Cheddar Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta

I found this recipe on Pinterest and tried it last night.  It's pretty good the first time around, not great for leftovers.  One thing I try to do since I'm only feeding my daughter and myself is cut recipes in half.  A lot of recipes are 4 servings and as a portion control practice, I often cut recipes in half.  I didn't do that this time because the recipe calls for 1 chicken breast and I buy them in bulk and freeze them.  I didn't want to have half a chicken breast laying around.  We don't eat a lot of chicken, so I thought I'd just use a whole breast and be done with it.  The original recipe comes from justapinch.com.  I often take pictures of new recipes I make but I didn't this time.  Last night when I was cooking, it didn't even occur to me that I would be writing this today.  I promise to do better in the future.  There is a nice picture on justapinch.  The first time I make a recipe, I usually make it as it's written but I did make some minor changes with this one.  This is my adaptation of the original recipe.

1/2 lb. pasta (any shape, whatever you have on hand)
4 slices bacon
1/2 T butter
1 lg chicken breast
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 T chopped onion
1 T flour
1/2 pkg. (1/2 oz) dry ranch dressing mix
1 c. milk
1/2 - 1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

The original recipe calls for frying the bacon in a skillet and retaining 1/2 tablespoon drippings to fry the chicken in.  However, I buy bacon in bulk at a local store and bake it.  I then chop it and freeze it using my Foodsaver.  I have seen many people on Pinterest doing this as well. I have seen that those people are laying the bacon directly on a cookie sheet.  I lay the bacon over a rack on top of a cookie sheet.  This keeps the bacon up out of the grease that drops off.  The bacon comes out crispy and delicious and wonderful.  I pour the drippings into a can with a lid and refrigerate it for moments like this.  When a recipe calls for bacon drippings, I can just scoop some out of the can and use it.

So...

I popped some bacon in the microwave to warm it up (out of the freezer).    Cook the chicken in a little bacon grease (just enough to keep it from sticking to the pan) until no longer pink.  Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package instructions.  When it's done, drain it and keep it warm.  Remove the chicken from the pan and cut into bite-size pieces.  Return to the pan and add bacon, garlic and onion.  Turn the heat back on around medium and stir the contents around a little to warm it all up.  Combine flour and ranch and sprinkle over the contents of the pan, stirring to evenly coat.  Pour in milk and stir occasionally until thickened and bubbly.  Add cheese and stir until melted.  Add the pasta and stir to coat.  Serve individual servings with an extra sprinkle of crumbled bacon.

My 10 year old daughter, who is not really picky but knows what she likes, said this was awesome!