Easy Creamy Pasta

Teacher tired.

It's a real thing, y'all.

Teacher poor is another real thing, also.

Toward the end of last school year, my hubs and I were stretching every last penny. I would dig around our pantry and fridge and attempt to make dinners out of the ingredients we had on hand. We had several bars of cream cheese, so I went to Pinterest and searched for cream cheese pasta sauce recipes. I came across a recipe that ended up being one of our FAVORITE meals ever!! I was so thrilled to have found a new, EASY staple dinner recipe.

Here are the ingredients I use-- I didn't pin the recipe I found, and now I can't find it again. I got inspiration from the recipe but did change it a tad from what I remember:

• 1/2 bottle of Olive Garden Signature Italian Dressing (we buy ours @ Sam's Club)
• Cream Cheese (8 oz)
• 2 tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Pasta of your choice (I've made it with spaghetti, angel hair, fettuccine, bow tie, & penne- great with all!) I use 1/2 a bag for my family of 2 adults & 2 toddlers.
• Bacon
• Optional - Chicken breast
• Optional - Daddy Hinkle's dry seasoning

 Have you ever tried Daddy Hinkle's dry seasoning?? I put it on EVERYTHING!! Sprinkle it on your bacon before you cook it. IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

A 3-ingredient pasta sauce? Sign me up! I like to cook the bacon ahead of time in the oven just so there's one less thing to deal with when it's time to cook dinner. Don't judge my food pic. I wasn't planning on blogging this until we were eating and my hubby said it was one of his favorites that he could eat every day (he's sosososososososo picky!). I agreed and thought I should share this with my friends!

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add your pasta and stir. 
2. Add the cream cheese block and the Italian dressing to a large sauce pan, and turn the heat on to medium. Make sure to keep stirring the pasta occasionally.
3. Use a spatula to stir around the sauce so it doesn't burn. Once the cream cheese softens enough, start breaking it up with your spatula. Use a whisk to incorporate all the cream cheese until the sauce is smooth. Then add the Parmesan cheese and whisk until smooth again.
4. Transfer some of the pasta water to the sauce (Idk how much - start with a small amount and you can always add more. Whisk the sauce. You just don't want the the sauce to be TOO thick. You choose the consistency you like. I prefer mine on the slightly thick side so it sticks to the pasta really well!
5. Tear up the bacon into bits and stir into sauce. *Optional: Add a dash of Daddy Hinkle's seasoning to sauce and stir.
6. Drain the pasta once it's cooked. Add bits of pasta at a time to the sauce pan, making sure you don't put more pasta than the sauce will cover. Toss & serve!
7. *Optional: Top with cooked chicken breast.

 We love this pasta so much!! My toddlers (1 & 3 year olds) eat it up! It also reheats wonderfully! We like to serve this dinner with some garlic bread or garlic sticks.

I love that this recipe is so quick and easy. I recommend cooking this with a glass (or three) of wine.

I promise this recipe is pure gold. Try it out sometime! My boys (the husband & the 1-y-o) are super picky eaters, but they eat this stuff UP!!

Enjoy!!

XOXO,
Mrs. Ryder