Skillet Chicken Parmesan

I was in a hurry tonight and had some things I needed to use, so threw this together improved from a "Saving Dinner" recipe.  It turned out really good.  And for what it is, it was actually very easy.  It took me no more than 30 minutes from start to table time (excluding thawing the chicken).  That included getting the Garlic Broccoli ready to go with it.  (Which if you haven't tried that you HAVE to!  It is SO good.)

Skillet Chicken Parmesan

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (I used 2 large breasts, cut in three pieces each and it more than fed my family of 4)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Italian Bread crumbs (I just had normal bread crumbs and added some italian seasoning)

Olive Oil

Egg Noodles (sorry about the lack of amounts...I just cooked enough to feed my family!)

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1/2 to 1 cup of your favorite cheese

Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium heat.  Dip your chicken into egg batter first, then coat with bread crumbs.  Add to skillet and cook through.  (I turned mine several times to try and prevent burning.  I think I had the heat on too high though - medium high - because they still were "blackened".  I thought they were good still, but Joey was a bit bugged).

While the chicken in cooking put your Garlic Broccoli in the oven and cook your egg noodles.

When the chicken is done, put one breast on top of a bed of noodles.  Cover with Spaghetti Sauce and sprinkle with cheese.  (The original recipe called for Mozzarella and Parmesan.  I had Colby Jack on hand, so that's what I used!)

This was another one of those recipes that called for a transfer to the oven after just browning the chicken (which would probably solve the blackening problem), but I just didn't have the time or desire to do extra dishes!  Besides the broccoli was in the oven :)

OK, so my proud moment of the day....for lunch I had attempted to make "Easy Peasy Tomato Soup" from a recipe I got off this blog.  I had to make some substitutions though.  Her recipe called for homemade veggie stock, which I didn't have time to make.  So instead I used Chicken Broth and boiled some mixed veggies for the puree.  As a result the "tomato soup" was looking pretty much like puke (although I'm sure it tasted fine), and I didn't think I'd have real success serving it to the daycare kids.  So I also added a can of tomato sauce and one of tomato paste.  My blender isn't working real well these days either though so it wasn't as pureed as it should have been.  That said, most of the daycare kids didn't love it.  I actually did like it, but after lunch thought...is it even worth saving the rest of this?  Joey doesn't like tom soup anyway, and is pretty picky about stuff so I didn't think he'd even try it.  Then the thought...chicken parmesan came to me.  And I remember hearing about that book where she hides veggies in things like bread and sauces by pureeing them.  So where did I get my spaghetti sauce today?  I used the leftover soup seasoned with italian seasoning and garlic salt.  I thought it was great.  I didn't ask Joey because I was in a hurry to get out the door and he was grumpy because his bread crumbs were charred....but I was very proud of myself and felt very frugal.  There are few things I hate more than throwing perfectly good food (or what was good food three days ago before you forgot about it!) in the trash.  Yeah for me!