Garlic Pesto Chicken w/ Tomato Cream Sauce

Jamie and I have been in a dinner rut. R-U-T.  Which is ridiculous, since I claim to be a food blogger. We've been busy so we sort of started cycling through the same 5 or 6 dinners.  One fateful Thursday the following conversation happened:

Jamie: What do you want for dinner?
Me: Food?
Jamie: Do you want Pork Chops, Jambalaya, Pesto, Tacos
Me: None of the above.
Jamie: Pizza?  Chinese?
Me: Hmmmmmm

We ended up getting a frozen pizza.  Sad Face.  But I was at least motivated to do something about our dinner situation.  On my train ride home that day I did what most rational people would do when they have an hour and half on a train: I created a "Dinner Ideas" board on Pinterest.


We decided that the next week all of our dinners would be new things that we (and by "we" I really mean me) found on Pinterest.  We tried a meatloaf, that I will blog later, some crockpot  chicken tacos, and the chicken, green bean and potato bake that is apparently everywhere. This dish was the clear winner.  I could have eaten that for lunch and dinner for the whole week.  Next time I make this I will definitely double it because it is so good.

Full disclosure: this could have easily have been a Meatless Monday dish.  The chicken, while nice, was not necessary because the pasta sauce was so unbelievable, we literally fought over who got the leftovers.  Next time we will throw in some sauteed zucchini or squash and call it a day.

Garlic Pesto Chicken with Tomato Cream Sauce. Adapted from Plain Chicken.

Ingredients:
2 boneless chicken breasts (or chicken tenderloins)
garlic and herb marinade
1 packet of pesto mix
1 box whole wheat penne pasta
3 cloves garlic, diced
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup skim milk

What you do: 
1. If you are organized enough, marinade the chicken over night using 1/2 of the bottle of herb marinade and 2 scoops of pesto mix.  I forgot, so the chicken marinated for about 30 minutes.
2. Fill large pot with water and bring to boil.  Cook the pasta according to package, draining a minute earlier than al dente.
3. Pour the chicken and all of the marinade in a medium frying pan and cook over medium heat until the chicken is completely cooked.  My chicken took a little longer to finishing cooking so I added a 1/4 cup of chicken broth to the pan once the marinade cooked off.
3. Using the pot you used to boil the pasta, heat olive oil and cook the garlic until it smells fragrant.  Then add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
4.  Pour the cooked pasta into the tomato cream sauce and let simmer for about five minutes.
5.  Serve chicken over the pasta with a little grated parmesan.

This was a great find and a new addition to our rotation.  How do you keep from eating the same dinners over and over?  Leave your tips in the comments!