Since the New Year, I’ve been making it a point to eat healthier. I’ve been doing great… since I started back on my “life change” (I hate the word “diet”), I’m already down 6 pounds! That’s all of the “holiday weight” that I gained from Thanksgiving thru New Year’s. So that’s great! And I’m super motivated, so I have faith that I’ll lose the rest of what I gained over the fall when I fell off the wagon.
But sometimes, you just need something with carbs & cheese.
Yummmm….
I’ve been doing so well the past 3 weeks, lots of veggies, fruit & even trying new things. But – I was craving some carbs & some cheese like WHOA. Now I’m not going to say I cut out either of those over the last 3 weeks, because I certainly had both. I even had a trip to the Olive Garden! But I certainly hadn’t made myself any pasta at home in a very long time… probably not since Christmas Eve!
Which then reminded me of my Spin Dip, which I make every Christmas Eve…. Mmmm… It’s SO good. I found this Slow Cooker recipe years ago in some sort of magazine. I follow it exactly as it’s listed…. You don’t mess with perfection.
And then I came up with the brilliant idea…. Why don’t I combine my Spin Dip, full of healthy stuff – like spinach & artichokes (plus some other not so healthy stuff), & combine it with some pasta & alfredo?! Sounds like a GREAT idea!
The result? An AMAZING dinner! What I like most about it is you can make this with regular ingredients or you can lighten it up a bit & use a healthier pasta, light ingredients, etc. I’m going to give you the recipe exactly how I made it – which is a combo of “regular” & “light” as I was using up some of what I had in the pantry already. Making this dish with the same ingredients as I had came out to be 374 calories per serving… definitely not as bad as I thought it would be. The best part of all? It satisfied my craving for cheese & carbs & I have leftovers for the week!
Everything’s more fun in vintage Pyrex! Pssst – follow me on Instagram, @jmshuhart!
Without further adieu, I present you with the recipe for:
Spinach, Artichoke & Chicken Penne Alfredo Casserole.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups of dry penne (or pasta of your choice)
- 5 oz. of cooked, shredded chicken breast
- 9 oz. of chopped frozen spinach, drained
- 1 – 13 oz can of artichoke hearts
- 1 tbs of garlic salt
- 2 tbs of mayonnaise (use light mayo to lighen this up!)
- 3/4 cup of light alfredo from a jar (you can also use “regular”)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (use skim to lighten this up!)
- 1/4 cup of Italian breadcrumbs
First start by cooking your chicken. I like to toss mine on the George Foreman grill for recipes like these. Once the chicken is started, get your water going to cook your pasta.
While the chicken & pasta are cooking, start the prep work on draining your (thawed out) frozen spinach (I like to use Green Giant because it comes in a plastic pouch inside the box, so you can let it thaw overnight in the fridge) & chopping up your artichoke hearts. You can add these to a bowl together, along with your garlic salt & mayonnaise.
Prepping & measuring your ingredients out ahead of time makes cooking SO much easier!
When your chicken has finished cooking & cooled a little, you can start to shred it out into smaller pieces. You could also slice it up if you prefer.
I use the two fork method for shredding my chicken…
Once your pasta has finished cooking & you’ve done all of the prep work, it’s time to combine all of the ingredients into a larger bowl. Start by mixing your pasta, alfredo sauce & 3/4 cup of your mozzarella into a bowl. Then add your chicken, spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic salt & mayonnaise. Mix well & transfer to a 1.5 – 2 qt casserole dish, vintage Pyrex optional ;-). Top evenly with bread crumbs & remaining 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese.
Place covered casserole into a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes & then enjoy! Serves 4.
Dinner! Note – this recipe is for the one on the right. I had to make a separate dish without the veggies for the picky eater in the house…
Did you try this recipe? If so – let me know what you thought. If you put your own twist on it, please share!
trailmixdiaries 
Looks Fantastically Delicious!
Thank you so much! I’m happy to report that it’s even more amazing as a leftover! 🙂
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