Pasta and Chicken in a Chive Cream Sauce with Cherries and Pecans

I got the idea for this recipe from this Martha Stewart recipe. Really there's not a whole lot of similarity in the recipes at all (her's is a salad) - I just used the same flavor combinations from her recipe to create mine. It sounds kind of odd, I know - but it's really tasty. Not the lightest meal I know, but it's great to have on a special occasion.

I happen to be obsessed with cherries. I have always loved them and eat a ton of them during the 1 month out of the year that they are available. I even went to the National Cherry Festival in Michigan 2 summers ago when we were there visitng my husband's family. And we re-create our own cherry festival every year at our house around the end of June. I know - I'm totally obsessed! That being said, I like to find new ways to use them in recipes. Yes, they're great all on their own, but I love incoporating them into meals as well.

Here's what I spent on this recipe. You can find the recipe here.

Chicken - $1.69 / lb at Buy Low, used 2 - total $2.00

Pasta (used Barilla Piccolini mini Farfalle) - on sale at Smith's for $1.00 / box, used $.75 coupons - $.25 / box, used 2/3 of the box - total $.16

Onion & Chive cream cheese - On sale at Albertson's for $2.00, doubled $1 /2 coupon - total $1.00

Milk- on sale at Walmart for $1.66, used $.75 coupon here (only available in Idaho and Utah) - total $.91 for 1 gal, used 1/2 cup - total $.03

Cherries - $1.99 / lb at Albertson's, used 1/4 lb - total - $.50

Pecans - $1.26 / bag at Walmart, used 1/2 - total $.63

Salt, pepper, and vegetable oil - approximate total $.10

Grand Total - $4.42 for 4 servings, $1.10 for each serving