Honey, I saved the dinner... Maybe.

Dinner was flavorless tonight. I can't figure out why, because it was a fairly tried and true recipe, something I call Tie the Knot Pesto Pasta. It's basically bow-tie pasta (although tonight I used penne, which I had), tossed with sauteed chicken, peppers, and onions with about 4 tablespoons of basil pesto sauce. I've loved this meal in the past, but tonight it lacked its usual flair. Admittedly, I did things a little differently. There was the penne instead of the bow-ties. Then I swapped the peppers out for zucchini which I had instead. Also, the chicken had been frozen, although I've never thought that makes a difference. As far as my cooking knowledge goes, it should have come out the same. It did not.

My attempt to save dinner: make it into a casserole! I browsed my cookbooks for chicken casserole recipes, and found a common ingredient: cream of chicken soup. So, I went down to the Farm Store. I needed milk anyway, so it was worth the trip. (However, I did waste at least ten whole minutes talking myself out of buying chocolate chip cake, blueberry muffins, and cinnamon raisin bread - all freshly made, and oh-so-tempting.) Sadly, the Farm Store does not carry such lazy-cook necessities as cream of chicken soup, so back at home I whipped up a quick alfredo of butter, flour, milk, chicken broth (which may have been in the fridge for over a month, but smelled fine), and some seasonings. When this had thickened, I added it to the skillet meal, dumped the whole thing into a casserole dish, and topped it with Italian shredded cheese.

It's out of the oven now - baked at 350 for about 25 minutes. Jury's still out, though, on the results. Fingers are crossed.