I can impress my husband with a meal for less than $5.

I just received the best, most unexpected compliment from my husband.  He LOVES the new recipe I came up with.  It is super simple, I think it's fairly nutritious, AND it's cheap.  I came up with it while I was at the grocery store, trying to find creative ways to feed my family well on the cheap.  I recently told  him that I was working on my budget, and he replied saying that was the sexiest thing a woman could say to a man.  Complimenting me unprovoked while gobbling from the baking dish had that same affect on me.  Clearly, we are in need of some excitement in our house...  Regardless, here is the illustrious recipe, with ideas for modification:

Angie's Chicken Pasta Salad 
1 package Ronzoni Garden Delight Vegetable Rotini Pasta
1 can of chunk chicken (or 2 if you like more meat)
Kraft Ranch Dressing to taste 


Boil the noodles as directed.  Drain noodles and rinse in cold water.  Drain the can of chicken.  I like to break up the pieces of chicken into smaller pieces.  Toss noodles, chicken and ranch dressing in a bowl.  Serve room temperature or chilled.  Probably tastes even better the next day if you can keep it in the fridge that long before people eat it all.  

I LOVE that the noodles are made from veggies and that they don't taste like dirt.  You get a veggie serving and a protein serving all together with this dish.  And my toddler likes to stab the rotini noodles with his fork.  It's a challenge, but an achievable one for his little hands.

I have also thrown in diced seasonal veggies from time to time:  tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, avocado, baby carrots...  Do what you want to add more flavor and texture from your garden.  Oh...  some fresh herbs from the garden might be nice too if you happen to have them. 

We are trying to cut fat calories lately, so we may be switching to low-fat or no-fat ranch dressing.  Obviously, this will alter the taste (let's not kid ourselves), so we'll see how that pans out.  A better option might be to try substituting with Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing.  I may go that route first.  

Alex was convinced that I had put parmesan cheese in it as well.  For the record, NO I DID NOT PUT PARMESAN CHEESE IN IT (that's just some strings of the chicken with ranch dressing on it), but it might be a good idea to try putting some parmesan, romano, or asiago (or all three!) in there.  Mozarella is always a hit, too.  Salt and pepper may also prove useful, although I find that there is usually more than enough of that in the store bought dressings. 

This is a quick, cheap, easy summertime recipe that my lazy, 24 weeks pregnant butt can pull off.  You can do it, too.  Don't go out for pizza tonight.  Impress someone you love.  Make this instead.