Good Dog and Good Food

Hiya lovelies.  I had a great weekend filled with lots of laughs and meeting new people.  It was fun and relaxing, but I'm always so glad to see home after a trip.  I was really antsy to get back yesterday because it was the day we were getting our new dog.  I couldn't tell who was more excited - me or my 3 year old. :)

My little brother saved him from being homeless, but since he already has a dog, he called me first to see if I would take him.  We've been wanting a dog, but just kept putting it off because I wasn't fully convinced we could afford one.  What can I say? I was convinced.  He's a pure bred Golden Retriever, which reminded me of the dog on Full House, so I named him Comet.  The first time I saw him, it was at night, so he's not exactly like Comet from Full House, because my doggie is a bit of a red head and the TV dog was more blond.  Even though he's big already, he's still technically a puppy at 10 or 11 months old, and he's very sweet and playful.

Here's a picture of my cutie.

He's saying, "Hi, there!"
"Did that dog just say, 'Hi there'?"  - name that movie.

Onto good food.
Baked Chicken Parmesan - need I say more?  Well, yes, I should tell you all about it.

I had been wanting to make some for over a month now.  I finally got all the ingredients at the store, and then they sat in my fridge and pantry just waiting for me to make it.  They waited a while, but I finally A) had everyone home last night and B) was in the mood to cook it.  (I have to be in certain mood to cook certain foods - don't know why, I'm just weird like that, I guess.)

I don't know what the "traditional" way to make this dish is, but I thought this way was pretty darn tasty.

I started out with an assembly line of salt and peppered chicken, beaten egg with a splash of water, and a plate of seasoned bread crumbs.  (Sorry no pictures of these steps. It gets messy, and I didn't want to handle my camera and then wind up with egg wash and bread crumbs on it.)  Dip the seasoned chicken breasts into the egg wash, and then coat in the bread crumbs.

Coat a pan with just enough olive oil to cover the bottom and fry the chicken until golden (it'll finish cooking in the oven)  My frying pan wasn't big enough, so I had to cook them in batches until they were all done.

Make or pour from a jar your favorite tomato sauce into a casserole dish.  I varied the kind I usually make for spaghetti for this dish, by adding diced tomatoes and omitting the ground beef.

Place your golden brown chicken breasts on top of the tomato sauce...

Slice fresh mozzarella and place on top of the chicken.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

I like to eat mine with noodles, so I cooked up some spaghetti noodles, and piled the sauce and chicken on.  It was so delicious.  The chicken was moist and the fresh mozzarella just oozed - sooo good.  Try it and you will see.

Baked Chicken Parmesan
4 - 6 chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1 egg
1 tsp water
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
1 jar spaghetti sauce or make your favorite (mine's below)
*1/2 lb spaghetti or favorite noodles *optional

For The Sauce
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 packet of McCormick Thick & Zesty Spaghetti Sauce Mix (You may think it's cheating, but I always come back to it after trying different recipes for spaghetti sauce - it just makes the best in my opinion.)
 1/2 can of water

Salt and pepper the chicken breasts.  Beat the egg with a splash of water in a shallow dish.  Spread the bread crumbs out in a shallow dish or plate.  Heat just enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan.

In an assembly line, dip the seasoned chicken into the egg, coat with bread crumbs, and then fry until golden brown.  (The chicken will finish cooking in the oven.)

If you're using the above recipe for the sauce, combine and let simmer while preparing the chicken.  Pour the sauce into a casserole dish and place the golden chicken breasts on top.

Slice fresh mozzarella and place on top of the chicken.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes.

If desired, cook noodles in salted water and serve chicken and sauce on top.