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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Chicken Parm Fingers Over Garlic Spaghetti Dinner

The Game Plan:
  • Breakfast - Chocolate chip muffins (made the day before or from the freezer), smoothies
  • Lunch - Taco roll-ups, apple slices
  • Dinner - Chicken Parm fingers over garlic spaghetti, green beans
The Plan in Action:
  • 8:00am - Make smoothies. Put 3-4 cups fruit (We like a combo of bananas, strawberries and blueberries. The frozen bags of fruit specifically for smoothies are a great option too.), and 2 c. plain or vanilla yogurt in a blender and blend. If the smoothie is too thick for your tastes, you can add a few splashes of juice or milk to thin it. Pull out cream cheese for taco roll-ups so that it can come to room temperature.
  • 8:10am - Serve smoothies and muffins for breakfast. While eating, start boiling water for spaghetti.
  • 8:20am - Throw spaghetti in pot. Finish breakfast.
  • 8:28am - Drain spaghetti. Clean up breakfast dishes.
  • 8:30am - Start making taco roll-ups. Combine 5 oz. cream cheese, 1/4 c. sour cream, 1/2 - 1 c. shredded cheese, 2 t. chili powder, 1 T. cumin, 2 t. garlic salt, 1/8 t. cayenne pepper, and olives, green pepper, red pepper, green onions (or any combination thereof). Stir until combined. Spread on tortillas and roll up. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until lunch time.
  • 8:45am - Put cooked spaghetti in refrigerator. Cut chicken breasts into fingers and put back in fridge. Clean up kitchen and go do something else for awhile.
  • 10:30am - On a plate, combine 1 c. flour, 1 t. salt and 1/2 t. pepper. In a shallow bowl, whisk together 2 eggs and 2 T. water. In a second shallow bowl, combine 1 1/2 c. breadcrumbs, 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, 2 t. Italian seasoning, 1 t. garlic powder or garlic salt.
  • 10:40am - In a large skillet, heat 3 T. olive oil over medium-high heat. Working with about 5 chicken fingers at a time, dredge through flour, dip in egg, then roll in breadcrumbs. Cook in heated olive oil for 5 minutes. Flip and cook for 5 minutes more. Repeat with remaining chicken.
  • 11:10am - Put chicken in an oven-safe dish in the refrigerator. Make sauce by combining 1 8oz. can tomato sauce, 1 4oz can tomato paste, 2 T. water, plus more if necessary, 1 bay leaf, 2 t. Italian seasoning, 1 t. sugar, 1 t. garlic salt, 1/2 t. red pepper flakes, 1/4 t. allspice and additional salt and pepper to taste in a small saucepan. Place over low heat and let simmer all day. Stir occasionally and add more water if sauce becomes too thick for your tastes. Dice 6 to 8 cloves garlic and place in fridge.
  • 12:45pm - Pull taco roll-ups out of the refrigerator and slice each one into fourths. Slice a few apples and serve lunch.
  • 6:00pm - Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 2 T. butter or margarine and 3 T. Extra-virgin olive oil in a medium skillet. Add garlic, 1 T. salt, 1 t. black pepper, and 1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes to skillet. Cook for about 5 minutes, until garlic is tender, stirring often.
  • 6:10pm - While garlic is cooking, put chicken fingers in oven. Stir spaghetti from refrigerator into the skillet and warm through. Put fresh or frozen green beans in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat.
  • 6:25 pm - Remove chicken from oven. Place a mound of spaghetti on each plate, top with chicken fingers and sauce. With a slotted spoon, serve green beans on the side of each plate.

3 comments:

Lesley said...

oohhh I had to print this out...I love Chicken Parm...and needed something for these 3 chicken breasts that have been sitting in my freezer...for almost too long...I will be making this tonight....and thanks for coming by...it really means a lot...

Anonymous said...

YUM! Another recipe I've never fixed...

Jennifer said...

Well darn! You have my tummy growling now and I was just about to go to bed!