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Amy

Junk Food Detox

September 16, 2010 by Amy 7 Comments

As you might know, I’m currently trying to lose weight. There are numerous reasons for this, which I really don’t feel like writing about today. I also won’t tell you my current weight. I’m ashamed.

All I know is, I need to change. Doing the whole “diet” thing proved to be too difficult for me. So, I went back to my old Weight Watchers journal and reflected on the foods that do the most damage for me, calories wise.

My plan was to slowly eliminate the junk, one week at a time, one food at a time. I’m in my third week. It’s working amazingly.

First week, I went a little easy on myself and said “bye bye” to snowballs. That Monday, all I wanted was a wedding cake snowball. The great thing is, I didn’t give in. Not once. Today, a snowball would be nice, but I’m not CRAVING it. Bye snowballs!

Second week was hard. SO SO hard. Ice Cream. OMG…I LOVE ICE CREAM. However, I don’t love just 1/2 cup of it. I have no portion control when it comes to ice cream, and it’s always eaten so quickly. Just not worth it. It’s gone. No ice cream in the house, no ice cream on the way home. Gone. I don’t really think much about ice cream anymore, but, as a disclaimer, for those of you who read my food blog, there will be a recipe featuring ice cream going up next week. Of course, I have to try one. Just one.

I promise.

This week, I took it a step further. With pumpkin spice kisses out in stores,  as well as ALL of the Halloween candy, I had to eliminate it. Oh gosh, candy. I crave chocolate so bad. Tuesday, the hub’s coworker gave us a pack of Starburst. You know, the little 2 pack. I busted that thing open, realized I had a cherry and a lemon. I would save the lemon for last, because it’s my favorite. Put the cherry in my mouth, chewed and then realized, DARNIT…I ate candy. I slipped once and with my tummy saying “NOOO! EAT THE LEMON!”, I handed the lemon starburst to the hubs. There have been no more slip-ups since then, and I still feel bad about that stupid cherry starburst!

Next week will be fried food, including french fries. I’m not sure what will be after that, but, I do know that I won’t mess this detox up. I NEED to do this! 🙂

Further motivation?

Image Source

My local YMCA/gym is holding a weight loss contest. 10 weeks from October 7 through December 17, 2010.  This contest is all up in my holiday feast time, however, this is great. I’m embracing those dates. If I can lose weight during the most indulgent part of the year, I can do this for GOOD!

Once this competition starts, my junk food detox will definitely help me stray away from the temptations, and I’ll most probably be back on  Weight Watchers for this. I did this before my wedding. I can do this now!  

Check out these prizes! My competitive side is already ready to kick some booty for this!

  • 1st Place – Prizes valued at $2000 including a 1-year free membership to the YMCA
  • 2nd Place – Prizes valued at $1000 including a 6-month free membership to the YMCA
  • 3rd Place – Prizes valued at $500 including a 3-month free membership to the YMCA

Oh, and also, hubs and I have a little “fun money” wager. Whoever loses the most by November WINS $150 from the other’s “fun money” account.

Let’s go junk food detox!! 🙂

Filed Under: Health/Weight Loss

Blueberry Cupcakes w/ Maple Brown Butter Frosting

September 15, 2010 by Amy 8 Comments

Blueberry Cupcakes with Maple Browned Butter Icing

I haven’t baked much lately. With the Summer being so dang hot, I just didn’t want to use the oven much at all. Now that the weather is starting to lend us small glimpses into the Fall, I decided that it was time to start baking again.

Would you believe me if I told you that I literally have 1/4 cup of flour left in my house and maybe a cup of sugar after this recipe was done? I’m usually very well stocked on the baking staples, but like I said, I haven’t been baking. I guess it’s time to hit the store sometime soon…oops!

