What's Cookin': Cream Cheese Penne Lunch

It's the end of the month and that means I'm running out of food. I usually try to use up what we have in the house during the last week of the month and just buy whatever basics we need like milk and eggs. That being said, I didn't want peanut butter and jelly for lunch and decided I wanted pasta. But didn't really have much to make a pasta dish out of. So here's what I came up with from what I had on hand -  and it turned out delicious! If my kids could give me a rating I think it's a 5, since they've now had fourths. It sounds kind of weird at first, but hang with me and try it out.

When I was little and I would go to visit Mimi (my maternal grandma) she would give me spaghetti noodles with cream cheese and dill on it. I have loved that dish my whole life, maybe because it reminds me of hanging out in her big, walk-in closet and watching movies on the TV she had in there. I based this meal off of that, since I had cream cheese and little else.

Cream Cheese Penne Lunch
1 lb tube pasta, like penne or rigatoni
2 Tbs butter
1/2 can Spam, chopped (yes Spam. Ben loves it. It's a staple in our house. If you can't stand that, see notes for different ideas.)
4 oz (half the small box) cream cheese
1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil
Pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain, set pasta aside and place pasta pot over medium heat (you know how I like using one pot.) Cook spam until browned. Add butter, cream cheese, broth, garlic and basil. Stir until cream cheese is melted and mixture is bubbly. Add pasta back in and toss to coat. Add pepper to taste ( you shouldn't need salt with the butter and spam.)

Notes & Variations: If I were to make this for dinner and I had the ingredients I would add at least one veggie like broccoli and/or bell peppers. And chopped onions. If you're not into spam you could do this with bacon, ham, or chicken - either cooked or raw. Just cook or heat accordingly. I would stick with a light meat, since it's already a rich sauce.

Meg Rating: 5! But I'm kind of partial and easy to please. :P