As much as I have enjoyed a fun summer with my family, I really do like getting back to a good routine when school starts. Back to School time is always busy, so it’s helpful to have a few simple recipes on hand for those weeknights. This 6 ingredient, One Pot Chicken & Tomato Pesto Pasta is a delicious family meal that can be ready and on your dinner table in just minutes!

If you’ve been browsing around in the pasta aisle at Walmart lately, you may have noticed Barilla Pronto Pasta. (Ibotta offer: Earn $0.50 when you purchase any Barilla Pronto pasta product at Walmart!) How is this pasta different from other pasta? Well, it conveniently helps you prepare one pan pasta meals with no need to wait for water to boil and there’s no draining required! One Pan. No Boil. No Drain. What a time saver!

For every box of Barilla® Pronto purchased at Walmart between 7/31/2016 and 10/31/2016, Barilla® will donate 10 meals to kids in need through No Kid Hungry, up to half-a-million meals.*

It’s nice to keep Barilla Pronto Patsa on hand in your pantry for quick meals and it’s available in a variety of versatile cuts, including half-cut spaghetti, penne and rotini too. For this recipe we will be using our family’s favorite- penne, along with a jar of 100% All Natural Barilla Pesto Sauce. Yum!

Start by heating a little extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet and adding your precooked chicken breast pieces. You can even use a rotisserie chicken!

After a few minutes of heating the chicken through, add the Barilla Pronto Penne Pasta along with 3 cups of chicken broth, vegetable broth or water (we like to use broth for a deeper, heartier flavor in this dish, but water works just fine if you don’t have the other on hand) along with your ripe cherry or grape tomatoes. This time of year we are able to use tomatoes from our garden!

Stir the pasta, chicken and tomatoes frequently while the penne cooks for 10 minutes uncovered. It’s amazing how fast this all comes together!

Remove your skillet from the heat and then add the whole jar of Barilla Pesto Sauce. Give everything a good stir to make sure that those authentic Italian herbs coat every piece of pasta! Oh, it smells so good!

Turn off the heat, top the penne with a generous amount of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and serve immediately with a side salad and bread!

Being busy doesn’t mean that you can’t prepare & enjoy a wonderful family dinner- even on a weeknight!

Put this One Pot Chicken & Tomato Pesto Pasta on your menu soon. It just might become one of your new favorites!

*$1.00 can provide a child 10 healthy meals. This amount is based on individual experiences of grant recipients. Contributions will be used to reach the highest number of children facing hunger in America. Share Our Strength is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.

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Whoo-hoo! Last week was the end of the school year for my kiddos! There’s always a sense of relief knowing that our schedules will be a little less busy now as we start settling into a more relaxing routine, but there’s also a little bit of sadness too. These kids are just growing up so fast! Where does the time go? I’ve planned to actually have no plans these first few days off just so we can enjoy our time together and so I can play baseball, Barbies, and just catch up with them. Simple One Pan meals like these Fajita Style Chicken Thighs make a great dinner in no time so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time with your family!

One Pan meals are perfect for summer. With just a little prep, you can bring a dish to the table that has everything in it and saves on kitchen mess and dishes too.

Chicken Thighs are a delicious protein option for dinner and they’re pretty inexpensive at grocery store too. Now even though I generally prefer white meat, there’s just something about roasting dark meat seasoned thighs with all of these flavorful & colorful peppers that makes this dish one of my favorite summertime suppers.

If you have a prep day, you can go ahead and get all of your peppers and vegetables sliced and ready to go for this meal ahead of time.

When you’re ready to get these going, go ahead and preheat your oven and prepare your shallow roasting pan by drizzling it with a little extra virgin olive oil.

Spread your sliced veggie mixture evenly into the pan and then add your chicken thighs.

Season the chicken and vegetables well with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, chili powder and cumin along with a few red pepper flakes. Get your hands right in there to rub in all of those flavorful spices.

Cover the roasting pan loosely with foil and roast for 45-55 minutes. That’s it!