About a week or so ago, I read about a Bake -N- Blog challenge that Jesstagirl and her Officer was organizing. I thought this would serve as a great way to get back into baking. Cupcakes are quick and easy. I got to choose out of ALL of these cupcakes. When it came to choosing, I avoided chocolate, caramel, peanut butter…all the things that I love, but my husband does not. I chose #19: Blueberry Cupcakes with Maple Brown Butter Frosting, because I know my husband likes blueberries and if worse comes to worse, I can skip the icing on a couple in case he isn’t such a fan of it. 🙂

This cupcake was very simple to put together and pretty darn tasty! The icing reminds me a lot of a butterscotch candy, which was fine on its own, but together, I found that the cupcake/icing combination just wasn’t quite right. I think for next time, I would make a blueberry buttercream or plain buttercream with these cupcakes.

Blueberry Cupcakes w/ Maple Brown Butter Frosting
Source: Ming Makes Cupcakes

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1 stick butter
  • 3 cups confectioners sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 3 tbsp. maple syrup

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the 1/2 cup of (cooled) melted butter with the egg and add the buttermilk and milk. Mix well.
  3. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and mix until blended. Fold in blueberries.
  4. Scoop into a cupcake pan and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool.
  5. For the icing: Put the 1 stick of butter in a small pot and cook on low/medium low until it it a golden brown color. Be careful not to burn the butter.
  6. Place the butter in a bowl and add the confectioners sugar. Mix well.
  7. Add the milk and maple syrup and mix until smooth.

Filed Under: Cakes/Cupcakes, Fruit

My Blog, My Moments

September 13, 2010 by Amy 13 Comments

Pumpkin Bread

Since it’s almost Fall, I thought I’d post a picture of this pumpkin bread for y’all.

This post serves as my entry into Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog: Project Food Blog is the first-ever interactive competition where thousands of Foodbuzz Featured Publishers are competing in a series of culinary blogging challenges for the chance to advance and a shot at the ultimate prize: $10,000 and a special feature on Foodbuzz.com for one year. Starting next week, Foodbuzz will start the voting for the next food blog star, and I’ll repost a link for y’all to vote for me, if you think I should advance. 🙂 Thanks in advance for all of your support!

Most people think of cooking and baking as simply putting food on the table. I’ve been there. I used to think that way and just dreaded it. I started this food blog after I graduated from college, because I moved back in with my family and wanted to help my parents with dinner. My first ever blogged recipe was for turkey meatballs.

Those meatballs were quite the chore. I dirtied up tons of dishes, which I had to clean, and while my family appreciated the meal, we all knew it wasn’t mouth-watering, amazingness on a plate. It was discouraging, to say the least. Oh, and obviously, I really didn’t care how the photo looked. I just took a photo with my point and shoot and uploaded it.

After blogging for a while, I hit a point where I thought this was really boring. I got maybe 1 comment in a week’s time, I felt as unpopular as the last picked kid on the kickball team and just got super jealous of popular bloggers. I knew nothing big would ever come of this blog, so I just sort of lost interest.

After a couple of years of on and off blogging spurts, I realized that I shouldn’t blog to be popular. The competition out there is crazy, and I should do this for me. I thought back to the days when I could barely form a turkey meatball and looked at how far I came. I came to the conclusion that blogging isn’t about popularity….it’s about the moments you have in the kitchen and sharing them with others.

I remember the moment when I made my first batch of biscotti from scratch. It felt so amazing that something as simple as flour, butter, and sugar could come together to form biscotti. I always made bought them, and thought you had to be an authentic Italian bakery to get those to come out right!

I remember how proud I was when I made that first buttercream rose.

I was so excited when I didn’t make anyone sick after making my first pot roast.

I remember when the yeast actually rose for my first batch of rolls.

I remember hosting my first family get-together.

I found that blogging was so much more fun when I was able actually meet a personal challenge and bask in the moment, whether it be taking that perfect picture of a cupcake or making a dish I found to be intimidating.

While I’m not very well known in the blogging community, I feel that I should be considered to be the next food blog star. My blog is here to show everyone that recipes are completely approachable. Anyone can make an amazing meal or dessert for their families and friends.  Before I ever blogged, I considered my kitchen accomplishments to include heating frozen skillet meals and baking rolls of cookie dough. I didn’t know the names of most ordinary produce. I thought a cup was a cup no matter what type of measuring tool you use. I’ve been there. I’ve messed up, and I still mess up.

