Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

That’s the thing about having a baby.  You make your go-to easy meals over and over again when you’re pregnant, because there is just no energy to be had (not to mention no desire to spend more time with food than absolutely necessary).  Then you have a newborn, and until the baby starts feeding itself, you still need easy meals.  Except that by this time, you’ve exhausted all of your regular options and you’re kind of desperate for new recipes that are magically easy and delicious, because dinnertime has become a terrifying juggernaut of MAKE DINNER SHOWER THE GIRLIES CLEAN UP THE KITCHEN AS YOU GO AND FEED THE BABY FOR HOURS ON END!  (And if all of those things don’t happen in a timely fashion, either the girlies are in bed late on a school night and grouchy in the morning, or I’m using my precious and limited child-free time to do dishes, dishes, dishes.  Or the baby is screaming.)

Anyway.  In my seemingly endless quest for easy meals, I came across this recipe for One Pot BBQ Chicken Pasta on one of my Pinterest boards, and thought–hey!  I can do that!  And so I did.

I didn’t necessarily do it well, though.  I didn’t read closely enough to realize the bacon was supposed to stay in the whole time, which might have changed the flavor (although I may still be an advocate for removing it and adding it at the end, for the crispiness).  And I forgot to turn down my burner after my meat was definitively browned, which meant my onions and garlic and chicken weren’t really cooked to perfection.  I also used whole wheat pasta, which almost overpowered the other flavors, sad to say.  (I just really, really love regular pasta.  I’m trying to lean healthier, though.)  I also wish I’d used evaporated milk instead of regular, and possibly upped the milk and lessened the water (I use bouillon cubes and water for the chicken broth).  Creamier would have been nicer.

What I’m really saying is that I will try it again, but I’d like to execute the recipe better and tweak a few things.  No one complained about it, though, which is a nice thing.  Now–what are YOUR go-to easy recipes?

(Please share.  I’m feeling a little desperate about the whole thing.)