Creamy ham and green bean pasta

Since the arrival of bouncing baby boy number two a month ago, dinners around here have been both simple and quick (or in the slow cooker, which isn't quick but is convenient). Today I decided to use up some of the leftover Christmas ham we had in the freezer and turned to the handy-dandy "red" cookbook (this refers to the red cover on the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and not to anything of the communist ilk) and found a recipe for creamy pasta. It looked pretty simple and amazingly I had all of the ingredients. So I did something I very rarely do - I followed the recipe. Not perfectly, since I didn't really bother to measure, but the only thing I actually changed was that I substituted green beans for broccoli.

And oh boy, was that a mistake. Don't get me wrong - the recipe turned out great - very yummy, rich sauce, which just might make it into our meal rotation. It was more the fact that when I was busy assembling my ingredients my son decided to pour a shower of breadcrumbs on his stuffed polar bear. And then when I was busy precisely stirring the sauce in the pot in the correct order, he was busy mixing syrup and parsley in the back of his dump truck. The moral of the story that I came away with is to never follow the recipe - it's way too distracting.

Creamy Pasta with ham and green beans

1 tbs olive oil
4 oz neufchatel or cream cheese
1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs dried basil (or 1/4 cup fresh)
3/4 cup milk
parsley

Cook garlic and basil in hot oil for about 30 seconds. Add cheeses and stir them while they melt. Slowly stir in milk and parsley, let it thicken up a bit. Toss in pre-cooked ham and green beans, let it all heat up. Serve over pasta of your choice.

Thyme