Chicken Parmesan

About 10 weeks after my sweet angel was born, I realized that all that extra baby weight was not just going to melt off. Once I opened my eyes to this, I decided it was time for me to find a way to drop the last 15lbs. I started using the 17 Day Diet for my battle of the bulge. I am now starting on day 4, and have already lost 3 ½ lbs! This is just the encouragement I need to make it through this first phase. The old age questions stands, ‘What can you eat on this diet?’. I won’t go into all the details about the diet, but here is one delicious recipe you can make at home. It’s a classic Italian recipe that can be adapted to any meat or veggie you would like to use.

I wanted to be able to make something for my husband and have him actually look forward to dinner and not feel like this is another ‘diet’ meal. This recipe was originally for Eggplant Parmesan, which I have had and it is delicious. However, the hubs isn’t too keen on Eggplant. Ding Ding!!! Chicken Parmesan is one of his favorites. I just knew I could make this good for him and good for my diet for me.

Let’s get cooking!

Here’s what you will need:

Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast

Egg Whites

Low Fat/Fat Free Parmesan Cheese

Italian Seasoning

2 Tbsp Olive Oil (**This diet allows you to have up to 2 Tbsp Olive Oil each day. I figure I may need to add a little to the skillet throughout the cooking, but each breast will not be coated in that much oil.)



This is all you will need for this recipe (plus 2 egg whites)



Start off by heating your oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Pound out your chicken to about ½in thick. This will help them to cook fast and even.

Pat the chicken dry.

In a bowl for dredging, mix the parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.

Dip into Egg White and then into the parmesan cheese mixture.

Place in the skillet and cook for about 5 min on each side or until chicken is golden brown and cooked through.

Once it's cooked through, add a little warm Light Marinara Sauce over the top. You will never know this isn't deep fried and covered in bread crumbs like you are used to.

For a few more calories, cook a little pasta and place in the bottom of a casserole dish. Top with chicken, marinara, and a little mozzarella. Place under the broiler until cheese is browned. Here's what you'll get:

To be honest with you, I wasn’t super excited about starting this diet. However, I have found some really great recipes and have really enjoyed expanding my horizons in the kitchen. This method of cooking by coating the food in Fat Free Parmesan cheese has really made it easy to have something for dinner that isn’t the same old thing. This is a delicious way to cook fish, too. Just leave out the Italian Seasoning and add a little Paprika. There are so many options out there, so get out there and cook!

Anna