Girls Night and Bacon Pasta!

On Saturday night, the girls I'm in a life group with, got together for a little girls night and to help Alison with last minute wedding details. She's getting married next Saturday!
Although Alison didn't bring too much for us to work on over {she's on top of things!} we had a fun night cooking together and hanging out. It happened that all our husbands/fiance's were busy as well so it was perfect!
I had the girls over and made Bacon Pasta {recipe to follow}. It was SO GOOD! My MIL made this while we were in HHI, so I decided to try it out! Amanda brought over bread and wine and we made a little oil dipping sauce to go with the bread {just pour olive oil and rosemary into a bowl}. Alison brought over wine and brownies, and Jordan brought over a yummy Caesar salad and more wine! You'd think we were wine-o's but only 1 bottle was drank between the 4 of us! ha!

Here are a few pictures from the night~
{My oh my how far the 4 of us have come in our boy life! R-L: Amanda, Jordan, Alison, Me}
{Amanda and her yummy bread!}
{I got to use a new kitchen item!}
{the woman of the night, Alison, & her brownies!}
{We helped Alison wrap up all her lingerie for her Honeymoon}

And here's the oh-so-yummy recipe!
Penne Bacon Pasta
Prep Time: 20 min., Bake time: 25 min.
16 oz. pkg. Penne or Ziti Pasta
24 oz. Low Fat Cottage Cheese
½ C. Butter
½ C. All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp. Salt
½ tsp. White Pepper***
¼ tsp. Garlic Salt
3 C. Half and Half Cream (Low-Fat)
1 C. Milk (1% or 2%)
16 oz. Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 C. Crumbled Bacon*
1/3 C. Bread Crumbs
Cook pasta according to package.

Meanwhile, place cottage cheese in food processor or blender and process until smooth.

In a large saucepan, melt ½ c. butter. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper and garlic salt until smooth. Gradually add cream and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2minutes or until thickened.

Drain pasta and transfer to a large bowl. Add the cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, white sauce and ¾ c. bacon. Toss to coat.

Transfer to a greased 13 x 9 baking dish.

Melt 1 tbsp. Butter and toss with bread crumbs.** Sprinkle over casserole.

Bake, uncovered at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining bacon. Bake 5 minutes longer or until bubbly.

My little changes-
*I bought the pre-packaged ready-to-eat bacon bits that were Great Value brand and they worked great and didn't involve prep time
**I accidentally used ALL the butter in the first step {whoops!} and just tore off small piece of bread and put over the pasta
***I am horrible at finding spices. If they are not in my spice rack or spice bucket, I seem to not be able to find them in the store. So I didn't add this, I just added a little bit of regular pepper and it still tasted the same!
Either way I think it turned out great!

Hope you make it and enjoy this recipe, too! I am excited for B to get home from his golf trip and try out the left-overs tonight!

{I wanted to share my new lamp we got at the Keeneland Marketplace sale. It was 80% off and although still a bit pricey, we couldn't pass up how cute it fits in our decor!}