Zucchini Zucchini Zucchini!

My mom's mini vegetable garden is bursting with tons of fresh zucchini, and she was kind enough to spare one for me to experiment with. This isn't just any zucchini - despite the misleading picture below, it is actually about the size of my forearm!

I browsed around the web for some ideas on what to do with this giant squash and settled on Sauteeing it italian style.

I sliced it at an angle and tossed it in the frying pan with some Olive Oil Pam.

Let me tell you, it smelled sooooo good even before the seasonings!

After it was tender and lightly browned I tossed it a teaspoon of Classico Basil Pesto. Delicious!

Classico Signature Recipes - Pasta Sauce Traditional Basil Pesto-Sauce & Spread - 8.1 oz

Chicken Parmigiana

Having a sick child at home changes the course of a day, but not always in a bad way. Today I found myself sitting at home feeding my little one popsicles in the rocking chair - not my original plan, but it slowed my day down in a way that I appreciated these wonderful moments. It was a relaxing day and I got to cook a great dinner for my family.

This is one of my family's favorite recipes. It is a lightened up version of Chicken Parmigiana from Weight Watchers.

Chicken Parmigiana

Ingredients:

Olive Oil Cooking Spray

8 Chicken Breast Tenderloins

2 Large Egg Whites, Lightly Beaten

1/2 c. Dried Bread Crumbs (plain)

1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Olive Oil

1 1/2 c. Spaghetti Sauce

1/2 c. Shredded Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

1 Tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese

8 oz. Uncooked Spaghetti

Preparation:

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees. Coat Glass Casserole Baking Pan with Cooking Spray.

Place egg whites in a shallow bowl. Combine bread crumbs with italian seasoning and salt in another shallow bowl. Dip one piece of chicken in egg whites and turn to coat, then dip the piece of chicken in bread crumb mixture, turning thoroughly to coat. Repeat with remaining chicken tenderloins, placing coated chicken on a plate. You could also substitute Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs to lessen the number of steps and ingredients, but that might increase the calories of the dish.

I usually end up with fingers coated in many layers of egg and crumbs that look ready to throw into the frying pan with the chicken! I can't stand that feeling, so I now have a designated wet hand (right) and dry hand (left). It works really well to have one hand dipping the chicken and the other hand coating it. Do you have a tip for keeping your fingers from getting coated too? I'd love to hear from you!

Spray large skillet with cooking spray and add oil; heat over medium high heat. When hot, add chicken and cook until lightly browned, about four minutes per side.

Pour 1/2 c. sauce into prepared baking dish. Place chicken in dish and pour remaining sauce evenly over chicken.

Sprinkle with cheese and bake until hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, Prepare 8 ounces Spaghetti according to package.

Side Note: I read a long time ago that when you are cooking spaghetti for a group, you should cook 2 oz per person (which, incidentally, is usually the serving suggestion). I never believed it, until I actually started weighing out my spaghetti and realized it yields the perfect amount. My spaghetti lasts so much longer now that I don't cook a full package everytime and we've lost quite a bit of weight too!

Here is the finished casserole. This dish serves four. One serving is two chicken tenderloins and 1 cup spaghetti. The Weight Watchers pts value is 5 for the chicken, 4 four for the pasta, or you can eat it on a small wheat bun like I did for 6 points. Yum!

Enjoy!

Chicken in Garlic Bacon Cream Sauce

Tonight's attempt at making dinner was laughable, but at least we ate! Sometimes things get a little unpredictable with two little ones. This dish always seems to be eaten cold (by me at least!) by the time I get everyone else situated and served.

Anyway, this is an adaptation of a Kraft Food and Family recipe that has the same ingredients, but slightly different preparation (I LOVE garlic, so it needed some garlic. Okay, maybe a LOT of garlic). This can be made as a one skillet recipe (in various steps), but I found it was really hard to keep the chicken warm while you make the sauce, so here is my version:

Chicken in Garlic Bacon Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

Pam Cooking Spray

8 Chicken Breast Tenderloins

4 Slices Bacon (use regular cut, not thick)

3/4 c. Chicken Broth

1/2 c. Cream Cheese

2 cloves Minced Garlic or 2 tsp Garlic Powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

Whole Wheat Pasta

(side note: my hubby loves the cream sauce so I double that part of the recipe when I cook it)

Preparation: Preheat Oven to 400 degrees. Place 8 slices of bacon on shallow baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until crispy. (side note: I love this method of preparing bacon - no splatter, no turning, and evenly cooked every time).

While bacon cooks, combine broth, cream cheese and garlic in sauce pan. Heat on medium low, stirring occasionally until well combined and smooth. Cook pasta according to instructions. By the way, I am not a big fan of whole wheat pasta  but it tastes great in this recipe!

When bacon is crispy, remove from oven, drain and crumble. Add bacon to cream sauce.

Spray Pam in large skillet. Heat on medium high; add chicken tenderloins. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cook about 4 minutes each side until browned and no longer pink inside.

Drain pasta. Plate pasta and chicken, drizzle sauce over top. Enjoy!

This recipe makes 4 servings. One serving is 2 chicken tenders, 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Penne, with 1/4 cup sauce. Weight Watchers points value is 8.5.

Beef Stroganoff

So I just finished with dinner and made a family favorite tonight - Tri-Tip Beef Stroganoff. It's super easy to make and the recipe and photos are below. Would you like to try it? Make it at home and let me know how yours turns out!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Pam Cooking Spray (or 2 tsp Olive Oil if you prefer)
1 Tri-Tip Roast (about 3 lbs) (Choice cut, $2.99/lb)

1 Package Lipton Onion Soup Mix ($1.99 for two pouches)

1 Cup Water

4 Tablespoons Flour

1 Cup Light Sour Cream ($.99, 16 oz container)

Wide Egg Noodles, cooked according to package ($.99, 12oz package)

Spray Pam in large pot or dutch oven. Heat over medium high heat. Add Tri-Tip Roast.

Sear 1 minute on each side to brown. Add Lipton Onion Soup Mix and 1 cup Water. Cover and lower heat. Simmer for 20 minutes. Turn Roast and simmer an additional 20 minutes.

Once Roast has reached internal temperature of 165 degrees, remove from pot and place on baking sheet. Cover with foil. Meanwhile, pour juices from pot into 2 cup measuring cup. If you need to, add water until you have 2 cups of liquid. Pour back into pot and heat over medium. Whisk in flour.

Whisk mixture until smooth. Add in sour cream and heat until bubbly.

While Cream sauce heats, slice Tri-Tip against the grain, to desired thickness.

Place noodles on plate, top with Tri-Tip and drizzle with sauce. Enjoy!