Food Storage Friday: Italian Chicken and Peppers

Spaghetti noodles are one of those food storage items that if you play your coupons right you can get for free, and even if you don't coupon, you can still get them for very cheap. Unfortunately my husband does not like spaghetti. I generally make it once a year and that's only if I am willing to make or purchase meatballs. (Heather doesn't like meatballs.) Recently when I was at the grocery store they were offering samples of this recipe. I thought, hey this is great and my kids liked it too. And I incorporated  those green bell peppers that came in last weeks Bountiful Basket. Food storage victory.

Italian Chicken and Peppers
Food Storage Ingredients:
1 package of spaghetti
1 jar (24 oz) pasta sauce
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 can (4 oz) mushrooms (optional)

Fresh Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken tenders
2 green bell peppers (medium)
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
shredded Parmesan (optional)

1. Cut green peppers into 2 inch strips. (I chopped mine more finely to increase the likelihood of my kids eating them. This plan actually backfired. This time they refused the sauce all together.) 2. Heat  fresh vegetables and chicken tenders in olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, until chicken is thoroughly cooked. 3. Stir in sauce and cook until bubbling. Add mushrooms if desired 4. Serve over cooked spaghetti.

Notes: My husband and I really liked this. Hooray I found a way to get my family to eat spaghetti! Although my kids ate the samples in the store, when I made it at home they opted for plain noodles with a little cheese sprinkled on top. Whatever. :S I used whole wheat pasta (13.25 oz) and Classico Spicy Tomato and Basil Sauce with happy results. The original recipe called for 16 oz of plain spaghetti noodles. I liked it with the whole wheat noodles better. When I was digging through my freezer for chicken I found 2 lbs that were marinated in an Italian Herb dressing. Wow, that smelled amazing while it was cooking.