It took me a while, but I find that I truly enjoy food blogging now. It’s not a career for me by any means, but it’s a huge passion of mine. I love knowing that my kitchen is a place where you can take simple ingredients and turn it into a great dish. It’s a complete transformation every time, and in my two and a half years of blogging, I don’t see the fun dying down anytime soon.

Filed Under: Other, Project Food Blog

Berry Mash Bruschetta

September 9, 2010 by Amy 12 Comments

Berry Mash Bruschetta

You know when people say, “OMG this is the best thing since sliced bread!”? Whenever someone says that, I always think about how sliced bread is actually pretty boring. Don’t get me wrong here, because I love a good sandwich, but sliced bread in a bag isn’t something (bread-wise) that I consider to be the “best thing”. In fact, the thought of sliced bread brings me back to school lunch days when I would push through trying to eat a soggy turkey sandwich, and growing envious of those who got to bring the fancy awesome Lunchables. (Mom, if you are reading this, I love you and realize how stupidly expensive Lunchables are now.)

A while back, Foodbuzz sent me some samples of Nature’s Pride bread. I wasn’t expecting to be really wow-ed by the bread, but I will say that this bread is sort of our staple now. I especially love the honey wheat and the wheat hamburger buns. They don’t have that gross, dry texture that other wheat breads in store have, and for that, we are a Nature’s Pride convert. 🙂

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s Program, Foodbuzz offered a coupon for a free Nature’s Pride product in exchange for making up a little ol’ recipe highlighting Nature’s Pride bread.  Six bloggers’ recipes will be chosen to be an ambassador for Nature’s Pride at this year’s Foodbuzz Festival! ::crosses fingers::

I think I would go happy-crazy if I were chosen. I’ve never been to California before, and I’d love to meet/greet other food bloggers! 😀

Anyway, back to the post. I figured since I buy the bread every week, I’ll just make a recipe before the coupon comes in. 🙂

I definitely wanted to make sliced bread not-so-boring, so I kept the idea in my mind to make a recipe with sliced sandwich bread! I sort of just thought up this recipe in my head: cinnamon toast, cream cheese spread, fresh mashed berries and a nutella drizzle on top. What’s not to like?

This recipe is insanely delicious and sinful. The crunchy toasty bread and the juicy berries with chocolate and cream cheese made a perfect little dessert bite (or two). It’s also ridiculously easy. You could totally make this for a party, and impress the guests.

Berry Mash Bruschetta
Source: an original

Ingredients:

  • 6 slices Nature’s Pride Honey Wheat sliced bread
  • Unsalted butter (softened)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
  • 4 oz. cream cheese (softened)
  • 1/4 cup nutella
  • 2 tbsp. milk
  • 1 cup strawberries
  • 1/2 cup blueberries
  • 1/4 cup raspberries

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Slice the bread into fourths and place on the baking sheet.
  3. While waiting for the oven to preheat, mix the granulated sugar with the cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.
  4. Mix the nutella and milk in another bowl to make the nutella drizzle. Set aside.
  5. Mix the cream cheese with 1 1/2 tbsp. of the cinnamon sugar mixture in another bowl. Set aside.
  6. Rinse berries and then place them in a bowl and mash them with a fork.
  7. Place the sliced bread pieces in the oven for 5-7 minutes, or until a golden, toasty brown. Turn off the oven. Immediately add a thin layer of butter and then liberally sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Place back in the oven for an additional 2 minutes to ensure that the butter/cinnamon sugar set in.
  8. Take the bread out and let it cool for about 5 minutes.
  9. Now, assemble your bruschettas. 🙂 Add a thin layer of the cinnamon cream cheese to the bread slice, add about 1 tbsp. of the berry mash on top (making sure not to avoid adding too much berry juice), and drizzle nutella on top! Enjoy!

Makes 24.

Note: You may have some berries leftover, but there’s nothing wrong with that, right?

Filed Under: Chocolate, Fruit, Nifty Foodie Original

Baby Quilt: Finished!

