Friday, May 10, 2019

Chicken Parmesan

I must admit, Keely has become quite the cook, and she is fearless about trying new recipes. I love that! She spoils Max with Chicken Parmesan, his favorite, and often serves it to her guests. I'm grateful that she agreed to make it for me and my cousin Fred who was visiting from Texas last week. Not surprisingly, it lived up to its reputation. I honestly haven't had any better. It's sooooo good. 


Keely's Chicken Parmesan

To begin, prepare your chicken by pounding it with a meat mallet. Don't have one? No worries. I didn't either. Instead, we used a large rubber mallet covered with plastic wrap. Problem solvers. That's us. :) Next, season both sides with Paula Deen's seasoning and then sprinkle with flour.


Preparing the Chicken

Now dip the prepared chicken into beaten eggs, followed by a bread crumb/Parmesan cheese mixture. 




A side benefit: this recipe calls for an air fryer, so it's lower in calories than other versions. If you don't have one, this recipe alone is worth getting one! In fact, Keely has said more than once that it's her favorite kitchen appliance. Period. "Fry" both sides for approximately 2-3 minutes each.




Keely's favorite kitchen appliance is the air fryer!

Although the chicken is "fried," the last step calls for baking it in the oven. First, though, top it with marinara sauce, Italian seasoning, a little more shredded Parmesan cheese, and lastly a slice of Provolone cheese.




Once baked, serve it on top of spaghetti covered with additional marinara sauce. Enjoy!

(Note that this recipe can easily be made gluten-free, which is how Keely makes it. Simply replace the flour, bread crumbs, and spaghetti noodles with gluten-free alternatives.) 


Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

  • 3 chicken breasts
  • Paula Deen's seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder) to taste
  • Approximately 6 tablespoons of regular flour (Use Cup4Cup if gluten-free.)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 heaping cup Panko bread crumbs (Or use gluten-free Panko.)
  • 1/2 heaping cup shredded Parmesan cheese, plus a little more for topping
  • 1 to 1.5 jars of marinara sauce (Keely prefers Rao's.)
  • Italian seasoning to taste
  • 3 slices Provolone cheese
  • Spaghetti noodles (Use Barilla if gluten-free.)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Pound chicken breasts with a meat mallet to the thickness of approximately 1/3 inch and then season both sides with Paula Deen's seasoning.
  3. Sprinkle/dust flour on both sides of the chicken breasts (approximately 1 tablespoon for each side) and lightly pat down to make sure it's a light, even coating.
  4. Beat eggs in a shallow bowl.
  5. In a separate bowl, combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.
  6. Dip flour coated chicken breasts into beaten eggs. Transfer breasts to bread crumb mixture, pressing the crumbs into both sides. Repeat for all breasts.
  7. Put air fryer on highest setting (mine is 390 degrees). Spray Pam on air fryer basket to avoid sticking. Cook breast for 2-3 minutes, flip and then repeat.
  8. Place cooked chicken in a baking dish that has been lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with Pam. Top each breast with about 1/3 cup of marinara sauce. Sprinkle Italian seasoning on top of the sauce and breast. Lightly top with shredded Parmesan cheese. Top with a slice of Provolone cheese.
  9. Bake at 450 degrees approximately 15-20 minutes until cheese is browned and bubbly and the chicken breasts are no longer pink inside. (165 using a meat thermometer) 
  10. Serve over spaghetti noodles (cooked according to directions) and topped with additional heated marinara sauce.

Sunday, December 9, 2018

My Favorite Things 2018

One of my favorite parties of the year continues to be Margaret Ann and Nancy's My Favorite Things. If you're not familiar with this party theme, check out the details hereWhile some items shared throughout the party might be your typical "tried and true," most are new to me, and I love to get new ideas!


This year, I brought a collection of several items: stainless steel condiment cups that I use for so many things such as ketchup, barbecue sauce, pancake syrup, etc. I also brought my favorite baking cups that are about 4" in diameter. I first found these several years ago and have been using them to make individual cinnamon rolls. They're also great for making muffin tops . . . remember the Seinfeld episode? Lastly, I included four homemade cinnamon rolls to round out my gift. Mmmmm. 

Keely's favorite thing for this year was a metal plaque that read: This is Our Happy Place. She found them when we went on our trip to Vancouver in the fall. It's such a cute addition to her front door!


Although I wasn't able to capture everything, here are some of the other favorite things shared from Thursday night (in no particular order):
This is still one of my favorite ways to get great ideas for stocking stuffers!


Sunday, May 13, 2018

Come On Down!

