Dinner and a Movie: Night At The Museum and Pasta For Dinner All At Home

My friend, Sue (a mom with elementary school age kids). recommended this movie and we were able to find it in stock for rental and viewing today. Sue said her kids just loved it and that it was funny and held their interest.

Some well-known names, Stiller, VanDyke, Rooney, Williams and others team up for the movie, and it was entertaining enough for a PG rating. Stiller plays a bumbling divorced dad who needs a job and accepts a position as a night guard at a museum. Only, it’s not what he thinks it will be. During the night, all the exhibits come alive, people, animals, even a T-Rex and mayhem ensues along with various plot twists. All ends well. Cute for the kids, mildly entertaining for adults.

Pasta was on the menu for tonight’s dinner. Something simple and very filling. Here’s the ingredients, enough for about six to eight or dinner/lunches for several days (or cut back on the quantity of ingredients!).

16 oz box Penne Regate cooked to your specifications
16 frozen chicken breast tenders (2 per person) pan fried (don’t brown too much)
16 oz. frozen spinach cooked to melt in your mouth point (about 45 minutes) and drained.
1 regular size can petite diced tomatoes in juice, low salt, drained (or get three large fresh tomatoes, core and dice
8 large ribs celery sliced lengthwise, cut in 1 inch sections and one or two slices sweet onion (or more) stir-fried together until crisp tender (not browned)
8 oz. fresh mushrooms sliced and stir-fried a few minutes until very hot, but not wilted
16 slices bacon well done and crisp – use paper towels to blot grease from them
1 jar Ragu light alfredo sauce (Keep a second jar handy for those who want heavy sauce)
Parmesan cheese/fresh ground pepper to sprinkle on top of dinner when assembled

Assembly. Place pasta in large bowls, add a serving of each vegetable, cut up chicken, 3 (or more) tablespoons alfredo sauce, crumbled bacon and sprinkle with the parmesan and/or pepper. Serve hot. Note that you don’t need a lot of the sauce, it spreads well when it is hot and you toss all together when ready to eat. It’s also best not to mix ingredients prior to serving and keep all the ingredients in separate containers for leftovers. One of the remarks made about dinner tonight was that the way it was made ‑‑ every item in there retained it’s unique flavor. I have leftovers!!!