September 7, 2010 by Amy 20 Comments

I can’t believe I’m typing this less than a year after forking out a sewing machine for the first time ever. I completely made a quilt. Yes, I made a quilt before, but that was yarn-tied and not properly binded (after doing some research), so I will call this one my first quilt also. 🙂

The idea sparked after my local quilt shop had a 50% off sale. I raided the store for Amy Butler fabrics, as well as the charm pack and backing for this quilt.

Baby Quilt Fabric

Fabric is: Lily and Will charm pack, backing fabric is Plume by Tula Pink

The quilt pattern is from Oh, Fransson’s blog. It’s fabulous for a first quilt, because charm packs are pre-cut, and all you need to do is cut some of these in half for the colored strips. Then, cut a few strips of Kona cotton and you’re good to go. Easy and quick!

Of course, I laid out all of the squares and arranged them around. I think this was the most fun of the project. 🙂 I love the pastels and designs.

Baby Quilt Layout

I used Kona Cotton in Snow to put between the colored strips of fabric, and I think it just ended up looking fantastic!

Finished Baby Quilt

I used a walking foot to quilt this in (not so) straight lines. That foot is my new BFF. It looks so puffy and cute!

Finished Baby Quilt

Gosh, I hope the Mom and baby LOVE this quilt. This quilt was definitely a learning experience for me. My binding is not perfect in the least, but I will agree with the majority in saying that it’s fairly therapeutic to sit down and just finish off the binding by hand. 🙂

Finished Quilt folded

Next up? Time to work on my Christmas quilt block squares. There’s still time for you to join in the fun! We’re working on group 2. 🙂

Filed Under: Crafts

Crawfish Boiled Mashed Potatoes

September 6, 2010 by Amy 2 Comments

Meatloaf/Potatoes

“Hey, uh, Amy? You’ve posted this picture before. You know that, right?” I’m sure you guys are thinking that, but this time I’m going to rave about what’s on the right side of that plate. Oh yes, those potatoes.

These aren’t your ordinary mashed potatoes. They are spicy, flavorful and make you want to start peeling crawfish at a newspaper-lined dinner table. Delicious!

I had a similar tasting dish at a local chain that, as a Louisianian, had me thinking, “Why didn’t I think of doing this?” It’s so simple and such a great idea!

Basically, at a crawfish boil, there is more than crawfish there. You have boiled veggies, like corn, potatoes, onions, garlic, etc. This recipe takes those potatoes to a dinner plate-worthy level, if you get my drift. Oh, and you can easily make these in the kitchen. No need for the 100 gallon pots here, folks!

Crawfish Boiled Mashed Potatoes
Source: an original

Ingredients:

  • 3 lbs. small red potatoes
  • 1/8 cup crawfish boil seasoning
  • 4 tbsp. butter
  • Milk (as needed)

Directions:

  1. Fill a pot with water and add pre-washed red potatoes and seasoning.
  2. Bring to a boil for about 20-25 minutes or until fork tender.
  3. Let the potatoes sit in the water for 5-10 minutes to absorb the seasoning. (We did 10 minutes. Husband loved them…I thought WAY too spicy, but I’m a wuss!)
  4. Take the potatoes out and put them in a large bowl. Mash them with the butter added in. If you find this too thick, add milk, a little at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

Filed Under: Louisiana Cuisine, Nifty Foodie Original, Side Dishes

Learning to Adapt

September 3, 2010 by Amy 2 Comments

So, as you may know, I’ve been on a weight loss journey for a while. I lost 20 lbs. before the wedding, and then, after the wedding, gained it all back. Typical.

I’m back to square one.

One of my biggest problems with food blogging is the insatiable urge to bake. I haven’t baked much lately, but with the Fall season and upcoming holiday season, I’m afraid the urge is going to only get greater.

This summer, I’ve really gotten into smoothies and one of my favorite things to put in there is yogurt. It thickens up a smoothie and has great nutritional value. I will admit, I’m not a fan of eating yogurt out of a cup. I find it way too tangy, however, smoothies sweeten it up and sort of mask the tartness.

When I received an email from Foodbuzz about Activia Desserts yogurt, I was all over it.

