Eating Out at Home: Baked Chicken Parmesan

Josh’s favorite Italian meal is Chicken Parmesan. He will often order it at restaurants and savor every deep fried bite.

Only, I don’t do deep fried at home. This became the challenge, make Josh’s fav, but make it healthy. I did a little of this, a little of that, and presto he loved it! This will definitely be a repeat at our house.

Chicken Parmesan

• 1 1/2 lb chicken breast tenders, trimmed of fat
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 c. fine bread crumbs
• 1 Tbs Italian seasoning
• 1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese

Beat egg whites with fork on a plate until slightly fluffy. Combine all dry ingredients on another plate and mix until combined. Dip chicken tenders in egg, then roll in crumb mixture until coated. Place in a lightly sprayed baking dish and repeat for all chicken pieces. Discard leftover egg and crumb mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30-35 minutes or until cooked through. Serve over pasta and top with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese if desired.

Kim’s note: Counting the calories, but don’t want to miss out on cheese? Stir a little non-fat cottage cheese into the pasta for a little added creamy-ness.

Happy Cooking!

Chicken Tortellini Bake

Josh has always been a fan of a dish I make that is similar to this one, so I just had to try this version to see how it compared. We both liked it a lot, but next time I'm going to make it even more like mine and add some sun dried tomatoes.

Chicken Tortellini
Bake 19 ounce package of cheese tortellini (fresh or frozen)
2 chicken breasts, trimmed of fat and cut into bite size pieces
2 green onions finely chopped (white and green parts)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/8 c. low-sodium chicken broth
1 carrot, coin sliced
2 broccoli heads, cut into bite size pieces (about 1.5-2 cups)
3/4 cup sour cream (I used non-fat which turned out great)
1 c. shredded cheese (I used a combo of mozzarella and parmesan)

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain spread out in a sprayed 9x13 baking dish.

In a skillet, saute the chicken with the green onion and garlic until chicken is done. While the chicken is cooking microwave the broccoli and carrots for about 1-2 minutes until colors become vibrant and they are slightly steamed. Add veggies to chicken and coat all with the flour. Add chicken broth and stir until thickened. Mix in sour cream until mixture is creamy and slightly thickened.

Sprinkle about of half the cheese over the tortellini then pour the chicken/sauce mixture on top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese over the top. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until bubbly and golden brown around the edges.

Kim's note: the recipe I followed called for a much longer baking time resulting in slightly chewy pasta on the bottom. I'd suggest keeping an eye on it and only baking it as long as needed.

Pass the Plate: Crock Pot Lasagna

Hi Sisters! Thanks to everyone who came to Pass the Plate last night, and to those that couldn't make it, we missed you! Our theme for the night was crock pots, and since I wanted to show that there's more to crock pots than merely pot roast, I made crock pot lasagna. This is a super easy way to get real lasagna without the heat from an oven, or big pots of boiling water.

Crock Pot Lasagna
1 lb lean ground beef
1 jar favorite spaghetti sauce
2 c. cottage cheese
2 c. mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
6 regular lasagna noodles - UNCOOKED
1/4 c. water

In frying pan, brown ground beef and drain fat. Add water and pasta sauce, reserving a small amount of sauce to line bottom of crock pot. Stir until well blended. Line crock pot with very thin layer of sauce, then top with 2-3 uncooked lasagna noodles that are broken to fit shape (some overlap is fine). Cover noodles with half the cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese, then top cheeses with half of the meat mixture. Repeat layers with the other half of the ingredients. Cook on low for 4 hours.

Kim's Special Note: If you noticed the plastic lining in the pictures, that is a Reynold's crock pot liner. You cook your meal in it just like normal, but then after serving the bag removes for virtually no clean up. If you want to try them, they are at the grocery store near the foils. I'm addicted to these things!

Happy Cooking!

alfredo pasta

My family loves a good alfredo dish. I found this recipe a few years ago on Top Secret Recipe. This guy recreates dishes from restaurants, and posts the recipe! I've found several that I love to recreate. This recipe is a knock off from Olive Garden. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1/2 c (1 stick) bitter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 c heavy cream

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

pinch salt

1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

1 12-oz box fettuccine pasta (or your choice of pasta)

1) Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat.

2) Add the garlic, cream, pepper & salt, and bring mixture to a simmer. Turn the heat down if the mixture reaches a rapid boil or it could boil over. You just want a simmer. Add the cheese, and continue to simmer sauce for 8 minutes or until thick.

3) While sauce cooks, bring 4-6 quarts of water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook pasta for about 12 minutes or until done, then drain it.

4) Spoon pasta onto serving plates with Alfredo sauce poured over the top.

Amy's Notes:

I also like to grill chicken and lay on the top of the pasta!! It really does take a while to get it to simmer, so cook the pasta when it says to cook it in the directions.

Lisa's Pizza Crust

A few months ago I asked Lisa if she could "show" me how to make her cinnamon rolls. I can't seem to make cinnamon rolls very well. Well.... she did, and I learned. Forward the time to a few months later, and a Girls Night Out was hosted at her house, and she made homemade pizza! It was OUT OF THIS WORLD!! I called her this morning for the recipe, and she said it was the exact same one she used for the cinnamon rolls, so here it is!

Ingredients

melt 2 c milk + 1 stick butter in the microwave

let cool a bit

Mix:

2 pkg yeast (that's under 1 tbsp x 2, so under 2 tbsp)

3 1/2 c flour

1/2 c sugar

salt (1/2 tsp - 2 tsp)...

says recipe calls for 2 tsp but she likes sweeter rolls, so she uses about 1/2 tsp,

but for pizza, use a little more salt

Mix milk & flour stuff

Add 1 egg & beat (pour into mixture)

Add about 3 cups more flour

Knead for 10 minutes & rise for 1 hour or double in size (punch)

Roll out into rectangle (or circle)

Now, we did not use a mixer, we used our HANDS (and a whisk & wooden spoon)! Let me tell you, I am very grateful for my Kitchenaid mixer.... but I did learn that we can use our own hands for this, and it turns out just fine! I did also learn that when we roll it out, it should NOT stick to our rolling pin!

If you are using a cookie sheet, then sprinkle some cornmeal on the bottom of the pan. When you lay your pizza crust in there, and after you spread your pizza sauce, cheese, etc on it, then spread some olive oil on the sides of the pizza that is exposed (not covered w/ any of the cheese, sauce, etc).

ONE NOTE:

this makes a HUGE batch! I'm sure you can half the recipe if you don't want to make 5-6 pizza's. :) (or cinnamon rolls)

UPDATE: I made this last night for the family using half the recipe (still using a whole egg). This made a large cookie sheet size of pizza. It was also a very thick crust too, but it was so delicious!!