30 Minute Meal

Last night i was in a rush for dinner. I got home after work around 4:45 and hadn't planned anything nor did I have any of my pre-made meals in the fridge, i have been lazy about the meal planning for my diet these last few weeks.

I was being lazy figuring i could just make a salad when i got hungry and then Jason showed up. Well usually on Thursdays Jason has bowling at 7 so he would need to leave around 6:30 to get there in time. I had a little bit of a freak out and was running around trying to find something to make that he would like, we really need to go grocery shopping.

I am pretty good at inventing my own meals from ingredients on hand. Here is what I came up with:

(somewhat healthy) Chicken Parmesan with garlic bread and a salad

Sorry the pic is blurry i didn't realize it at the time.

You will need:

thawed chicken breasts (use as many as you need, i was feeding 3 people so i used 3 breasts)

spaghetti sauce

bread

butter

lettuce

Parmesan cheese

When i started my chicken was hard as a rock frozen, i stuck it in the microwave until it was almost completely thawed. Melt some butter down in a skillet and get your pan nice and hot. Cut the chicken breasts in half and place them in the hot pan, sizzling is a good sound because you want the chicken to brown up. Putting a lid on the pan helps keep the heat in so your chicken will cook through faster. After oh say 5-7 minutes check your chicken for a nice brown color and then flip to the other side (its ok to add a little more butter at this point if you think your pan is dry). 

Since I have been doing the diet i always have a big bowl of lettuce on hand since it is one of the main things i  eat, i sprinkle some sunflower seeds and parmesan cheese into the bowl to make it seem like i am eating more then just lettuce. Set the oven on to broil and got out a cookie sheet, 3 big pieces of sourdough bread and spread them with butter,  garlic herb mix and sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top. Place in the oven and just keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

Your chicken should be close to done so take the lid off carefully cause it will probably be sizzling and popping some. Open up your can of spaghetti sauce and pour some over all the pieces of chicken and then some extra in the pan. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese over all the pieces of chicken put the lid back on and turn the heat down. You are basically just doing this to heat the sauce up and melt the cheese. Check your bread, it should be done by now and if not just give it a couple more minutes. Your cheese should be melted at this point so go ahead and turn your burner off and let it rest for a few minutes so you don't get splattered with spaghetti sauce.

Assemble your plate however you like it, food touching or not touching whichever you prefer and enjoy. It only took about 30 minutes and i say somewhat healthy because its not breaded and well i used butter, you could probably substitute that for some olive oil or something else, i like butter i think it gives it a certain flavor. You could make it even healthier by making your own sauce, even though store bought isn't all that bad for you calorie wise, you could also skip the bread or do what i did and only eat half a slice.

Turns out both Jason and Kendall don't like chicken parmesan so I had enough left over to take for lunch today.

Part of dieting is hard if you restrict yourself to only good for you foods. Over the course of my 8 week challenge/diet i am learning it is ok to have the other things as long as you eat in moderation. For example, while i was doing the dishes i ate a couple spoonfuls (not a bowl full) of ice cream. If we limit ourselves too much we end up binge eating and then feel guilty for eating that much and then because we feel guilty we end up eating more. I still follow almost all of my rules that i set in the beginning but i do break them now and again to what works best for me that particular day.