Image source

With flavors like Strawberry Cheesecake and Peach Cobbler, I was intrigued. I only tried this stuff in smoothies, but man, it really did make my smoothies seem more indulgent! It’s a definite must-try!! I think I might have to make these while I’m baking to satisfy the sweet tooth. It’s worth a shot.

Knowing me, though, I’ll probably drink the smoothie AND eat baked goods…sigh.

If you are skeptical, they are offering $1 off coupon currently. Like I said, I didn’t try this straight out of the cup…I tried it in a smoothie.

Note: I didn’t receive this product for free. I used a coupon as a discount, and am writing a post about it for the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s Program.

Filed Under: Other

I can’t ever settle on one recipe!

September 2, 2010 by Amy 5 Comments

Meatloaf/Potatoes

I love meatloaf. My Mom used to make meatloaf for us all the time as kids, and almost everytime I have meatloaf, it reminds me of my Mom. 🙂 We joke about the way my Mom makes hers, though. She forms it in a donut shape and nukes it in the microwave. Yep, she nukes it. AND it comes out perfect! Crazy, right?

I’m sure weirder things happen in the world of cooking, but I always found it funny that her meatloaf comes out of a microwave. 🙂

The hubs and I, about a year ago, found our go-to recipe for meatloaf. We still love it..it’s fabulous, I promise. However, I’m always wondering if something better is out there, and I stumbled across this recipe from Alton Brown. The hubs was a  bit skeptical when I mentioned I was trying  a new recipe. He wanted his favorite, and I don’t blame him.

However, this meatloaf came out yummy! You don’t taste the vegetables, but you get an explosion of flavor and it has a good kick to it too. I think our go-to is slightly better, but this one is less steps and dishes. Torn….

I will say that this meatloaf recipe just really changes the way I think of meatloaf, because of the kick from the chili powder and cayenne. I’m thinking of somehow merging the two types of flavor profiles to get a (hopefully) awesome recipe someday, if I’m brave enough.

Good Eats Meatloaf
Source: adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients:

  • 3 ounces garlic-flavored croutons
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 small carrot, peeled and broken
  • 3 whole cloves garlic
  • 1/4 red bell pepper
  • 1 lb. lean ground beef
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 egg white
  • 1/4 cup catsup
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • Dash Worcestershire sauce
  • Dash hot pepper sauce
  • 1/2 tablespoon honey

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
  2. In a food processor bowl, combine croutons, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Pulse until the mixture is of a fine texture. Place this mixture into a large bowl. Combine the onion, carrot, garlic, and red pepper in the food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped, but not pureed. Combine the vegetable mixture and ground beef with the bread crumb mixture. Season the meat mixture with the kosher salt. Add the egg and combine thoroughly, but avoid squeezing the meat.
  3. Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, mold your meatloaf.  Insert a temperature probe at a 45 degree angle into the top of the meatloaf. Avoid touching the bottom of the tray with the probe. Set the probe for 155 degrees. (Mine took 55 minutes to fully cook, if you’d rather not use a thermometer.)
  4. Combine the catsup, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes.

Filed Under: Beef

A bunch of randoms (2)

August 30, 2010 by Amy 2 Comments

I think I’m going to make this a usual thing. I have so much on my mind, and I think this is a great outlet for it.

  • News stations: 5 years after Katrina, and you still have it ALL wrong. People didn’t stay in New Orleans by choice, (for the most part). Rather, our unorganized local/state/federal governments had no means to evacuate the tens of thousands of people who needed to get out of town. Again, this was NOT by choice…and for those of you saying you’d get out if you had to (HUGE eyeroll to you), well, imagine how that would go if you didn’t own a car. Good luck with that. Oh, and even if you did have a car, in evacuation scenarios, it takes 8 hours to get somewhere that usually takes 1 hour, even with contraflow (which is where they make the interstate system one way…out of the city). ::side eye to the media and their inaccuracies::  Shame on y’all.

 

  • I’m craving fajitas right now, dipped in queso blanco with a frosty large strawberry margarita.

