Healthy Chicken Parm

I haven’t done a recipe in a while but I made a pretty good one today and I wanted to share…

So when I say “healthy”, the only thing that some people may consider unhealthy is the parmesean cheese, obviously you can omit that if you like, it will still be delicious. But I’m a cheese kind of girl so I added the cheese. Sorry to my paleo friends…but I just can’t do without the cheese. End of cheese rant.

Anyways, here is the recipe for this delicious twist on a classic. I hope you enjoy!!

Healthy Chicken Parmigiana 

Ingredients:

Chicken breast, sliced thin (1 – 1 1/2 lbs)

Grape tomatoes (1 package)

Garlic (2 cloves)

Basil (A few leaves will do)

Parmigiano Reggiano (parmesan cheese for my non-Italian friends – 1/2 cup)

Olive Oil (use as needed)

Spaghetti Squash (1)

Salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to taste

Directions:

I need a better camera! P.S. Do you see my dessert back there? Kind of negates the healthy, huh? 🙂

1. Like so many meals that I try to make healthier, I served this over Spaghetti Squash. Before you do anything you want to get that spaghetti squash in the oven. If you don’t know how to cook a Spaghetti Squash click on this link for directions from a previous Lost Girl Post! Spaghetti Squash Directions

2. Once that’s in the oven and cooking, you can make your fresh marinara sauce. Cut up your garlic, tomatoes, and basil. Sauté the garlic in olive oil for about a minute and then add your tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and some Italian seasoning if you have it. Let that cook until it starts to look saucy (aka about five minutes). Add basil and cook for another few minutes. Once that is done set it to the side and begin working on your chicken.

3. I don’t like just throwing chicken in the oven because I always feel like it comes out kind of blah. I like to sauté my chicken in a pan with some olive oil and garlic first – it’s nice to get that golden brown color on the chicken. Before you sauté it, season it with a little bit of salt and pepper.

4. Once your chicken is cooked, place it on a baking sheet. Take your sauce and pour a little bit on each chicken. Then add your cheese.

5. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

6. Serve over spaghetti squash. Add more basil for a nice garnish!

Simple, right? And it was so delicious!!!

Buon Appetito!

Italian Wedding Craziness

Hello friends, happy Wednesday! So as most of you know, I am getting married this summer. I had planned on it being a laid back enjoyable experience with little to no stress. I planned on being “the cool bride” who didn’t care too much about small little details that in the end wont matter. Boy, was I wrong. So very wrong! Now let me start by saying, everything started off smooth. My fiance and I decided to take our time planning to avoid the stress you usually associate with planning a wedding. It was going well for a while. Then we hit the one year mark. And things started to get crazy. For one reason and one reason only, my crazy Italian family! What is with Italians and weddings? Why must it be such a crazy experience to plan a wedding in an Italian family? I should tell you that I am the first in my family to get married. I am the oldest cousin on both sides. So yea, I get it, it’s a big deal. But madone everything that I decide on seems to be a problem with these people. The politics of who gets invited…”you can’t invite Cousin Anthony without inviting Cousin Marie”…”how are you not going to invite Jack and Lisa, they’ve been our friends for so many years”…”why are you inviting this guy? I don’t know him! I never met him”. Has the whole idea that the wedding should be about two people who are actually getting married gone totally out the window?

Now look, I’m not trying to be selfish. I want to please everyone but some things that are happening with my family…I feel like these things should have been established from the start. We decided on a smaller place for two reasons 1) we wanted a more intimate/rustic feel and 2) it’s a lot less expensive. Okay great! Everyone was on board…125-150 people max! What the hell happened? We’re at 160 right now and the list keeps on growing. Pretty soon our wedding will feel like a clown car where everyone is stuffed in to a space that is way too small. I wanted to avoid that at all costs!

Italians are crazy!!! They get offended over the silliest things. Who is going to be in the wedding party? Who is doing the readings? Who is walking Nanny down the aisle? If it were up to my family my whole entire family would be in the wedding party. I’m sure everyone else would love to sit through 60 people walking down the aisle at church. I mean by the time I walked down the aisle nobody would even care! I’m told that this is very normal. I’m trying to have patience but it is wearing thin!!!

Part of the problem is me. My fiance knows enough to just yes everyone to death and then we just do what we want. Smart man! Here’s the twist guys…my crazy Italian-ness makes me such a stubborn human being that I literally don’t know how to shut my mouth. So in the end, I’m just as crazy as they are. Isn’t that wonderful?

So I guess the moral of the story is Italians are crazy!!! I love my family but they are beyond NUTS! And so am I! Good luck to my fiance on marrying into this!