Dinner at Our House: Parmesan Parsley Chicken

Last night the family tried something new. I found a recipe on lowfatlifestyle.com for Parmesan Parsley Chicken.

It was really yum, but I think in the future when we make it we should have a side of spaghetti or pasta with sauce. I really recommend this one! It weighs in at 3 old WW pts. (shocking!)

Ingredients:
• Vegetable oil spray 
• 4 slices whole-wheat bread for bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese 
• 1-1/2 tablespoons finely snipped fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley 
• 1-1/2 teaspoons paprika 
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled 
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk 
• 6 (4 ounces each) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, all visible fat removed 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly spray a rectangular baking sheet and slightly smaller cooling rack with vegetable oil spray. Put rack on baking sheet. Set aside. 
2. In a food processor or blender, process bread into fine crumbs. Pour into a shallow bowl. Stir Parmesan, parsley, paprika, garlic powder, and thyme into crumbs. 
3. Pour buttermilk into a shallow bowl. 
4. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Dip chicken into buttermilk, shake off excess liquid, dredge in crumbs, and shake off excess crumbs. Put chicken on cooling rack. Spray each breast with vegetable oil spray. 
5. Bake for 15 minutes, turn chicken, and bake for 10 minutes, or until done. 

Mmmm. And yes, it's on our fine Chinet paper plates! :)

Dinner at Our House: Sesame Chicken

So I know it has been a bit since we've updated you, but there have been many events going on around (which of course I'll update you on in later posts). I thought I would do an easy one, and food is easy.

Last week I helped out with the cooking and we had Sesame Chicken, but not the fried fatty kind. This recipe is a much lighter version because it is baked. I wish I had made a veggie to go with it to add color to the picture.

Jasmine rice and Sesame Chicken

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the honey, soy sauce, lemon juice and sesame seeds. Dip the pieces of chicken into the sauce to coat, then place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Bake for about 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until chicken is cooked through and sauce is caramelized.

from Allrecipes.com

Dinner at Our House: Weight Watchers Italian Night

My mom and I (and somewhat Tim... and thus, by proxy my dad) have all begun Weight Watchers. My mother was a member back around the wedding and lost some 60 pounds! Needless to say we've all kind of let ourselves go a little...that's why this past Monday we started together on the Weight Watchers Point System.

Since this is my first time trying it out, I really want to commit to the "lifestyle" change, and not simply diet. I got very interested in making meals that are WW friendly. I found the greatest resource ever and it's not the Weight Watchers website; it's www.skinnytaste.com.

Tonight we tried the Baked Chicken Parmesan that is worth 5.5 WW points. On a scale of 1-10 it was definitely a 10. So yummy! My mom even surprised us by making the No Bake Cheesecake. On a scale of 1-10 it was an 11. Hands down, yummiest healthy-type dessert I've ever had.

Now it wouldn't be a D@OH post without pictures so no worries, got you covered!

Added a single portion of bow-tie pasta and marinara sauce.

Its tiny but soooo yum.

Dinner at Our House: Rosemary Chicken Pasta

So tonight I cooked again. It went muuuuuuch better than last night. I made Rosemary Chicken Pasta and it is soooo easy to make and actually pretty good for you. I enlisted some help from Tim and the whole dish took less than 30 minutes to pull off (including prep time). It was also nice to get some verbal feedback from my dad when he said "You know, you could do this every night."

This is my plate. It was soooo yum.

If you're interested in the recipe I'll post it below. It came from a great website called http://www.lowfatlifestyle.com
Ingredients
 8 ounces uncooked penne, ziti or other pasta
 1 clove garlic, minced
 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
 16 - 18 asparagus spears, sliced thin (fresh or frozen)
 3/4 cup fat free chicken broth
 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
 2 tablespoons reduced fat Parmesan cheese
 salt and pepper to taste
Directions

1. Prepare pasta according to package direction; drain.
2. Heat 1/4 cup broth in a deep non stick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and rosemary and cook 15 seconds. Add chicken and cook, tossing well, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
3. Add asparagus*, remaining chicken broth, parsley and pasta to skillet. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until liquid has reduced enough to lightly cover pasta.
4. Sprinkle with reduced fat Parmesan, salt and pepper and toss. Serve immediately.
5. *If using frozen asparagus, make sure to thaw and drain before slicing. If using fresh, make sure to snap bottom portion that is rough off before rinsing and slicing.

Per Serving: 494 Calories

4g Fat (7% calories from fat)
66g Protein
45g Carbohydrate
4g Dietary Fiber
139mg Cholesterol
295mg Sodium