Parmigiano Panko Herb Encrusted Chicken Breasts

Had all these ingredients in the house -so decided it would be an easy working from home lunch to make...but it wasn't anything special.  I've had better breaded chicken before, so wouldn't make this again either.  What a meal bust :(  However, Ross thought the chicken was pretty good - so maybe put it in the cookbook.  We shall see.

Bellalimento.com

Ingredients:

4-6 chicken breasts

olive oil

panko flakes - enough for breading

1 1/2 cups Parmigiano reggiano - grated

2 tablespoons dried basil

salt / pepper

Trim your chicken breasts for excess fat.  Take a piece of plastic wrap and cover your chicken breasts.  Pound them out with a mallet until they're about 1/4 inch thick.

In a large deep sided pan over medium heat, put enough olive oil to pan fry your chicken breasts..

While your oil is heating, place panko flakes into dish.  Add Parmigiano, basil, and season with salt and pepper.  Mix together with a fork.  Press chicken breasts into mixture, breading chicken on both sides.

Place breaded chicken breasts into hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides.  Turning as necessary.  Careful not to crowd the pan.  Roughly 3 minutes per side depending on thickness of chicken.

Low Fat Baked Onion Rings

I haven't been able to find any new french fry recipes - so figured onion rings were next!!  Apparently these are "low fat" too - I guess cause they are baked instead of fried!!  They were really easy to make, but because they were baked - the breading didn't really stick to the onion...so I probably wouldn't make these again....

Gina's Skinny Recipes 

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, sliced into 1/4 inch rings
2 1/4 cups low fat buttermilk
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup Italian seasoned whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup crushed corn flake crumbs
salt to taste 
olive oil baking spray

Place slices of onion in a shallow dish. Pour the buttermilk over the top and let them soak for about 1 - 2 hours, refrigerated.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.

Combine panko, bread crumbs and corn flakes and place half of the crumbs in a large dish, season with salt. Reserve the rest for when the first batch is used up. This should help avoid clumping and they should stick better to the onions.

Dip each soaked onion ring into the crumb mixture; coat well. Place rings onto two cookie sheets. Lightly spray with oil. Bake about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately

Tortellini Spinach Bake

After a long / awesome weekend, Rossy and I got to have a little date night action :)  Made this up together - super easy and really yummy!! It is rich and creamy, but pretty healthy actually!  ahhh noodles and cheese!!  We just had this with french bread - but you could make this as a side and eat with chicken or something too!!

Serves 4-6: OBB Cookbook

Ingredients:

12 oz bag Barilla Cheese & Spinach Tortellini (find them in the dry pasta aisle)

4 oz bacon or pancetta, (about 4 strips bacon)

3 cloves garlic, pressed in garlic press or finely minced

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

¾ teaspoon kosher salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon dry basil
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (1/2 teaspoon or more if you like spicy)
1 medium lemon
2 cups loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
¾ cup grated mozzarella cheese, divided
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil.  Add tortellini and cook according to package instructions.

Place bacon in a medium sized skillet on the stove-top at medium-high heat.  Cook until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon and set on paper towels to drain.  Reserve two tablespoons bacon drippings in pan and discard the rest.  Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant and tender, about 1 minute.  Add flour to pan and stir with a whisk for about 1 minute. Slowly add milk and continue to stir with whisk until smooth.  Add salt, pepper, basil, and red pepper flakes and bring sauce to a simmer.

While sauce is heating, use a microplane grater or a fine-holed cheese grater to zest lemon.  Then cut lemon in half and remove juice.  Add 2 teaspoons zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to sauce.  (Note:  I really love lemon so I added this to my tastes.  If you don’t want as strong of a lemon flavor, I suggest cutting it down to 1 teaspoon zest and 2 teaspoons lemon juice) .  Continue to stir until thickened, 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Drain tortellini and place back in stock pot.  Reserve 1 tablespoon of the cooked bacon and add the rest to the pasta mixture.  Add spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.  Add sauce and gently stir to combine.  Place pasta mixture in an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish and top with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan and also crumbled bacon.

Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese on top is melted and pasta is bubbly throughout.  Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Eggs Italian Style

Nothing like breakfast in bed - I have the best hubby ever!!!  This was a fun variation to our normal bfast - it wasn't super amazing, but I would for sure make it again (ok, I'll for sure have Ross make it again....hehe)

Serves 4 - we halved the recipe (Tiffany's blog)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 half-inch polenta slices from a ready made polenta log **we used Canadian bacon cause Rainbow didn't know what "polenta" was**8 half inch tomato slices
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
4 large eggs

Heat half of the oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add the polenta and cook until crispy, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a plate and keep warm. Add the tomato, and season with half the salt and pepper, and all of rosemary, and cook until the sugars in the tomatoes begin to slightly caramelize, about 30 seconds per side. Set aside and keep warm.

Add the remaining oil to the pan and crack the eggs. Season with the remaining salt and pepper, cover, and cook until the yolks are just set and the whites are opaque, about 2 minutes.

To serve, place the polenta on each plate, top with 2 tomato slices, and slide an egg over the tomatoes. It won't be a perfect fit, so place the foods on an angle for a pretty presentation.

Chocolate-Banana Split Dessert

My rents had us and the Sodahl rents over for dindin - and she out did herself with dessert!!  This was sooo good....I thought it was store bought!!  Wasn't hard to eat either - can you believe it ?!

Food & Family Magazine

Ingredients:
30 oreo cookies, finely crushed (about 2 1/2 cups)
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cold milk
1 tub (8oz) cool whip whipped topping, thawed
4 bananas, sliced
2 pkg (3.9oz each) Jello chocolate instant pudding
3 1/4 cups cold milk
1/3 cup maraschino cherries, halved
1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup

Mix cookie crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 13x9 inch dish.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and 2 tablespoons milk in medium bowl with whisk until well blended.  Stir in 1 cup cool whip; spread over crust.  Top with bananas.

Beat pudding mixes and 3 1/4 cups milk with whisk for 2 minutes; spread over bananas.  Let stand 5 minutes or until thickened; cover with remaining cool whip.  Refrigerate 4 hours. 

Top with cherries, nuts, and syrup just before serving.

Skinny Turkey Cuban Sandwich

Super yummy in my tummy!!  Can't go wrong with a good sandwich :)

Gina's Skinny Recipe - 1 serving / 321 calories

Ingredients:
6" slice French Bread
3 oz left over turkey breast, heated
1 slice of ham
2 thin slices of Alpine Lace Swiss cheese
3 slices of pickles (do not get bread/butter pickles - way too sweet!!  Get the hamburger ones)
Mustard
Pam cooking spray

Slice bread open - spread mustard on both sides.  Place cheese and pickles on the bread.  Add turkey and top with ham.  Close your sandwich, and either spray the sandwich press with pam and press down until the cheese is melted OR put in broiler (low) for 2-3 minutes until crust is a little crispy.

Poppy Seed Dressing

Recipe from Our Best Bites

Ingredients:
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt / pepper
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon mustard
1 green onion, ends removed (both the “hairy” end and where the green part starts to get floppy)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon poppy seeds

In a blender, combine vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar, and mustard. While the blender is running, add the green onion. Continue running the blender and add the oil in a steady stream and is fully incorporated into the dressing.

Pour the dressing into a serving or storage container and whisk in poppy seeds. Serve over leafy greens.  I used this in the Sweet and Salty Salad Wrap.