Not every night can be fancy or gourmet and tonight is one of those nights. We didn’t plan well and didn’t have a lot of food on hand, and instead of shopping, we decided to make do. So we’re making a nice, easy chicken Alfredo with random stuff from the pantry.

I had some chicken thighs in the freezer that I’d pre-seasoned with garlic salt and pepper, so I thawed those, diced them, and threw them in a pan while boiling some water for noodles. Once the thighs were browned, I added some peas and carrots that we had in the freezer to the pan.

While those cooked, I measured out 12 ounces of fettuccine pasta:

The noodles went into the boiling water and I gave the chicken and vegetables a stir. I added a dash of celery salt to the veggies – it makes them pop a little. Try it out.

Meanwhile, I pondered garlic bread. We don’t have any on hand and scratch-baking it wasn’t happening tonight, but we did have some leftover sandwich rolls in the freezer. I slathered one with garlic butter and popped it in the oven to toast while the meal finished coming together.

To finish the sauce, I added a jar of creamy Alfredo sauce from the store to the chicken and veggies and stirred. The sauce now has the chicken, the vegetables, and the pan drippings from the chicken thighs for some extra flavor. Yum!

Finally, time to assemble! Drain the pasta, but don’t rinse it, and put it back in the pot. Pour the sauce in and mix together, then portion out onto plates and add your side of garlic toast. A nice, tasty, simple dinner made from cheap and easy ingredients.