Chicken Parmigiana

This is a very yummy and easy Chicken Parm recipe!

I love cooking with chicken because 1) it's good for you and 2) it's cheap.  Being a newlywed, I like cheap food!  

I made this recipe a few months ago when we had some friends over for dinner.  We served it with spaghetti and salad and it made a fantastic meal! 

To make this recipe taste even better, make homemade bread crumbs.  It's so much better and they're so easy to make!  I use half a loaf of bread every month or so to make crumbs and it really adds a lot to the recipe.  My bread crumb recipe is below this recipe.

Here's the recipe:

(Serves 2, but easily multiplied into more!)

1 egg, beaten

2 ounces (About 1/4-1/2 cup) dry bread crumbs (see homemade recipe below)

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

3/4 (16 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce

2 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Step 1: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a medium baking sheet

Step 2:

Pour the beaten egg into a small, shallow bowl.  Pour the bread crumbs into a separate shallow bowl.  Dip the chicken breasts into the egg and then into the bread crumbs (do this twice if you like a lot of bread crumbs).  Place the chicken breasts onto a baking pan and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, until it's no longer pink and the juices run clear. 

Step 3:

Pour half the spaghetti sauce into the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish.  Place the chicken on top and sprinkle the top of chicken with the cheeses.  Return to the oven for another 20 minutes.

Step 4:

To serve, pour the remaining spaghetti sauce over the chicken.  Also very good with spaghetti under the chicken and letting the sauce cover everything.  Top with extra parmesan as desired. 

There you have it: a delicious and easy chicken parm recipe!  

If you like crispier chicken and you have a cooling rack that goes safely in the oven, you can put the cooling rack on top of the baking sheet when originally cooking your chicken so that the heat and air cook your chicken nicely. 

If you use reduced fat cheese it's only about 250 calories per breast!  

I modified this recipe from an allrecipes.com recipe found here

Bread Crumb Recipe: 

To make delicious bread crumbs that add tons of flavor and simplicity, just follow these steps:

Take a loaf (or half a loaf) of any kind of bread you want, you can also mix and match different types of bread.  Make sure it's not stale.

Place the bread crumbs in a single layer on a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 300 degrees for 10-15 minutes.  Flip them over about halfway through to make sure they get dried on both sides.  Remove from the oven and let them cool.

Break the bread into smaller pieces and put them in a food processor.  You can control how coarse or fine you want the bread crumbs to be.  

Add spices to the bread crumbs!  Italian spice is always easy so do that if you've got it and you like simplicity.  I like to add basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, fresh pepper, and onion powder to mine.  Mix it up nicely and put it in a jar or container of some sort.  Keep it in a dry place. 

For this recipe I also add a few Tbsp of parmesan cheese, but I don't necessarily put that in my bulk product because it doesn't always work well. 

There you have it: Quick, cheap, and easy bread crumbs that taste delicious!  

Apple Pizza

This is a delicious and *healthy* dessert.  Okay, yes, I believe that if there is fruit, it's healthy.  Just because there's sugar and cream cheese and all that other stuff doesn't change the fact that it's good for you.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

I actually have lots of pictures of this one, so I can show it to you step by step and also at the very bottom there are the actual directions :)

This is a soft homemade pizza crust with a cream cheese spread and apple slices and topped with a crumb topping.  Very yummy.

First, the crust!  

To make the dough, combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar in an electric mixer with the dough hook.  Then add in the oil, salt and half the flour.  Once the flour is completely incorporated, slowly add in the rest until it's completely mixed in, adding additional flour if necessary.  

Mix for 5 minutes until the dough does not stick to the bowl. Spray the bowl with cooking spray to prevent dough from drying out and cover with a towel to let it rise while you prepare everything else.

For the Apple Topping: Whisk the flour, sugar and cinnamon together in a medium saucepan.  Add the butter and apples.  Heat until it boils and then reduce to simmer until the apple mixture is tender.  Set aside to cool. 

For the Cream Cheese mixture: Combine cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and nutmeg in a bowl and beat until it's smooth. 

Combine the crumb topping ingredients until mixed and crumbly

Once the dough has fully risen it will be 2-3 times in size and look like this :).  Now punch it down and spread it onto a pizza pan!

Smooth it all out with a rolling pin and it'll look all pretty and round like this! 

Spread the cream cheese mixture over the dough 

Add the apple topping on top of that.

Sprinkle the crumbs on top of the apples.

