Lemon Cream Pasta with Chicken

This comes from My Kitchen Cafe.

3 cups shredded or cubed Lemon Garlic Chicken (see below)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth (I used chicken boullion)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1 (16 ounce) package tube pasta (I used whole grain penne)
2 cups heavy cream (I used half and half because I couldn't bring myself to buy heavy cream)
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan, season the chicken broth with the garlic powder and pepper. Bring to a boil and add lemon juice and pasta. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes.Stir chicken into cooked pasta, along with the cream, parmesan cheese and lemon zest. Cook, stirring, over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Stir thoroughly before serving.

The liquid in my pasta was not entirely absorbed after 25 minutes, but I decided to stop cooking so pasta did not get overcooked. I didn't drain it thinking it would be more flavorful to leave in the juices, but it did end up a little saucy...but this might also be because I used half and half and not heavy cream. Next time I might drain some of the liquid.

Lemon and Garlic Grilled Chicken

Juice of 1 lemon, approximately 3 tablespoons
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic, about 2 medium cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano1
pound chicken breasts (I usually cut really thick chicken breasts down to thin them out and make the pieces a little smaller so they absorb the marinade better)

Combine all marinade ingredients. Place chicken in a ziploc bag and pour marinade over chicken. Seal bag and place in fridge overnight. Grill (or cook in frying pan). Serve with sides of your choice or cut into bite sized pieces and add to desired recipe (I'll be sharing a few with you soon). Note: If you cut your chicken into smaller, bite-sized pieces and then marinate it, you can get away with only letting it marinate for 5 or 6 hours instead of overnight.

I am sure the above way of cooking it tastes great, but I am lazy and hate cooking chicken (and didn't want to grill), and since I take any chance to use my crockpot, I did. I just put 2 chicken breasts in the crockpot in the morning, poured the marinade on top of it, let it cook about 6 hours and then shredded chicken and put it back in to absorb all of the marinade. It tasted great.