From "The Everything College Cookbook".

Wednesday Night Dinner: Angelhair with Garlic and Tomato and Shrimp

Maybe eventually I'll remember to work on my presentation, but for now, just be glad I remembered to take a picture. I wasn't supposed to make dinner this week so I had to come up with something in a day, instead of normally spending days mulling over what I want to make. I also didn't want to have to go grocery shopping and spend loads of money so I had to come up with something using ingredients in my house. So I prepared basically a Caesar salad (hearts of romaine and spinach with Parmesan and Caesar dressing), garlic bread and angelhair tossed with olive oil, minced garlic, and a can of diced tomatoes with grilled chicken and shrimp. It was a really delicious meal and easy preparation.

I kind of made this up as I went along (as I generally do a lot of my homemade recipes), but the general idea is mince up some garlic cloves, prepare the pasta, heat a skillet or saute pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil, throw in your minced garlic and let it cook for a couple minutes, then throw in your pasta, toss it around, add a couple more tablespoons of olive oil if necessary, and then add in some diced tomatoes and let it cook for a couple more minutes to warm the tomatoes. I prepared the chicken and shrimp on the side so that each person could add which protein they wanted, but you could probably just as easy also toss in already cooked chicken or shrimp in order to serve it all together in one dish. And then throw some Parmesan on top because everything's better with a little bit of cheese.