Let it sit to rise more for about 15-20 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 and then bake for 25-30 minutes until done.

Enjoy!!!! 

Here's the Recipe
(Serves 12-16)

Prep time - 60 minutes

Cooking time - 25-30 minutes

Total time - 90 minutes

Pizza Crust:

1 cup warm water (112-115 degrees F)

1 tablespoon dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons oil

3 cups flour

Apple topping:

3 tablespoons butter

3 large cooking apples, peeled and sliced thinly

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Cream cheese spread:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Crumb topping:

1/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup soft butter

1/3 cup quick oats

Step 1 - Making the Crust:

To make the dough, combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar in an electric mixer with the dough hook.  Then add in the oil, salt and half the flour.  Once the flour is completely incorporated, slowly add in the rest until it's completely mixed in, adding additional flour if necessary.  

Mix for 5 minutes until the dough does not stick to the bowl. Spray the bowl with cooking spray to prevent dough from drying out and cover with a towel to let it rise while you prepare everything else.

Step 2 - Making the Apple Topping:

Whisk the flour, sugar and cinnamon together in a medium saucepan.  Add the butter and apples.  Heat until it boils and then reduce to simmer until the apple mixture is tender.  Set aside to cool. 

Step 3 - Making the Cream Cheese Spread:

Combine cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and nutmeg in a bowl and beat until it's smooth. 

Step 4 - Making the Crumb Topping:

Combine the crumb topping ingredients until mixed and crumbly.

Step 5 - Assembly:

Punch down the dough from Step 1 and roll out onto a greased 16 inch pizza pan.  Spread the cream cheese mixture over the crust with a knife or spatula or spreader.  Pour the apple mixture evenly over the cream cheese.  Sprinkle crumbs over the apples.

Step 6 - Baking

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Let the assembled pizza sit for 15-20 minutes to rise more.  Put the pizza in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until done.  

This is based on Cathy's recipe

Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been told by a few people that these are the best chocolate chip cookies they've ever had!  So, hopefully you'll feel the same way because I certainly think they're delicious.  

It's a fairly standard recipe, based on the tollhouse chocolate chip recipe and slightly altered.  I'm not a big walnut-in-cookies fan so that step is totally optional (I usually opt out).

Here's the recipe:

(makes 4-6 dozen depending on size)

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons hot water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Step 2:

Cream together the butter and sugars until smooth.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.

Step 3:

Dissolve the baking soda in water.  Add to the batter along with the salt and flour.  Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Step 4: 

Drop by large spoonfuls onto baking sheets and bake for about 10 minutes. 

These cookies are nice and crispy on the edges and soft and chewy in the center.  

Seriously, some of the best cookies you'll ever have.  I highly recommend them to all! 

Butterbeer - Tastes Just Like the Park's Version!

This is for all you Harry Potter fans out there!

I've found a fantastic recipe for homemade butterbeer that tastes just like the butterbeer that The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (or, as I call it, Harry Potter Land) sells!

This is also a non-alcoholic beverage (like served in the park).

Being a huge Harry Potter fan, I've tried probably six or seven different recipes to find the one that tastes not only like the park's version, but also how I imagine butterbeer would taste!  

Here's the recipe: 

(Serves 4)

1 cup brown sugar (light, golden or dark)

2 tablespoons water

6 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

3/4 cup heavy cream, divided

1/2 teaspoon rum extract

Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda

Step 1:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the brown sugar and water.  Bring it to a boil and, stirring often, cook until it reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer (about 3-4 minutes)

Step 2:

Remove from heat and stir in butter, salt, cider vinegar and 1/4 cup of heavy cream.

Let it cool completely before adding in the rum extract.

Step 3:

In a small/medium bowl take 2 Tbsp of the brown sugar mixture and combine with the remaining 1/2 cup heavy cream.  Blend with an electric mixture until it becomes thick, but not completely whipped, about 2-3 minutes.  

To Serve:

Split the brown sugar mixture into four glasses/mugs (about 1/4 cup for each) with about 1/4 cup of cream soda into each glass/mug.  Stir to mix the two together and then add in more cream soda until it reaches almost the top of the glass.  Top with a dollop of the whipped topping!  Enjoy!

The original recipe was featured on foxnews.com and can be found here.

I like to drink mine in the authentic butterbeer/hogshead mugs that my husband and I got on our honeymoon when we visited the park!

This drink is perfect for Halloween parties!  You can make it in bulk and serve it from a cauldron :)