Bring on the Comfort Food

With temperatures a little cooler at night, it seems that it may be time for some comfort food.  And nothing says "comfort" to me more than pasta (seriously how do people even consider Atkins?!?), especially when the pasta is combined with warm, gooey cheese!  I usually find that the problem with pasta dishes is that they tend to be fairly similar from one to the next.  Not this one, though.  The combination of cheese and pasta plus ham and bacon and chicken is the perfect snazzed up version of a classic Chicken Cordon Bleu.
As a note of caution, I should warn you that it definitely has a strong Swiss cheese flavor, so if that's not your thing, don't give it a go.  But otherwise, it's pretty yummy.  And definitely different!  I managed to lighten it up slightly from the original version, so I'll share mine with you.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

• 8-10 oz. Plus pasta
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 2 cups Skim milk
• garlic powder to taste
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 bag sliced chicken (like the Tyson cuts)
• 3/4 cup diced ham (save yourself and buy it already diced near the pepperoni)
• 3 oz. bacon pieces
• bread crumbs

1.  Preheat oven to 350.

2.  Boil pasta according to box.  Drain.

3.  Meanwhile, melt cream cheese in sauce pan over medium-low heat until fully melted.  Stir in milk and garlic powder.  Add Swiss cheese and continuing stirring until cheese is full melted.

4.  Place cooked pasta in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Top pasta with cooked chicken, ham, and bacon.  Pour cheese sauce on top and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

5. Bake 15 minutes.