Welp....dinner tonight was a SUCCESS! Plenty of leftovers for Chris to take to work on Monday :) I have to say, I'm getting kinda good at this whole crockpot thing. That makes me really happy because it's really easy.
Tonight's menu consisted of Crockpot Chicken Parmesan (which, again, I obtained from here) & Penne Pasta with Garlicky Breadcrumbs. This was my own variation of a recipe I acquired from here. Delish. I attempted an Asiago Garlic Bread but, of course, burned it. I haven't quite mastered baking bread in a gas oven. With time............right? We can only hope. :)
Recipes for the SUCCESSFUL noms are below!
CROCKPOT CHICKEN PARMESAN
Ingredients:
4 chicken breast halves
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 t Italian seasoning
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 t salt
1 T Olive oil
1 slightly beaten egg
4 thick cut strips of mozzarella cheese
1 jar marinara sauce, blended
Directions:
Spread the olive oil in the bottom of the crockpot. I swirled it around to cover the entire bottom of the stoneware. Beat the egg with a fork in a small bowl. Mix the bread crumbs, seasonings & Parmesan cheese in another small bowl.
I set up an "assembly line" next to my crockpot & dipped each piece of chicken in the egg, then in the breadcrumb mixture (making sure to press the cheese/breadcrumbs into the chicken)
& then set them each in the bottom of the crockpot
Place a slice of Mozzarella cheese on each piece of chicken. I broke each of my strips in half to be sure the cheese would completely melt over each piece
If you have a significant other like mine, this would be when you blend the marinara sauce just to be sure there are no chunks in it. I liquefied for about a minute or so.
Cover the chicken completely with the entire jar (or blenderful...however you want to refer to it) of marinara. {{No need to worry, those are only water spots on my crockpot. Anyone that lives in TX and doesn't have a water softener built into their home HAS to know about the annoying water spots that get on EVERYTHING.}} :)
Cover & cook on low for 4 hours. After the 4 hours was up, I interrupted my reading time to get up, switch the crockpot to Keep Warm & start on my Pasta.
PENNE PASTA WITH GARLICKY BREADCRUMBS
Ingredients:
1/4 cup Plain breadcrumbs
2 T olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz penne pasta
1/4 cup parsley
2 t lemon juice
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
*told you I love Great Value brand*
Directions:
Cook pasta as directed on packaging. This pasta was cooked in boiling water for about 13 mins to get to the softness we like. All stoves heat differently so my suggestion is checking it every couple mins when you get to about the 11 min mark. And don't forget to STIR REGULARLY! I was trying to do 2 other things at the same time and kept having to remind myself to STIR THE PASTA.
While the pasta's boiling, heat 1 1/2 T olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Swirl skillet to ensure you cover the entire bottom. Add garlic & cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Thank goodness this was only for 30 seconds as I'm not really sure how things would have turned out trying to stir both pasta & garlic at the same time. I have visions of one or the other falling to the floor....that would be just my luck.
Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. When the 5 minute mark is up, return skillet to heat & stir in the breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs I used only took about a minute to brown.
Once the pasta is done cooking, drain and toss it in a large bowl. Add 2 t of oil, the breadcrumb/garlic mixture, parsley, lemon juice, salt & pepper & mix well. This took tossing in the bowl and also stirring with a wooden spoon to make sure the pasta was evenly coated....and still, it wasn't quite evenly coated.
And now, the final product ::drum roll please:: :)
On our fancy paper plates {{don't hate}} :)
Not so bad for only my third meal in the crockpot.
On a side note though, in 30 minutes my baby girl, Leeloo, will be 1 year old (or 7 in dog years) ::tear:: Oh, how they grow up so fast...and she's still the crazy dawggie.
Here's a pic of her the day we brought her home. She was just a precious little ball of fluffiness!
I still go back through my Leeloo FB album on occassion and get teary eyed looking at all of her pics.
I did take an awesome video of her chasing the rain earlier today....she likes to run and jump through the air trying to chomp at the rain drops....my video froze up though when I went back & watched it and it's really just not of the appropriate quality to post on YouTube or my blog. I love that little girl more than ever and can't wait to give her all of her NEW TOYS tomorrow!
Until next time.......
-Samantha
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