Good Morning beautiful people! I am extremely exhausted this morning… Pretty sure it has something to do with too much sugar last night (I’ve GOTTA stop doing that!) I decided to make this delicious recipe last night for dinner for my mom, grandma, 2 brothers and cousin. I’m guessing it was a hit since i quadrupled the recipe and served it with bread and there wasn’t a noodle left behind. Below is the recipe with my tweaks.
BBQ Chicken Pasta Bake (Supposed to serve 8-10 people…served 6)
1 2lb rotisserie chicken (no skin – shred chicken in bowl)
9 cups cooked whole wheat pasta (i used shells)
7 tablespoons of Brown Sugar BBQ sauce + more for drizzle
1 small onion, sliced
Sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons of butter
1 and 1/2 tablespoons of flour
1 and 1/2 cup skim milk
7 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese ( i would use a smoked cheese next time)
panko bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare pasta and shredded chicken and set aside. In a small sauce pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and sliced onions with a sprinkle of sea salt and let caramelized – about 10 minutes. During this time, combine shredded chicken with 7 tablespoons bbq sauce. Once onions are caramelized, set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and whisk in flour to create a roux. Immediately add skim milk and turn down to low heat. Add 3 ounces of cheese and stir until cheese is melted and mixture thickens – about 2-3 minutes.
In the casserole dish, alternate layering pasta, bbq chicken, and onions. Add cheese mixture about 1-2 tablespoons at a time, throughly mixing to act like glue and hold the pasta together. Top with additional cheese sauce, remaining shredded cheese, BBQ sauce drizzles and panko bread crumbs.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
It should come out looking a little something like this… Probably a little cleaner. I’m messy.
I have to admit that when I first decided upon this recipe the thought of bbq sauce, chicken and pasta in one dish sounded like a hot mess… But this was the hottest mess I’ve had in a while. It’s a keeper!
I also decided to make some Christmas cookies for the tree decorating activities.
I may or may not have eaten half of these. Have you had these Mint M&Ms? They have just tied for first place with the peanut butter ones in my book. Ugh… weakness.
Of course I had to put on my FAVORITE Christmas CD – Hanson’s Snowed In 🙂 This will never get old. 
If you look closely you can see a couple of my homemade beauties posted up on the tree! These include but are not limited to a toilet paper roll and an eggshell carton. I can’t believe my mom still hangs them up 🙂 (that’s my grandma – isn’t she the cutest!)
Btw, did anyone know that Boy Scouts sell popcorn now? Well let me tell you…They are definitely giving the Girl Scouts a run for their money. If you see these cute little boys outside of your grocery store make a run for it…or just donate directly to them. Or you will end up eating half of the bag as I did tonight.
This was my poison flavor of choice. I’m not sure how this has escaped my tastebuds for so many years. But clearly god has been looking out for me and my love handles.
Yesterday I never got that cardio in I was hoping to… I got all ready and then realized I had forgotten my shoes. STORY OF MY LIFE. This morning I just jumped on the elliptical for 20 minutes…I’ll be forcing myself to hit up the gym later. I made a quick breakfast of greek yogurt, pumpkin, rasberries and cocoa almonds with a little pumpkin pie spice. Gotta love the protein!
This wasn’t the best breakfast…It neeeded some agave drizzled it over top I think – Next time! Please ignore my 4 week old manicure in the bottom left corner.
Two more days of work (including today) and then I’m a free woman! Today the girls and I are going to do some Christmas crafts, make Golden Oreo balls and head to the library to check out some more books. I love my job 🙂 Have a great day!
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