About eleven years ago, I was keeping Mom company one day while she was recovering from knee surgery. Everything came to a halt when The Price is Right came on TV. She is one of those over-the-top fans of the show. I never realized just how much until I asked, "Wouldn't you like to be there?" She quickly replied, "Oh, that's my dream." Seriously? It happened to be Bob Barker's last season. I knew I had to make this happen. I planned the whole trip, got tickets way in advance, etc. The two of us set out on this crazy adventure. Once there, I quickly learned that the so-called tickets were only tickets that allowed us to wait in line for the "real" tickets. Craziest thing ever. Even though we got to the show well over an hour in advance, that wasn't enough to get in. As you can imagine, Mom was so disappointed. What would it take to get in? Start standing in line the night before. That's right. That's what the others did. I was so shocked, especially given the targeted demographic. So, we joined the craziness and stood in line all. night. long. and were able to attend the next day's show. Dream fulfilled. Mission accomplished.

Last week, Mom turned 80. She really wanted to go back for this milestone birthday. Unfortunately, we couldn't make that happen this time. Keely had the perfect idea. Let's bring The Price is Right to her! I'm all about a good theme, and that's all it took to begin the planning process, starting with the invitation.


Since Mom's party happened to take place on Cinco de Mayo, we wanted to serve Mexican food. While Cinco de Mayo parties are fun, I didn't want it to take away from Mom's theme. How do you combine the two? Start thinking of food labels that used popular The Price is Right games with popular Mexican dishes. Admittedly, this step is my favorite in the planning process. I used similar food labels for Keely's UT graduation party, Hayley's POP! baby shower, Hannah's book-themed baby shower, Natalia's Georgia Southern graduation party, Olivia's Doc McStuffins birthday party, and Lindsey's Cinco de Mayo bridal shower.

We kept the menu pretty simple: tacos and petros . . . but The Price is Right style:







We also had a variety of dips for snacking:





Drinks included:




Cake, cupcakes, and Rice Krispie treats satisfied everyone's sweet tooth.



(Free printables from www.southernmadesimple.com)


Other fun touches included price tag name badges for all of the party-goers as well as a Showcase Showdown game. Congrats to Silas for the win!



Prices from 1938 can be found here.
Silas won $20 (80 quarters in Mom's honor) as well as a BRAND NEW CAR!!!!

The main decoration included a wall-size Mom version of Cliff Hangers. It showcased some of our favorite pics of her 80 years.



Needless to say, Mom was surprised and quite pleased with the party. She especially loved spending the whole day with family and friends. All of us brag about how she doesn't look 80. She's not over the hill---she's still climbing! And we're all very grateful for that. Happy birthday, Mom!

The Birthday Girl
Host and hostesses:  Scott and Tina, Jackie, KK, and Vicke



Friday, December 22, 2017

Fourth Annual Westhaven Cookie Exchange

On Sunday, I participated in our neighborhood's Fourth Annual Cookie Exchange. Although we had a smaller crowd this year, it was a wonderful opportunity to build community by visiting friends, old and new.



This year, we had 11 participants who each brought at least 6 dozen cookies of one kind. Some are ones that I secretly hope are repeats each year.  Others are brand new varieties to the group, which make it fun to add to your own recipe collection. They're all delicious and come with sweet stories.

I made red velvet cookies - my "go-to" recipe for a cookie exchange. They're a tried and true favorite in my house.

Red Velvet Cookies - KK Moore
Here are the other wonderful varieties (in no particular order).

Heavenly Cranberry Bars (A Starbucks Copy Cat Recipe) - Jessica Schneller

Creme BrƻlƩe Sugar Cookies - Suzy Mills

Amish Sugar Cookies - Ann Biron



Grinch Cookies - Lara Travis



Chocolate Chip Craisin Cookies - Sadira Ebert

Cut-Out Sugar Cookies - Karen Scott



Apricot Cream Cheese Thumbprints - Heather Brousseau



Peanut Butter Sensations - Shari Lacy



Almond Joy Cookies - Michelle Hanzely

Peppermint Oreo Truffles - Barbara Wetzell


Why do we keep going to a cookie swap each year? Jessica's reasons pretty much sum up what I believe most of us are thinking:

1. Cookies
2. I'm the only person in my house without a nut allergy, so I don't even have to share!
3. I love baking and especially baking for others.
4. I love hearing everyone's stories.
5. I love tradition and hosted a cookie exchange in our last city, so this helps build community in our new (though not so new anymore) home.
6. Because it can't be said enough: Cookies!

Continued thanks to Sadira Ebert for spearheading this event!

Hayden couldn't wait! LOL




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