My Sweetest Things

It was another “What’s for dinner?” night. Bah. I had one of those days where I just wanted to be lazy but yet dinner duty called and I had chicken breasts ready but not sure what to do with them. Fried Chicken sounded good but I was not feeling like dealing with the extra work and mess so I  reached for the bag of French’s Fried Onions. I do admit to  pulling out the shake and bake for pork chops so I thought I could do the same with the French Fried Onions. On the back of the bag is a super quick recipe that’s crunchy and delish. Oh, and you can snack on those crispy onions while you are waiting on the chicken to bake. It takes less than 30 minutes for this recipe, unless you decide to photograph the whole process which can then lead to slight time delay!

Ingredients – Quick – I can’t stand the look of raw chicken!

Chicken Breasts

French’s Fried Onions

Egg

That’s it. REAL Simple!

Pour  some fried onions into a baggie and smash them up! This particular tool I got way back sometime in the

1990’s at a Crab Shack outside of Corpus Christi, Texas. Ah. Good Times!

Take that egg and scramble it up, pour it into a dish. Throw those breadcrumbs on a plate.

You can also shake the chicken in the baggie if you have that nifty gallon size which I did not use so plate it is!

Dip the chicken in the egg….then the breadcrumbs and place in baking dish.

Bake chicken uncovered in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or

you can…..

Take your camera out of Aperture Priority Mode because you decide you

 want to shoot Manually and have this happen!

OR this!

BAD IDEA!

Well, this dinner was a good idea. Very flavorful and crunchy and yummy!

Even better when your husband kicks in and whips up a Caprese Salad! Sliced Beef Steak Tomato, Mozzarella Cheese,

Basil from our garden, splash of Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Salt and Pepper. Another fast super easy dish!

Dinner is served!

This is Mia, who could care less what we eat for dinner and is giving me the evil eye. Perhaps that hat

has something to do with it?

It’s all good.

~Donna

We have chicken for dinner in our house a few times a week. In a year, that’s a whole lot of chicken dinners! I was in a chicken rut and needed some chicken change so I searched for recipes and found this  recipe from a site called Simply Recipes. Growing up I do not recall having Parmesan Chicken for dinner. I certainly remember lot’s of rice, beans,  tortillas and grilled meats but nothing that came close to chicken in a lovely coating of Parmesan, garlic, butter and herbs. It’s not a meal I have ordered out at dinner and while I have had a bite or two, I have not served this meal for family dinner and it did sound delish, so I gave it a try.You will most likely have the ingredients in your pantry and it is a very simple recipe. I used three chicken breasts and ended up with extra bread crumbs. The next time I make this I will keep some of the bread crumbs out on the side and use as needed to coat the chicken. I ended up having to throw them out since I dipped the raw chicken in them. It is a wonderful blend of herbs and spices that could be used in other dishes. Meatloaf perhaps?

Anyhoo, Ladies and Gentleman, I give you Parmesan Chicken!

List of Ingredients:

1 clove garlic, minced

1 stick unsalted butter melted

1 cup dried bread crumbs

1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

2 tbsp chopped parsley

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

A large pinch of Italian Seasoning

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 lbs of skinless, boneless chicken – I used chicken breasts

Melt butter and add minced garlic.

Add the dry ingredients and kindly introduce them.

Mix them around so they can mingle!

Dip the chicken in the butter and garlic. This shiny chicken is grossing me out but it is part of this chicken

adventure so I quickly paste the image and move on..

Dip  the chicken in the crumb mixture to coat. “Hey who invited this chicken to our mix?”

Place coated chicken in a baking dish and bake in a preheated 450 degree oven.

But wait! I forgot to drizzle the left over butter, garlic mixture over the top of the chicken, so make sure you do

that before you bake.

After I put the chicken in the oven, I looked over and saw this mess. So what did I do?

Put off doing the dishes and took pictures of my favorite things in my kitchen!

This little coconut  mask got damaged in our move but still has a place in my heart.

I snapped this photo and saw the nice cobweb and thought I should dust but kept doing this…

Taking more photos!

The coconut masks I personally carried across the Mexican border. When I lived in

San Antonio a visit to Mexico was a short trip and the shopping was awesome.

This little switch plate, I crafted myself! Yes. I did. I will show you how in another post.

But….after a little diversion…here is the Chicken Parmesan!

I baked for 15 minutes and then another five and when the juices ran clear it was ready and it was Tasty!

It’s all good.

~Donna