Adventure in cooking and a do-it-yourself guide

I consider cooking an art, in case you were wondering, and I enjoy it a lot as long as I have room to experiment and am not just following some rigid recipe.

Anyway, since my mother and I alternate working shifts at our store, I figured it would be good to share work at home, too. That includes cooking. So tonight, I looked through a book of "quick, easy" recipes and picked a few that sounded good.

Let me tell you, none of the recipes in the "quick and easy" book are all that quick and easy. They usually include toasting nuts, chopping up a forest of celery, and pounding your own ginger. That's great if you like that kind of thing, but I work in the morning, clean in the afternoon, and cook in the evening. By the time cooking rolls around, I'm tired and want something that really IS quick and easy.

Also, the book was not written for Texans. We don't use ginger anyway.

Because of the taste issue the recipe I cooked called for ginger and other weird stuff in the chicken I decided to mesh together several recipes as well as my own Italian cooking skill. I say that because the only thing I could cook before tonight was spaghetti. My famous, mouthwatering, zesty spaghetti. 

Anyway, here's how I did it. It was mostly improvision, but it worked out really well. I got a solid rating of 4/5. I wish I had thought to get a picture of it before it was decimated, but I'm not the Mad Baker Woman my darling sister so I didn't think ahead...

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Spicy chicken and mushroom pasta

You will need:

3 cups cubed cooked chicken (see below)

1 family sized jar Prego sauce (the recipe wanted me to make my own, but I told it no)

1.5 cups chopped mushrooms

1 box penne pasta, cooked to instructions on box (I don't know the exact amount necessary. I just eyeballed it)

Garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper, parmesan cheese, walnuts (optional)

To cook the chicken:

Take whole chicken breasts and place in a medium saucepan, adding just enough water or chicken broth to cover. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Let cook for approx. fifteen minutes or until chicken is white and cooked throughout. (I also put a little onion powder and salt in with the broth).

To cook sauce:

Place cubed chicken, tomato sauce, and mushrooms in a medium or large saucepan and simmer, adding garlic, onion, salt, and crushed red pepper to taste. Let simmer for at least 15 min to improve chicken flavor. 

To serve: 

Pour pasta and sauce into a casserole dish, sprinkle with parmesan and walnut chips (optional). A green vegetable and french bread are good sides.

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It was much more "quick and easy" than the original. 

Sorry about not having exact measurements. When I cook, I do it mainly by instinct and taste. I added a LOT of the crushed pepper to make it really spicy, but you can do it however... 

All in all, I was very pleased. The last time I tried cooking something besides spaghetti, it turned out horrible. The only good thing I learned is that shrimp is fantastic when sauteed in Italian dressing.