What's For Dinner? We're having chicken tonight!

I can't remember the last time that I prepared chicken.  I don't like preparing meat, I was vegetarian for a very long time and although I will admit that I like the taste of meat, I don't like the idea of eating animals.... Maybe some understand, and others don't with this dilemna I have, but seriously making meals with meat has always been dificult for me.  So this dinner is kind of a big deal!  Of course, you can COMPLETELY omit the meat in this dish and use veggies instead... I am actually going to keep adding things to it.  I want to add broccoli to it, it is my favorite cooked veggie!  I just love making new recipes, especially when they turn out AWESOME lol. I am going to post all about this recipe, I don't really have a name for it... just call it bacon/chicken/cheesy pasta bake... I hope some of my readers will try it out and share with me how they liked it :)

I started by throwing some ends and pieces of bacon into a skillet, just a couple handfuls.  Hubby suggested using these, and I'm glad he did!  I cooked on medium heat and when it started popping turned it down a bit.

Then I flipped each piece over.

Meanwhile, I got a pot ready with some water and a drizzle of oil. 

 When it was boiling, I added one 14.5 ounce package of  multigrain farfalle and cooked for about 8 or 9 minutes, then left in strainer while I removed bacon and put in cut chicken strips to the bacon grease.

I sprinkled a little of my FAVORITE seasoning on the chicken :)

Each side needs cooked for about 4/5 minutes, so I took this time to chop up the bacon...

then when the chicken was done, you mix the bacon, chicken and pasta all together and put it in a casserole dish.

And now you have to make the cheese sauce... So take 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter and place in the pot you had the noodles in and let it melt over low/medium heat.  Add 3 tablespoons of whole wheat flour, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne to the pot and whisk it up until it starts to bubble.  Stop whisking and let it continue bubbling for another minute then add 3 cups of milk and 1 cup of chicken broth.  Continue to whisk and turn the heat up to get it to boil- medium/high will be perfect. And keep an eye on this so it doesn't overboil.  Once it boils, turn off heat and let it sit for a couple minutes to thicken.  Then add about 2 cups of shredded cheese.  I used colby-jack since it's the kid's and hubby's favorite :)  Stir it up then pour over the noodles and meat in the casserole dish.  You can add a little more shredded cheese on top like I did too.

Cover then cook at 350 degrees for half an hour.  Let cool, then enjoy!  Looks yummy, doesn't it :)

xoxox