Baked Chicken Parmesan.

So, I've never really had real chicken parmesan, I assume it's fried.  Anyways it's really easy and of coarse - Super healthy! I tried to cut out a lot of fat from this meal after my husband started giving me looks of "Honey - you call this healthy with a half a bottle of olive oil drizzled all over it?"  So I am going to do my best to try to stop using so much delicious olive oil... I guess it will cost me a lot less too. But I am still sad. 

I used three slices of whole wheat bread (Nature's Pride), a handful of almonds and flax seed.  I like the flavor and the crunch the seeds and nuts give it.  I made waaaaayyy too much for just two chicken breasts though, you might even get away with just one slice of bread if it's just two breasts. 

I ground it all up in my handy food processor and then added some seasonings - Basil, Thyme, Oregano, and Rosemary.  You could add just a Italian Seasoning mix if you have one, or really anything you like! 

Place it on a plate for easy covering. 

I use one chicken breast for every two people, I cut it in half and it is more than enough.  Those chickens are so oversized these days - You defiantly don't need a whole breast to yourself! 

Cut the breast in half, like this. 

Like you are butterflying it, but then cut it in half. 

Like this! 

Cover with plastic wrap or wax paper, whatever you have.  I just didn't want to get meat juice on what I used to pound them with. 

A rolling pin is my weapon of choice, but anything heavy will do - If you had a meat mallet that would be cool to use.  

Smack them into thin pieces of meat. 

This is my set up, some canola oil in a bowl, pastry brush, my bread crumbs and the pan they go in afterwards.

Excuse my finger and my husband's leg.  I know it's a sexy leg, but if I catch you staring at it, I will have to beat you up.   Brush on oil on one side of the breast, lay it in the bread crumbs oiled side down and then brush the other side.  I used butter the last time I made this and everything turned out better - The crumbs stuck better, they ended up crisper, and the flavor was better.  But this turned out okay too.  

After you cover both sides in the bread crumbs place in your pan.  You may have to press the bread crumbs on a little.  Place in a 375 degree oven.  

I also had some butternut squash - so here I show how to cut up a butternut squash into cubes.  First cut the top part off of the bell part. 

Next cut the top part and the bottom part off, this step next make it easier to stabilize while you do the rest. 

Using a vegetable peeler or a knife remove the tough outer skin.  The one on the right I used a peeler and it saved a lot more flesh, but it was taking forever because I had a wimpy vegetable peeler so I just cut off the skin on bell part. 

Cut the bell part in half, where all the seeds are. 

Remove all the seeds with a spoon. 

Slice in strips. 

Cut in cubes.  I did put oil on this - it is here where my husband looked at me weird as I happily doused it in olive oil haha. I blotted a lot out and then just salt and peppered it.  Put this in with the chicken.  It would be smart to do this before the chicken because I waited about 10 minutes for this to finish after the chicken. 

I cheated on the sauce, I just cut up some tomatoes. 

And mixed it with this bottled sauce.  I like this sauce because it is a fair  price, comes in a bottle, and has no high fructose corn syrup.  You can compare to get the best sauce for you, I bet there are better sauces they just cost a little more.  

I put this one low and let it simmer while dinner cooked, as the tomatoes softened I squished them down a little. 

Grate just enough cheese to sprinkle a top your chicken - This was actually two much for what I had. 

For the asparagus, head up some chicken broth, just a little to steam the asparagus, add some flavor and keep everything from burning.  I heated this up after the chicken looked like it was almost done, as the asparagus takes like two minutes. 

When the chicken is almost done, take it out and cover it with tomato sauce and sprinkle the cheese on it.  Return it to the over so the cheese can melt and get all bubbly. 

You can put garlic in the chicken broth if you want. 

Add the asparagus. 

Cook it until bright green and turn off the heat. 

I had left over spaghetti so I got enough for three people - Derek and I and then for his lunch tomorrow.  It's Barilla whole grain - a really healthy trade for normal, more protein, vitamins, and fiber! 

Cover in the hot sauce from the stove and it will warm up the noodles, unless you just cooked them - Then they are already hot! 

Pull it out when the cheese is ready - I could of let it go until the cheese started to brown, but I didn't want the chicken to be overdone. 

Using the bowl to mix the spaghetti with the sauce will keep your plate clean and looking prettier than mixing it on the plate, but you could also just pour the sauce over the pasta too.  To make sure the butternut squash is done, just poke it with a fork, and if it goes in easily it is done.  

Yumm... Derek and I ate about 1/4 of this plate - Too much fiber.  So you could definitely only have about 1/2 or 1/3 and be full.  Well I guess it depends on how big of an eater you are!