What's Cooking: Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

One of our weekly staples is pasta with tomato sauce. This meal is guaranteed to be consumed by our two little girls. The drawback is that this gets old after a while (at least for Mommy and Daddy). So, I thought I'd try a different sauce for our pasta.

I found this recipe on the Kraft Foods website. What I like about it is that it is a healthier alternative to your typical Alfredo recipe (see this one as an example). Instead of heavy cream and a ton of Parmesan cheese it uses a combination of milk, cream cheese, and only 1/4 cup of Parmesan.

Modifications/Substitutions: The only "modification" I made was using penne pasta instead of fettuccine.

Ease: This was a really simple and easy recipe. I liked the fact that I could cook the chicken and prepare the sauce as the pasta was cooking. I also liked being able to add the broccoli to the pasta as it finished cooking. I'll give this recipe 4.5 stars.

Affordability: Once again, the chicken was on sale. The other ingredients are very affordable. I'll go with 5 stars here.

Taste: I was very pleased with how this meal turned out. It was nice and light. The Italian dressing gave it a nice flavor too. I'll go with 4 stars here.

Family Friendly: Sarah went to town on her pasta and even ate the tops of her broccoli. Abigail took a little convincing to try something new, but she ate her pasta too (and "tried" the broccoli). The girls didn't go for the chicken because, like I typically do, I overcooked it a bit (oops!). I'll go with 4.5 stars for this recipe.

What's Cooking Rating: 4.5 stars