Chicken Parmigiana

This is my husbands all time favorite meal. It is yummy! Fresh basil is a MUST. It adds such a great flavor. This recipe comes from Better Homes and Gardens. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, chopped (1/3 cup)    - I don't love onions so I do a bit less
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 T butter or margarine
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 t sugar
• 1/2 t salt
• dash black pepper
• 1/4 C snipped fresh basil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/3 C seasoned fine dry bread crumbs
• 4 T grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 t dried oregano, crushed
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 T milk
• 3 T olive oil or cooking oil
• 1/4 C shredded mozzarella cheese (1 oz.)

Directions:
1. For sauce, in a medium saucepan cook onion and garlic in hot butter until onion is tender. Carefully stir in the undrained tomatoes, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or to desired consistency, stirring occasionally. Stir in basil. Keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, with a meat mallet, pound each chicken breast half between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4-inch thickness.

3. In a shallow dish stir together bread crumbs, the 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, and oregano. In another bowl stir together the egg and milk. Dip chicken breast halves in egg mixture, then in crumb mixture to coat. In a 12-inch skillet cook chicken in hot oil over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until golden. Transfer chicken to a serving platter.

4. Spoon sauce over chicken. Top with shredded mozzarella and 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese. Let stand about 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Makes 4 servings.

I copied the recipe directly from the website, but I like to prepare the chicken before I start the sauce, so I can control the consistency a little better. I also like to put it in the oven for 5 min or so to let the cheese melt. Delish :)!

Taco Bake

(The pictures never turn out right!... it is more appetizing than it looks in the picture.)

This week I was menu planning and decided to search on the internet for an easy, quick recipe.. being 37 weeks pregnant with a 15 month old means that if I do cook it has to require minimal effort :) I found this recipe on Allrecipes. I did tweak it a little bit and it was pretty tasty! 

  
Taco Bake

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce (I forgot to buy this so I used a can of tomato paste and added in an extra 3/4 cup water)
• 1 (8 ounce) package shell macaroni, cooked and drained
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
• **I added in a can of Rotel tomatoes/green chiles. You could even add in a can of diced tomatoes instead of the Rotel if you wanted
• ** I served this with corn on the side but you could easily mix the corn in to the recipe if you wanted. 
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
• Doritos- optional

Directions

1. In a skillet, brown ground beef and onion over medium heat; drain. Add the water, taco seasoning and tomato sauce; mix. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in macaroni, chilies and 1-1/2 cups of cheese. Pour into a greased 1-1/2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until heated through. ** When I was going through the reviews on Allrecipes a few people suggested crumbling Doritos or other tortilla chips on top of the dish for the last 10 minutes of baking. We chose Doritos- I was busy so my husband is the one who did the crumbling- I would suggest to not make it as fine as he did. Bigger, crunchier chip pieces would have been better. 

-Angela Mencl