 

  • We’re remodeling our bathroom counters. They were a f-ugly 1980’s pink formica. This project is way harder than TLC and HGTV makes it seem like. We are DIY tiling…my poor hubs is really working hard on this, and I feel helpless since I’m scared of power tools with blades. There will be a post about this, but I’d rather it be a before/happy after post.

 

  • Two days after posting, our first group of the Christmas Quilt Block Swap was full. We decided to keep sign-ups open until September 15th anyway in case a group 2 fills up. We have 3 people interested. If you are interested, please let me know…we still have 9 spots and would hate to turn away anyone from the swap!

 

  • My library is my favorite resource for books. I don’t buy cookbooks or how-to books anymore, since my library has an awesome selection for free, and also, those books don’t end up taking up permanent space in my home. Free/non-cluttering. Win!

 

  • Coasters seem to disappear in our house. Either the dog is stashing them in a hiding spot or they have grown legs and walked away. I’m totally making these for our house. I’m tired of paying oodles of $$ for them, and I think these would be adorable! 4×4 tiles at the store are 25 cents. I won’t be super bummed if they grow legs and walk away now. 🙂

 

  • I still can’t believe it’s less than 4 months until Christmas.

What’s on your mind? 🙂

Filed Under: Random

Light Chicken Parmesan

August 26, 2010 by Amy 6 Comments

Light Chicken Parm

It’s very rare that we go out for Italian food. While I absolutely LOVE Italian cuisine, the hubs isn’t a really huge fan and totally has to be in the right mood for it. When I was thinking of a new recipe to try in the house, I thought, well, why not make the hubs’ favorite dish: chicken parmesan?

However, I really despise frying. Everytime I try to fry something, I can’t quite control the oil and it either ends up undercooked or burnt. Plus, I end up burnt too from the oil splatters..it’s a crappy situation. Oh yeah, and since I’m trying to lose weight, well, frying isn’t in my vocabulary for the moment.

So, I found a Cooks Illustrated recipe, which really has never steered me wrong when it comes to baking food dishes that are traditionally fried, and I tried this. It really didn’t take that long to throw together, and the hubs really enjoyed it. Yay!

Lighter Chicken Parmesan
Source: Cooks Illustrated 

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup), plus extra for serving
  • 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • Table salt and ground black pepper
  • 3 large egg whites
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • Vegetable cooking spray
  • 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 8 ounces each), trimmed of excess fat and sliced into cutlets
  • 2 cups tomato sauce , warmed (see below)
  • 3 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 3/4 cup)
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil

Tomato Sauce

  • 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
  • 4 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 4 teaspoons)
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves
  • Table salt and ground black pepper

Directions:

  1. Pulse the tomatoes in a food processor until mostly smooth, about ten 1-second pulses; set aside. Cook the garlic, tomato paste, oil, and pepper flakes in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the tomato paste begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in the pureed tomatoes and cook until the sauce is thickened and measures 2 cups, about 20 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set aside until needed.
  2. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 475 degrees. Combine the bread crumbs and oil in a 12-inch skillet and toast over medium heat, stirring often, until golden, about 10 minutes. Spread the bread crumbs in a shallow dish and cool slightly; when cool, stir in the Parmesan.
  3. In a second shallow dish, combine the flour, garlic powder, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together. In a third shallow dish, whisk the egg whites and water together.
  4. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, place a wire rack on top, and spray the rack with vegetable oil spray. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge the cutlets in the flour, shaking off the excess, then dip into the egg whites, and finally coat with the bread crumbs, Press on the bread crumbs to make sure they adhere. Lay the chicken on the wire rack.
  5. Spray the tops of the chicken with vegetable oil spray. Bake until the meat is no longer pink in the center and feels firm when pressed with a finger, about 15 minutes.

Filed Under: Pasta/Rice, Poultry

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Image Credit: Leslie Pendleton Photography

 

Hey y’all!

Thanks so much for reading! I’m Amy, and I live in south Louisiana with my husband and our rescue dog. I enjoy sharing my love for cooking, baking, crafts & more! Follow my daily adventures on social media!

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