Italian Chicken with Basil and Garlic

With the costs of everything going up, it is getting harder and harder to stretch my food dollar. I am always looking at a package of meat and trying to decide how many meals I can possibly get out it. I am sure many of you are doing the same. We have many meatless nights and many nights were the side dishes take over the meal. You do what you can. It used to be where pasta was a good way to save money but even pasta got pricey. We now only buy it when we can get it for less than $1 a box. When the store has it on sale (recently it was 88 cents) we stock up!

During the week I had made a pot of marinara sauce and having some leftover but not enough for a meal on its own, I am using it as a base for my Italian chicken with garlic and basil. This is going to be very simple because my sauce is cooked. Here is how to do it.

I will be feeding 5 adults so I will figure on 4 boneless breasts. (the pasta helps to stretch the meal).

I have the sauce which is about 1 1/2 quarts. I will cook about 1 1/2 lbs of pasta (my son likes leftovers)

I take the chicken breasts, clean them of any extra chicken fat or scraps and then cut them into 3" pieces. Semi-thick because they will cook in the sauce.

I will saute them in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and then add them to the sauce. Allow it to cook for about 25 minutes. Simple and easy!

Serve with pasta and a side salad and fresh bread and we have a delicious meal!

Any leftovers can be put in a container for a brownbag lunch on Monday. Making your own sauce is much cheaper and tastes so fresh. My sauce is full of garlic and fresh basil so that is where the name Italian chicken with garlic and basil comes from. Really fresh and delicious. The chicken stews in the sauce and gives it so much flavor.

Enjoy!