Chicken Parmesan

If there is one Italian meal that I love, it is Chicken Parmesan. It's my go to when I go to an Italian restaurant, but after I made this recipe, it has not been the same when eating out. This is just SO good.

So here we go:
Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients

• 4 Skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 eggs
• 2 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoon flour (or more)
• 1 cup olive oil (for frying)
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup mozzarella, cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 cup grated provolone cheese (I threw some sliced provolone into a food processor to "grate" it)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (this is not a duplicate, just set it aside separately from your other 1/4 c.)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (again set aside, not a duplicate)

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees F
2. Firmly pound chicken with smooth side of meat mallet to a thickness of 1/2 inch. (I wrap mine in parchment paper to avoid chicken splatter in my kitchen). Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Beat eggs in shallow bowl, and set aside.(You will be putting your chicken in this bowl to coat, so make sure a chicken breast will fit)
4. Mix bread crumbs and 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese in separate bowl, set aside. ((You will be putting your chicken in this bowl to coat, so make sure a chicken breast will fit)
5. Place flour in strainer; sprinkle over chicken evenly on both sides. (This was a pain in the butt, but it evenly coats)
6. Dip flour coated chicken in beaten eggs. Transfer breast to bread crumb mixture, pressing crumbs into both sides. Set aside breasts for about 15 minutes.
    
   
7. Heat 1 cup olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat until it begins to shimmer. Cook chicken until golden, about 2 minutes on each side. Place on paper towels after frying to absorb extra oil. Chicken will finish cooking in the oven. If you have a second bath of chicken to fry, I recommend emptying out that oil, and reheating a new 1/2 cup so it doesn't get gross.
    
   
8.  Place chicken in baking dish and top each breast with approximately 1/3 cup of tomato sauce (essentially, just make sure you do it evenly). Layer each breast in even amounts of mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, and provolone cheese. Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese on top and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
    
   
9. Bake in the oven until cheese is browned and bubbly, and chicken breasts are no longer pink in the center, 15 to 20 minutes.
    
   
    
10. Goes great with a salad and some pasta! Yum! 

Easy Egg Salad Sandwich Recipe

This is a really great base recipe with the right proportions of egg, mustard, and mayo for you to be able to add your own extra like celery or bell pepper or whatever you're into.

Egg Salad

Ingredients:

8 eggs
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1 tsp prepared yellow mustard (or dijon if you like that)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp paprika

Directions:

1. Place eggs in sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover eggs and let them sit in the hot water for 10-15 minutes. Remove from water, cool, peel, and chop.
2. Place chopped eggs in a bowl, and stir in mayo, mustard, salt, pepper, paprika and all your other optional ingredients. Stir and serve on bread or crackers!



Some variations may include adding chopped green onion, or celery, bell pepper, adding dill (which can be strong so be careful). We tried it with the chopped celery once, and we weren't into it. I think the above recipe with some Dill on bread with lettuce is delicious! The lettuce adds some crispness without any intense flavors, so you can really enjoy your egg salad.

Weight Loss

No topics are off limit in this blog, so to be half informative and half inspire-myself. I'd like to talk about my weight loss!

First off, I am not at my ultimate goal (which is an unknown weight because I do not know what I'll look like or where my body will be at). I have lost 70 lbs over about 2 years. Obviously, not all of that time was used wisely, but that's part of the process.

Since January of this year, I have lost about 40 of it. Over the summer, I fluctuated between about 5-7 lbs since my eating went out of whack! I am in the process of trying to get back into the swing of things.

Right now my goal is 1lb a week starting THIS week. I am feeling optimistic since some of it has got to be water weight ;) Today I wrote down what I ate, I didn't even write down everything, and I was feeling a bit guilty and down. But tomorrow and right now, I can make a conscientious effort to do better. That's what you gotta keep doing and reminding yourself. It is possible. You can do it, but only you can do it! No one else can make me eat better or smarter. No one else can exercise for me.

Food is everywhere. Sometimes I feel like food controls me, when it's supposed to be the other way around. I just love my sweets! But what I've also noticed, is that I will go around munching on anything sweet in my house until I get the sweet fix I actually want. This is bad because I don't usually have chocolate cake on hand. ;)

When I first started losing weight, I used food as a reward, and eventually was able to get away from that as my cravings lessened and my discipline increased. After months of poor eating choices over the summer, I am kind of back at square one when it comes to my brain. The month of September I kept trying to pick it back up where I left off or calorie count where I left off, but it very clearly hasn't been working.

But guess what? That's okay! It is a learning process, after all. I've decided that for the next two months, I am indulging once a week. JUST ONCE A WEEK. I am also going to ease back into calorie counting and regular gym going this month. I've already hit up the gym once this week, so I feel good about that. As for eating........ well, I have part of that figured out, right?

The other part will be eating less. Less snacking. Being thoughtful to hungry and full and thirsty. I do not expect eating within my "calorie limits" that I had previously set to happen right away, but that's the goal. So I wrote down all the crap I consumed today, and guess what? Tomorrow's plan is so simple: DO BETTER. I am not going to freak out and be mean to myself and most importantly, I do not want to set unrealistic goals that I won't even reach. If I don't eat better tomorrow, I am only hurting myself and my own goals.  So tomorrow? I will eat less, and I'll be thinking about that delicious treat I am going to earn next week!

Maybe by this time next week, I'll be close to my calorie goals! I can only take one day at a time and remember what my goals are and remember that only I can make them happen.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! :)