Remove the pan from the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes and serve with fresh greens, a baked potato or your favorite fruit salad for a tasty family meal this summer!

Enjoy!

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Once Spring rolls around, the weeknights at our house seem to get really busy, really fast. With baseball practices & games for 2 boys in 2 different leagues, all of the things going on during this last month of school for all 4 children, while trying to get in some garden work in between can be exhausting. Dinner time seems to sneak up on us, especially with the days being a bit longer and the sun not setting until almost 8:30 each evening. Finding the time to get into the kitchen and make dinner for your family can easily become a challenge itself too. With just a little planning and a few simple recipes on hand, you can always make a yummy dinner happen! Here’s 20+ Quick & Easy Weeknight Dinners you can prepare and serve without hassle to your family on a busy evening!

One Pot Taco Pasta

15 Minute Shrimp Scampi w/ Asparagus & Pasta

Broccoli, Provolone & Ricotta Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom Alfredo Pasta

Hot Roast Beef & Cheddar Sandwiches

Cheesy Chicken & Tri Colored Rotini Bake

Taco French Bread Pizza

Grilled Chicken & Nectarine Salad

Easy Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup

Bleu Cheese Buffalo Chicken Burgers

Broccoli & Tomato Ravioli Bake

Creamy Chicken Divan

One Pot Italian Sausage, Pepper & Onion Pasta

Lemon & Spinach Pasta

Crockpot Pasta Fagioli

Loaded Veggie French Bread Pizza

Inside Out Stuffed Shell Casserole

Easy Cheddar & Spinach Quiche

One Pot Goulash

Tasty Tuna Burgers

Slow Cooker Spanish Chicken & Rice

 If life gets too busy and you just don’t have time to get dinner on the table, it’s OKAY to order a pizza! No one will judge you! Your kiddos will probably love it anyways. At our house, extra pizza always makes it’s way into a packed lunch the next day! Yum! Don’t forget, pizza always goes great with a nice glass of wine too!

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Game Day is only a few weeks away and my family is so excited! It doesn’t matter which teams are playing, we love to throw a party! My kiddos spend the day before crafting football decorations to put up in our living room too. The best part about game day besides the commercials is always the food. This easy to make, family friendly Taco French Bread Pizza is a tasty meal or appetizer that you can put on your Game Day menu this year!When I’m grocery shopping at Walmart, I always head to the Bakery to grab a few loaves of french bread. They are always fresh, inexpensive and are perfect for homemade french bread pizzas! These always make pizza night a hit and there are so many different yummy toppings you can put on them. Making them with the whole family in the kitchen is a lot of fun too. Think you can’t pull off a yummy Game Day Party? Well, think again because Yes You Can!

We even make a simple DIY “football field tablecloth” for all of our game day food to go on. All you need is a thin remnant of green indoor/outdoor carpet cut to your table size, white medical bandage tape and 5 minutes of your time and you’ve got yourself the perfect themed backdrop for your food table!

For this Taco French Bread Pizza, you’ll also have to head over to the canned goods aisle and pick up a can of flavorful Ro*tel and Hunt’s Petite Diced Tomatoes for the base of your taco mixture. I also like to head to the produce section to grab some shredded lettuce and green onions too, but you can get creative with your own taco pizza toppings and add the produce that your family likes best.

In a large skillet, brown your lean ground beef (or turkey if you prefer), add your taco seasonings, your Ro*tel, the petite diced tomatoes, and stir well until you get a nice thick mixture and the meat is cooked through.

Turn off the heat, set the mixture aside and slice your french bread loaf in half horizontally.

*TIP: To save time on Game Day- make the taco filling ahead of time and store it in your refrigerator until you are ready to assemble your pizzas! 

I like to use cheese as the first layer on my pizzas because it prevents the bread from getting soggy.

Then I generously add the taco mixture and another layer of freshly grated Sharp Cheddar before popping these in a hot oven for 12-15 minutes!

These pizzas come out thick and delicious and will serve a rowdy game day crowd! Enjoy!

What’s on your menu for Game Day?

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