Cooking Mommy: South of the Border Chicken & Pasta Skillet

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

South of the Border Chicken & Pasta Skillet

I got this recipe off the Kraft website and lightened it up and used whole wheat pasta. It was a winner in our house, very simple, and I will definitely make it again! I also doubled the recipe for my family, so you can half it if you are only serving a few people.

Ingredients
1 lb whole wheat penne (or other medium size pasta) (use brown rice pasta for GF)
2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces (leave out for vegetarian)
2 -16oz jars salsa
20oz frozen corn
8oz package reduced fat cream cheese (neufchatel), cubed
1/2 tsp cumin
7oz package reduced fat Mexican cheese

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, cook and stir chicken in a large skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat until chicken is cooked through. Add next 4 ingredients and stir well. Simmer on medium-low heat about 6 minutes, until cream cheese is melted, stirring occassionally. Drain pasta, add to chicken mixture with half the shredded cheese. Simmer 3 minutes, stirring occassionally. Top with remaining cheese, cover, and remove from heat and let cheese on top melt.

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Allergies and Intolerances

My son, Daniel previously had allergies to egg whites and peanuts. I am lactose intolerant. My nephews have allergies to many foods. I will try my best to label things to help those with allergies since I know it's difficult finding recipes sometimes when someone in your home has common food allergies. Make sure you check labels yourself. If it's marked soy-free or nut-free, it only means it doesn't have the soy or nut protein in it, not necessarily the oils. Look for dairy-free, egg-free, gluten/wheat-free, nut-free, and soy-free labels.

Egg replacements

If you need an egg free recipe, I have some great egg replacements. Now these really won't work in recipes that require a lot of eggs, like a meringue or cheesecake, but they do work well in most recipes I've ever tried.

Egg replacement #1: use 1 Tbsp ground flax seed and 3 Tbsp of water in place of 1 egg. Why this works? I don't know, but flax seed is extremely healthy for you, full of lots of omega fatty acids, so this is my preferred substitute.

Egg replacement #2: Boil 1 cup of water and 1 packet of unflavored gelatin together. In it's liquid state, use 3 1/2 Tbsp of this in place of 1 egg.

I have found sometimes one works better than the other. The flax seed seems to work better overall, I believe, but my mother-in-law made Christmas cookies with the gelatin and you couldn't even tell the difference.